Skinheads located!

Well it was only a matter of time...but I found them. Actually it was last Friday (yeah I think this was one of the topics I failed to remember). I found skinheads in Pittsburgh! Not that I doubted they were around...but being around Miami's scene has sort of lowered my expectations.

Actually the Miami scene did some good things for me. I saw how folks who own different labels can come out and support an oi! show...or a ska show...or a punk/hardcore show...or whatever. Mainly because if they didn't, the turnout would be pretty darn small. But at least in Miami you could also be comfortable not owning a label. I don't know if I can say I always felt that way in Pittsburgh.

Nevertheless, I find the music scene in Pittsburgh to be tolerant and diverse. The only kicker is that people don't always make money...but that's where the heart and soul comes in. And I was really surprised to see that element still going in Pittsburgh. The 3rd wave of ska is well behind us now. But there are people floating around out there, still rocking the skinhead ethics and listening to some real boot-stompin' reggae.

Ever since I was 19 I've known skinheads. Although they have a horrible [and inaccurate] public image, I find that some of my skinhead friends have stuck with me through thick and thin. Oh yeah, I'm dreading my hair now...cool; oh yeah, I'm converting to Judaism now...cool; oh yeah, I like to listen to Destiny's Child sometime...lol...really? Ah...you get the point. I always felt ok being just how I was. Sounds improbable? Ironic even? Hmmm...

Maybe when you see what life is like...living like an outsider...you do not become interested in making others feel the same. Skinheads and punks are usually White kids that owned this "wild and crazy look" and now get peered at similar to how Black men get peered at on the street. Maybe I'm a bit too poetic about the whole thing, but I can't help but be amazed by these White kids (yes some are well out of the "kid" age range...but it sounds better than saying "people") who just make the jump into something that they are foreign too. Curiously, when Black people do this (or attempt to do this) they are promptly called "sell-outs". I wonder if that's what some White people think of skinheads? LOL...probably not.

So here I am; at a point in my life where I should "be over" this sort of stuff. But seriously...last Friday night at Remedy in Lawrenceville...hearing classic reggae and ska blaring...seeing several bald guys dancing around...really was the best time I've had since I've been back. It unlikely...improbable that I'll meet my dream guy; a Jewish skinhead that sports the flat cap and a demure jean jacket. Doc Marten shoes (because the boots can be too much sometimes)...wire frame glasses and a noggin full of intelligence. {sigh}. A girl can dream right?

(Oh...and Remedy pictures can be found here)