The month of October had come upon us. Good Charlotte and Britney Spears were at the height of their popularity,Paul and Evie weren't married yet, wearing two shirts at all occasions were fast becoming a thing of the past and cell-groups each taking a night of youth had become the trend. After half-hearted attempts by all the others (Paul's cell "let's make youth like a TV programme" and the girl's cell trying out human foosball), the powerhouse homegroup lead by the effervescent Rich Gordon and ably backed up by Jen Collier, Ed Holden and Gabe Phillips came up with the ultimate youth event. Taking the concepts of tucked in shirts, calculators and braces and adding them to the combo look of allstar shoes and socks pulled up to the calf (the Brett Edy look)and mohawks, mixing them together to form the night of dreams that would be come to known simply as Punks and Nerds.
That famous first night featured a doughnut eating comp, kids (aka Kieran Bauristene, Nicole Van Besouw, Courtney Quirk, Ben Bailey etc) dancing in their underpants to retell the story of David's passionate worship of God plus a walk off between those dressed as Punks versus the Nerds...all anyone can remember from that was Brian Paul's outfit of a South African cricket shirt tucked into khaki shorts topped off with a beige, floppy hat. Totally bizarre.
And of course, the night will be most remembered by COGS Youth having the third greatest punk band to come out of Durban North in the last decade (behind Smash and Grab and Mr Smug of course), Not the Majority (or as they were known at the time, "No Tuck Money"). We skanked, we moshed, we dagged, we ran in circles endlessly...we even were introduced to the now famous "cockroach" move. Ah, what a great night!
Since that first magical night, the Punks and Nerds event has become such a hit that it has even grown into an International brand. You may wonder why Ashneel Ramkissoon has become quite scarce at COGS Youth recently, but it is because he has been helping translate Punks and Nerds into the Mumbai youth culture in India. It's name is of course in Hindi and with the various language barriers, the event is known there as "People dressed rebelliously and People dressed Smartly".
This Friday we get to see the Punks and Nerds night reinvented. A new crop of youthions get to experience the deep delight of this very special evening. Enjoy!