Last Updated on September 20, 2022, 7:59 PM | Published: September 20, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — It’s nothing new for a musical genre to be carved up into sub-genres and sub-sub-genres, getting more and more niche and exclusive all the way down, but it’s hard to think of a style more compartmentalized than punk.
The umbrella term “punk rock” covers a huge ground these days, from pop-punk, crust-punk, d-beat, ska, and far too many others to count, all connected only by certain common ancestors and a shared “hard and fast” philosophy.
It’s still unusual to see these styles combined on a concert bill or compilation, especially considering the wide gulf between the brutal, aggressive hardcore punk styles and the much more melodic, even mainstream pop-punks.
But all of that comes to a head on Saturday, September 24th when OKC’s historic and newly renovated Blue Note hosts their first-ever festival event in the form of the Punk Rock Social, bringing these different styles and cultures all together to foster a true punk community for our city.
It’s the brainchild of Blue Note talent buyer and On Holiday drummer Jon Jackson, who is throwing the bash also as a musical blowout birthday party for himself.
“This is actually the second Punk Rock Social,” Jackson told me, “but it’s all been brewing for a while.”
Jackson threw the first Social as a similar birthday event back in 2019, intending to kick off a new annual tradition before the pandemic put the kibosh on everyone’s plans.
Now that the new Note is thriving, and now that Jackson is handling the booking himself, he saw a perfect opportunity to bring together the various punk scenes that he loves under one roof to celebrate the city’s extensive underground culture.
“I’ve always listened to all different kinds of punk, and just all different kinds of heavy music,” Jackson said. “I know that everyone listens to more than one genre of music. People do that, but that’s never how shows seem to be booked. And so that’s something we’ve talked about a lot recently at the Note is like, we’re intentionally going to start booking different kinds of acts together.”
That desire to see a much larger, encouraging punk scene goes back to the very different, heavily insulated cliques that Jackson saw growing up as a young punk.
“I started going to punk shows in like the late 90s,” he said. “They could be violent, and the bands were very competitive, and could be very chauvinistic. It was toxic. I loved the music, but the scene was crazy. And that’s why this is designed to be the Punk Rock Social, because I’m literally trying to get punk bands to all come and hang out together that normally wouldn’t.”
Jackson’s intended level of sub-genre diversity is clear right at the top of the bill with headliners Inferna and When the Clock Strikes listed right alongside one another.
Inferna are an unhinged, explosive hardcore act firing off ultra-political anger and boundless, screaming energy. When the Clock Strikes are a relentlessly catchy, pop-punk act styled on the colorful skater punks of the early 2000s.
“We have the heaviest of the punk rock bands and we have the poppy-est of the punk rock bands,” said Jackson, “and those are my two headliners.”
There may not seem like there’s much overlap there, but both bands play loud, fast punk rock, and maybe more importantly, both are respected leaders in their scenes.
“It was all intentional,” he explained. “We’ve got everything from hardcore street punk to punk-and-roll to even an easycore band on there. It’s really just all about getting those bands to socialize.”
He especially wanted to include bands from surrounding communities as well, including four acts from Tulsa and even one from Wichita, to hopefully help expand OKC’s standing in the regional and nationwide punk scenes.
Unsurprisingly, the entire event is at least somewhat centered on Jackson’s own band, On Holiday, with even the poster art prominently featuring their signature alien character, drawn by Jackson’s wife.
He makes it clear, however, that even if he planned and organized the event, there was never any intention of putting the spotlight on him, or even of ensuring that his band was a headliner. On Holiday will just be another entry into this wider musical community, helping to create a space for punks of all stripes to lift each other up and prove that there’s far more that unites these styles than divides them.
“I did give myself a pretty sweet spot, though,” he admitted, laughing. “I mean, it’s my birthday.”
Blue Note’s Punk Rock Social kicks off at 5pm Saturday, September 24th and features ten bands running all night long.
For tickets, full lineup, and more information, visit okcbluenote.com.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
