Concert violence continues to worsen worldwide, so bands are beginning to take things into their own hands.
Take, for instance, New York hard-core punk-rock band Sick Of It All. At one point, the group's local shows got so bad that members actually began disarming crowds by themselves."Basically, we knew all the kids and knew who all the troublemakers were. We would hold their weapons in the dressing room so at least they weren't on the dance floor," vocalist Lou Koller said in an interview.
But eventually, the quartet found another solution, playing more musically diverse shows (with bands like the Beastie Boys, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Rancid) that attracted a bigger cross-section of music fans.
"We learned that if we played with five other bands that sounded like us, then there was going to be nothing but fights," Koller said. "So we got a little diverse. It added a different element to the show, and kids who wouldn't ordinarily come see us would show up."
Sick Of It All headlines a norestrictions show at the New Hope Multi-Cultural Center, 1102 W. 400 North, on Saturday, March 15.
Despite changing the focus and demographic of its furious live shows, Sick Of It All has not drastically changed its sound - which remains steadfastly and stereotypically, East Coast hard-core.
"We're very conscious of wanting to keep our sound," Koller said about "Built To Last," his group's new CD. "We may progress and write songs in a different way, but we definitely play it with our sound."
"Built to Last," the band's fourth full-length release and second for a major label, features 14 slices of Koller's world view, including "Burn 'Em Down," "Jungle" and "Us vs. Them."
Koller, who described the album as "manly new songs by manlier men," said the songs are still rooted in traditional hard-core, with lyrics featuring more political messages than introspective ones.
Joining Sick Of It All for the concert will be California hard-core act Good Riddance.
Tickets for the show, which starts at 8 p.m., are $10 in advance from the Heavy Metal Shop and Raunch Records in Salt Lake City and Crandall Audio in Orem. It is a Cashmere production.