I went to see The Weakerthans tonight with a friend and it was at a venue I'd never been to before. I had a very good time, until I got a throbbing headache near the end of the show :-( Must have been the long day. I had work today and went straight for dinner and the show after. North of America, a math-rock band from Halifax, were among the openers and were interesting. Unfortunately, something must have been wrong with the mixing of their vocals, because they had to yell their singing a lot. I don't think they were supposed to, because they supposedly don't sound that way on the album. The Weakerthans were fine, John's lovely vocals rung crystal clear and beautifully over fine melancholic melodies.

Warning: Ridiculous amount of complaining to come.

It was an excellent performance and while that should say enough about the show already, I can't help but rant again about something insignificant. There was this crazy assed pseudo '80s punk boy near me. He was wearing black leather... stuff... and had safety pins embroidering almost every pocket on his pants. He wore a tank and had this poofy, teased, weird pompadour dyed-black hair and a black bracelet with spikes on it on one wrist. When the band played fast songs, he'd convulse-dance and pump and shake his fists rapidly in the air like he were air drumming (or being like Amanda Marshall with her wrist 'thing', except ten times the speed rate.) That is fun. Air drumming is fun. Especially when it is to music you love. He almost punched me though. And then, while he was in his own music-induced high, very visible gobs of spit flung out of his mouth while he sang and sweat dripped from his face. It almost flew into my hair - a gob. He got better and had ceased near the end of the show though. Must have run out of steam... But I'll tell you one thing - he had a better work out than the band.

It seems that for 85% of the shows I go to, it is mandatory that there be someone very irritating, weird, and/or asshole-ish nearby. See, you can't figure that for everyone right? If you say, "There's always going to be some idiot in front of/behind/beside you" that would mean that every single person in attendance would have at least one in close proximity, and that's just not right, 'cause I DO look over and see other people on the other side of the room enjoying themselves and behaving. So I'm starting to think it is me almost always and perhaps a few random people each time. For instance, a few years ago I went to a Sloan bar show which would have been one of the best experiences ever - it was intimate and Sloan were on a little platform of a stage within arm reach (in fact, I almost got a concussion from the pelvis of one of the members when he launched himself forward in impromptu fashion, to play his instrument - er, the bass guitar - to the crowd, and I was dead ahead. Thank you. Thank you very much. Erauugh!!) 'Intimate' and 'Sloan', two very good words in one sentance. Anyway, there was this insane girl who did this weird thrashing dance where she was literally jumping and stomping on the ground like she were in the pit at a Korn concert. Speaking of 'pit', did I mention she had the hairiest armpits? No, I didn't. Not that it's important, right? I mean, nothing is wrong with hairy pits. But she was wearing a small tank top and was working up such a big sweat... I just prayed she remembered to apply Degree and lots of it. Okay, she was having fun, like EVVV'RY-BUUUDY HAVE FUN TOONIGHT... (EVERYBODY WANG CHUNG TONIGHT)... and that's a good thing but she was violent and inconsiderate to people around her (everyone wants your elbow and fists in their face, yes!!) and was just CRAZY. 'Body thrashing boot-stomp dance', don't forget!! While no one hauled her off, she was slamming to the beats of a fucking pop song. My friend decided she'd had enough - she was right beside the girl - and went to sit down. Guess who mosey'd themself up into her spot? This asshole, stoned and/or drunk out of his mind, with long greasy hair who stared at the band with this fiercely haunting look of psychotic admiration, I could almost have feared for my life (and perhaps my body's safety in general) if I were one of the members. He spent the last quarter of the show rubbing his smelly hair metal rocker (btw, I like metal) body into my side and slumping into me like he needed physical support BADLY. If he were DYING, I would have helped and not have felt annoyed. But he drank his bottle of beer contently and proceeded to shoot his fists into the air with it grasped firmly in hand and hoot his praise. Then he put it down beside a monitor where it was in someone's way, so when a member of the band moved it later, he grabbed his bottle and turned to his friends and loudly bragged, "HE TOUCHED MY BEEEEER!!!" He was laughable, but not when he and hairy witch Korn girl got into a 'Raw Is War' over the setlist. Both of them are beside me. Stoned/drunk hippie metal rocker dude slams into me as they struggle over it, tearing it in two, and hairy witch Korn girl shrieks like a banshee the entire time. It was gross. Even though it lasted less than a minute, that resembled what I imagined as their act of mating. I can thank God now that those twenty seconds didn't result in inbred little idiot punks.

Tones can vouch for this. She was there!

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'Dear Rock Show God, we need more shows here. More bands I like should come. And please keep me away from guys who will hump my back during a show or drool in my hair or whip their greasy own hair in my face windmill style.'

While I'm complaining... why do some morons feel it is very 'cool' to vandalize and write swears on anything they can get their grubby hands on... It's not very 'cool' to be intellectually lacking. Example: Burning 'Fuck You' or whatever into bus benches. Using White Out or permanent felt on seats near the back of the bus. What happened to the days of 'I love ___' (insert name in blank) or '___ + ____'; at least those were filled with ... er, love. But what purpose is there into burning stupid things that you think will 'shock' and offend people. Why not write something profound or remotely interesting like a quote from Confucious or an excerpt from Doestovsky's work. No wait! Don't vandalize at all! That's what I meant to say. Stay cool, stay in school. Haha. I'm just venting and I can't backpeddle now.