When You Don’t Hate Mondays: Pageninetynine Live at Arena Wien

It’s a windy Monday evening in Vienna, and we’re about to see the legendary hardcore punk band pageninetynine (also known as pg.99 for short) back in Europe. A few minutes after the doors of the smaller concert hall at Arena Wien open at eight pm, we’re standing near the merch table, surrounded by kids probably about fifteen to twenty years younger than me. They’re discussing obscure emo-violence or sass bands and cool current releases. Some kids are buying reprints of the classic ‘pageninetynine’ shirt—the same infamous design of Your Scene Sucks’ “skramz revivalist” character, which became a subcultural meme before meme culture even took off.

Formed around 1997 in Sterling, Virginia, pg.99 was part of a DIY music community that produced some of the most chaotic, passionate, and transformative hardcore punk music in the late nineties and early aughts. In their six years of playing wildly intense shows, the band featured as many as thirteen members, with eight or nine onstage at once, even if most DIY venues at the time weren’t even suitable for such a large crew and their backline. Right before pg.99 disbanded in 2003, they even had plans to record with the legendary Steve Albini (RIP).

I first stumbled onto the so-called “real screamo” in the heyday of Myspace and mp3 piracy (Soulseek screamo rooms and “death to false screamo” bootleg comps) between 2005 and 2008, and pg.99, along with their kindred bands like City of Caterpillar, Majority Rule, and Circle Takes The Square, were among the most groundbreaking artists I was obsessed with. I remember first buying a Russian-released pg.99 cassette of their 2001 iconic Document #8 at Fluff Fest in the Czech Republic, and around 2007–2008, when the US dollar hit near-historic lows during George W. Bush’s administration, I was a mail-order freak for several beloved screamo releases on vinyl through Robotic Empire, a label closely affiliated with pg.99 members.

To be honest, I hadn’t been listening to pg.99 much in recent years, right up until they reunited and announced their current European shows. However, I’ve been spinning some of the other member-driven projects, like the dark indie-folk band Pygmy Lush, quite regularly. As soon as the Vienna date was confirmed, my partner and I quickly booked flights and grabbed tickets for the show. I know they’re playing Europe with fantastic bands like Blind Girls, Øjne, and even the reunited Italian legends La Quiete, but I wanted to see pg.99 with as little interference as possible… an hour-long set, no other big name stealing the show. Vienna was the perfect choice. It’s also a beautiful city, and a show that ends before midnight is perfect for a Monday night. Honestly, the worst scenario would be catching pg.99 at a huge festival with dozens other bands like Roadburn, where they’re heading soon.

It’s five minutes to nine, and the hall is already packed—not just with the younger crowd but older fans too. The gig is organized by Hardcore For The Losers and Generation Noir, both comprised of dedicated DIY hardcore straight edge folks. The only opener is the local emo-violence trio echelons (formerly known as unable to fully embrace this happiness).

They deliver a classic React With Protest approach to emo-violence, with short, explosive tracks and quirky song titles reminiscent of Louise Cyphre, Danse Macabre, or The Apoplexy Twist Orchestra. Their recordings sound quite raw and chaotic, but on this larger stage, everything is a bit too polished. I imagine them shining more in a smaller squat setting, where the blown-out mix and shared floor space with the audience would suit them better.

Anyway. There isn’t much downtime between sets, and soon it’s time for the centerpiece of the evening. Nine Americans crowd the stage, with vocalists Chris Taylor and Blake Midgette (yes, that’s his real name) up front. The opening chords signal that we’re in for a crushing performance that stretches beyond the one-hour mark. The entire venue vibrates with their colossal sound, shifting between drawn-out, sludgy, droning passages and the intense outbursts of what we like to call ‘screamo’. They play all the classic tracks from Documents #5, #7, #8 with the original spoken-word samples opening the songs, and it’s almost surreal to witness a hardcore band evoke the same feeling I got when I saw acts like Swans or Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Before the show, I wondered if Chris Taylor’s antics—crawling on the floor, climbing on the ceiling, or doing headstands on stage—were just nostalgic showmanship. But once pg.99 started playing, everything felt right, and the crowd let loose however they wanted (“punk rock …as sloppy as you want, as long as it’s good and has passion”).

The evening ended with an encore that included David, the drummer from the opening band (and the same person who played in the goth-tinged raw punk band Morbide at Venster 99 the next night). He jumped onstage as a support drummer, keeping a steady beat until pageninetynine unleashed one last chaotic surge. Everyone left sweaty and satisfied, grateful for what might otherwise have been a boring Monday night.