I knew we were going to be in trouble when I noticed the blonde and the brunette slamming up against Scarlet's back. There were two opening bands for The Faint show, and midway through the second act, Services, a large mass of what had to be toddlers in back of us decided slam dancing or moshing was called for. I'm no stick-in-the-mud, but the writhing they were doing all up in our space was not called for at the time. My Texas ghetto upbringing came out as I switched places with Ali and prepared to do battle. I hadn't been standing there since 7:30 smelling the foul human stench that would permeate the air periodically and holding strong through the first opening act to lose my place to high school kids with rhythm problems. After I got slammed into for the hundredth time, I did what any Texas girl would do. I pulled my arm forward and slammed my elbow into the blonde behind me. Oops...you don't like my dancing (*blink, blink*)? She moved. Unfortunately, the crowd literally pulsed as we waited for The Faint to go on. I knew we were doomed. Once they took the stage no dam in the world was going to be able to hold back these bodies.
I was right. The Faint bled music on the stage and the floor directly behind us went crazy. I tried moving with the crowd (hell, the music is danceable), but it so didn't help. I was doing everything I could just to stay on my feet and not get crushed. I know at one point I was laughing (because what else was I supposed to do) and holding on to Scarlet just to stay upright. About 3 minutes later I got the signal from the Al(l)i(e)s that we needed out of the pit. I have to admit I was a bit relieved because the fact that I was too fucking old for that had been scrolling through my brain.
Once we escaped the writhing mass of bodies, I inhaled the energy fed to us by The Faint. As hot and tired as I was, this group was bloody awesome. I wish I were some famous music writer who could put words on paper worthy of describing the way their music made me feel.
Instead, all I can say is that maybe you should go buy their cds.
wow! i think you described last night perfectly. i got there late so stayed near the back but that young crowd was a little ridiculous; i know i got hit more times than i could count (and i'm a small guy who can get pushed around pretty easily until i get pissed off enough) until i let the one guy next to me swing too close which resulted in my elbow buried painfully into his back. other than that, it was an outstanding show and a good chance to hear the five new songs!
ReplyDeletedo you mind if i add a link to your blog from mine? here's mine....
http://undergroundmixtape.blogspot.com/
Those stupid little cunts!
ReplyDeleteI love the Elbow-As-Billy-Club move. I use it often :-)
ReplyDeleteglad the music was good because when the crowd is like that sometimes you can just get miserable. and yeah, love the faint
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