I recently ran into an old friend that I got to know through the local high school music scene in my hometown. Naturally, our conversation turned to reminiscing about all the good times we had going to local shows, being able to see shows that were close to home even though we were still too young to get into bars. Back when I wasn't too old to go, there was a sense of comaraderie, where eveyone that was there was there for the same reason: to listen to music, hang out with friends, and just generally have a great time. Community centre show were intentionally organized to provide a place for kids to go and hang out in a safe environment and enjoy music without the bullshit that usually accompanies being a kid in high school. They were a place that let kids be around other kids who couldn't think of a greater way to spend the night than listening to music and being with people that cared about doing the same. The more we talked, the more I realized how much things had changed in the few short (ok, ok, long) years it had been since I reached the legal bar-attending age and what the all-ages scene was now like. Now, it seems like the kids at shows go for entirely different reasons. Some are there just to get high or drunk and cause a scene, picking fights or just being assholes, some are there just to seem cool (and chastize anyone else that isn't as big of a scenester as them), and a few are there for the music. I'm not saying that I didn't have my fair share of underaged debauchery in my day (and I'm not saying that drinking and getting high isn't usual at a show), but that wasn't the main reason we went to see bands. It used to be that if you walked into a local show without knowing anyone, you were welcomed with open arms and left with a whole bunch of brand new great friends who had also just discovered the greatest band ever, right in your backyard. According to my friend, if she goes to check up on how things are now, all she gets is evil eyes from the snarky youngsters who think you have to look or act a certain way to be cool in the scene. Even the bands seem to have lost a certain something, and seem to be playing to fit a certain image or style rather than because of a passion for the music itself. And yes, a lot of them are that transparent. If local scenes are where the larger scenes grow out of, what does this say about the future of music in my hometown? Maybe I just have too pristine an image memorialized in my head about what it used to be like to go to these shows. Maybe for these kids they're going through exactly what I did, I just don't see it, and I'm just being the creepy tightass old lady who lurks around once in a while. Or maybe things really have changed. Maybe change is natural and necessary. Maybe I've rambled on for way to long. All I know is that I feel really lucky to have been a part of the all ages scene where and when I was.