Taking Back Sunday

Hot night last night. And I don't mean the music. It was 92 after leaving the concert.

92. After!

But fairly dry and a beautiful evening for walking around downtown. In sandals, yet! (Good thing I got that pre-race pedicure on Monday.)

The First Avenue venue is distinctly urban and down-scale, but everybody and their up-and-coming cousin has been there, to which the stars on the walls bear witness, so it's got that "paying your dues" oeuvre to it. Good acts, too - I bought four more tickets to shows through August. :)



Ooof. No fluffy pop like Meiko last night. No sir. Yikes! This is what, back in the day, we used to call "head-banging" music. Except today it's not as counter-cultural as it used to be. In fact, I swear I've heard all this same music somewhere before, prior to turning 30. :) The first warm up act had a remarkable sonic resemblance to Aerosmith.

I had chatted up their bass player at the merch table before the show. Nice kid from Manhattan, respectful, well-spoken. He tried to explain their music, and used the word "groove". I asked if he meant a jazz influence, and he said, "well yeah I guess." The CD prices were reasonable, but I thought I'd better listen first. Um... no thanks!

Eeek. No "groove" there that I could find. Not very approachable music. Besides, I know J2 has CDs of two of the bands in a shoebox somewhere. Hey, any music is more approachable when it's free.

Each of the three bands (TBS + Anberlin and Envy on the Coast) had essentially the same ensemble structure and stage presence. I'm sure aficionados could appreciate the subtle differences, but to me it seemed like the same band with three different changes of clothes. ;) Each band had a tall and lanky lead singer who whipped the mic and stand around and stood on top of amps to roil the crowd. There were two guitarists, a bassist and drummer, plus a utility player who roamed varying instruments, including keys.



At times the guitars were played in a horizontal crouch, with the spine parallel to the ground, eyes fixed on the floor. Other times, the head was snapped forcefully and rythmically. Other times, much hopping in place ensued along with jumping laterally (at times covering half the stage). Prancing and strutting are also good words to describe it.



The crowd was quite a bit younger on average. I'd say the mode of ages was 22. It was an all ages show (which is why the doors opened at 5!) and the mezzanine (where alcohol was served) was restricted to those over 21, and is where I hung out. Muuuuch safer up there. :)



On the main floor, the crowd was as energetic as the stage performers and several people close to the stage were shaking up bottles of club soda and spraying them into the crowd. After a while, some of those folks made their way upstairs dripping wet. Funny.

I did finish off another book in my pile for my HS502 research paper between sets (and maybe even during).



I must have looked harmless (which is oh so true!) in my reading glasses perusing a book on the Council of Trent, because some barely legal girl asked me to guard her Corona while she went to the bathroom, saying "you look like a nice guy - be sure nobody puts any roofie coladas in it, 'kay?"

Roofie coladas? Honestly, she didn't strike me as the kind of girl who would need a lot of chemical encouragement in that department. She was in the market, I think. For someone more... dangerous. :P

There were quite a few girls there who had on their "hunting clothes" (and shoes. you know the kind, ones that send a certain message...) They looked hungry for fresh game. Put another 15 years on them and the right word to describe them would be "cougar".

And it seemed to me that there was a remarkable amount of body art and surgical enhancement in view on girls not yet 25.

Remarkable in that so much permanent body alteration is being done prior to full emotional and social maturity taking hold.

Remarkable also in that they aren't cheap.

Where does the discretionary income come from to afford those tats and ti.. oops, sorry, body modifications they're sporting? Hard to imagine Mom & Dad forking over $5,000 for a new pair for Kaitlyn as a H.S. graduation present, and a complementary $1,000 full-shoulder tat to match the $500 one on her lower back she got for her 16th...

Kids these days.

Parents these days!