Small World.

When I was waiting to board my flight from San Francisco to Sydney, I noticed a fellow passenger wearing an underdog t-shirt (an obscure hardcore band from New Jersey) along with camo shorts and a full leg of tattoos. As I watched him board the plane, I assumed he must be from South Jersey and thought he was headed to Australia to do some surfing.



A few days later in Melbourne, I went to see trapped under ice, a small hardcore band from Baltimore who are currently doing a string of shows down under. Always wanting to check out a hardcore show abroad, I went.

While checking out the bands merchandise tables, I noticed the guy from my flight sitting behind one of the tables. As I introduced myself he mentioned that he recognized me as the guy wearing the Reign Supreme hoody on the San Fran flight. It turns out his name was Dave and he plays in the Philly band Blacklisted (currently one of my favorite bands.) He explained that he was in Australia earlier in the year with Blacklisted and he had returned to come hang out for the TUI shows.

I am surprised I didn’t make the connection earlier; that the one guy wearing a hardcore shirt on the plane would be at the only hardcore show in Melbourne. Regardless, I look forward to seeing Blacklisted in NYC in January, now having ran into the bass player.

As for the show itself, it’s fascinating to see how much hardcore has spread over the years; to South Africa , Australia, Korea and Malaysia. The fact that a small, young hardcore band such as TUI can tour the world is nothing short of amazing. It’s also funny to witness America’s influence on the rest of the world, even within the hardcore scene. Everyone now wears the same outfit across the globe…