More than 30 years after Fugazi played landmark shows at the Sylvan Theater on the National Mall, two punk fans are working to revive D.C.'s politically charged punk scene with a mutual aid concert this weekend.
For one of the show’s organizers, Caroline Liaupsin, the show is about more than bringing punk back to a historic stage. It is an attempt to remind fans of D.C.’s outspoken punk legacy as residents deal with rising costs, gentrification and loss of venues.
“Right now D.C. is maybe at its worst spot it’s been at in a very long time,” Liaupsin said, pointing to the presence of National Guard troops and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“The city is being treated like an experiment, basically, and not respected in the way that it should be, as a place where hundreds of thousands of people live and love and make art and want to have a city that is theirs,” she said.
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That sense of political urgency has long been part of the District’s punk identity.
“What made D.C.’s punks unique was the very explicitly political bent that they always had,” Liaupsin said, citing the legacy of bands and activist organizations that include Fugazi, Minor Threat, Revolution Summer and Positive Force D.C.
“Being a punk in D.C. sort of requires you to have an eye towards national politics in a way that you might not have to in other scenes across the country,” she said. “Because it’s all right there.”
The Sylvan Theater is central to that history. Fugazi played there in 1993 and 1995, shows that Liaupsin said represented some of the band’s largest crowds and remain influential, with recordings of the performances still available online.
Saturday’s concert will feature Glitterer, Posición Unida and Somebody’s Daughter. Liaupsin expects more than 1,000 people to attend.
The idea for the new show began in January, when Liaupsin interviewed Glitterer’s Ned Russin for her radio program, DIYNot. During a break, Russin asked whether it might be possible to put on a show at the Sylvan.
At the time, Liaupsin thought it was impossible. But she had previously worked as a National Park Service ranger on the Mall and started working with people in the agency’s permitting office to see whether it could happen.
The event will also reflect changes in the District’s current music community. Liaupsin said the lineup was intentionally built to include representation for Latino and transgender people, pointing to Posición Unida’s Spanish-language hardcore and the fact that all of the members of Somebody’s Daughter identify as transgender.
Liaupsin and her co-organizer, Eleanor Pampalone, are both trans women. She said transgender people are an important part of D.C.’s communities, making that visibility particularly significant amid what she described as a hostile national political environment.
“It feels really, really important to make it very publicly known that trans people are here in large numbers in D.C. and make this city move,” she said.
The show’s proceeds will go to Ward One Mutual Aid, after organizers cover expenses.
Organizing the concert has been difficult. Because the theater is on federal parkland, organizers cannot sell tickets or conventional band merchandise and must cover extensive permitting, insurance and production requirements themselves. People who want to attend can RSVP, but admission is free.
Liaupsin said those hurdles are part of why similar shows have been difficult to stage there over the past 30 years.
“It’s in some ways very impractical to do,” she said. “It requires a lot of legwork and a lot of people coming together to make this happen. But despite how impractical it is and how difficult it is, it’s worth it.”
The result is the first punk show at the theater in more than three decades.
“This is a show that has the potential to go down the annals of D.C. punk history in the same way that those Fugazi shows in the ’90s did,” Liaupsin said.
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