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Beefeater

A central part of the D.C. scene’s Revolution Summer era, Beefeater was formed in 1984 by bassist Dug E. Bird, vocalist Onam Emmet (then known as Tomas Squip), guitarist Fred “Freak” Smith, and drummer Bruce Atchley Taylor. The band’s eclectic blend of styles—ranging from funk to thrash to reggae, all underpinned by Smith’s furious guitar work—carved out a singular space for the group and helped establish the post-hardcore sound in D.C..

Drawn from the punk collections in Special Collection in Perfoming Arts at the University of Maryland.

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Fliers

Black and white flier with an illustration of an abstract human, and his plate is filled with small animals that are going into his mouth. There is a cutout of a person at the table next to the character.

Beefeater - Food For Thought, Washington, D.C. - September 29, 1984

Punk percussion protest flyer with blurred handwritten titles and details on a lined sheet of paper.

Punk percussion protest, Beefeater and Rites of Spring flier, Washington, D.C., June 1985

Rites of Spring flyer with a floral border and a photo of a child hitting his head on a rock.

Rites of Spring and Beefeater - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., November 20, 1985

Rites of Spring flyer with three images of fossil creatures.

Rites of Spring, Beefeater, Embrace, Dag Nasty - Hall of Nations, Washington, D.C., December 4, 1985 (Version 1)

Rites of Spring Flier with abstract dark swirls surrounding the flyer title.

Rites of Spring, Beefeater, Embrace, Dag Nasty - Hall of Nations, Washington, D.C., December 4, 1985 (Version 2)

Rites of Spring flyer with handwritten titles and details and a dark, line-sketched illustration of a man in the middle.

Rites of Spring, Beefeater, Embrace, Dag Nasty - Hall of Nations, Washington, D.C., December 4, 1985 (Version 3)

Scream and Beefeater flyer on orange paper with photos of Martin Luther King Jr and a group of people holding an American flag.

Scream and Beefeater concert flier, Chevy Chase Community Center, Washington, D.C., January 25, 1986 (Front)

Reverse of Scream and Beefeater flyer on orange paper with a newspaper clipping titled, 'Each day is a struggle on poverty's front line for embattled director'.

Scream and Beefeater concert flier, Chevy Chase Community Center, Washington, D.C., January 25, 1986 (Reverse)

Beefeater flyer with a collage photos of a man and a child holding a candle, surrounded by handwritten details.

Beefeater, Embrace, Dag Nasty - Fairfax, Virginia, February 1, 1986

Beefeater flyer with handwritten details and a drawing of a crying child.

Beefeater and Dag Nasty - Hall of Nations, Washington, D.C., May 9, 1986

Zines

Metrozine, Issue 10 with a handwritten title and a photo of a man jumping over a crowd.

Metrozine, Issue 10, circa 1985

About

Persistent Vision presents the University of Maryland's digitized special collections materials related to punk in the Washington, D.C. area. Most of these materials reside at Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA) in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library. These materials help to tell the story of a subculture and a community that has thrived since 1976.

Curators: John Davis, Ben Jackson
Design: Ben Jackson, Natalie Salive
Authors: Ben Jackson, John Davis, and Jessica Grimmer

With help from: Cindy Zhao, Jeremy Gottwig, Amanda Henderson, Gabby Cameron, Hayden Kramer

Contact Us

Special Collections in Performing Arts is located in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library on University of Maryland’s College Park campus.

For general information about the library and our collections, contact us