If there’s one thing the world needs more of right now, it’s trans joy, and what better vehicle within which to showcase it than punk rock. Trans joy was on full display at Laura Jane Grace’s Teragram Ballroom show on April 13. Punks as old as 60 and as young as 12 scattered the street, lining up to the venue. The music of Against Me and Grace’s other musical projects has always had an overlap with the folk punk community, and this subculture cross-section was not lost at the show. Battle vests opted for more progressive rather than aggressive patches, sporting a plethora of pride flags and pronoun pins.
Michigan rock ensemble Rodeo Boys amped the crowd up first, serving up some new-age punk (think The Bobby Lees meets Stiff Richards) with a little bit of country and surf mixed in for spice. With killer bass riffs and touching lyrics, they acted as the perfect transition band to ease the crowd into the night. Australian singer Alex Lahey and their band entertained the crowd with some classic feel-good pop-rock, ending their set by exclaiming, “The Laura Jane Grace show will change you, as it has changed me.” Which was certainly an electric cliffhanger to leave the crowd to simmer on for the next twenty minutes.
As the lights dimmed and the sound of a balloon deflating filled the venue, the crowd drew closer and writhed in anticipation. The opening song "Hole In My Head" sent everyone into a frenzy, showcasing once again that no crowd does it like an L.A. crowd. The air was filled with nothing but joy as the crowd opened up to reveal a pit of kids pogo-ing like their lives depended on it. Being in the center of that pit evoked a special feeling as dozens of young queer and trans kids bounced around, every slam into the torso felt like a connection to those who have been feeling wrong all their lives too, just like you.
Laura’s smile was infectious, as was that of the rest of the Mississippi Medicals. The crowd screamed, cried, and danced along to such hits as "Razorblade Blues" and "True Trans Soul Rebel." Shortly after, the community spirit was on full display as I watched a fight diffuse in real time in the middle of the pit. Laura jokingly encouraged the fight for her “entertainment” before the two worked it out and ended the show arm in arm, singing together.
As the show came to a close, the crowd collectively used the song "Teenage Anarchist" to get out those pent-up, resentful political feelings. There really is no better coping mechanism than screaming “The revolution was a lie” with a hundred other people. So many punk bands from the golden age of the scene fall victim to stifling passion by way of trying to appear “mysterious” and “hardcore”, and this causes the message and the live performance to fall flat. Laura Jane Grace & the Mississippi Medicals are the antithesis to this concept, as are their fans. Going to their shows simply feels like home.
