Romania

The romanian hardcore scene is relatively small as hardcore music only started to get popular in the last 3-4 years. Since then the number of gigs has been growing and cities like Cluj-Napoca or Timisoara have hosted bigger bands like Bane, Have Heart, Vitamin X and more. Shows are usually positive and fun and violence is not a big problem. Because it's such a small scene everybody knows each other and you are among friends.



There's very little difference between the hardcore scene and the punk/crust scene, people come together around common ideas not just music styles. Politics are an important part of the scene, but even though the ideas are there the action is lacking and the impact on the outside world is small. The politics revolve around personal freedom, antifascism, women rights, animal liberation, the fight against homophobia and sometimes it is more radical like anarchism. DIY ethics are also important. Vegetarianism and veganism have spread in the last few years and more and more kids are getting into it.




The biggest problems in organizing shows are with the venues and the big economical difference between us and western countries. There's also a group of people who consider themselves "hardcore" but don't really have a clue what they're talking about. They're the guys that used to listen to Limp Bizkit and now believe that Hatebreed is what hardcore is all about. I'm not a music snob but when some people say that politics doesn't a have a place in hardcore then I do believe those people are a problem. They're usualy the generic tough guy nikecore assholes and are not really part of what I consider the hardcore scene.



Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara remain in my opinion the best places to play in Romania but there are also shows in Bucharest, Craiova, Iasi and Brasov. What's great about the scene here is that people still appreciate the smaller bands and don't just go to big shows and support only the bands they know.

I still see hardcore as a part of the punk movement and so do most of the people involved in the scene.

Here's some people who organise shows:

Bistritz Hardcore Brigade

Thrashsilvania Bandana Collective

Gluga Neagra

Anopsia Radio Station

We don't have a lot of bands. the most representative band for the romanian hardcore scene is pavilionul 32.