Sunday, February 20, 2011

Starting off 2011

2011 - frustration. No, the details are not worth blogging about. I'll just sound like I'm reciting a bad Youth Crew song in which the lyrics center around violated trust. Over and over and over, though - when does forgiving someone for the same mistake amount to denial? Fearful symmetry. I see the good in my friends and want to see it in the world. Of course, I agree with Vaclav Havel: "Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out." Maybe sometimes I refuse to see the pattern in a person's behavior and to deduce how things will turn out.

OK I'm not keeping up with show reviews. A sentence or two about multiple shows amounts to essentially a list of band names without any worthwhile commentary. Still, the Integrity, Drop Dead, Haymaker show deserves a few written words. The Haymaker part was offensive in a proving-redneck-homophobic-sexist-jerks-can-be-from-Canada way. The singer shouted out homophobic comments while fans rallied, even hitting people around them with trash cans. As the singer took the mike, some random guy punched me on the top of my head. So weird. I turned around and yelled at him. Meanwhile, when I confronted him, the flying-fist guy went literally running out of the building, which surprised me. Drop Dead put on an intense, great show and Integrity was fun. Another weird moment between bands: I stood outside shaking in the cold with my friend Maureen while she drank a slurpie. Two odd guys from Canada got super intense about small talk. They were there to see Haymaker. As the show ended, I had fun talking with people in the car from Baltimore to DC. Late night, but it was all worth it.

Oh - Coke Bust finally had their record release show, which was reviewed in the paper - check it out. Vaccine, Direct Control, and Deep Sleep also played, all solid bands with no filler. The show started with the final performance of Rations. Like a special bonus, little girls swooned over Parsons, the singer, and asked him for his autograph. Despite their requests, he refused to hug them, noting that it would be creepy. And the Fire Marshall temporarily shut down the Hole in the Sky at the Sick Fix, Government Warning show. May the repairs happen quickly!

Final quote for the day: "Isn't it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties?"

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