Punkfest Schedule
Tuesday, November 1
7:00 PM
Cornell Cinema
Screening of Decline of Western Civilization followed by Q & A with director Penelope Spheeris
Decline of Western Civilization is the ultimate record of LA’s late 70s and early 80s punk subculture. Protested by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Chief for its apparent threat to civil order in 1981, the film was out of print and unavailable to screen until last year. Spheeris documents stunning performances from the most powerful underground bands of the day—X, the Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Fear, and the Germs—and also presents violent, funny, and personal interviews with band members. The film captures an intimate portrait of the early LA punk scene at its height before they would be become legendary figures in music history.
- General Public: $8.50
- Senior Citizens (62+): $6.50
- CU Grad Students: $6
- CU Undergrads and Kids 12 & under: $5.50
Wednesday, November 2
6:00-7:30 PM
Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, G70 Klarman Hall
Pussy Riot panel discussion with Maria (Masha) Alyokhina and Alexandra (Sasha) Bogino
Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist punk rock protest group based in Moscow. Founded in August 2011, its varying membership of women has staged unauthorized provocative guerrilla performances in unusual public locations across Russia. The resulting music videos have gained international attention and disturbed the Russian government. The activist group’s lyrical themes include feminism, LGBT rights, opposition to the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom they regard as a dictator, and links between Putin and the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2012, five members of the group, including Masha, staged a performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior, protesting the Orthodox Church leader’s support for Putin during his election campaign, resulting in her arrest and imprisonment for twenty-one months. Sasha has been a reporter and collaborator with Masha and other Pussy Riot members through the MediaZona website, an independent news outlet that reports on the courts, law enforcement, and prison system in Russia.
Thursday, November 3
8:00 PM
State Theatre
Henry Rollins, Spoken Word Performance
Henry Rollins, the frenetic frontman for legendary hardcore punk band Black Flag, has since become an established actor, writer, photographer and poet. Rollins, who has recorded nearly twenty spoken word albums, will perform a “talking show”—a mix of political commentary and personal anecdote full of humor, outrage, pop culture, and skepticism.
Tickets: $25, $30, $35. All ages.
http://dansmallspresents.com/henry-rollins-2
Friday, November 4
4:00-5:30 PM
Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, G70 Klarman Hall
John Doe and Exene Cervenka of the L.A. punk band X, on-stage conversation
John Doe and Exene Cervenka founded the ground-breaking L.A. band X in 1977, along with guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake. Mixing rockabilly and punk styles with their own unique vocal harmonies, the songs of X explored the dark side of love and life in L.A. with the unflinching eye of a Raymond Chandler novel. In addition to their continued work in X, John and Exene have recorded together in the Knitters, and separately in numerous solo albums. In John Doe and Tom DeSavia’s new book Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk, John and Exene, along with Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s, Mike Watt of the Minutemen, Henry Rollins of Black Flag, and others acquaint readers with the weirdness and wonder that defined the world they created on the fringes of Hollywood society. John Doe will also be performing at 9:00 PM at The Haunt this same day.
Free and open to the public.
Friday, November 4
5:30 PM
Hirshland Exhibition Gallery
Carl A. Kroch Library
“Anarchy in the Archives” exhibition opening reception
Friday, November 4
9:00 PM
The Haunt
John Doe in performance
In 1977 John Doe, along with Exene Cervenka and Billy Zoom, formed the influential band X, famous for its mix of punk, rockabilly, and poetic lyrics. X released six studio records and are still performing today. John Doe has also recorded eight solo records with numerous renowned singers and players, more recently including Patty Griffin, Dan Auerbach, Aimee Mann, Don Was, Kathleen Edwards and Greg Liesz. He describes his new album The Westerner as “psychedelic soul music from the Arizona desert.”
Tickets $20-$25. Ages 18+ only.
http://dansmallspresents.com/john-doe
Saturday, November 5
1:00-2:30 PM
Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, G70 Klarman Hall
Panel on Punk Communities and Identities
Panel on Punk Communities and Identities, featuring Aaron Cometbus, musician, writer, and producer of the Bay Area zine Cometbus; Victoria Ruiz, lead singer of Downtown Boys; and journalist Jon Savage, author of England’s Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock and Beyond. Moderated by S. Alexander Reed, Professor of Music, Ithaca College.
Free and open to the public.
Saturday, November 5
3:00-4:30 PM
Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, G70 Klarman Hall
Panel on Global Punk
Panel on Global Punk, featuring Kevin Dunn, Professor of Political Science at Hobart and William Smith and author of Global Punk: Resistance and Rebellion in Everyday Life; Paloma Duong, Professor of Global Studies and Languages, MIT; and Shane Greene, Professor of Anthropology, Indiana University, and author of Punk and Revolution: Seven More Interpretations of Peruvian Reality. Moderated by Jennifer Stoever, Professor of English, State University of New York at Binghamton.
Free and open to the public.
Saturday, November 5
5:00-6:30 PM
Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, G70 Klarman Hall
Q&A with Ian MacKaye
Founder of the independent record label Dischord Records (1980-), the Washington D.C. hardcore band Minor Threat (1981-83), and the post-hardcore band Fugazi (1987-), as well as Teen Idles, Embrace, Pailhead and, most recently, The Evens, Ian MacKaye’s work and life have shaped, sustained, and intersected with most of the key movements associated with punk, from straight edge to Riot Grrrl. An activist who has pushed to keep prices low for shows and records, a music producer of Bikini Kill, 7 Seconds, Rollins Band and others, and a defacto living historian of punk history, MacKaye will take questions from the audience during this final Cornell Punkfest speaking event.
Free and open to the public.
Saturday, November 5
9:00PM
The Haunt
Shonen Knife in performance
Legendary Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife was formed in Osaka by the leading member Naoko. Named after an old brand name of a pencil sharpener knife, they adapted the buzzsaw guitar sounds of The Ramones and The Buzzcocks to their pop sensibility. Their first album Burning Farm was released by Zero Records in 1983, and subsequently released by Olympia, Washington’s "K" Records in 1985. By 1989, the band was honored by Sonic Youth, L7, The Mr. T Experience and others recording Shonen Knife songs for the tribute album Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them. After opening for Nirvana, playing Lollapalooza, and releasing their breakout album Let's Knife in 1992, they gained mass popularity in Japan, the U.S. and the UK. After releasing more than twenty albums, including 2011’s Osaka Ramones, Shonen Knife comes to Ithaca to support their new album Adventure.
Tickets $15-$18; Ages 18+ only.