A Brief Guide To: Local Parties and DIY Shows

Frog Rocket performs at Gort House on March 7th, 2025. Photos courtesy of Jess Nicole Brown.

So, you are 18 and on your own for the first time—your roommate heard from someone that there is a party this weekend and, obviously, you guys must go. You stumble down North Garden Street and end up at a house which is kind of falling apart but, amidst the pack of fifty to seventy people in the almost-pitch-black, where your sight is solely lit by the overhead light in the kitchen (it will remain on all night) and a hodgepodge of colored lights, you can’t really notice. This is a typical scenario at Western, especially for many first-year students. At a school without Greek life, house parties are a big thing. They’re where many students socialize, and where many underclassmen experience the Western social scene for the first time. Through my time at Western, I have heard many complaints about how the social culture at Western is “bad and closed off,” and that it’s “hard to make friends” because there are limited spaces to meet people. These house parties are where a lot of that social scene is locked up. Many people meet at them, but they can be an exclusive space.

Throwing a house party is a common thing in Bellingham and Western. Students who live in houses around town can have these parties and then they escalate, in one way or another. There’s two ways this can happen: no one shows upand the party dies, or, way too many people show up and the party gets shut down. In my experience, both can beoverwhelming, emotional rollercoasters. Throwing these parties and attending them are completely opposite experiences. As a guest, you are freed from all the responsibilities and get to just enjoy the party. As a host, the party can, at times, behard to enjoy, as it can feel like you need to make sure things are going well and don’t get out of hand. Hosting a house party can mean looking around and realizing that you don’t recognize any of the people standing in your living room, and, at other times, it means excitedly letting a whole basketball team into that same house.

Still, there is such a culture to these parties. It’s commonly known that some students—particularly underclassmen—will spend their weekend nights trekking up and down North Garden and High Streets looking for parties. Gaining entry to a party is a rite of passage—literally. For the hosts, the phrase “who do you know?” becomes second nature when, at aschool where so much of the social scene can be weighted on these parties, invites get spread like wildfire. The way that the invite is sent out and that word of the party can spread can be a risk as the information that is put out there needs to be specific and well-considered so that you don’t end up throwing an out-of-control rager (unless that’s the ultimate goal).

I have enjoyed going to and throwing parties during my time at Western but, as I looked back on all the parties I have attended—as host or as guest—the ones that stick out to me are the ones where I have memories to spending time with the people who I really love, which is sappy but, like, who really cares when it’s the truth. I do not smile when thinking of the times when I had to yell at the top of my lungs for everyone to get out, or of the times when my house was left a mess, or when I felt awkward in the corner at a stranger's house. So, if you are going to go to a house party at Western, here are my last thoughts (and tips):

1. If the invite is sent via Snapchat, do not go.
2. If you do not, in some way, even tangentially, know at least one person throwing the party—skip it.
3. If you get turned away do not try to argue your way in.
4. Do not steal, set off fireworks, or generally be an asshole.
5. No commandeering the speaker unless you’ve been told (by someone you are certain has the authority to tell you) that you can.
6. Do not invite extra guests unless you’ve asked or been told by the hosts that you can (and don’t invite extra guests beyond how many you’ve been told you can invite).
7. Be aware of your surroundings enough that you do not fall down a retaining wall, off a roof, into a fire, down a flight of stairs, or in any manner that might end with you being taken to the ER.
8. Leave the house better than you found it—just be a respectful guest overall.
9. Do not leave anyone behind.
10. Lastly, remember that, in the end, you make your own party and the experience you get out of it.

The packed crowd dances at a Gort House show, taken on March 7th, 2025.

Alternatively, if you find that parties aren’t your particular cup of tea for whatever reason, or if you find you’re not being invited to parties, but you’re still under 21 and looking for a taste of the social scene on a Friday or Saturday night, a DIY show—or house show—might be where you can get your kicks. While a DIY show might be considered under the umbrella of “party,” and can certainly share a number of characteristics, a DIY show is still an entity of its own, especially in Bellingham, where the scene has thrived in one way or another since at least the 90s—and probably before—as I’ve heard from people who were active in it then. DIY shows don’t require an invite—they just require knowledge of them. Though it may take a bit to find your niche within the scene, posters and flyers for shows can be easily found plastered around campus, neighborhoods, downtown, and social media, making the DIY show scene accessible to anyone who has an interest, often with the only barrier being a cover fee—and, most venues are NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds) anyways.

After five years of living in Bellingham essentially full time, I’ve found my community in the music scene and, thus, found myself integrated into the scene. Over the years I’ve ended up at quite a few (and quite a variety of) DIY shows—hosted in living rooms, backyards, the arboretum, under bridges, and beyond. The DIY music scene in Bellingham is so close to my heart that it’s worked its way into my own backyard—twice. That is to say, I’ve experienced enough of the DIY scene in Bellingham that I think I can speak on it—I’m certainly no expert, but I know a thing or two about it simply from observation.

DIY shows in Bellingham can pop up just about anywhere—legally, or illegally. The venues can be unknown, one-time stages, or they can become notorious in their consistency and longevity. The first show I went to in Bellingham was a house show, hosted at JJ’s Junction, which was a house show venue situated in a (literally) crumbling house next to JJ’s In and Out on the south side of campus. It no longer exists as a venue, and I’m pretty sure the house is set to be torn down (or it is already?) in the next year or so. As an underage underclassman looking to get the “college experience,” house shows are often your only gateway into that without forcing your way into parties at houses you know no one at, and JJ’s Junction was the ideal gateway to house shows.

Like most hardcore house show venues in Bellingham (and, therefore, like most house show venues in Bellingham), there was always a strong smell of some combination of bodily fluids, the sound quality was either deafening or mediocre, the visibility was shit, you tried to avoid the bathroom at all costs, and the crowd was always so packed in that it was likely you couldn’t help but get an elbow somewhere that you didn’t want it. At the end—if the cops didn’t get called for a noise complaint—you’d head home tired, needing to piss, smelling like pure sweat and B.O., your ears ringing, with a bruise or two more than you came with, still feeling the buzz of the experience, the people, and the music. JJ’s was just aquintessential example of how little it took to put on a show—and enjoy the experience of a show—in the Bellingham DIY scene.

Being so involved with the scene today, I can confidently say that it doesn’t take that much to put on a DIY show—and it takes even less to enjoy one. To put on a DIY show, all you really need is the music, the people, the location, and maybe a sound system if you really want it—don’t ask me about that side of things, it’s not my expertise. To have a good experience at a DIY show as a member of the crowd, the crew, or the band(s), to ensure a good experience for other members of the crowd, the crew, or the band(s), it really comes down to respect—respect for the experience, respect for the people, and respect for the music. That is,

• Don’t be an asshole—treat others as you want to be treated!
• Show appreciation for the music and the people playing it, even if you don’t really care about it.
• Don’t cause destruction to the venue, the gear, the instruments, or, essentially anything that’s not yours to destroy.
• Be mindful of others and remember that you’re all there for the same reason in the end.
• If you’re going to be moshing, please learn pit etiquette! it makes the experience so much safer (and better) for everyone in, around, and outside the pit.
• Finally, enjoy the moment for what it is—Bellingham may just be one of the final frontiers of honest $0-$10 DIY shows, so we need to appreciate and support the scene for what it is as long as it’s around.