Bad Copy

So this is where I try to come up with some kind of story from the 80’s or 90’s that seemingly has nothing to do with the show that I’m reviewing but in the end you find that there is some kind of connection to the show. Cool, huh? Unfortunately it’s not always that easy to do that. You’d think that when I’m drawing a blank that maybe I should just write about the show that I went to… yeah, that’s not going to happen.

I used to love the show reviews in Flipside Fanzine because they were more like a review of a night or weekend and not just one show. They would go to numerous shows in a night or weekend and give you a quick rundown of each, not going into much detail, maybe mentioning all of the bands, maybe not.  And truthfully, what does it matter? If you didn’t go to the show and are reading a review the reviewer can write anything they want and you wouldn’t know the difference. Sure, back then it would be near impossible to correct a reviewer since everything was in print and the review came out way after the show actually occurred. What were you going to do, write a letter to the editor? “Why didn’t you mention that ____ played the show? They were the best band on the bill. This review sucks!” I guess if you’re unhappy with a review now you just leave a comment on Facebook or something but personally I still wouldn’t care. If you really have a problem with how someone reviews a show then maybe you should start writing reviews or start your own website.

Here’s a little something that I tell any and all of the writers for Bad Copy about writing reviews: MAKE SHIT UP! Whatever you come up with is probably more interesting than what actually happens at punk rock shows these days. Would you rather me write a review and tell you the names of songs the bands played and then how I went outside in between bands to smoke cigarettes? Probably not, so look at these photos that I took of Dead Boys, Mystery Actions and The Evictions at Beat Kitchen in Chicago on June 28, 2018.