EINOK 4.5 Reportback

For four years, Everything Is Not Okay in Oklahoma City, USA was a legendary punk outing for the freaks of Hattiesburg. The last year of the fest was in 2019. We would drive 12+ hours through some of the most boring parts of the country to see some of the best bands at the time. I hold those memories very near and dear to my heart. When EINOK 4.5 was announced for May 9/10 2025 and my band JUDY AND THE JERKS was asked to play, we knew we had to say yes and bring a whole squad with us. We went, we played and we all came to the same conclusion: some things need to stay dead.

The Good

• Got to see so many friends I hadn't seen since pre-Covid, and was able to introduce old friends to new friends. Shoot the shit on the old days and also got up to some new antics with buds. Rolling 20 deep into Lee's Sandwiches will always be a highlight. These fests are essentially family reunions. Unlike my actual family reunions, I really value being able to get friends from across the country together to kick it.
• Some really cool bands. The lineup didn't really 'wow' me but some acts did really get my attention. Some classics like WICCANS, NEGATIVE DECREE, ARMOR. Bands you can count on to deliver. PRIMAL BRAIN from OKC was an insane blast. The JUDY set was a ton of fun, silly string and a saxophone is always a winning combo. ROCKSTAR NIGHTCLUB, an OKC local was the standout for me. Younger kids, having fun, all wearing different colored ponchos, not playing generic hardcore punk, everyone was smiling. My kinda shit. BORN from Birmingham played the best set I've ever seen them play.

The Bad

• It felt like every band took so long to set up, get their gear sorted – all momentum was lost in between bands. At the matinee show we played, there was some power issues at the venue, making the show last easily twice as long. By the time JUDY played, half the crowd had left since the show ran so long. So many bands had to break in between songs and tune, at every show it was like this. It was wild how little gusto there was anywhere.
• As someone else said to me: "Attack Of The Clones." So many bands that all sound like the exact same breed of current cookie-cutter hardcore punk. Shit I love, but when everyone sounds the same, looks the same, and all plays like they're bored to be there... what are we even doing? So many of these bands were a total snore. I don't care how many YouTube views your demo got, if you play like you're bored and don't want to be there then I won't care at all. Just an overall lack of diversity. Every other band was a Charlotte, NC band of kids with rat tails, dangly earrings, and partially bleached hair. Or at least it felt this way. In moderation I can get down with this, but it was all the same. There's so many sick bands currently playing and touring, but it felt so curated to be only specific bands from specific friend groups. I know I'm not exactly breaking from the norm in how I look or how my bands sound, but it was all too much the same. Some of my favorite and memorable sets from years past were the weirdo bands. I think there's a greater statement to be made here about the explosion into the alternative mainstream of 'egg punk' and then the backlash from the DIY community that has lead to really really boring bands that try to be dark edgy and sneak boring d-beat riffs into every song.

The Ugly

• The front person of one of these Charlotte bands throwing out F-slurs and R-slurs and being a drunken idiot into the mic, then half the crowd with half a brain still moshing even though the other half of the crowd is actively coordinating how to handle this situation. These kids showed their asses and I think its time for them to give up this subculture and try something else. Ruined the vibe of the night but also felt like a culmination of the energy all these wannabe edgy cool hardcore bands were bringing the whole weekend.

Maybe it's obvious to see that negatives outweighed the goods. It was clear from everyone who attended this fest in previous years, the past years didn't feel like this. I don't regret traveling and playing and seeing friends. Those parts were awesome. But the experience left me a little more jaded then when I showed up. I knew it couldn't compare to the original run of Everything Is Not Okay, but this entry should be forgotten to time. Even as I'm writing this I'm remembering more negative things. Rumors after the fact how much certain bands were paid compared to others, or that certain bands with known sketchy members were going to play.

The fest was clearly not as well attended as many thought it would be. Makes sense with how insular the bands playing felt. I have nothing but love for the scene and people of Oklahoma City. Could I book a better fest? Doubtful, I'd rather not even try. I can't blame anyone for going back to the well on this idea either.

I encourage anyone touring through middle America to play in OKC. The scene isn't huge but it's a scene of people who give a fuck. Something worth much more. Some of my favorite shows I've ever played have been there. I won't blame the OKC scene for this slight flub of a fest. Check out their locals bands. PRIMAL BRAIN, ROCKSTAR NIGHTCLUB, and probably tons more that I'm less familiar with. Bands that aren't afraid to do things a little differently and can have fun while being creative.