Punks in the city!

I was inspired to write this article by material in the first issue of [ne]format (Punks not dead) magazine. In it, I want to tell about informals in the city.

Being practically regulars of the Stela myself (this is a meeting point for informals in the city of Arkhangelsk), I have already seen enough of this whole life and I will try to describe it to you.

In almost every locality there are punks, metalheads, etc., who usually hang out together and keep in touch. Unfortunately, I can’t say how it happens in large cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg), but in our city there are several main points (by districts) where all the informal brethren gather together.

Here you can meet almost all representatives of the informal movement (the only exception is, perhaps, only rappers - they have their own party). A separate item is the gopniks ("gopota"), who, according to my observations, just wander aimlessly through the streets. They don't like them here. For local regulars, anyone who is not informal is either a gopnik or a rapper. Here I want to note that it is wrong to consider GOP students as gopniks. Among them there are also punks. Skins are a separate item. Many informals personally know the "skinheads" and keep in touch with them, but do not like them very much. This is primarily due to their beliefs and behavior. And if you dig deeper, then there are also pacifists, but they are somehow parallel to our informals. We just laugh at them.

But back to the point. As I said, here you can meet Punks, metalheads and many more. Most of them can be immediately recognized by their clothes: long hair, leather jacket, pins, patches, wristlets. Although there are "hidden punks". The relationship between metalheads (or rockers, Kama as it is more pleasant) and punks is more correctly called very warm. The company makes no distinction. In principle, listening to punk cannot deny the presence of heavier directions. Now a mixed class of informals has appeared in general - those who listen to "both GrOb and Aria".
In general, the guys are very willing to meet new people. If they are interested in a new person, then they try to find out what he is listening to. If the answer suits them, then welcome! But if someone tries to adapt to them, then the meeting will be very cool.

Weekdays "at the point" are very monotonous. They pass every day (at the point after four you can always find a couple of people). Weekends - general collection. The guys chat, drink (Antiled-D forever!), wander around the area, and by night they go on business. Such weekdays are brightened up by group trips to concerts. It doesn't matter if it's heavy music or punk. Though Death Metal, even rock-n-roll. The main thing is that you can have plenty of fun and party, beat rappers :
It's gotten harder lately. The point is not the same, everything is changing. Hardened punks and metalheads are disappearing. Grandmothers and the police are chasing. People generally have a biased attitude towards informals. If a guy in leather and with a chain walks down the street, then he will definitely break the glass or rob the store right now. And he's definitely screwed up and stoned. In fact, everything is not so. Firstly, most informals are very peaceful and do not climb on people. Secondly, there are those who do not drink or smoke. I didn’t meet any drug addicts among them.

Punk culture may be a thing of the past, but punks remain. In my opinion, there is a little punk in every person. It's just that somewhere he sleeps, but somewhere he broke free.