It would seem that punk rock is still kicking, at least in Eau Claire.
To celebrate the fact, Stones Throw, 304 Eau Claire St., is hosting One Nation Under Punk, a venue that will feature punk rock/hardcore bands at 10 p.m. Friday.
Freshman Patrick Olson is promoting the show and has had a large part in putting together the four bands: The Giddy Aunts, New Society of Anarchists (N.S.O.A), Our Undoing and his own band, Fall for Glory.
“A lot of these bands are working at getting more into the public eye,” Olson said. “So far it’s more of an underground scene.”
Olson said he was excited about the event because Stones Throw rarely has this genre of music available to its patrons. This, he said, will hopefully make the show that much more popular.
Growing this genre of music in the area is a great idea, Olson said, because Eau Claire is a logical stop for touring bands between the Twin Cities and Madison.
The venue is mainly punk rock as the title alludes, but Olson said Milwaukee’s N.S.O.A. is more of a hardcore band which has been around for about 18 years. The Giddy Aunts’ Myspace page labels them punk rock while Our Undoing’s page calls them an alternative rock band.
Olson said his band is “straight up punk old school” and his page lists them as punk/folk rock/alternative.
N.S.O.A., the oldest of the bands playing on Friday, toured with Gagged by the Flag in 1999 and 2000 on their Guerilla Warfare Tour 2000 through 2001.
Olson is the main singer and guitarist in Fall for Glory. His band, which has been around since 2008 has played at Higher Ground and Nate’s Dungeon, a local hardcore and punk rock venue.
Fall for Glory’s drummer, Jeremy Mitchell, who is a Chippewa Valley Technical College student, also had a part in putting the show together.
“We worked something out because The Stones Throw has been wanting to put a punk show together for some time now,” Mitchell said. “I hope that since they don’t play a lot of punk music people finally see that there is a punk music scene in Eau Claire.”
Mitchell said he was worried that the punk rock scene in town is a little too competitive.
“Hopefully (One Nation Under Punk) will be more of a show than a rivalry,” he said.
Despite that Olson and Mitchell said they were convinced the show will be interesting and entertaining.
CVTC student Bryan Maloney, a friend and fan of Fall for Glory, said he was planning on attending the show and was pretty excited.
“I grew up on (punk) music,” he said. “I’m definitely going because of my friends” but he added that the music was a great influence in his decision as well.
Maloney said though the Eau Claire music scene is a great one, he was excited to see some music with a little more “meat.”
Though putting the show together while going to school has been hard work, a lot of the music is about making a difference in the world and focusing on more important things than yourself, Olson said.
To find out more about these bands check out The Stones Throw’s calendar at thestonesthrow.com or each band’s Web site at myspace.com