The Eugene punk community is well into the summer season and thriving, despite the lack of students in town. On the sunny afternoon of Saturday July 20, Sam Bond’s Garage held a clothing swap and punk rock show, open to all ages.
The show was held inside the building and featured a three-band lineup: Death Master File, WHYWONTYOUDIE and Bad Odds. The swap, held in the back patio area, had tables filled to the brim with books, alternative clothing and Eugene locals sorting through the piles. The atmosphere of the music and the clothing was a vibrant reflection of the punk community’s commitment to sustainability and fostering freedom of expression.
With fast fashion cycles getting faster and faster, swap events like this offer an environmentally friendly alternative. The Sam Bond’s Garage clothing swap celebrated punk fashion in a way that benefited the community and gave people a resource to find pieces they wouldn’t normally find in mainstream retail stores.
The swap, organized by Hair of the Dogs Booking and Printing, a group of local musicians and creatives in Eugene, had free entry and customers could take home as much as they wished. Teal Bailey, Hair of the Dogs member, shared her insights about planning and ideas behind holding the swap event.
“We saw a lot of the people that identify as alternative, goth and punk not really being able to find anything that fits their aesthetics,” Bailey said. “Growing up in the punk scene, I had so much stuff that I wanted to get rid of, but I wanted it to go to people that appreciated it, rather than just Goodwill.”
Bustling with alternative/punk/goth locals, the event truly bolstered community and a common love of good music, alt fashion and judgment-free fun. Although the event seemed intimidating at first, looks can be deceiving.
“Here in Eugene, our punk and alternative community is super diverse. It spans all different ages and generations,” Bailey said. “It’s super super inclusive, a lot of radical idealisms, and just really supportive of each other.”
At the show, Sean Shanahan, Booker and Head Sound Tech for Sam Bond’s Garage, agreed with these sentiments. Shanahan and Bailey talked about punk ideologies and the misconceptions the punk community faces.
Shanahan pointed out counterculture is precisely about upsetting people for the sake of positive change, but it doesn’t imply a lack of inclusivity and openness within the punk community. “If there’s one thing the punk scene does, it’s call bullshit out when we see it,” he said. “The people who we’re calling out, they’re still pissed as ever. I like that.”
Bailey also addressed the unfair stigma the alternative community faces within the media in general. “A lot of people are still stuck in the mindset from movies and TV shows that punks are the villains,” he said. In reality, the punk scene in Eugene is anything but.
Hopefully, the event at Sam Bond’s Garage last weekend sets this bad reputation straight. Through sustainable practices, live music and fighting for what’s right, the punk community continues to defy stereotypes whilst promoting community bonding and inclusivity.