Laramie is not the first town that comes to mind when thinking of punk and hardcore shows. Mellow or fun dance party is usually the name of the game. However, those weirdos in black clothes somehow find a way to squeeze in their obscure get togethers consisting of instruments that are way too loud and screaming performed by broke 20-somethings that have not known a shower for a week while sweaty, socially-awkward outcasts pile on top of one another.
On Saturday, Centuries, a Miami band on Southern Lord Records and their tour mates Of Feather and Bone from Denver rolled into town to make a racket and, believe it or not, said it was one of the best dates of a tour that crawled to all four corners of the U.S. Al Vino, bass and vocals from OFAB, took time to speak to me about the experience.
To the unacquainted ear, their music may seem unlistenable. If you have never known someone who is vegan/straightedge, their lifestyle choices will come off as…peculiar. But there is an ethos in the culture evident to those embedded in it that offers an insight into our generational human condition where it is easier than ever to feel alone in an overcrowded world.
You guys just got home from a tour with Centuries. How did that go?
It went really well actually. It was our first tour that we had booked for us, as we’re with State of Mind booking now out of California. I’ve known our representative Andrew Doyle for years and he has been our good friend, so he decided to take a chance on us. It was our first tour together and Centuries was looking to head out west more because they’ve only been out there once or twice before. We thought we fit together so we decided to do it. A couple bands had gone through the same route right before us and kind of ravaged it, Cult Leader and Yautja had just gone through there and Ringworm did before us as well, so other than kids being a little exhausted from shows, it was great.
Yautja just played in Laramie too.
Yeah man, that band is crazy.
Drum and riff clinic.
Exactly. Everyone just stood there and watched and thought, “I need to go home and practice.”
Was Saturday the first time one of your bands has played in Laramie?
Yep. First time ever.
What was your impression of it?
It was awesome. Laramie is a cool town. I’ve never stopped in Laramie; only driven through. We got real fat at a restaurant. I miss those good old fashioned house shows. I miss that whole really personal feeling and it’s the true spirit of DIY and true down to the grassroots of what punk and hardcore is. Laramie kind of brought that back out. On this whole tour, we only played one house show. It was a good way to end it. Less stressful, less serious environment. All three of us are pretty lax dudes; we don’t like stages and big monitors. We want to play on a floor in a basement.
You say you got fat at a restaurant. I know you’re vegan, so what did you get at Sweet Melissa’s?
Oh man, what did I have…it was the country fried seiten with mashed potatoes and gravy and sweet potato biscuits. It was ridiculous.
How did you think it stacked up against other vegetarian restaurants you’ve eaten at on this tour or past tours?
We route our tours based on places we know we can get good food and Sweet Melissa’s is great. I think it’s being on the road and touring that just because someplace is smaller on the map or has a stigma like Laramie or Amarillo and think “this place isn’t progressive” and then you’ll get really surprised. My other band played Amarillo and we found this coffee shop with vegan green chile and the best hummus I’ve ever had. You can’t let these places get overshadowed because they’re not L.A. or New York or Chicago. You have to get surprised sometimes.
Did you play any other town that were small like Laramie on this tour?
We just played Missoula. It was a small college town and it turned out being okay. We played an indie show, but people stuck around and watched. It wasn’t their thing, but they were open to watching.
Do you appreciate the smaller town shows?
I definitely do. The kids are more grateful to see a band come through. It’s more like how I remember shows when I was young. Like you wouldn’t know all the bands on a bill, but you knew your friend’s band was playing. I don’t want to age myself, but at the time, the internet wasn’t so accessible. If you wanted to find a band, you had to work for it. You couldn’t just open up your cell phone and check them out just like that. Back then you took the risk going to a show. Maybe the bands at a show would be good, maybe they won’t be. I think that’s a mentality small towns still have. They’ll go to a show to see bands they’ve never heard of. That’s what is sort of unfortunate about the larger cities do now. They get so many tours through there and people get burnt out and they end up thinking, “I could go to a show tonight or I could go to a show tomorrow night.” So that’s what was cool about the other night in Laramie was that everyone was just there to see fast, heavy bands and they didn’t care about our politics or whether or not we were the coolest band in the scene right now. They just wanted to see a show. I have that same mentality.
What has driven you to keep doing this over the years?
It’s all I know how to do. My first job was working in a record store and I’ve just been obsessed with music; it’s all the makes sense to me. When you grow up in punk and hardcore, it’s not just a music you sit there and listen to. You have to get connected and you get hooked on it. For the romantics and the nerds like myself, you hold onto a little bit more. You don’t connect to the rest of society. Especially being straightedge and also being older now, it’s harder to connect with my peers than when I was 21; now there’s even more of a disassociation. I’ve never wanted to be a part of mainstream society. You can still be an adult and be responsible, but having something to look forward to like a show or a new record instead of just the typical, “Friday and Saturday is bar night and then Sunday is recovery day where I watch football and barbecue and then work 9 to 5 again Monday thru Friday.” Being a part of this scene just nurtures that part of me.
Do you think you’ll come to play Laramie again in the future?
Hopefully very soon. I know we’re playing in Cheyenne again in August, but I’d love to make it back to Laramie.
