PunkFest at the Sanctuary

from an article by Jim Beal:

PunkFest 2006

When one thinks of tradition, one often thinks of things formal, or stuffy, or staid, or all three. However, PunkFest, the New Year's Day/Night celebration of punk old and new, is indeed a tradition. And it's in no way formal, stuffy or staid.

This year, the 24th annual PunkFest, spearheaded since 1988 by Tony Chainsaw, is set to take over The Sanctuary, 1818 N. Main Ave., Sunday from 7 p.m. until it's over. Cover charge is $8 and it's an all-ages show.

Back in the day — OK, a year or two or three ago — Chainsaw attempted to keep the lineup down to a manageable seven bands or so. This time around there will be two stages at The Sanctuary and a dozen bands: Denied Rights, Rat Salad, Total 13, Left Hand Lucy, Scum Allegiance, The Cutthroats, So Unloved, Complete Control, Lower Class Brats, The Perturbed, The Dispicables and The Bent Gents, roughly in that order.

PunkFest has proved to be durable indeed, outliving venues, bands and promoters. The gathering has been staged at the Bone Club, the DMZ Clubhouse, Brazakkas Reef, the Last Stand, the Meeting Place, the Showcase, SIN 13, Taco Land and even some places still going in their original incarnations, such as White Rabbit.

Part of the reason for PunkFest's longevity is the fact that it's virtually unchanged since night one. The people who put the thing on have resisted the urge to bring in high-dollar touring headliners, relying instead on the steady draw of local and area bands that have hard-core followings and know that PunkFest is a big-fun party of the punks, by the punks and for the punks.

And another part of the reason is Chainsaw, sometimes by hook, sometimes by crook, sometimes at the very last second, actually promotes PunkFest. Other so-called local promoters could take a tattered page from the man's book.

Bands run the gamut from young groups such as Denied Rights and Total 13 (just off a Texas tour with the Briefs) to the grizzled vets who staff Lower Class Brats, The Dispicables, The Bent Gents and, of course, the lovely, the talented, the "yes, they're still standing" The Perturbed, going as strong as possible after 15 years.

Even if punk is the furthest thing from your thing, you've gotta love a live-music event that can last for 24 years.