I won't go down by myself, but I'll go down with my friends
Good morning, y'all. well, I guess it's not morning on the East Coast. Good afternoon, East Coasters! I'm waaay over here! ::jumps up and down, waves::
Last night, as you may recall, e_juliana and I headed to the first of two My Chemical Romance shows at the Warfield. She did a good general write-up of the show including before and after pics, so I'll stick to the color commentary, including my own open letter to Kids These Days.
First off, while we were in the massive line, which moved impressively fast, a young female vagrant under some kind of influence started SCREAMING at all of us. Her rant went something like this: "Oh, I'm so HARDCORE!! I'm THIRTEEN and I shop at HOT TOPIC and I listen to EMO FAGS!! I'll cut you, BITCH. You think you're so fucking HARDCORE!" and on and on forever, amen hallelujah. She actually started to approach the line but her companion held her back and a security guy stepped closer to intervene if needed. It was both disturbing and funny, since it sounded exactly like what someone might say who was flaming an MCR comm, or something.
Once we got in the pit, there was pretty much no getting out if you wanted to get back in, although a 13 yo blonde w/a twin managed to shove her way in and out several times before the music started. She made a wide swath for such a wee person. Some other chick rammed her way through and got feisty when I called her out. Dude, I don't care that you're trying to get back to where you were, but try saying EXCUSE ME.
Drive By was indeed a massive charisma suck. The lead guy's eyes were dead, dead, dead. His sense of entitlement and lazy reliance on basic phrases to get the crowd response he himself was unable to generate (San Francisco, Billy Talent, My Chem) pissed me off to no end.
Billy Talent. ZOMG. Force. of. NATURE. Mick Jagger hip checks, incoherent screaming, energy out the wazoo. Totally fun, and recommended live. They played one song I recognized but I don't have any Billy Talent on my iPod and Google failed me, since I couldn't really make out the words. The refrain is something like "Fuck all you fathers, blah blah something, by tragedy by tragedy." Yeah, you can see why I couldn't find it. Anyone got a fucking clue on that one?
My Chemical Romance. Hell fucking yes. The puppet!Gee was held aloft for several songs and sang along in time, until he was passed up front. I can has puppet!MCR fic nao pls? I hope Frankie gets some good sleep today and feels better tonight. He was a mere shadow of his usual mad pinball energy last night. My favorite songs, energy-wise, were "I'm Not Okay," "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison," "Famous Last Words," and "Cancer." Wow, the drama on that one. Gerard stood with his back to the audience for a while, shaking out his hair, while the intro built. He approached the front of the stage, uplit in red, and sang his heart out, the audience singing along. I know that's a really personal song for him - I wonder how much his feelings about it have changed, from performing it over and over again. I wish they'd played "Thank You for the Venom" - maybe tonight they will. And "Vampires" - I'd love to hear that live. And while I'm making requests, I think MCR should cover "Kiss Off" by the Violent Femmes.
Okay, manifesto time.
Now, I'm not talking to all of you, so don't get all het up that I'm being condescending to younger peoples or some shit. You, cutie in the white shirt - you were awesome. I just want to have a little chat about concert etiquette.
First, where I'm coming from. I didn't grow up in the punk scene. I've not been in that many mosh pits. But there are a few common sense things that I've picked up along the way that I'd like to share.
There you have it! Simple things to make everyone's concert-going experience just a little bit more pleasant.
Love, moi
Honestly, I wish they'd pass out "Tips for moshing" fliers at the door or that MCR would put something up on a website, make a fucking t-shirt, have a designated mosh area off to the side, something. The meeting between the male urge to mosh and the female urge to be CLOSE TO GERARD OMG!!! made for some mild unpleasantness. Through no initiative of our own, we ended up dead center on Gee, about 10 feet back. Close enough that I did get hit by his sweat at one point when he tossed his head. He's such an amazing performer.
Don't get me wrong - I had a shit-eating grin on my face all through Billy Talent and MCR, despite the fact that I was effectively wearing a human corset. I came close to losing my feet a couple of times, but never did, thank god. At one point early on, before the general crush, there were 4-5 14 yo boys just shoving and shoving and shoving. J and I finally turned, bared our teeth, got low, and rucked. They stopped. Not so fun to be shoved, is it, boys? At one point I heard one of them saying "I'm falling without falling." Yeah, jackass, I'm the one holding you up.
One night of that madness was enough - I missed out on a lot of what was going on onstage just fighting to keep my feet or protect a wee one, and my neck was hurting from craning to see over the guy in front of me. So tonight I'm going to go early so J and I can get front row on the 2nd tier.
This morning I woke with the lyrics to "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" in my head and some kind of BankRobber!MCR AU fic playing in my head, complete with double-crossing, misfiring guns, etc. I woke just as Frankie was about to rub out a mole.
Yeah, so. I might try and make a dance class in about an hour, so I need to see if I can make that work.
Last night, as you may recall, e_juliana and I headed to the first of two My Chemical Romance shows at the Warfield. She did a good general write-up of the show including before and after pics, so I'll stick to the color commentary, including my own open letter to Kids These Days.
First off, while we were in the massive line, which moved impressively fast, a young female vagrant under some kind of influence started SCREAMING at all of us. Her rant went something like this: "Oh, I'm so HARDCORE!! I'm THIRTEEN and I shop at HOT TOPIC and I listen to EMO FAGS!! I'll cut you, BITCH. You think you're so fucking HARDCORE!" and on and on forever, amen hallelujah. She actually started to approach the line but her companion held her back and a security guy stepped closer to intervene if needed. It was both disturbing and funny, since it sounded exactly like what someone might say who was flaming an MCR comm, or something.
