Tag Archives: Punk

The Punk Museum of Reykjavik

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Sunday, 19-May-2024


Okay so one more museum for today, I swear.

Wait… yeah. Okay, this is definitely the last museum from Sunday the 19th. Had to double-check that.


From the settlement museum, I was a bit overstimulated and stuffed full of new trivia knowledge… I was happy, feeling good, and enjoying my continued wanderings around Reykjavik when I noticed a sign, pointing down a staircase, under the street.

Signs, pointing down staircases, under streets, are a great place to have your kidneys removed. Alternatively, they remind me of the entrance to the Catacombs in Paris, that I didn’t ever get to see since my friends wanted to see Notre Dam, which we could have seen afterward, but no we had to see first, and it had a huge line, and I never got to see the catacombs, and no I’m not still mad about that what makes you think that?





I went down the stairs.





The punk museum of Reykjavik lived up to its name.

Punk isn’t about following rules, or fitting in, or even being particularly understandable. It’s about… well, it’s about punk. Pretty sure that, if you asked 10 punks what Punk is about, you’d get 12 different answers and a fist fight.

The punk museum was built in a defunct public restroom. There was a small entryway, with an exceptionally chill dude talking to friends about some upcoming shows. The “Exhibits” were the stalls, plastered with concert posters, facts, and photos… in something vaguely resembling what could be mistaken for a chronological order.

I asked if I had enough time to see everything before he closed up shop, and he looked at me sideways and said, “Man, I’m not gonna kick you out. Have fun, don’t worry about it” and then went back to his conversation.

Hell yeah. I perused, learned a bit (I think?) and simply appreciated that a museum like this could exist. I repeat – Hell. Yeah.


Punk in Portland!

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Thursday, 03-Mar-2022


I went to a concert! An actual, real-life, down-and-dirty punk show!

The last show I went to was… what, October? Delta Rae, if I’m remembering right… And while I definitely love seeing Delta Rae in concert, it’s definitely a mellow type of show. Great energy, great music, and tons of positive energy…

But a punk show has a completely different energy. It has volume. It has rhythm, and it has a raw power that I can’t quite describe.

I’ve been to some shows before, of course – Rancid is definitely a type of punk, but more punk-rock than pure punk. I think. Honestly, I’m just parroting what my friend told me when he invited me along – his Brother-in-Law is in one of the bands, and he seemed psyched to see them. The tickets were cheap, it was a venue I hadn’t been to before…

Heck, absolutely no reason not to go, right?

Full disclosure, I can’t tell you if it was good or bad.

I can tell you that I had a blast, and I can tell you that’d I’d definitely go again… but I also have to tell you that I’d probably bring some earplugs to dampen the impact a little bit. It was fun, and I went home happily exhausted after rocking out to their set… but I also went home with ringing ears – a ringing that definitely took a day or two to quiet.

Worth it.