Planet of the Punks

Is the summer heat bumming you out? Is the man bringing you down? Tired of yuppies and hippies cramping your style? Well, look no further. Plan-It-X Fest is here! Punk rock, solidarity, equality and knowing your rights. 6 days of music and events sprawled out throughout the town of Bloomington, July 6th to 11th. It's like summer camp, but without the canoes and cheesy campfire songs.\nSticking to home, Plan-It-X Fest will provide happenings all over the town of Bloomington. Shows will be played at Rhino's and Boxcar Books. There will be swap-meets and film fests, potlucks and a soapbox derby and even a carnival. \n"This year's Fest seems even more organized and focused, so I expect it to be huge and fun," Brad Wilhelm, director of events at Rhino's, said. \nPlan-It-X Records hopes to build on past success and expand in its third year. The first year was the ten year anniversary of the label, and 32 bands played a three day show in Bloomington. The obvious choice for a venue was Rhino's All Ages Youth Center, which Wilhelm said was successful. The second year of Plan-It-X Fest saw 9 bands getting on a bus and heading out for a 30 day east coast tour. \n"The shows all went well but the tour proved to be very stressful and tiring," Chris Clavin, a pioneer of Plan it X, said. "We didn't really achieve the level of community building and person to person connections that we hoped to, nor did we raise as much money for good causes. We made less than $3,000 for the benefits. But we did manage to book a 30 day, 9 band touring fest on a DIY level, and we made it to all the shows and had a lot of fun."\nThere will classes available to take in addition to music. Some of the topics being covered include screen printing, songwriting, comic book writing, and racism: slavery, prisons, and the African American community. These classes will vary in length, some one-day sessions, others running all week. You can sign up online for the classes. July 11th wraps up the festival with a carnival. \n"We will meet at a park around 11:00 AM and show off what we have learned," Clavin said. "For example, if you took a puppet making class, maybe your class will perform a puppet show at the Carnival. If you took a silk screening class, you could set up a table to show off/trade what you've made during the week." \nThe bulk of the festival will be the bands playing. Over 50 bands will be playing at Rhino's and Boxcar Books over the 6 day event. Shows at Boxcar Books will be free, and the shows at Rhino's will be $5 each night at the door (you don't buy tickets in advance). Bands will be coming from all over the United States (even Japan!) to rock out. \nMilwaukee, Wisconsin's Modern Machines will be one of the bands featured on this year's bill. Modern Machines formed in 1997, known then as the Shrubbers. They eventually broke up and re-formed as Modern Machines. Power pop meets hardcore punk and metal, Modern Machines have ties with Chris Clavin from Plan-It-X records. Clavin helped book them for a tour in Bloomington, and the band showed up to the house where the show was supposed to be (with Clavin's old band Operation: Cliff Claven), and nobody was there; Operation: Cliff Claven wasn't even in Bloomington at the time. Vocalist/guitarist Nato Paisano commented on the whole ordeal. \n"Maybe we're playing Plan-It-X Fest 'cause Chris still feels guilty about that," Paisano said. "It goes without saying that we've long since cared even a whit about that, Chris rules. So maybe it's just 'cause we're old friends, and we like the Fest." \nModern Machines expect a really great turnout and an even better time at this year's Plan-It-X Fest.\n"I expect to have fun, see good bands; enjoy the spirit of community that results from that kinda large punk rock gathering," Paisano said. "I'll probably drink a lot of wine from a box. It's just gonna be a cool-ass party, like usual. Nobody's got a better idea of what punk rock today is than the people who put on Plan-It-X Fest." \nAlso on the bill this year is Bloomington's very own What The Kids Want. A three-piece pop punk band from Bloomington, but their bass player resides in San Francisco. These guys have played the past two Plan-It-X Fests, and are excited about this year's outing. \n"I'm excited to play, just because we don't get to play too many shows anymore since we live on opposite sides of the country," said Ali, guitarist/vocalist for What The Kids Want. "I'm hoping there will be a lot of people there, and I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of the bands." \nAll the money raised from Plan It X Fest goes to pay the touring bands (100 dollars each), the teachers, the venue, to purchase food for the bands, and for promotion for the fest. The rest of the money will go to local charities Pages For Prisoners and Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. \nFrom the looks of things, it looks like this year's Plan-It-X Fest is going to be more ambitious and fun than ever before. \n"They've all been great," Wilhelm said. "Lots of folks from all over the country peacefully converging to rock out and maybe learn something too. What's not to like?" \nThe fest starts Thursday July 6, with orientation in 3rd St. Park at 11 AM. For more information, go to http://crimespree.org/pixcamp/Main_Page. Punk is in the air my friends.