You got Punk'd

A fan spat onto the lead singer of The Methadones from the balcony of Uncle Fester's, located on Kirkwood Avenue. \n"That's not cool," the singer said, glaring at the fan. "Keep playing you pussy. It's a punk show," another fan retorted. The singer threw water, the fan threw beer and the singer leaped onto a speaker, launching himself into the balcony to fight. The fight was broken up and the singer came back down and finished the set.\nIt sounds typical for a punk night, but its founder, Josh Johnson, insists it's the only real incident they've had. Regulars at Fester's have been welcomed to the working week with three or four punk bands every Monday night since punk night started in November 2004. \n"Punk night in Bloomington is awesome," says singer Bang Sugar Bang and guitarist Matt Southwell agrees. "Especially for a Monday night. Most Mondays on tour are dead. We've never played a Monday that rocked so hard." \nThe camaraderie and brotherhood of the bands is evident almost immediately. The audience is made up of a large majority of other band members, with band members often being interchangeable as bands find their groove.\n"A lot of the scene is pretty inbred as far as band members go," Johnson says. "Lots of guys play in more than one band. There's only like 20 bands and everyone knows each other." \nMany of the bands tour constantly and are established on successful independent labels such as S.O.S., TKO, Taang, Punkcore and No Idea. Punk night regulars, Bang Sugar Bang, have been on tour so long that the members put their stuff in storage and sold their homes.\n"Yeah, we're pretty much homeless now," Southwell says. "We're on tour until October and then heading to Chicago to record our third album." \nAs for Punk Night? Johnson modeled the event after the punk night his friend Greg Brenner has run in Indianapolis for the past few years. \n"There was nothing going on in Indy, rock wise, six years ago," Brenner says. "We had our Goth night shut down, so I decided to start a punk night myself and it grew from there."\nThe punk scene is part of a bigger movement to get more bands to make stops in Indiana on their tours.\n"It's been my philosophy that local bands meet out of town bands, network and start playing out of town gigs," Brenner says. "Bands used to go from Cincinnati to Chicago and just drive through without stopping in Indiana."\nThrough their online booking, www.byofl.org (Book Your Own Fucking Life), Johnson and Brenner have bands coming to them to play.\n"We played the second punk night ever and we've played a shit ton since then," says Dave Adicted of the band Nicotones. "It's provided a much needed venue for a consistent style of music. I think it completely caters to people in the scene from the style of bands that play, to the $3 cover, to the really cheap booze."\nBloomington is the last day of the four day mini-circuit of punk which starts in South Bend, Ind. on Friday, goes to Indy on Saturday and Evansville, Ind. on Sunday. Making the last stop Bloomington on Monday nights.\n"I started punk night to bring legitimate punk rock to Bloomington on a consistent basis," Johnson says. "We usually get around 70 people, but on big nights we get up to 200. It's always the best in local, regional, national and international punk rock. We've had bands from Italy, England and even Japan." \nMany of the local bands and out of town bands have formed a tight bond supporting each other, breaking down gear or making one another feel welcome.\n"We got to Fester's a little early for our first gig not knowing anyone, and the Nicotones came up to our van," says Southwell of Bang Sugar Bang. "They were like, 'you guys wanna drink some beer?' We've been close ever since."\nLeather jackets, mohawks, dyed hair, tattoos, studded belts and black band t-shirts are prevalent in the audience and band members alike, but Johnson says not everyone looks like the stereotypical punk.\n"A lot of people look more normal than you'd think," Johnson says.\nBut a punk night regular has other ideas on the disparity of the crowd's attire.\n"You can tell some of the fans have just wandered in from Jungle Room and are a little intimidated, but sometimes they stay and get into it," says senior Nick Detrich. "I've been coming to punk night every Monday since I turned 21. It's always a great show and you can't beat $1.50 well drinks." \nJohnson says he's not worried about punk imploding because they stick to mid-level bands. He admits some punk like Green Day can get watered down, but isn't worried about that affecting punk night.\n"We aim to bring an environment in which aggressive rock 'n' roll bands can have a place to play," Johnson says. "And in turn, fans can have a consistent venue every week to experience the amazing qualities that original rock 'n' roll possesses. Bloomington has a long and rich tradition of incredible independent rock 'n' roll. I am glad to be a part of something that attempts to perpetuate that reputation. There will always be an underground punk scene. Always"