My Latest YouTube Obsession

A few weeks ago I began getting hooked on Ian MacKaye (Dischord Records) YouTube videos. At the time, MacKaye was doing a handful of speaking engagements on the west coast, and since I'm on the east coast, I figured my next best alternative was to listen to him speak via online video clips. Yesterday I came across this one (which is a little less than two years old). At a city council hearing, MacKaye speaks against a proposed ban on all-ages shows, following the shooting death of a minor in a Washington D.C. night club. (For those that don't know, MacKaye's bands Minor Threat and Fugazi have never knowingly played a show that was not all-ages). MacKaye's testimony makes me want to start organizing all-ages shows in New York City (which, on the local-level, are few and far between). Being in a band, I can tell you it's far more...

A few weeks ago I began getting hooked on Ian MacKaye (Dischord Records) YouTube videos. At the time, MacKaye was doing a handful of speaking engagements on the west coast, and since I’m on the east coast, I figured my next best alternative was to listen to him speak via online video clips.

Yesterday I came across this one (which is a little less than two years old). At a city council hearing, MacKaye speaks against a proposed ban on all-ages shows, following the shooting death of a minor in a Washington D.C. night club. (For those that don’t know, MacKaye’s bands Minor Threat and Fugazi have never knowingly played a show that was not all-ages).

MacKaye’s testimony makes me want to start organizing all-ages shows in New York City (which, on the local-level, are few and far between). Being in a band, I can tell you it’s far more entertaining to play for a bunch of minors who are into the music, than a bunch of 20-somethings who would rather hang out at the bar.