Romania - Iasi

Romania 9/1/10

The hardcore scene in our area... it doesn't really exist haha. I mean me and a couple of other friends used to put up shows for about 3 years, almost every month, here in Iasi but we had a crowd consisting of 15 persons coming to the last shows, usually friends of ours, which wasn't bad, but the feeling that we had a private party going on wasn't very satisfying. And for some of us putting up shows was a pretty big effort, so we decided to give it up for now and concentrate on other activities.

In Cluj or Timisoara the situation isn't that bad. usually there are about 60-80 people coming to shows but they have their "failures" too. The good part is that the crowd is always very energetic there and the bands are often very impressed, saying it's the nicest show in their tour (and I'm not just trying to persuade bands into coming here haha). So yeah, maybe that would be the "local flavour". People are trying to have a great time at shows even if they are very few, because it really is an effort to keep this thing going on so having a really good time once a month outside a society that doesn't represent us, making 10 people (and sometimes hopefully more) feel they are a part of something and encouraging some diy bands to keep on transmitting their thoughts and dreams is leaving you with a nice feeling in the end.

About hardcore being more than music... if a band has nothing to say, I'm sorry but I don't really think that's a hardcore band. Of course, there are some bands in Romania pretending to be hardcore bands although they have absolutely nothing to do with hardcore. Concerning sound, maybe they have a percent of hardcore influences, but, for me, and for most of the people who put up shows a band that has nothing to say and eventually brings up subjects they don't even believe in or know anything about just to seem tough guys, is definitely not hardcore. And of course, you can sing about your broken heart, hardcore was always emotional, but if that's all you've got, I doubt that's music about social change anymore.

Some pictures from different shows in Romania:

Pavilionul 32

Hardcore Street Photography