Once we got in the pit, there was pretty much no getting out if you wanted to get back in, although a 13 yo blonde w/a twin managed to shove her way in and out several times before the music started. She made a wide swath for such a wee person. Some other chick rammed her way through and got feisty when I called her out. Dude, I don't care that you're trying to get back to where you were, but try saying EXCUSE ME.
Drive By was indeed a massive charisma suck. The lead guy's eyes were dead, dead, dead. His sense of entitlement and lazy reliance on basic phrases to get the crowd response he himself was unable to generate (San Francisco, Billy Talent, My Chem) pissed me off to no end.
Billy Talent. ZOMG. Force. of. NATURE. Mick Jagger hip checks, incoherent screaming, energy out the wazoo. Totally fun, and recommended live. They played one song I recognized but I don't have any Billy Talent on my iPod and Google failed me, since I couldn't really make out the words. The refrain is something like "Fuck all you fathers, blah blah something, by tragedy by tragedy." Yeah, you can see why I couldn't find it. Anyone got a fucking clue on that one?
My Chemical Romance. Hell fucking yes. The puppet!Gee was held aloft for several songs and sang along in time, until he was passed up front. I can has puppet!MCR fic nao pls? I hope Frankie gets some good sleep today and feels better tonight. He was a mere shadow of his usual mad pinball energy last night. My favorite songs, energy-wise, were "I'm Not Okay," "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison," "Famous Last Words," and "Cancer." Wow, the drama on that one. Gerard stood with his back to the audience for a while, shaking out his hair, while the intro built. He approached the front of the stage, uplit in red, and sang his heart out, the audience singing along. I know that's a really personal song for him - I wonder how much his feelings about it have changed, from performing it over and over again. I wish they'd played "Thank You for the Venom" - maybe tonight they will. And "Vampires" - I'd love to hear that live. And while I'm making requests, I think MCR should cover "Kiss Off" by the Violent Femmes.
Okay, manifesto time.
Now, I'm not talking to all of you, so don't get all het up that I'm being condescending to younger peoples or some shit. You, cutie in the white shirt - you were awesome. I just want to have a little chat about concert etiquette.
First, where I'm coming from. I didn't grow up in the punk scene. I've not been in that many mosh pits. But there are a few common sense things that I've picked up along the way that I'd like to share.
- Crushing towards the stage is not moshing. Jumping on my back like a Dukie fouling Hansbrough is not moshing. Mosh pits aren't built from the outside in, but from the inside out. If the people around you aren't into moshing, don't try and force them to. That way lies getting your nose broken or maybe your eyes scratched out by a 15 yo who just wants to see GeeWay sweat up close and personal.
- Attempting to crowd surf in an audience that is 95% teenage girls is Not a Good Idea. If you get dropped on your head and split your skull and stop the show, I will be PISSED.
- Teenage girls - if some jackass crowd surfs, put your fucking arms up and push. You don't want to be crushed by his stupid ass.
- If you don't want to be moved by the crowd, widen your stance, bend your knees and drop your weight straight down. You will find that you suddenly become much harder to move.
- Big guys - it's your fucking JOB to protect the 4'9" chick next to you. Don't tell me you can't do anything - I can protect her and I'm half your size. If you see someone getting crushed, put them in front of you and make a circle with your arms.
- Little chicas - you can't count on guys, clearly, so fucking learn to protect yourself. Get your arms up in front of your chest, and bow out your elbows. Worst comes to worst, get behind one big guy and use his back for leverage.
- Other little chicas - stop. trying. to wedge. your way. up. front. There is NO ROOM. And I promise, in a battle of your hips vs. mine, your bony ass will lose.
There you have it! Simple things to make everyone's concert-going experience just a little bit more pleasant.
Love, moi
Honestly, I wish they'd pass out "Tips for moshing" fliers at the door or that MCR would put something up on a website, make a fucking t-shirt, have a designated mosh area off to the side, something. The meeting between the male urge to mosh and the female urge to be CLOSE TO GERARD OMG!!! made for some mild unpleasantness. Through no initiative of our own, we ended up dead center on Gee, about 10 feet back. Close enough that I did get hit by his sweat at one point when he tossed his head. He's such an amazing performer.
Don't get me wrong - I had a shit-eating grin on my face all through Billy Talent and MCR, despite the fact that I was effectively wearing a human corset. I came close to losing my feet a couple of times, but never did, thank god. At one point early on, before the general crush, there were 4-5 14 yo boys just shoving and shoving and shoving. J and I finally turned, bared our teeth, got low, and rucked. They stopped. Not so fun to be shoved, is it, boys? At one point I heard one of them saying "I'm falling without falling." Yeah, jackass, I'm the one holding you up.
One night of that madness was enough - I missed out on a lot of what was going on onstage just fighting to keep my feet or protect a wee one, and my neck was hurting from craning to see over the guy in front of me. So tonight I'm going to go early so J and I can get front row on the 2nd tier.
This morning I woke with the lyrics to "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" in my head and some kind of BankRobber!MCR AU fic playing in my head, complete with double-crossing, misfiring guns, etc. I woke just as Frankie was about to rub out a mole.
Yeah, so. I might try and make a dance class in about an hour, so I need to see if I can make that work.