About

When I first started going to gigs in Watford aged 13/14, they were little D.I.Y punk gigs in school halls, community centres, working men’s clubs, rugby clubs and even on a golfing green on one occasion. I was very lucky that I got to see some great bands and started to appreciate how great a scene existed and one that I have been a part of ever since. Now I’m 33 and living in Leeds and have been putting on little D.I.Y punk gigs myself for the best part of 15 years and recently realised that for a lot of young people, going to a gig means heading off to a stadium or academy venue and being in a separate world to the band and I wondered if there was a way to introduce the D.I.Y community spirit to people at a young age as well as ensuring that those of us who are responsible for Children of our own are able to stay connected to this scene when these responsibilities mean we aren’t always able to get to late night gigs mid-week.

So…in what may prove to be a terrible idea on my part (but I’m hopeful that this will be on some level a success!) I am going to put on gigs at venues that I would normally use for D.I.Y gigs, with bands who would normally play these gigs but so that they are accessible to people and families of all ages. Obviously to make this happen there will need to be some small changes; the gigs will be on weekends during the day (2pm-4pm), there will only be three bands playing and they might be playing shorter sets, I’ll politely be asking the bands to curb the swears when they play at these gigs and we will have cake (but that’s always been a staple at gigs!)

Other than that it’s your normal D.I.Y punk gig but you can be sure you’ll be home in time for bed and you can bring your kids along.

If you want to get in touch then I’m on youthanthems(at) gmail (dot) com