Punk’s Not Dead: The Continuing Significance of Punk Rock for an Older Generation of Fans

Abstract

This article examines how older fans of punk rock articulate their continuing attachment to the music and its associated visual style.While sociological research on popular music audiences is well established, little attention has been paid to the articulation and management of fan practices of individuals beyond the age of 30. Based on ethnographic interviews conducted with older punk fans in East Kent, England, the article begins to redress this oversight in studies of popular music audiences.This involves an assessment of both the way in which articulations of punk style transgress with age from the visual to the biographical and how older punks develop particular discursive practices as a means of legitimating their place within a scene dominated by younger punk fans.