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Showcase The Documentary

The story of Corona's Showcase Theatre isn't over yet...
Showcase The Documentary
Two days ago, I received a Facebook invite to like Showcase The Documentary. I was so stoked, but I was simply thinking it was just a novelty; some folks reminiscing of the glorious crucified savior of Corona's fallen music scene. Hoping to connect to some sentimental millenials, I reached out and asked if there was anything I could contribute. Come to find out, there is a grassroots campaign to tell the story of the venue and try to reopen the Showcase! It is starting with a little promo/teaser (for which I, and several others are going to be interviewed) that will be used to launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund "Showcase The Documentary".

The Showcase meant the world to me. It was my stronghold, my chapel, my civic center, my town hall, my college, my gallery, my pulpit, my podium, and my escape. I don't think I could have survived adolescence without it. I went to so many shows, hung out outside for so many others. I met so many awesome people. I learned about so many things. I made a pledge to become straightedge (and I am still xEdgex after 14 years), and though it took me over a decade to come around; I was opened to animal rights, and I eventually became a vegetarian. I learned about politics and how to defy the system. I learned that I wasn't alone, and that fear, pain, doubt, anger, anxiety and depression were not things to ignore and hide, masked with some delusion; but to confront and accept, and embrace. I was there from 2000 to 2007 as punk went hardcore, and even punk bands like Officer Negative went hardcore. Who could forget when the Adicts would play? How many times did I see The Deal? Or, how about when Norma Jean and Bleeding Through played on Valentines day, 2003, and some dude spin-kicked me in the face and broke my nose. And, what about moments later, when the same kid tracked me down in the bathroom and put his arm around me and asked, "Hey dude, are you OK?" 

I played in 3 bands that played at Showcase: Plague of Sheol (Black Metal), In The Trenches (Tough Guy Hardcore), and Elohim (Metalcore). I will never forget how "Joecase" actually listened to our demo and gave us a show, none of that shit you hear from promoters now like, "How many tickets can you sell?" or "Can you do 75 tickets presale?" or "How many heads can you get in the door?" He was a human being and he looked you in the eye and shook your hand, and genuinely tried to put you on a show with bands that were your style.


I am still playing music, and still playing in bands, but the music scene sucks now. It is nothing like the Showcase days. There are no venues; just bars, restaurants, and coffee shops, and no where to play that is just a pure, plain music venue. But even if you can get people to come to see you at some coffee shop, there is no participation. People are so consumed by their smartphone that they cannot lift their eyes from the screen and notice that there is an artist; a human being strumming the guitar, singing, vulnerably baring his or her soul for you. Everything is a commercialized commodity; downloadable, and consumable. And only the few people who are just old enough, but still young enough, and just unique enough to have experienced something like the Showcase can possibly understand what music meant to us at that time. It was spiritual in its own way (not with any woo woo), just some profoundly emotional experience that transcends words, language and description. 

That is why this documentary is a necessity, for me, for you, and for young people everywhere who just don't feel "normal". And maybe the yuppies who tried to shut us down, who put us down; maybe they can understand it now too. 

I don't have any children, but some day, if I do; I want to show them this and show them what some of our generation stood for. My grandmother saw Pete Seeger at her college in the 60's. I am told that my grandfather wrote essays to the senator and congressman on why the death penalty is immoral and should be abolished, and he even may have marched with Cesar Chavez. Well, maybe my show-going comrades can't say that, but we were Punkrockers, we were Hardcore, we were Metalheads, we were protesters, we were supporters, we were Poison-free, we were Cruelty free; we stood for something. We can change the world too. And, we are changing it right now, and it all started at the SHOWCASE!

If you agree, please go "like" the Showcase The Documetary page, and invite your friends.