Tekst: Cato, Bilder: Ane PMA

Torsdag og fredag forrige uke var det duket for årets happening i Oslo. Youth Of Today var tilbake i landet, 22 år etter sist gang, og det var ingen som ville gå glipp av dette. På plakaten sto også For Pete’s Sake, et Sportswear for 2011. I tillegg hadde hver kveld hver sin oppvarmer, torsdag det nye OCHC-bandet Giant, mens svenske Hårda Tider var fredagens bidrag. Det er unødvendig å si veldig mye om dette, alle er enige om at dette var magisk. I følge Ray Cappo sjøl låter de bedre nå enn i 1989, og hva vet vel jeg? Å være mye bedre enn det de viste nå skal ihvertfall la seg godt gjøre. Stor stas var det også å se Peter Amdam & Co i toppform. De utviste en enorm glede ved å være tilbake, og det skinte klart gjennom at de synes hardcore er morsommere enn både kunstkritikk og hippe og trendye magasiner.

Giant er nyeste tilskudd i Oslos hardcorescene, med godt kjente fjes fra miljøet. Om det betyr noe som helst har jeg troa på dette bandet, og en bedre anledning til å gjøre sin førstegig kan man vel nesten ikke drømme om. Å debutere med å spille Project X’ Straight Edge Revenge med sjølveste John Porcelly på vokal er intet mindre enn legendarisk.

Hårda Tider ledet fredag an den svenske delegasjonen som kom relativt mannsterke med egen buss. De søtti (?) svenskene var igang, og kvelden var igang.


På fredag var jeg dessuten så heldig å få noen ord med Ray Cappo. Et kort møte på ti minutter i forkant av konserten resulterte i et lite intervju som følger under. På engelsk, for moro skyld. Here it goes!

800grader: Thanks for doing this interview, and thanks for an amazing show last night!

Ray Cappo: Thank you, it was awesome.

800grader: Are you ready for another one tonight?

Ray Cappo: Yeah, we are! A bunch of cool dudes from Sweden has arrived, old friends of ours. Lots of friends from Oslo as well, and that’s what’s so cool about this. We have met so many cool people over the years that we have connected with. So tonight will be a great night!

800grader: There have been pretty big expectations here in Oslo regarding this gig. Have you felt the atmosphere after arriving here?

Ray Cappo: Definitely! We’re actually not doing a tour, we have only been playing in Russia and here. And it was the same, you could feel the anticipations in the crowd. And we hope we do not let anyone down.

800grader: After 22 years the legends are finally back. Do you realize that you’re actually legends to these people, to us?

Ray Cappo: Haha, I’ve never thought about it in that way. But I guess, if I think about when I was a kid, going to shows. Those bands changed my life, and Youth Of Today have probably had that same role to others.


800grader: Do you remember the last time you were here? It’s been a while…

Ray Cappo: You know, on that tour we did 62 shows in 60 days. But I do remember some. I remember the band Life… But How To Live It, and I remember the club. But probably not much more than that, haha!

800grader: What’s different now from 22 years ago?

Ray Cappo: First of all there was no straight edge scene back then, much more a free-for-all punk rock scene. There were no fans, we had to go in there and win people over, just by brute force, you know what I mean? Every night was a little adventurous, and I think that out of all those 62 shows, there were maybe five where we had fans. But most of all there were just punks, getting drunk and getting beers whipped at us.

800grader: And that happened last night as well!

Ray Cappo: Hahaha! Actually, Peter came up to me afterwards and said: “Man, no one threw that beer on you. It was a mistake. A friend of mine who loves you a lot did something with his body and the beer slipped and hit you. It was all a mistake.” But it felt like he had practiced, because it hit me perfect, all over my head, chest and shoulders. I was totally covered in it.

800grader: Did you take it as cool as it seemed, or were you mad inside?

Ray Cappo: Truthfully, I was in such a good mood, I wasn’t angry. But I thought, “you know, I should say something.” I’m older now, and that type of edge has worn out, I think. I’m not such an angry guy.


800grader: How is it like to travel the world with these songs today? Do you still feel the same commitment to the songs and the lyrics as you did when you wrote them?

Ray Cappo: You saw last night. With a band like Youth Of Today, there are two ways to play the songs. Either you live them, or you do a performance. We live this, we have these memories. A truthfully think there is more import for a 16 year old to see us now than back then. To see us up there, 45 years old and still straight. I live a clean life, and it has been years of doing that stuff. It’s a testament of clean living and positive thinking. And you can do that when you’re 16 years old, but when you’re my age you have to do that. When you’re 45, either you’re straight edge or you’re a loser. That being said, when I say straight edge I mean reasonably amount of control. You can do whatever you want to your body when you’re 16-17, and your body forgives you, but when you’re 45, or even 35 or 25, it doesn’t. Then you have to make a change. And either you’re forced to do it or you choose to do it. You choose because you’re intelligent, or you’re forced to do it by nature.

800grader: To go back to your beginning: Which bands inspired you to get into hardcore?

Ray Cappo: I was inspired by NYHC-bands back then, which was Cause For Alarm, Agnostic Front, Kraut. But I think 7 Seconds was the band that inspired me most. Inspired me the most lyrically. They touched my heart the most.

800grader: Do you still have any contact with the guys from back then?

Ray Cappo: Not so much. Ever since Youth Of Today got big, I became more of a peer than a fan. We have mutually respect and all that, and I will always love them because they gave me so much. But I don’t really see them that much, and I don’t hang out with the hardcore scene, I don’t listen to hardcore music.

800grader: You playing with For Pete’s Sake feels so natural, hence you’re both hardcore legends. For Pete’s Sake, or Sportswear here in Norway, and you in the States, and pretty much rest of the world. What’s your relationship with those guys?


Ray Cappo: Those guys are supercool. Arne, Espen, Peter. They recorded their record with me in New York, and I see us as friends. It’s great to play here, at their home, with them. When we see them again now, it’s like no time has passed.

800grader: That’s all I had! Thank you so much, and good luck with tonight’s show.

Ray Cappo: All right, no problem, and thank you!

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