Drayton Valley Horror Show

I was torn between raging feelings of pity and volatile disgust when looking back on the events that took place on the night of November 11th, 2005, at what was initially intended to be a fun and merely harmless punk rock-hardcore show in a quaint Albertan town , respectively known as Drayton Valley. The show, which took place at a Drayton Valley Scout’s Hall, took an ill-fated turn as the result of a last minute decision to give Edmonton youth a chance to check out the show. The decision would have, under normal circumstances, been considered a good deed by most.

For teenagers growing up in small rural towns such as Drayton Valley, everyday life generally tends to seem like one boring, uneventful cycle, absent from the exuberating rollercoaster ride of ceaseless life-altering experiences that growing up is exaggerated into being. Unfortunately, many of these teens end up turning to excessive drug and alcohol abuse at a young age in order to keep their enthusiasm for life thriving. There are few other options for these kids. However, many young lives have been saved from the excessive use of harmful drugs, such as Methamphetamines, and alcohol, as the result of one simple thing; a passion for music.

Local underground music scenes seem to be growing larger as the small towns that these energetic, aspiring young musicians call home become smaller and less familiar. But wait- Let’s not forget about the ration of kids out there who aren’t learning how to play guitar or taking vocal lessons to perfect the ever-popular ‘hardcore scream’. After all, it is these kids who should be thanked for continuing to attend the shows, rain or shine, cover charge or no cover charge. However, thanks to those unidentified individuals who attended the Drayton Valley show under the influence of rather large quantities of alcohol-which I should mention was not permitted that night due to the majority of under-aged kids who were expected to attend the show- many of the local music fans will no longer be attending any shows, in fear of being victimized by such unnecessary chaos as to that of which took place at the November 11th show.

I would like to make the severity of this issue a bit clearer by adding in the horrendous fact that there were kids showing up to this local show equipped with brass knuckles, and bloodstreams overtaken by excessive amounts of alcohol. Nothing could possibly pose as a greater threat to thirteen and fourteen year old kids looking to check out some local talent and get involved in the enthusiastic world of amateur music. The local Albertan youth had a lot to look forward to that night as several bands from the Alberta area were expected to play at the Drayton Valley show. The play list included the following local talents from the Alberta area: The Felts, E-Town Beat Down, Tugnut, High Jinx, Tragic Ends, Langley, The Mark Birtle’s Project, and The Last Goodbye.

The chaos started at around 9:00 pm when a bus load full of highly intoxicated Edmonton Youth showed up over an hour late for the show. The band Tugnut was half way through their set and already, the obnoxious, drunken Edmonton youth were all over the place, acting out in a rather disturbing manner, and ruining the show for everyone else. Many of the teens persisted to throw full cans of beer at the band, which resulted in band members becoming extremely irritated and losing interest in playing for such a malevolent crowd. Their set was cut short. Next the band, High Jinx hit the stage and the kids became increasingly rowdier and more violent during the bands set, as they threw remorseless fists at innocent teenagers, many of whom were merely fourteen and fifteen years of age, some even as young as twelve and thirteen. Other kids started backing away from the stage as they became terrified and fully aware of what was happening around them.

The ‘hardcore predators’ continued to maliciously overtake the crowd, pushing violently and throwing punches at anyone and everyone who was brave enough to come near them. The scene became so horrific that one of the bands- The Last Goodbye – almost decided to leave but instead they decided to play a quick set before Edmonton’s E-Town Beat Down. The band was originally scheduled to play later on in the evening.
The Last Goodbye finished there set and all hell was about to break loose as the crowd welcomed Edmonton band, E-Town Beat Down to the stage. By that time, all of the intoxicated ‘Hardcore kids’ were on the floor in a giant mosh pit, fists and feet swinging about ruthlessly, targeted at anyone and everyone who was within a 5’ radius.

The night continued on in such reckless fashion. Band members of The Mark Birtle’s Project were rumored to have gotten completely wasted and out of control. Fortunately the band refrained from playing that night. Witnesses claim that one of the band members was apparently arrested for being drunk in public. He was also faced with serious charges for the possession of illegal narcotics. The sad part about all of this is that these amateur musicians are supposed to be role models for the younger generation.

Many questions regarding how these under-aged delinquents got the alcohol, and who permitted them to get on a bus headed for the Drayton Valley show have been provided by the young spectators and the parents of the kids who attended the show. It’s bad enough that today’s youth has to struggle to justify even so much as listening to this modern mixture of punk rock and heavy metal, let alone, explaining why there is so much physical violence affiliated with the genre. There really isn’t any way to justify this sort of behavior. Music is a creative form of expression that teenagers and adolescents use as refuge from such common issues as peer pressure, school work, and puberty. After all, don’t kids have enough to worry about these days without having to fear being attacked while attempting to have a good, sober time with friends?

The real issue here is the seriousness of under-aged drinking and the effects that alcohol has on the pre-mature minds and bodies of people aged seventeen and under. Logically, if it was okay for people this young to be consuming alcohol, there would be no such thing as a ‘Legal Drinking Age’ in Canada- or anywhere else in the world for that matter. Some of the younger kids who attended the Drayton Valley show are at the prime age to be influenced by the type of music that they listen to, their home environment, and essentially, the behavior of their peers. It is a well known fact amongst all generations that the young ones act as “sheep” to the preceding generation of youth, meaning that they follow what they see the older kids doing and they emulate that sort of behavior. What some of these kids were doing was morally wrong and not to mention, illegal, and I am quite sure that these thoughts occurred to those particular individuals as they proceeded to consume rather outrageous amounts of alcohol as the night of November 11th went on and eventually came to an abrupt end once the authorities arrived- thank goodness!

I want to make clear to everyone reading this, that by no means did I intend to insult Edmonton youth. I myself was born, raised, and am currently living in Edmonton. I’ve been attending local shows since I was fourteen years old, and never in the past four years have I even so much as heard of such repugnant behavior. Edmonton is a great city for local talent and I am sure that we would all like to keep it that way. So let’s cut the crap and continue promoting today’s hot, young, aspiring musicians. Be aware of which bands are playing when and where, share this knowledge with your friends and peers, and don’t be afraid to stand up to those irreverent jerks who thinks that it’s cool to ruin everyone else’s good time.