The tension between radical politics and countercultural freedom defined Seibu Kōdō’s 1970s. By 1970, festivals like Fuck ’70 and the founding of the Mojo West series of music festivals marked a cultural turn: politics gave way to youth culture and free expression. This shift was not without controversy. While Mojo West offered stages to popular bands like PYG, and foreign acts like Frank Zappa, radicals accused organizers of betraying Seibu Kōdō’s putative role as an anti-establishment bastion. At the same time, smaller venues like Drugstore incubated new genres, including punk and noise. 

Kyoto’s first "Japanese" punk show, in 1978, featured the band SS as the only official local act on the bill of what was called the Tokyo’s Rockers Kansai Tour (as the name implies, this comprised groups from the capital). Groups like Hijokaidan (非常階段) and Aunt Sally pushed musical boundaries through noise and “no-wave,” and staged shocking performances involving raw meat, garbage, and bodily fluids. For these artists, Seibu Kōdō offered one of the few affordable, open spaces for unrestricted experimentation. Yet by the late 1970s, financial strain and political and cultural decline clouded the scene. Maintaining the decaying hall required constant fundraising. Seirenkyō pawned equipment to cover costs, while critics lamented that few of the current bands or even audience remembered the radical struggles of the 1960s.