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The Tribe #1: Introductions Are In Order
By ~ Soup

Hundreds of thousands of bands. Millions of fans. We are all one Tribe.     The music we listen to that enriches our lives becomes a huge part of our character. For those of us who get power from Rock and Metal music, the Tribe is defined by its sheer intensity as it takes people who thrive off primal forces to find the beauty in brutality.

    I know that every single individual in the Tribe has a story, and personally I’d like to hear as many as I possibly can. So I scour this city and look for the identifying features of a fellow Tribesperson. Of course there are glaring indications, such as favorite band logos on display, rocking tattoos and piercings and other forms of a wild exterior that accompanies a wild interior, but these things don’t always tell the whole story nor are the absence of these features exclusive. So I ask questions to hear how people’s lives are as intense as they possibly could be, and I am enabled to find out things I would never expect.

    An example, recently I saw a guy wearing an Otep t-shirt, and I felt I could immediately walk up to this stranger and start a conversation. By doing so, I had a chance to make this guy’s day by informing him of the band’s upcoming show and talk a bit about how the band has made our lives better. We got as excited together as kids waiting to sleep Christmas Eve as we talked about circle pits and revolution. The entire conversation lasted about five minutes, but in that five minutes two members of the same Tribe bonded. If you are reading this, then we are in this together. Crave Magazine devotes itself for being a resource for our Tribe, and I think it’s time to see how far this society of freaks, geeks, malcontents, hedonists, bohemians, revolutionaries, artists, musicians, fans, and wild animals extends.

    I have been inspired by how fast and loyal our Tribe comes together to help one of it’s own in need. I have seen the shockwaves of grief shatter throughout us all as a Tribesperson falls. I have seen the shows, the glorious rituals of insanity, where we all are driven by the same forces and can instantly understand each other with a look and the horns thrown high. I’ve seen the support for the local guys working hard to fuel the Tribes beat. I have also seen the schisms and battles within and noted how Drama Kills Everything Cool. I have seen our Tribespeople overcome with selfishness and greed and in doing so cut us all. Like any organism, our Tribe is organic and alive, constantly evolving, and growing at an unstoppable pace.

    So join me in learning about the fabric of what holds our Tribe together. If you see me out in the world, tell me your stories and let me know how you were made stronger through the power of the music and lifestyle we all love. Join me in an adventure to create our own story and let us leave our mark on this reality…forcefully, united, and relentless. The Tribe will be a regularly featured column by Soup online at www.cravemagazine.com