Something Worth Fighting For?

Six Christian groups and two secular bands played a "Hardcore Prom Show" at College Avenue Baptist Church on May 19. Though it was the third time in 12 months that the church hosted a multiple-band concert, this time four police cars showed up and shut it down.

"They used 16-year-old kids for guards who did not have [state-issued] guard cards," says an attendee. "They didn't know how to deal with things. There was a full-blown fight between the guards and the kids in the crowd. It was the guards who called the cops."

One of the Christian rockers who played says, "The problem was that it was in a church, and the rules weren't being obeyed." He says non-Christian bands Blood Stands Still and Hoods "swore heavily and got the crowd riled up.... The crowd went a little nuts. People got punched in the face."

Local Christian bands Battle the Mothra and Thyne Scabbard joined the touring bands on the bill.

"I think it was the security guards from the church who started pushing kids to the ground," says Mike Hood, singer/guitarist for Hoods, a ten-year-old hardcore band from Sacramento. "You had one over-steroided security guard who wanted to pick fights. Kids got pushed to the ground. In my eyes, the kids were defenseless; then the kids started fighting."

The show was a fundraiser; tickets cost $10. Bruce Robertson, business manager of the College Avenue Baptist Church, says, "That was the last event of its kind. We will not be having any more of those." Concerts scheduled for June 21 and July 21 have been canceled.

Rian Molumby, of the local promotion company called Something Worth Fighting For, decided not to comment.