Punk Shirts

There was a few of us sitting in the living room, recharging from the day. Faith Gobidas (who did costumes and make up for the movie) was sitting in a corner stretching her punk rocked fez that she had made for Mike Knight. It had the number 7, and a bunch of metal spikes around it.

Marwan walked into the living, and looked at Shahjehan who was sitting on the floor next to me. “Hey. I like your shirt,” he said in that growl-y Marwan voice. “Where’d you get your shirt from?”

I looked at Shahj’s shirt. It was a black shirt with a white inked logo that said ’Drinking Machine Guns’ on it. “I got this shirt this summer, when our tour went through Tahoe,” Shahj responded. “It’s the only shirt I brought on this trip. I like your shirt too. Destroy.”

I looked at Marwan’s shirt. His was emblazoned with the logo, ‘Destroy!’ the crust punk band out of Minneapolis in the early 90s. Marwan just smiled back at Shahj.

Of course. Of course. In with Taqwacore kids all under one roof, there would be at least one conversation about punk shirts. In the movie, t-shirts and vests with punk bands played just as iconic a role – Jehangir wore a ripped Alternative Tentacle shirt, and an Al Thawra shirt. His vest had a Vote Hezbollah stencil down the side and Fasiq had The Kominas on the back of his jean vest.

I couldn’t wait for the concert so that I could get a classic Al Thawra shirt of my own.