[Dixielandjazz] MUSIC & RIOTS

[Stephen Barbone]

Well, it AIN"T OKOM, but it is a great read about some music fans who
could use a good dose of OKOM. Made me think of "A Clockwork Orange",
except this time in a French Canadian sequel. And you thought the "Blue
Street Jazz Band" were "The Bad Boys". :-) VBG

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

PS. Also note some great new band names in the article. My favorites are
"Total Chaos" and "Les Rectums"


October 20, 2003 New York Times

Divining the Wellspring of Rage That Incited Montreal Punk Riot

By JESSE McKINLEY

        MONTREAL, Oct. 18 — According to its publicist's Web site, the
Exploited, a Scottish punk band, has been tear-gassed by the German
police, banned from the Netherlands and "caused more carnage than a
multicar pileup" during its 24-year career. But a few days ago the
Exploited and another punk band, Total Chaos, were thwarted by no less a
force than Canadian customs officials, who refused the bands entry to
Canada from the United States on the grounds that some members had
criminal records while others had lied to customs.

But when that news was announced to a Tuesday night crowd waiting for
the bands' show in front of the Medley, a club in downtown Montreal,
fans funneled their anger at the show's cancellation into creating a
multicar pileup of their own, starting the most violent riot this city
has seen since the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1993.

According to police officials and witnesses, several dozen rioters
destroyed or damaged 42 cars, smashed the windows of nearly a dozen
nearby businesses and looted a record store around the corner. Police
officers in riot gear tried to control the crowd, but not before images
of overturned cars engulfed in flames were televised across the country.
Eight people were arrested, and six people — including four police
officers — were treated for minor injuries.

"Someone yelled `Riot!' and everyone just jumped in," said a 17-year-old
who was there and would give only her first name, Catherine. "People
were just full of rage. But there is obviously something else inside of
them. It can't be just because of a show."

Even as the Montreal police were promising to use photographs to find
and arrest more rioters, members of the vibrant punk-music scene here
were wondering why the violence had happened and, more important, what
it meant for their future.

"Personally, I think it's stupid," said Carolo, a tattooed 25-year-old
woman who helps manage Salle L'X, a grungy basement black-box club that
is devoted to punk performances. "We've had shows for five years and
didn't ever have that problem, so it's very bad. The people of Montreal
will pay for that."

Likewise, in this city famed for its old-world architecture and its
popular comedy, jazz and food festivals, the specter of an unruly group
of violent punks seemed to take many in the mainstream by surprise.

"We pride ourselves, in Montreal, on knowing how to party in public
without disturbance," read an editorial on Friday in The Gazette of
Montreal, an English-language daily. "So it's a nasty shock when
something goes wrong."

But those who participated in the riot or are dealing with those
involved say the seeds for the disturbance — including drugs,
homelessness and tension with the police — have existed for years.

Toni Cochand, the executive director of Dans la Rue, a nonprofit
organization that helps homeless youths, estimates that her group aids
about 2,000 homeless minors a year, all living in squats, shelters or on
the street, a number borne out by small groups of punks seen hanging out
in parks and abandoned lots, or trying to hustle change by squeegeeing
windshields.

Most street youths who consider themselves as punks are nonviolent, she
says, but the music, fashion and attitude of punk bands like the
Exploited provides a connection for those with little else to call their
own.

"It's really like being a hippie in the 60's," Ms. Cochand said. "It's
trying to identify with a group or a counterculture. Some subgroups in
there are violent, involved in dope dealing, but most are pacifists.
They are very idealistic."

One of these is Jimmy Lee, a homeless 22-year-old Montreal native in an
anarchist T-shirt, who had gone to the Exploited show after seeing a
flier on the wall of a squat.

"They help you explain yourself," Mr. Lee said, drawing on a stubby
cigarette and waiting outside the Dans la Rue day center. "They have
your ideology."

Mr. Lee said that rumors were flying among those who went to the show —
or the riot — that the Medley refused to refund tickets or that its
security team used pepper spray on the crowd. "That was the starter," he
said. "A lot of my friends had been waiting for months for the show. You
have people on the street who wait a long time for this and save maybe
$20 and they give you nothing."

Paul Matte, the manager of the Medley, said tickets had been refunded,
and denied that spray had been used. "With that type of crowd you get a
lot of rumors," Mr. Matte said. "All it takes is one."

A veteran band from Edinburgh, the Exploited would seem an unlikely
choice for a source of violent inspiration for a younger generation. The
band, formed in 1979, had not toured North America in a decade and had
trouble selling tickets at several stops during its recent tour. In
Montreal only about 700 tickets had been sold for the Medley, which
seats 1,800.

"We caused fights and a bit of destruction, but that was a long time
ago," the lead singer, Wattie Buchan, said from his home in Scotland.
"We got a lot of young kids coming to the shows, but we stop playing if
they fight. I think kids who come to our show come to enjoy themselves,
not to get beat up."

Canadian officials said that the band's van and an equipment truck were
turned back from the border after band members lied and said they were
coming to Canada as tourists.

"They said they were coming as visitors," Robert Gervais, a spokesman
for Immigration Canada, said. "Obviously with a truck full of equipment,
that wasn't the obvious answer."

Mr. Buchan conceded that the group had lied to customs officials, but
explained — in convoluted rock-star style — that the blame lay on the
band's first bus driver, who had been driving too slow and was fired
before the band members' visas were picked up in Seattle. "I had to get
rid of him and that was the reason," he said.

Drugs also may have played a part in the riot. A new study reported by
the CBC on Friday said that while 15 percent of teenagers in Quebec
smoke cigarettes, 20 percent smoke marijuana. Officials at Dans la Rue
said that many of the teenagers they treat have drug problems, a
situation made worse by gangs like the Hells Angels and the Beaux Gars,
a Haitian gang dealing heroin and other hard drugs that has become
increasingly active in this city's northern sections.

Ms. Cochand also said that many young Quebecers feel isolated by their
lack of English-language skills — French is the official language of the
province — which they feel keeps them trapped in Quebec.

As for the punks on the street, they argue that the police harass them
for loitering in parks and have cracked down on squeegeeing, one of
their main sources of income.

"It's zero tolerance," said Danny, 19, who wore studs through his cheeks
and chin and was wrapped in a sleeping bag outside Salle L'X on Friday
night. "We just got kicked out of the park for sitting. I thought that's
what parks are for."

Inside Salle L'X, away from the bitter early fall chill, about 100 punks
watched a band called Les Rectums rip through their set, screaming in
French and English. Except for a fight in the women's restroom — between
three men — the crowd was polite and wearing the traditional gear of
punks from the days of Sid Vicious: leather jackets, foot-high mohawks,
nose studs. Several wore the Exploited jackets.

Some in the crowd traded riot stories; others called the whole thing a
waste of time and money. "I guess it seemed like a good idea at the
time," said Chris, 20, who had a fresh mohawk and who said he had been
arrested and released during the riot. "Honestly, though, I thought the
cars would be covered by insurance."