In the 60's , a lot of what we now call "Garage " bands got their asses beat by Rednecks , Greasers , Jocks and the like. I'm sure there have been many Garage bands since the 80's that have had guys who did'nt have the guts to get up on stage , themselves , hurl bottles at them , or pick fights during , or after , the show . Why ?
Because these poor excuses for men did'nt hear or see something
that satisfied their spoiled brat - big baby macho egos , or were threatened because maybe some of the women stopped listening to them talk about the Football game long enough to watch the band , instead.....
JJ Rassler from DMZ told me a bout a show they did with The Ramones in Cambridge , Massachusetts in 1976. These jockboys were'nt getting their satisfaction , and beat up a couple of members of DMZ during The Ramones' set. There's a bootleg of the show in question , you can hear those chickenshits , loud and clear , busting heads and breaking glass. There's always a chance for violence , whether it's at a "Punk" or "Garage" show, when you get sexually and emotonally insecure guys who've been used to getting their own way , pretty much all their lives ,thrown into the mix. When more Jocks started getting into Punk Rock in the 90's , it became more and more the case. Hell , I had this big Football guy knock me down to the floor at a Man or Astro Man show , once . There was no "PIT" going , of course. He called foul on ME , because I pushed him back , telling me I did'nt know how to have fun. That's a laugh.
The Terrorists said:
Garage is trendy because it's a safe word-- nobody ever got beat-up cause they played "garage." Unlike punk...
I've heard many bands that are definitely punk-influenced and whose members have never heard a garage band before except for maybe The Sonics, and i even doubt that much. They don't even hear the music that those garage bands grew up listening to, which is the key to coming up with a believable sound. If you honestly don't listen to rock n roll and blues, your "garagey" sound is likely to come up quite dull.
Not only is a safe word, but it also implies you went through the trouble of listening to music that isn't mainstream, which makes you hip. If only that was true.
These people won't stop at garage, i've heard bands claim they play gospel and surf influenced music and I just dont' hear it.