- April 25, 2024
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I’ve always loved punk rock.
Although I do love the music itself, I mostly believe that punk isn’t just a genre of music, but it’s an attitude.
When I went to a Beachside Brawlers roller derby game this weekend, I discovered what punk looked like in real time as women battered and bruised each other skating around the local roller rink.
The rink is called Skate and Shake, and it is right out of the 70’s. I didn’t hear any music that debuted before the year 2000, and it was glorious. Old Green Day, Marilyn Manson, Jimmy Eat World and other famous 90’s punk acts were blaring on the loudspeakers while I found my place on the floor close to the action in what was called the “suicide section.”
I remember coming to the local skating rink in Ocala when I was a kid. It was called Skate Mania, and that skating rink was known for being the place where the crooks around town hung out. It was rumored that this was where people sold drugs and drank underage, but now I’m thinking it was mostly hearsay.
I was 12 years old and gullible.
Regardless, skating rinks are a slice of nostalgia, and the derby girls reminded me of a time that I wish I could have experienced, but now I actually got to be for a couple of hours.
The simple fact that roller derby, a sport, can accentuate its very own culture is fascinating to me.
Football is liked by pretty much everyone. Everyone knows the rules, and if you watch the game there’s a good chance you’ll have some idea about what’s going on. It’s a sport that is quite literally ingrained in the culture of the country we live in.
When it comes to roller derby, these girls, their coaches and the people in the stands are in their own little world. The rules can be confusing, even to some of the players, but as long as the atmosphere is the way it is, people will have a good time.
There’s a camaraderie with independent scenes. At a punk rock show, there aren’t seats. It’s more intimate than that. There’s an acknowledgement from one to another that they’re all safe and accepted as long as they’re with each other.
It’s easy to feel out of place, and it’s safe to assume that if you listen to punk rock you know what that’s like.
Roller derby follows the same construct. These girls aren’t going to be on the cover of Vogue or strut the runway like a supermodel.
I don’t think they would want that anyway.
They’d rather be punks.
