A Look Into Lethbridge’s Kid-Friendly Underground Hardcore Scene
Editor- May 3
- 3 min read
Moose Hall on 5th Ave N was exploding with energy on a Thursday night in April as Libertine Promotions put on a hardcore show featuring Vancouver’s Place of Refuge and Unmoved, and Lethbridge’s 4BPM and Cleat.
If you’re not familiar with hardcore, it could be described as a more aggressive, intense subgenre of punk music, possibly with a little heavy metal influence. The bands are usually on floor level with the audience, mixing in with the moshers flailing into each other.
And despite all that, these are all-ages shows, with free entry for kids 12 and under.
To find out more about these kid-friendly underground hardcore shows in Lethbridge, we popped over to Libertine Tattoo and sat down with Selena Osborne, one of the organizers, to talk about the shows she puts on under the name of Libertine Promotions with help from other tattoo artists and friends in the scene.
“I started going to shows when I was 13…14. I went to LCI and there was a show every week or two,” Osborne told us, recalling a time before the hardcore scene mostly died out in Lethbridge. “There was a heavy, thriving hardcore scene. There were teenagers putting on these shows. I went to shows and it made me stoked and that’s why we’re putting on shows—and all-ages, specifically—so a younger crowd can get into it and kind of keep building it.”
She explained that, growing up, the heavy music scene gave her and her friends a safe, positive, and healthy outlet that shaped who they became. “We think it’s important to continue to offer these types of shows to the city, especially for youth!”
“I remember going to my first show when I was 13 or 14 and being like, ‘This is weird.’ But people are just stoked. There’s so much energy, so then everyone feeds off each other’s energy and they’re just happy. Growing up, it just kept me out of other stuff. It gave me an outlet.”
Wondering how it’s been received in the community, we asked Osborne if they ever face criticism about putting on these shows and welcoming kids to this environment. But she said she doesn’t really hear anything like that.
“It’s heavy and it looks like it’s angry, but most people are just happy and stoked. And there’s a whole etiquette to the mosh. Most people are doing a specific dance but they’re looking out for each other and they’re not just pushing each other around trying to hurt each other. There’s more of an etiquette. When we have shows, there’s eight-year-olds running through the pit doing mosh and they feel safe to be there. Because the older people are looking out for them.”
Not only is it a safe place, but she explained that a lot of bands are straight edge.
“Most of the bands have a message that they’re trying to present. It’s very positive and inclusive.”
What have the bands thought of performing for an all-ages audience? Osborne says, “A lot of times the bands are playing bars. So the bands are like, ‘This is sick.’ It’s crazy to see parents bring their kids, whether they’re teenagers or little kids. I think to see youth stoked on something gets the band stoked.”
Libertine Promotion’s two-year anniversary is coming up, and they’re celebrating with two shows at Theoretically Brewing—one on May 13 and one on May 16. As always, they’re all-ages.
To find out about other shows, follow Libertine Tattoo on Instagram.
