Extended Cut! The untold story of 90s South Florida concert promoter, Rabbi

Episode Overview

• An in-depth reflection on the 1980s South Florida punk and hardcore scene, centered around the legendary Cameo Theater and the community it fostered for young outsiders.
• An exploration of the scene's evolution, detailing the shift to a heavier hardcore sound influenced by Northeast bands and the rise of tape-trading culture in a pre-internet world.
• A firsthand account of confronting violent extremism within the scene, including shocking encounters with organized Nazi skinheads in Central Florida and how artists like Ian MacKaye handled it.
• A personal journey from a shy fan into "Rabbi," a central DIY promoter who booked future legends like Nirvana and Green Day, reflecting on the fan-first ethos and financial challenges of the era.

Key Concepts

• The Cameo Theater: A legendary Miami venue that served as a crucial community hub, refuge, and "character" in the lives of the 1980s South Florida punk and skater scene.
• Scene Evolution: The cultural shift around 1987 from traditional punk to a heavier, harder sound, heavily influenced by bands from New York and Boston like Youth of Today and Sick of It All.
• Pre-Internet Networking: The vital role of letter writing and tape trading in disseminating music and connecting the national hardcore community before the internet.
• Rise of Record Collecting: The emergence of influential 7-inch records from labels like Revelation sparked a new passion for record collecting within the South Florida scene.
• Regional Scene Differences: The stark contrast between the chaotic but less political South Florida scene and the highly organized, violent Nazi skinhead presence that dominated the Orlando and Tampa hardcore scenes in the late 1980s.
• Confronting Extremism: Firsthand accounts of violent clashes with white power groups and the methods used to de-escalate hate, such as Ian MacKaye's direct address to a hostile crowd.
• Persona and Identity: The creation of the "Rabbi" persona as a tool to overcome shyness and become a confident, central figure within the community.
• DIY Promotion Ethos: Booking shows out of a fan's passion to bring admired bands to the local scene, with financial gain being a secondary concern or nonexistent.
• Generational Waves: The progression of the South Florida scene through distinct eras of bands, from Quit and Powerhouse to Machine and Bloodlet, and later to the Coral Springs bands like New Found Glory.
• Undocumented History: The challenge of preserving the history of a pre-digital era, where a lack of photos and videos means much of the scene's legacy exists only in memory.

Quotes

• At 1:28 - "The Cameo played a special role not only in my life, but I think in most of the lives of my contemporaries who were raised in the scene." - Rabbi highlights the venue's cultural significance to the South Florida music community.
• At 2:00 - "It was almost a character in our lives, you know? Because everything happened at the Cameo." - Rabbi personifies the Cameo Theater, describing its central role in the lives of those in the scene.
• At 2:44 - "If you were punk rock, you really weren't part of your high school... You were into skating and, you know, surfing and just a lot of things that just those they weren't into." - Rabbi explains how the punk scene provided a sense of belonging for those who felt like outsiders.
• At 24:44 - "It was a lot of tape exchanges." - Describing how music and information were shared in the pre-internet hardcore scene.
• At 25:42 - "...you kind of saw just the music just got a lot heavier and a lot harder, especially stuff coming out of the Northeast." - Explaining the shift in the sound of hardcore, driven by bands from New York and Boston.
• At 26:49 - "I was smoking weed... a lot. Daily at this point." - Rabbi's humorous and candid response when asked for his opinion on the straight edge movement arriving in South Florida.
• At 28:00 - "It was a distinctive sound. It separated itself from the Boston sound, from the DC sound, from the LA sound..." - On the unique and influential nature of the New York hardcore sound that was spreading at the time.
• At 54:42 - "And Orlando had a Nazi skinhead problem. Big time. This is 1988." - The speaker sets the scene for a show in Orlando, highlighting the significant and aggressive presence of Nazi skinheads.
• At 55:20 - "So this was a Nazi skinhead convention." - Rabbi characterizes a show's atmosphere, emphasizing that the event felt more like a gathering for hate groups than a typical concert.
• At 55:48 - "Full-blown... I had never seen anything like this in my life and it was up close and personal." - He expresses his shock at the overt and intimidating display of Nazi imagery, which was a new and unsettling experience.
• At 59:32 - "Suddenly everyone starts 'Sieg Heil'-ing. Like, it must have been a thousand kids 'Sieg Heil'-ing Ian MacKaye." - Recounting a tense moment at a Fugazi show where the crowd responded with a Nazi salute.
• At 59:37 - "And he's like, 'Oh, okay, so you guys are into that too, huh? Let's leave our politics at the door and just have fun.'" - Quoting Ian MacKaye's calm but direct method of de-escalating the hostile crowd.
• At 1:06:20 - "Rabbi was everything that Larry wasn't... Rabbi became his own identity." - The speaker explains how he created the "Rabbi" persona as a way to overcome his shyness and insecurity.
• At 85:17 - "I had Nirvana booked tentatively. Their guarantee was $200. This was Bleach, this was not Nevermind, right?" - Rabbi shares how close he was to booking Nirvana for a very small amount of money before they became world-famous.
• At 86:38 - "For me, I was a fan first. So it wasn't a financial thing for me." - Rabbi explains that his motivation for promoting shows was his love for the music and the bands, not profit.
• At 87:58 - "I look at like that show right there is a show I would have wanted to see." - Emphasizing his fan-centric approach to booking shows, using a bill with 108 and Bloodlet as an example.
• At 91:01 - "Hand to heart, I'm gonna tell you, if they would have told me it was $125 each, I would have addressed it… My understanding was I gave them more money than they asked for." - Rabbi recounts a financial misunderstanding with the bands Born Against and Rorschach.
• At 93:17 - "Ken, if you ever hear this, if you see me, I got you... I don't know the guys in Walled, if you see me, call me out, I'll take care of you." - Rabbi publicly offers to make amends with bands he feels he unintentionally wronged financially.
• At 93:55 - "The one thing that I noticed about our scene coming up, it was never... documented... it's just kind of just lost to the winds of time." - Rabbi reflects on the pre-social media era, noting that much of its history exists only in memory.
• At 106:06 - "If Bob Slade would have had Quit, Quit would have been much bigger. Much bigger. And they really should have been." - Rabbi speculates that with different management, the local band Quit could have achieved much greater success.

Takeaways

• Nurture and protect physical community spaces, as they often become the lifeblood of subcultures and a sanctuary for those who feel like outsiders.
• Authenticity is key; contributing to a community out of genuine passion, rather than for profit, builds a stronger and more meaningful scene.
• Confronting hate and extremism requires courage; sometimes a direct, calm, and dismissive response can be more effective at de-escalating a situation than aggression.
• You can actively shape your own identity and confidence by stepping into a role or persona that empowers you to overcome personal limitations.
• Actively document your community's history, as memories fade and stories can be lost forever in the absence of photos, videos, and written accounts.
• Clear and transparent communication is crucial in DIY communities to avoid misunderstandings, especially concerning finances, which can damage relationships and reputations for years.
• When you make a mistake, own it and be willing to make amends publicly, even decades later.
• A band's success is not solely determined by talent; internal dynamics, management, and a bit of luck play significant roles in their trajectory.
• Regional subcultures can vary dramatically; never assume that the values and environment of one local scene are the same elsewhere.
• Recognize the human element behind the music; even influential artists are just people dealing with their own lives, challenges, and insecurities.
• Before judging a historical scene, understand the context of its time, from the physical dangers of the environment to the technological limitations of communication.
• To truly support music, be a fan first. Curate experiences and promote art based on what you genuinely believe in and would want to see yourself.