Screaming can be misunderstood. Obviously in every day situations when someone screams, it’s alarming. Kicking, flailing, stomping and punching the air are often inappropriate. But when set to music, violent activities like these can hold healing gestures.
On Dec, 17th in Provo at Muse Music, 150 N University Ave, a final good-bye show and vinyl release party was held for local hardcore band Parallax.
Parallax was one of the fastest growing and most influential hardcore bands in the Valley until the untimely death of lead vocalist Blake Donner. In 2005 Donner and three friends were unable to escape an underground cave they had climbed in.
Memories and nostalgia evoked nearly every emotion in both audience and band members.
“We couldn’t have thought about doing this without honoring the memory of our original members,” said Elliot Secrist, guitarist of Parallax. “We played for them tonight. These are their songs just as much as they ever were.”
According to Secrist many fans were unable to attend their previous show, held at UVU two years prior, and many were saddened.
“We decided to tell everyone that when we were releasing the vinyl that we would then do our last performance,” said Secrist.
Saying good-bye to Parallax feels, to some, like saying good-bye to the hardcore music scene. Good-bye to an idea that a community is willing to accept this type of self-expression.
“I haven’t seen these guys in years. It’s sad in so many ways, “said Peter Jackson, 27, Orem resident. “It seems everything in the valley is all indie pop or folk, it sucks.”
According to Muse Music Employee Debby Phillips hardcore has a bad reputation in Utah Valley.
“When I lived in California I wouldn’t have hesitated to put a show on like this,” said Phillips. “It’s the norm.”
Provo resident 25- year- old Jeff Burhans found that even with a swollen left eye, bloody lip and torn nose (which previously held a ring) there could have been no better way for the band to say good-bye. “
After the fact, yeah I’m sore, but during I not only move with the motion, I become part of their emotions. It hurts good.”
Homeboy had his nose ring torn out? That’s quite the party.
There is no goodbye to the community that accepts this type of expression. We’re around. We just all got jobs, so we can’t come out and play too often… It’s up to the youth to keep replenishing the orem scene with all of the anger and confusion of a post-highschool, pre-college life. We wanted to scream at the world… shake things up, and we did… Now we’re old and have responsibilities that we’d rather not have…