My knowledge of the hardcore scene begins and ends in the suburban outskirts of Chicago around the turn of the century, seeing my friends dance around like chihuahuas on an 8-ball of blow to The Locust. I don’t understand hardcore music, but I respect it. And you will be damn sure that I will fight for the right of the American people to listen to it, but there is a seedy underbelly to the hardcore scene — namely Gary LaPlante and skinheads. They are not mutually exclusive, but being in the presence of either will probably bring you to a place mentally and physically that you never thought was possible. Just look at Gary, shirtless and ready to strike. Between the skinheads looking to make a mess of the fun time and Gary getting sweaty and taking his shirt off, we are lucky to have Emanuel Newton to keep things in line when stuff gets wild.
Here is the Bellator light heavyweight tournament finalist reflecting on some hardcore moments on the hardcore scene.
“I went to this show — it wasn’t a hardcore show by any means, but maybe some of the older guys would consider it to be hardcore. Strife, in my opinion, was really the only true hardcore band on this show. I guess those skinheads kind of frequent that place. I haven’t seen skinheads at a hardcore show since, like, 2001. I saw them, and I was like, ‘Great,’ but there were also a lot of hardcore kids who were there to see Strife, and we definitely outnumbered the skinheads. The pit had just started, and I could really tell that they were checking us out. I started circle-pitting, and a guy tried to trip me. I turned and looked, and I knew it was a white power guy. One guy had ‘white power’ tattooed on the back of his head. I went over to my friends and told them to keep their eyes open. After I warned my boys, one of those guys came up and just blatantly took a swing at me. I saw it coming, of course, so I slipped it and threw a punch that dropped him and put him out. [His friends] then started jumping in. I think one of them shot a double-leg on me, and I was up against the stage. Then some white power girl came up and started swinging at me. I just tucked my chin, put my head down and said, ‘Go ahead and punch me in my forehead and the top of my head all you want. You’re just going to have a broken hand in the morning.’ All my buddies jumped in, and they just demolished the guys. I didn’t have to do anything more, because all my boys either train MMA or they fight, too. So they came in and just smashed the guys.”
He should channel this energy on Thursday night against Mikhail Zayats. If we had the time or ability, we would ask Emanuel to make an exclusive video teaching MiddleEasy the proper etiquette at a hardcore show. Maybe we can work on that soon.
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