“With Hardcore you get this,” Johnny Pettibone said as he waved his arm in reference to a trashed out Tokyo Joe’s.
 

“It’s not about an audience and a band on stage for entertainment. It’s all one. We all come from the same thing.”
 

A spur of the moment interview with the lead singer of the band Himsa gave me a greater understanding and respect for hardcore music and the Straight Edge lifestyle. I went to Tokyo Joe’s on Nov. 21 to see Bleeding Through, but I got more than I could have ever imagined out of the night.

Straight Edge, Hardcore—labels that many people don’t understand.

Hardcore is not just another genre of rock. It is not defined by the hard driving beats of the music. It’s a family, one to which I belong. It is defined by its philosophy of unity, brotherhood and perseverance.

Guitar guru rocks local venue
by Tasha Fowler, guest writer

The audience of the Cactus Theater waits impatiently while Eric Johnson plays what he jokingly calls the "Tuning Song".

"It's not like this every night," he laughs into the microphone.