Events

[HARDCORE] Dominque Harris, aged 19, was gunned down in the Langfield projects last month. Over what? Deep down inside, I don’t need to know why because #BlackLivesMatter. On Sunday, December 28 at Broadway Joe’s, there will be a memorial concert featuring At Worlds End, Bungler, Constructing the Titan, and many more—with the proceeds going to assist his family with funeral costs. It’s been a month since his murder and since then more young people in our city have met the same fate. Six in 11 days. There are no easy answers and there is no single factor we can hold culpable. Seeing the outpouring of grief on social media from friends and friends of friends reminded me why he was so committed to the local hardcore scene. Banding together to engage in collective catharsis is one of the things that makes hardcore what it is; it’s why we grab microphones and bellow venomous words at those who have wronged us in the past. It’s why we pummel our friends in the pit, only to laugh about how fun it was at the end of the show. These are truths Dom knew and lived. My thoughts have been focused on what to do to carry on in such a way that he would be proud to consider us friends and comrades. In the face of tragedy it’s crucial to make ourselves better for his sake. We have to hug our friends and family a bit tighter, play with a bit more conviction, and work a bit harder.