punk turns 50!

I know I’ve been talking a lot about punk lately.

But when British band the Damned announced their 50th anniversary show for April 11, 2026, I realized: Punk is turning 50!

(And yes, I am going to that Damned concert. I’ve got my gig ticket and my plane ticket.)

I know people like to debate the true beginnings of punk, and there are of course many threads we can follow to say it started here or there at various points in time.

Cultural movements rarely begin with a singular moment; they require collective buildup, and awareness: Many people who were there from the beginning have said they weren’t aware there was anything you might call a “scene” until after the fact.

But my book Treat Me Like Dirt cites 1976 as the (mostly) agreed upon beginning of the Toronto scene, even though there was activity building up before then. When I started researching that project in 2006, we were coming into the 30th anniversary of punk, and many first wave bands reunited as we got into 2007 to mark 1977 as the year punk broke.

So I’m approaching these next couple of years as reason to celebrate overall; 1976-1978 were tremendously important years for punk’s formation, and I think 2026 is just the beginning of this bigger conversation.

I feel grateful and excited to be able to witness this cultural milestone. That punk is still be listened to, talked about, and appreciated all these years after says a lot about its impact on us all.

I keep asking myself: What would we be without if punk had never happened? I’d argue we’d have missed out on a lot of subcultures, styles, ideas, and artists that have come along since.

Last time I wrote to you, I was getting ready to speak on a panel about punk history in Toronto at Koffler Arts. The turnout that night was phenomenal, the audience multi-generational. It helped me see that interest in this history continues to grow.

In response, I’m organizing a number of talks throughout the coming months to bring us all together to share and learn about local punk history.

The first takes place in Hamilton, ON, on Sunday, January 18, at Last Supper Books. If you are in town, you can join us here.

The next few will be in Toronto at Peach Berserk in Parkdale on Sunday, February 22; Sunday, March 22; and Sunday, April 26. Each of those will have a specific theme with panelists who share defined perspectives about their experiences with local punk history.

Tickets for the February 22 and March 22 events in Toronto are now available!

Join my newsletter for more details about the April 26 talk, and anything else that might pop up along the way.

If you have any questions about these events, or if you are interested in hosting something like this in your town, please get in touch.

Let’s make the most of this historic milestone. Punk still matters, and might be more important than ever these days <3

Until next time,

Liz