Less than a hundred people ran to Mid-City ballroom on Friday, Aug. 26 to see local bands Golgothan, DeadCentered and Self-Checkout Renaissance perform. As the explosive sounds of the punk and metal concert shook the room, the attendees shouted and danced to each song.
The concert serves as one example of a thriving underground scene of local bands that form an integral part of the Baton Rouge community.
First up to rock the stage was Self-Checkout Renaissance. Drummer Michael Tank said the band places its ideology in its song titles, like “Landlord Elimination Matrix.” Tank said Self-Checkout Renaissance’s sound is best described as commie dance punk.  
“You can move your hips to it, but you can also mosh to it,” Tank said.
Moshing involves a large circle of people in the center of a concert who violently run around while dancing and slamming into one another. This was an activity that the lead singer of Self-Checkout Renaissance, Kyle Buchanan, took part in as he descended from the stage multiple times during the band’s set to join the audience.
“It’s kind of scary your first few shows you go to,” Buchanan said. “Definitely just getting people to shows is tough because you got to explain to them, like, ‘Hey, yeah there will be a pit, but you don’t have to be in it. You can chill.’ It’s nice to see new people coming out to the scene.”
Next up was Golgothan, a brutal death metal band whose Spotify bio says it was “conjured from the Swamps of Louisiana.” The band certainly looked the part, with custom costumes and face paint of various shades of browns and greens.
John LeBlanc, one of the guitarists of Golgothan, also happens to be an LSU 2020 alumnus and LSU IT worker. LeBlanc said there’s nothing quite like the rush of performing live.  
“The energy, the adrenaline, the anticipation beforehand and the immeasurable relief afterward,” LeBlanc said. “Getting to bask in the afterglow of doing a good performance — even if it is subpar — it’s still really good because you get off stage, and you feel good. People are here to see you, and they give you compliments. It just reinforces why you put so much work into it in the first place.”
Ending the night was hardcore punk band DeadCentered. Upon taking the stage, lead singer, Joshua Michael Selser, stripped off his shorts and t-shirt to reveal a black dress hidden underneath. An unknown concertgoer in the crowd called out, “Yas queen!” as the band began to perform.
When asked about the outfit choice, Selser said he likes to use hardcore rock-n-roll to challenge the stereotypical views of old school metalheads.  
“I’m definitely straight, you know, happily married, but I like to challenge all those norms and kind of poke holes in what people think gender is, why they want to hold so much importance to that,” Selser said.
DeadCentered’s concert dove into other social concepts, including homelessness and drug addiction. Selser doesn’t shy away from using his platform as a musician to send a message.
“Everyday I post on my Facebook, ‘Feed somebody today,’” Selser said.
Around five years ago, Selser started a movement called Famine is the Enemy. He now has the phrase tattooed on his arm. Every Saturday FITE travels to downtown Baton Rouge to feed the homeless. 
“There’s no political or religious agenda because everybody can smell that when you go and help them,” Selser said. “They’re like, ‘Well what do you want?’ Well, I just want to be consistent, and I just want to love you.”
In the moshing crowd, one woman was giving it her all as she headbanged and danced around the venue. After the show, as the bands packed up and most people began to head home, Maddy Arostegui hung back.
“I’m a trans woman,” Arostegui said. “I know that I can be safe here. There’s tons of queer people. Generally, the music has some sort of anti-establishment point where it’s more accepting of who I am. It’s OK to be me here.”

Gallery • 2 Photos

Nyx Crooks

The bassist of DeadCentered stands in the foreground as lead singer Joshua Michael Selser wears a black dress as he solos on guitar in the center of the stage at Mid-City ballroom on Friday, Aug. 26 in Baton Rouge, La.