Last week, an attendee at a house show in the Vine Neighborhood was the victim of an unexpected and unprovoked attack. They were struck from behind with a blade, leaving deep cuts across the throat and behind the ear. A regular show-goer and friend to many in the community, they were lucky to make it out of this alive.

The attacker was someone who was not part of this community. While the person who was attacked was known by most attending the basement show that night, there was hardly a soul to be found that even so much as recognized the perpetrator. This heinous act was performed by an outlier, not someone who was representative of or even associated with the music community of Kalamazoo. As far as anyone can tell, the attacker was not even acquainted with the target of his assault. Fortunately enough, he was located and apprehended by the police shortly after fleeing from the house. He is currently awaiting a court hearing, and with any luck, justice will be served.

This attack happened amid a recent increase in violent crimes around the Vine Neighborhood. Multiple people have reported being mugged or assailed on the way to or from shows around town. But this instance was certainly unique among recent happenings in that it happened during a show, in the crowd, while a band was playing.

However, it is important to remember that this is still an isolated event and is by no means characteristic of the safe and open community we work to foster in this city.

It is an unfortunate truth that such dangers are permeating our community and it is imperative that we address it as just that – a community. We are in this together because we love music and we love this town and we by no means want to see anyone threaten what we love.

DIT members have already been discussing how to ensure the safety of our show spaces. For everyone that lives at a house that hosts shows, there are steps that can be taken which may not already be in place:

• Coordinate with your roommates or friends in order to effectively monitor what is going on during the night.
• Keep people posted throughout the house and stay in communication.
• It is always helpful to maintain only one entrance point in order to see who is coming and going.
• If you don’t know someone who turns up, extend a hand and introduce yourself. Make sure those in attendance know who is running the show and make sure you know who is in your house.
• If anyone is exhibiting signs of strange behavior or is making you or anybody else uncomfortable, communicate this to others. Never be afraid to address this issue and tell somebody they are no longer welcome. This is your house and what you say goes.
• Be prepared to take charge of a situation – this is your responsibility as the host of a house show.
• Know that you are not alone. If you don’t have roommates or others willing to help you run a show, talk to DIT members – generally there will be at least a handful of us at any given show already.

We can all stand to be more attentive in the course of our show-going. Remember that the people you see attending, hosting, and playing shows regularly around here are your friends and your neighbors. Every one of us can play a part in maintaining a positive and inviting atmosphere at our shows, even in the face of this ugliness that has transpired.  But do make sure to watch out for yourself and do your part to watch out for those around you.

We have a thriving culture for DIY underground shows in Kalamazoo. This community is really an amazing, beautiful thing. A tremendous amount of work has been done over the years to not only provide music throughout our city, but to come together and be organized in our actions in a way that is unlike most other cities anywhere else. This is our strength. One incident of violence will not unravel that. We do not accept violence at our shows and we do not promote it any way whatsoever.

Over the years, DIT(K) has come under a lot of scrutiny from folks both near and far. Due in part to our contributions, Kalamazoo is a more recognized destination on the independent touring circuit than possibly ever before! Artists from all over the country and all over the world have been talking about how much fun our little community is! However, in this time we’ve also generated some confusion and misconceptions.

In this article, I’d like to explain what DIT(K) is, how we operate, our mission and how anyone can get involved!

Do It Together Kalamazoo started in early 2009 as a response to the growing number of local DIY shows and general lack of communication between the different folks setting up those shows. Ideas of how to accomplish this were thrown around for a while. Eventually we settled on the wordpress powered site we now occupy. Our goals then expanded from simply improving communication to also finding ways to get new people involved in the community, increasing show attendance and providing touring bands with an easy way to get booked. For a long time there were only 3-4 of us actively involved in running the site, keeping fresh daily content and checking dozens of emails each week.

DIT(K) can be described as a loose collective of promoters, musicians, and music lovers volunteering to help each other create a more collaborative, active, open, and safe arts community. We do not want to become some sort of governing body that regulates events. Instead we encourage anyone to get involved. Whether it’s booking shows, playing a show, putting up fliers, writing posts or even providing touring artists with food. Everyone is invited. If it ever seems like DIT has become biased on the type of shows being promoted, it’s simply because the people currently volunteering are working within their separate, personal interests. DIT is only as good as the people willing to help. That being said, we are constantly striving to be inclusive. Even if that means promoting events that our volunteers are not enthusiastic about. We do not write negative articles and never try to discourage attendance of a specific event. Every article at minimum attempts to accurately describe the artists performing and what someone can expect from attending.

Every genre of music is welcome. Our only stipulation is that shows covered generally fall in line with DIY ethics. This means that the musicians are playing purely for the love of their craft and of their community, and that promoters are volunteering their efforts with no goal of personal profit. Most of the shows covered are booked around touring bands, and often ones that have never played Kalamazoo before. Sometimes they even have no previous ties to the city. This is not intended as a critique of other types of shows. We simply feel that a broader spectrum of coverage would become muddled and be near impossible to manage. Also, historically there have been plenty of other events covered by organizations such as West Michigan Noise, Kzoo Music Scene, Kalamazoo Local Music, The Gazette and more. We simply try to focus on shows and genres that do not get much coverage from other sources. This includes basement shows, art spaces, punk shows, experimental shows and anything generally embracing Do It Yourself or Do It Together ideas.

DIT(K) can be contacted at any time via email at ditkalamazoo@gmail.com. However, we generally have only one person regularly checking the email and it can be very easy for things to get lost due to the ever increasing number of people contacting us from all over the world. The best way to to get in touch is by coming to one of our weekly meetings. These are held every Sunday, 5pm at 210 Allen Blvd.

Often, the local emails we get are from Kalamazoo artists wishing to get booked by DIT. Our goal is not to monopolize the booking in town and have all shows come through us. Rather, we want to educate folks so that ANYONE can set up their own show. DIT is more than happy to help in any way possible but we do not have the desire or manpower to be the ones setting up every aspect of every show. The idea is that EVERYONE can be a part of DIT(K).

We do not have a perfect system and are always looking for ways to improve. The sum of DIT(K) is only as good as it’s parts. If you see something missing, then by all means join in and fill the void. The members of DIT only want to see Kalamazoo continue to cultivate the best arts community possible. We want people of all ages to feel welcome at shows. We want to see people throwing a show and then going out the next day to put up fliers for their neighbor’s show. We want to see 100 people come out and support a touring band they’ve never heard of before. We want to see punk, folk, metal, noise, hip hop, electronica, rock, jazz, bluegrass and pop all in the same week (or in the same show). We want everyone to DO IT TOGETHER!

For better ideas of how to get involved and keep DIT(K) balanced and thriving, please come to one of our meetings. If your schedule doesn’t allow, please email us with any questions or thoughts. If you don’t get a response right away, please don’t get discouraged. We’re trying! There is also a wonderful online zine that has been created by the folks over at dodiy.org with step by step guides on how to set up your own shows and become an active part of your community. We’ve got plenty of great touring bands looking for shows and need all the help we can get!

-Sean Hartman