Eugene has a long history of house shows. In the 90s, punk music could be heard playing loudly in neighborhood homes, with basement shows for bands like Black Flag gathering crowds of hundreds. The local music scene has thrived over the years with a major boom happening around 2019. However, many artists and fans have noticed a change since the pandemic.
As reported in the Eugene Weekly, some in the music community say recent police crackdowns are hurting local artists, house venues and local music as a whole. Data requested by EW shows that police response to “loud noise” and “loud party” complaints where many house shows are held is higher now than pre-pandemic levels.
Krista Kroiss is a senior at the University of Oregon and wrote about this for Eugene Weekly. She joined "Think Out Loud" to share what artists are saying and how communities are reacting to law enforcement. You can listen to the conversation by clicking on the audio player at the top of this post.
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