The location for the October 11th GAME OVER show might surprise you: the Dave and Buster’s on Hollywood Boulevard. But maybe it shouldn’t.
Lineup Highlights: Goner, Whokilledxix, and Beckoner
This is where the current evolution of the Los Angeles underground is testing the waters of mainstream spaces that have historically been unfriendly at best. The show, headlined by Goner, brought to you by Swear Jar, and powered by Sound Of U Live, transformed a strip mall arcade into something far more dangerous than skee-ball and loaded fries. Rich Daytona brought the beans as always, while Whokilledxix brought a whole new murder to the stage. Patrons who started their evening planning on wings and brews found themselves haunted by Beckoner’s dope solo set, with Stillfye on the decks proving once again why the engineer is the unsung hero…
Dylan Noir and Maybe Tomorrow brought up the energy, while Lil Pants proved there’s nothing small about his potential. Watching idkraeven enchant the crowd before Goner owned the night, it’s hard not to admit the scene is changing. This is Hollywood Boulevard—not exactly a smoky basement in the industrial districts. Dave and Busters: the kind of place where twenty-somethings who still have enough soul to resist Starbucks and open-mic slam poetry mediocrity gather for wings and nostalgia. But it’s not anyone’s definition of underground. And if the underground is playing in the mainstream, does that mean that the underground is dead?
The Evolution of the L.A. Underground
Rumors of the death of underground music have been exaggerated. Pundits have decried the “end of an era,” as the post-covid underground club scene has moved to online communities… The raves have gone corporate, and the Viper might become a hotel… This is the end of “underground” as we know it! No shit Sherlock- the underground as we know it always ends – and is then reborn with new ink, piercings, and fits… Remade by those who never knew it in the first place! That’s the whole point.
Why The Underground Never Dies
The Underground is an expression where those who spill out over the edges of the cookie cutters of mainstream, pool their pain and ambition into art. They don’t have the budgets, staff, experience or connections of the establishment – hell, if they did, they would be the establishment! Contrary to popular belief, the underground doesn’t make do with what they have – they invent what they need so that the establishment can make you want it later. They literally build themselves out of their situation only to be supplanted by the next generation who sees them as being too mainstream. This blind-eyed hypocrisy is perpetual, completely natural, and beautiful. It is literally the fuel for the trashcan fire we pound red solos around.
Anyone who tells you that they know where this is going is lying. Web3, NFT labels, creator monetization, global remote colabs, VR, AR, or some other acronym (one I am not cool enough to know about, let alone understand), all will shape the next evolution of the Underground – or not – I have no clue what-will-do-what – It’s not for me to say. I am the dinosaur, the thing they’re evolving from, not toward. But I’m fucking here for it.
Snapping away, observing with a lovingly critical lens and getting my ass handed to me in mosh pits by folk who weren’t born when CBGB and the Electric Chair were still a thing. The only constant as far as this old lens hound can tell, is that the Underground is not a place, it’s a mindset, a lifestyle, a way of existing where the only insiders are outsiders to everyone else.
Keep Creating, Keep Supporting, Keep It Tequila
Now quit reading my drivel and go make art you beautifully broken heathens – Tip your bartenders, make it rain on the gogo girl, support local designers, talent. & stores. Love like you mean it – and always keep a spot for ole’ Faster Glass on your list at the door…
And keep it tequila.
Words and Photos by: Ryan Lo