I might not have given them another thought, except that not long into their set they began trading heated barbs with the audience. The band tried to play it cool, but it was clear that they weren't having a good time.
It soon became apparent that the source of the trouble was seated not far from me. Between songs this young man, whom I'll call PK for "powderkeg," was standing up and yelling F bombs at the band, flipping them off, and generally making a jerk of himself. His girlfriend joined him.
Totimoshi didn't do anything for me, but they didn't deserve such treatment.
The band finally ended their set after numerous shouts of "go back to California" from PK. As the set change began, PK bumped into a man in the aisle and they exchanged words, including, "Oh--you wanna fight?" Considering that the other guy was pretty buff and big while PK just looked like a big, mean fat guy, I was curious to see what would happen. The other guy just walked away.
That's when the bouncers took notice of PK. He and his girlfriend moved around a lot, and at one point he wiped out while leaving his chair, falling chin-first almost completely into the row behind him. The people seated there just stared at him.
***
The Burning Brides took the stage, and they just flat out rocked. Their bassist, pictured here, is a Dallas native who smiled and seemed to have a great time.
PK had bumped roughly into three or four more guys on his way to the front of the stage.
He's in this shot, right in front of the guitar player. Short, dark hair, looks like the mic stand is coming out of his head... anyway, this shot was taken about 30 seconds before a bouncer the size of one of Jupiter's moons grabbed him by the throat...
...and dragged him out. PK is an inch or two taller than I am, and certainly over 200 pounds. Can you SEE how big this bouncer is? Watching PK flop around like a trout in a bucket was pretty great.
***
And just before Helmet took the stage, PK somehow re-emerged. I have no idea how he got let back in. More on that later.
***
After he was kicked out, I talked to someone about him. This young man said PK had broken a beer bottle in the men's room, and when the young man said something along the lines of "hey, chill out, man," PK jabbed a piece of the broken bottle against his back and threatened him. Now, the man telling me this story was drunk, and he turned to talk to someone else at that point.
***
Anyway, Helmet eventually took the stage, opening with "Pure," just like they did in '04. Johnny Tempesta and Chris Traynor are gone now, and I didn't know anyone in the band. Regardless, Hamilton has once again surrounded himself with terrific musicians.
And just like in '04, Hamilton was happy and chatty, talking football with the crowd here and there. They did lots of songs from Aftertaste, which they said they'd just learned has gone out of print (damn!). They did the big ones, like "In the Meantime," "Unsung," "Rude," and "Wilma's Rainbow" too.
Someone threw a bra onstage, and lo and behold, the other guitarist took off his t-shirt and tried to put it on. Thing is, fastening one of those "front-loader" types is much more difficult than unfastening it.
Or so I'm told.
***
I spent about 2.5 seconds in the mosh pit. That is, it started all around me, and I had just long enough to think, Cool! Ouch, someone stepped on my ankle! before bailing out. I stayed at the edge all evening and got jostled plenty, but not like in the old days.
[BB in old man voice, again]; Was a day, sonny, when I'd have been in there with the rest of them, all knees and elbows, drunker 'n' a skunk, workin' out my flusterations...
(What DOES "drunker than a skunk" mean anyway...?)
One genuine fight broke out in the pit, and I managed to get knocked around by that too. Ah, aggression... See, someone accused me this week of listening to "girly" music and, well, all of this makes me feel a little better.
***
PK stayed at the edge of the pit too, glaring, jaw clenched, just waiting for that one provocation that'd start the fight for which he was clearly aching. And you know, it never quite happened. He shoved a few guys, but it never escalated.
Speaking of aching, between the chiropractic manipulation the bouncer gave him the the dental work he probably gave himself on that chair when he fell, I wouldn't want to be HIM tomorrow morning. Not to mention the hangover.
***
I enjoyed the Helmet show. Really. The setlist was great, though I was dumbfounded that they did nothing from Monochrome. That's their latest CD. I'd not been impressed with what I heard (I don't own it), but I can't believe they'd just completely omit it from their setlist a year after its release. Wow. But this incarnation of Helmet is terrific, and clearly had a ball playing the material. Heck, Hamilton was crouched at the edge of the stage, still shaking hands and chatting when I left.
***
Tomorrow night: Smashing Pumpkins. Good night, ya'll. Have a good weekend.
4 comments:
Great Pics!
As an old man still attending concerts, do you wear earplugs now? I brought some to DD and tried to be good and wear them some, but it just made it less fun.
Thank you.
And OH YES I wear earplugs. I've lost plenty of hearing already. And last night I was standing within arm's length of the house PA. It was LOUD, but I emerged just fine. With my plugs in I actually thought the mix sounded pretty good.
Ear plugs are not cool, for sure, but neither is having to learn sign language at 40 (so says the stepmother of a profoundly deaf child)..... Take care of your ears, kids.
I've probably seen 1000 concerts. I started wearing the plugs too late, but at this point saving my ears is more important task than pretending I'm cool.
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