SST bands couldn’t get booked in clubs that relied on mainstream rock-and-roll audiences because they didn’t have visibility in the conventional rock media that influenced talent buyers. Thus, SST and other indie labels like the Dead Kennedys’ Alternative Tentacles had to find different venues, including VFW halls that hadn’t previously featured live music. Young promoters emerged and created an alternative touring circuit that cultivated the subculture that Nirvana would later enter.
