I’ve always prided myself on having fairly diverse interests when it comes to music. I try not to reject anything out of hand, and over the past few years especially i’ve made a concerted effort to track down new stuff, and have “discovered” a lot of new stuff (well, new to me) in the process.
One thing i had never really managed to get into, however, was punk rock. I had a short period in my early teens when i thought the Sex Pistols were pretty cool, and i also liked the Ramones, or at least the idea of the Ramones. I’m also a big fan of the 1970s Australian band Radio Birdman, who are often characterised as proto-punk, and whose music contains some strong punk characteristics. But i only really got into Radio Birdman because i’m from Australia. I also appreciate the rebellious attitude that has characterised much of punk rock.
In general, however, punk had passed me by. But not my girlfriend. She’s a few years older than me, and spent much of her late teens and early twenties in the early 1980s California punk scene. Over the past couple of years she’s introduced me to some of this music, and i’ve really taken to it. But i only really appreciated what it had to offer over the past month or so, when a couple of her favourite bands came to Baltimore and i got a chance to see them live.
First, last month we went and saw the legendary LA punk band X. And then, this weekend, we went to see the British band The Buzzcocks. These guys (and girl, in the case of X’s Exene) are almost old enough to be my parents, but they still put on amazing shows after so many years. Having played together for so long, they are really musically tight, and they are still excellent performers on stage. My only regret is that i never saw them earlier.
This is not much of a basis for a discussion, i know, but i felt like sharing, and i thought Cafe Society was the appropriate place for the thread. And thanks to my lovely GF. 
