Rancid
I just got home from the Rancid show. The lineup was supposed to be Rancid, the Planet Smashers, and my friends/local ska-punk band Soapbox Paradox. We learned early on that the Smashers were stopped at the border and weren't playing. It was Soapbox Paradox playing direct support for Rancid! Soapbox played sooo good. They're insansely tight and the sound was just awesome. I started a pit in the first song, and just kept shit going. It's my belief that people moving around to music are more likely to enjoy it. At the end of their set I headed over to their merch table to start hustling CDs. The CDs were free and I was asking for donations. So many people gave more than the suggested $2 and they went through all 100 of them. I moved shit like mad, and it didn't hurt that they played so well. A lot of my flyers for the Mustard Plug show on Thursday disappeared, too. I wonder if any of those people are gonna show up and then realize that one merch dude is opening.
Rancid came on and they were way better than I expected. I'm not big into Rancid, I've got around half their albums, but they're much better live. They covered "Knowledge" and "Unity" by Operation Ivy and played all the songs I was hoping to hear. After the show they all rushed into their bus. Some short time later, Tim appeared out of the door and started signing stuff. I raaan to my car to grab my shampoo bottle! In case you haven't heard, I got a bottle of Garnier Fructis signed by Travis Barker and Skinhead Rob of the Transplants. The third memeber of the band was right in front of me. I got closer and closer to him as people got signatures and got out of the way, and then suddenly he darted back into the bus. I yelled out "Please sign my shampoo! I have the other Transplants and I just need you!" He turns around and comes back out and signs my bottle and then goes in for good. How badass is THAT?! Tim's basically a legend and all, but I actually don't even like the Tranplants. It's weird that I'm so excited about this.
Afterwards me, Soapbox, and their crew went down to get some pizza at Niki's in Greektown. They paid me $20 for my services as merch wizard. Not only did I get into a sold out $20 Rancid show for free, but I actually got paid to be there, too. I was stoked and grateful. They even paid for my dinner, too. It was a great night and if the Planet Smashers had played too, I probably would've spontaneously combusted or something. Guess I'm lucky.
I still get giddy at shows. Fuck you.
Rancid came on and they were way better than I expected. I'm not big into Rancid, I've got around half their albums, but they're much better live. They covered "Knowledge" and "Unity" by Operation Ivy and played all the songs I was hoping to hear. After the show they all rushed into their bus. Some short time later, Tim appeared out of the door and started signing stuff. I raaan to my car to grab my shampoo bottle! In case you haven't heard, I got a bottle of Garnier Fructis signed by Travis Barker and Skinhead Rob of the Transplants. The third memeber of the band was right in front of me. I got closer and closer to him as people got signatures and got out of the way, and then suddenly he darted back into the bus. I yelled out "Please sign my shampoo! I have the other Transplants and I just need you!" He turns around and comes back out and signs my bottle and then goes in for good. How badass is THAT?! Tim's basically a legend and all, but I actually don't even like the Tranplants. It's weird that I'm so excited about this.
Afterwards me, Soapbox, and their crew went down to get some pizza at Niki's in Greektown. They paid me $20 for my services as merch wizard. Not only did I get into a sold out $20 Rancid show for free, but I actually got paid to be there, too. I was stoked and grateful. They even paid for my dinner, too. It was a great night and if the Planet Smashers had played too, I probably would've spontaneously combusted or something. Guess I'm lucky.
I still get giddy at shows. Fuck you.