“Suburbia” Coda: An Unlikely Stage Diver's Journey

And now, a very silly companion piece to the last post. 

It’s been a really long time since I thought of this, but since exhuming “Suburbia” in that last post, I was reminded about a tiny detail that really used to bug the Hell out of me.

Not too long into the film, the T.R. gang attends a show by T.S.O.L., and the viewer is treated to two songs from the Long Beach band, namely “Wash Away” from 1983’s Beneath the Shadows and an otherwise unreleased song called “Darker My Love.”

Here’s their big cameo...

Now, for a start, one could make the very credible argument that T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty) was a band that liked to deliberately flaunt the narrowly encroaching parameters of hardcore punk. Unlike many of their peers, at the time, the band’s music zig-zagged between relatively straightforward, guitar-based punk to histrionic goth rock, especially with the provocative addition of synthesizers. This didn’t necessarily go over well with a lot of their original audience.

As a result, you could assume that their evolving music might be attracting a different sort of crowd. That's all well and good, but it doesn’t really explain the stage invader at exactly 01:06. While vocalist Jack Grisham – resplendent in his black leather jacket and ruffled tuxedo shirt – croons away, stalking the stage like a Death Rock hearthrob, a young man bearing something of a resemblance to not-especially-punky Anthony Michael Hall, assumes the stage for a little disjointed skanking before leaping off into the pit. Here he is now….

It should be noted that, then as now, many – if not most -- of the people who go to hardcore shows don’t necessarily “dress up” for the occasion. Not everyone’s going to look like an extra from “The Road Warrior.” As I mentioned, this kid looks like your average teenager (although I woudn’t suggest wearing sunglasses while stage-diving). But there is one particular sartorial flourish that has literally bothered me for decades.

Take a look at his t-shirt.

For those that might not recognize it, that’s the cover of Captured, the 1981 album by those combat-booted, mohican roughnecks in …. Journey, the biggest single from same being the lilting, soft-rock ode to San Francisco that is “Lights.”

Can you imagine the sheer BALLS to wear a fucking JOURNEY t-shirt to a hardcore show in 1983?

Somebody buy that kid a beer!!!

Here's a frankly disquieting AI-generated video for "Darker My Love," referencing the original "Suburbia" footage...