Who Am I?
Last night in bed I was flicking down the list of bands in my mp3 player and saw "Body Jar" and thought how long it had been since I'd indulged my pre-pubescent love of pop-punk. So I gave "not the same" and "fall to the ground" a whirl and a catalogue of memories came rushing back.
Body Jar were among the bands at the first festival I went to. It was a hot Summer in 1999 and Vic Kerridge and I were obsessed with Perth band Jebediah. We heard they were playing at "youthfest" at Manly, so conned my Dad into driving me from Gordon into Manly, picking up Vic from Seaforth on the way. I remember we go there, so naive and full of excitement only to find I'd left the tickets at home. It's a credit to the loveliness of my father that he drove all the way home to pick up the tickets, and drove all the way back (about an hour round trip)
On the bill were Area 7, Jebediah and Body Jar. At least, those are the bands I remember. I think NOFX might've played as well, actually yes I think they headlined.
This was the day I learned to mosh, first smelt pot and decided music was my drug of choice.
But Bodyjar also played at the Blink 182 concert, which was my second ever real live music experience, also attended by myself and Vic Kerridge. It was the Sydney Entertainment Centre, packed with minature fake punks, so excited to be allowed out for a night to laugh at naughty lyrics and pine for a distant crush.
This was the night I bought my first band tshirt, about four sizes too big.
Also in Year 8, or 9 maybe, I used a Bodyjar lyric in an English assessment. I think I got good marks. That was the weird thing about pop-punk back then, they had very angsty, but generally intelligent lyrics which contained social comment. I remember feeling both angsty, and up for social comment, so Bodyjar fit the bill.
It's funny how one song can take you back.