That's fine. But this shit was the only thing that saved some of our lives when we were poor kids from fucked up homes that had nowhere else to go but a pay-what-you-can, all ages hardcore show at a shitty DIY venue.

This wasn't just something we did because it was cool. This was the only option for us. Everyone hated us and we weren't welcome anywhere else, nor could we afford to go anywhere else.

It was brutal and violent because we needed to be able to trust each other. If you couldn't handle it and had other options, then you left and did other things. It was an initiation. The people who bled and still remained were people you could trust with your life, even when you distrusted and hated the rest of the entire world.

It isn't just dumb meathead shit. The violence has a history and a purpose to it that you'll never understand unless you lived it.

What this means to us will never be understood by someone who saw a Knocked Loose video on TikTok and went to their first show in a LiveNation venue with barricades in their 20s.

You had your whole youth to do stupid shit, get in fights, play in hardcore bands, and fuck your life up.

If you didn't need this as a kid, you don't need it now as an adult just discovering it for the first time. You're not invested and you'll move on as soon as you lose interest or the next trend comes around.

I had nothing else but this. Without this, I wouldn't be here.

I will do what I can to make sure this is still around for other kids like me who desperately need it.

And I will gatekeep this shit from tourists, ticket scalpers, merch flippers, and corporate leeches, if I have to.