The whole thing about the punk scene back then is that there wasn't a separation between the audience and the performers. We were all part of the same thing. Tim Kerr wasn't baiting the audience by saying "If you don't like us, go start your own band" Instead, it was offered as practical advice, and a lot of bands were started that very way. There was none of that idolatry that so poisoned rock'n'roll. None of that Green Day playing to a stadium crowd, fans in the nosebleed seats dependent on seeing things on the giant video monitors, no helicopters and limos whisking the performers to and from the stage.

These shots show Black Flag at the peak of their popularity, one of the biggest punk bands in America at the time. But the band and the audience here have almost literally merged; you nearly have to pick Rollins out in the crowd. A show was an experience we participated in nearly as much as did the performers; it was not something we were merely audience to.

Many of the folks I found most annoying back then are the ones I admire the most now. I remember being put off by Henry Rollins. The guy had a very severe case of angst - this was well documented - and he made a point of letting everyone know. On this particular night he let folks know by pulling up a chair across from the ticket booth at the end of a long and very narrow hall, so that everyone entering the club had to spend several minutes rubbed up against him. Even without Henry there, that hallway was a tight squeeze, especially for the bigger folks among us. I remember thinking that it was pure Hollywood bullshit and that the guy was a total poseur. I've had to reconsider that opinion. The man is still around, going strong, hasn't let up for a second...

Apparently I thought that bassist Kira Roessler was cute since she's in a lot more of my photos than Henry. And she was cute, too--she's got that total skater chick thing goin' on that what's the name of that little Canadian chick, not Celine Dion but the other one tries so hard to do...