Locals Only
Built this city
By Wes Flexner
?Heading into their 10-year anniversary show this weekend, Columbus thrash band Killed in Action has a history that weirdly balances destructive behavior with community building.
KIA singer Travis Drake still recalls with fondness the band's infamous 2004 Red-16 show, which the police shut down after kids broke the lights, the furniture and the pizza boxes full of dishware they'd snuck in.
"I have never seen 150 people collectively get all of their hate and aggression out at the same time, while still having so much fun," he said. "You could feel it. Everyone looked like they were waiting for a fight, or to mug someone. It was crazy."
It would be easy to dismiss KIA as a group of nihilist ne'er-do-wells, but dramatic events do create bonds, especially in times of void.
For example, take a winter 2004 multi-genre house show with Thought Set and Racist Joe. Kids from all over Ohio flooded the place until the floors between the graffiti-covered walls caved in. KIA played in the snowy backyard.
What: Killed in Action 10th anniversary show, with Weed Steeler, Black Dove and Cheap Tragedies
When: Saturday, April 12
Where: High Five Bar & Grill, Short North
Web: myspace.com/killedinaction
The determination of a hardcore band playing a 2 a.m. show on South Campus during a blizzard was not lost on the crowd of punks, hip-hoppers, skaters, artists, hipsters, metalheads and random college kids.
These kids later became skaters on the Embassy Board Shop team, a co-owner of boutique Milk Bar, Alive rapper to watch PBJ, several Abercrombie designers and DJs with club nights.
The blizzard performance mirrored the command on the song "Columbus Represents at All Costs," from KIA's most 614-centered record, 2004's We Ruin Fun. Songs like "Nothing to Lose" and "Bring Back the Old School Malls" scream of desperation and the need to make something happen.
Whether you look at the cross-pollination between the rock and hip-hop worlds that still exist meaningfully in Columbus, or at band member Adam Brouillette's all-inclusive work on the Agora arts events, you have to admit KIA's sometimes destructive "anything goes" philosophy has made a difference in Columbus.
April 10, 2008
Copyright ? 2008 Columbus Alive, Inc. All rights reserved.
