Navigate Left
  • Autumn Alaniz-Wiggins delivers a presentation on black student experience at Chico State at the Elevating Black Excellence Tipping Point Student Success Summit. Photo courtesy of Alaniz-Wiggins’ Instagram account.

    2024 AS ELECTIONS

    A journey of discovery: AS President Autumn Alaniz-Wiggins

  • The Butte Humane Society is organizing the Woofstock Festival Saturday. The event will raise money to support the animals at the humane society. Courtesy: Butte Humane Society.

    Arts & Entertainment

    Woofstock Music Festival wags its way back to Chico

  • Students in line to check in for the career fair. Taken by Jessica Miller on March 27.

    News

    Border Patrol unexpectedly absent from Chico State career fair

  • The Media, Entertainment, Technology and Immersive Experiences department will be making some major changes. Courtesy: Chico State.

    News

    Chico State to combine journalism, MADT, CAGD programs under one school

  • Lunar Market customers taking a look at a vendor business. Taken by Julianna Rose on Dec. 2, 2023.

    Arts & Entertainment

    Lunar Market’s growth in the Chico community

Navigate Right
Breaking News
Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Punk is not dead in Chico

IMG_6972-GAL-700px-TYROrion.jpg
Jesse Romero, who traveled to Chico from Fresno for the Jefferson Fest Showcase at 1078 Gallery downtown, provides the vocals for Choke Slam. Feb 27, 2015. Photo credit: Trevor Ryan

Illuminating the gallery walls, the soft glow of warm lighting bounced across the room, lining a trail of contemporary art.

1078 gallery played host to “The Jefferson Pre-Fest,” a hardcore punk showcase celebrating “The Jefferson Fest” based in Anderson, CA. The Jefferson Fest is a hard core punk movement with bands hailing from Chico, Redding, Humboldt and other surrounding areas.

The night started off with Kong, a Chico band who showed such high energy for a rather intimate crowd.

They ended their set list with the perfect curtain call; a smashed guitar.

Each band played their music to an eclectic mix of people. The crowd was made up of mostly those in their mid-20s but was littered with some slightly older individuals and even middle schoolers from the skate parks close by.

Joshua Emery, who is both Kong’s guitarist and part of the Jefferson Crew, is part of the initiative that made the night possible.

It was hard to pick who stood out when every band took the time to engage with their audience throughout the night. The small venue made it easy for the audience to respond to the enthusiasm. Even though the gallery’s “no-drugs-no-alcohol” policy were strictly imposed, it showed no signs of dampening the night.

PSO, who headlined the night, is a skate punk band hailing from Lemon Grove, CA. The band of brothers from San Diego really proved themselves worth the wait. It was clear from the audience that their stellar performance ended the night on the right note.

Song after song, it slowly became obvious that the essence of the punk movement was also deeply rooted in the audience. As the mosh pits gained pace, those who fell were quickly picked up by other participants. Punk is so frequently misinterpreted but here there was no violence or rough housing; it was clear that here it was all about the music.

Set List

Kong
Concussive
Vacant Youth
Chokeslam
Make Way
Rad
PSO

Marissa Iqbal Hakim can be reached at [email protected] or @daenamarissa on Twitter.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All The Orion Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *