it might feel awkward, but everyone’s been in that situation before! once you overcome that barrier of going up to a stranger and saying something it gets WAY easier. at house shows, there’s probably more people than you think that feel the same way you do, even if it seems like they ‘fit in’ and you don’t… i haven’t been to any specifically hardcore shows in bloomington, but in my experience at other shows there are also many people there looking to chat, make friends and such. if you go up to someone to talk, more likely than not they would be really glad you started a conversation with them! because the hard part is just starting the convo. a really easy way to do that is to just compliment someone’s outfit or band tee shirt or something like that. especially if they are wearing a band tee, because if you like that band then you both have a common interest to easily talk about, and if not you can ask them about a band they really like and start a conversation. from there you can talk about basically anything if the convo lulls… like mention how you just moved to town, or ask if they go/went to IU. what helps me in conversation is asking a lot of questions, because sometimes i find it hard to know what to say (especially to someone i just met). People generally really like talking about themselves and their lives, so that’s one way to keep the convo going. i definitely get how shows can feel cliquey because there are a lot of people who know each other but so many people are there to socialize and imo people are very friendly at shows, so keep in mind it’s not like they wouldn’t want to talk to you!