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A great number of strange factors converged and led me to seeing legendary punk icon Ian MacKaye performing with his band the Evens at the Plant Zero Art Space. “How many of you have seen a show here?” Mackaye asked before kicking things off. There was a bit of mumbling. “How many have been to a wedding reception here.” Hands were raised. Mine included. The man was dressed precisely as I had expected – black sneakers and tall white socks, cargo pants and a maroon t shirt. And, of course, he was hairless. In fact, I’m fairly certain that, outside the damn inescapable coercions of age, Mr. MacKaye hasn’t changed in the slightest since around 1989. There’s some definite comfort in that. The crowd about fit the mold I’d imagined too. There were your worn-out but in-shape guys who had seen hardcore get born and weren’t about to let a few gray hairs in between the rest of the brown buzz-cut talk shit to them, your former college radio DJ’s who left Jesus for Fugazi in the mid-80’s, and of course your modern punks, be they straight-edge or crusty or bent or hipsters or whatever, all looking to Ian as a guiding light, or for validation.
