Army of Kids, an early 2000s documentary about the Vegas hardcore scene directed by Sasha Perry for CineVegas, has been converted from VHS and posted to YouTube. It’s an absolutely fascinating look at what the scene was like at the turn of the millennium, right before social media and file sharing really disrupted everything. It’s also interesting to see how much things have stayed the same, with venue woes, bands reluctant to make Vegas a regular stop on tour, and the public’s misconception on what the scene is about, remaining ever constant.
According to Perry:
It was a small scene so we went to every show, didn’t matter the genre, and saw the same kids. Even then I knew how unique that was to our city and despite hating everything else about Las Vegas, it made me love that place just enough. And, of course, it was more than just music. The same folks at the basement shows were the same ones who I saw at Food not Bombs, Critical Mass, protests against the Westboro Baptist Church (you guys remember that?), and the Neiman Marcus fur protests. I even had a lil AR group with some girl you probably know. At some point in the hours and hours and hours I spent at the best record store/book shop/bike repair/meeting space, Balcony Lights, those artsy Organic kids started showing films. The first I saw was “Roger and Me” by Michael Moore. And that was pretty much it.
I’d say this is the first ‘documentary’ I ever made, but it’s really just a collection of interviews with some shows thrown together. But man did I think it was great. It premiered to a very large audience made up of this Army at the Cinevegas International Film Festival (hahahaha) and I won some kind of award for student film or something or other, I don’t remember. My friends were really patient with me having a camera around all the time. And this isn’t even close to indicative of how many hardcore shows I filmed during this time. Oy. So many shows.
Army of Kids takes its name from a Faded Grey song, so it’s fitting that this documentary would resurface so close to that band’s first show in a decade. Faded Grey will hit the Chain Reaction stage this weekend as part of Natefest West, and you can get more info for that show via Facebook.
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