" 'Ey! 'O! Let's go!!"
I used to hang out with a Christian punk band. Now, I am neither a Christian, nor am I a big fan of punk, but they were nice guys and they made me feel welcome in their hitherto unfamiliar habitat of church basements and other venues.
I made friends with their drummer, Evan, who used to work with me. We would talk about music and one day he invited me to one of their shows....in the basement of some church.
I went, and, not to sound biased, but I liked Evan's band's sound better than the other groups. This would be typical of the shows I attended. Most of the other bands may have been talented, but I always liked the rythmic style of Evan's band, and their stage presence/attitude. They weren't trying to prove anything. They weren't posing. The genuinely enjoyed what they were doing and consequently their style came of as sounding and looking natural. Also I found that the other bands would do a sound check and I would be all excited, expecting some heavy numbers I could bang my head to (in a punk rock way of course) but I would always be disappointed by what I heard. Either they would play some emo shit, (which I don't dig), or "screamo"/hard core (which I REALLY don't dig), or they generally sounded lamer or more forced than their soundcheck let on. But again, Evan's band always delivered...even on an off night.
My favourite shows were either at this venue called the Embassy ( a sort of extremely run down hotel where young punks and/or goths could watch their friends play their subversive forms of music), or out of town . Sometimes I'd be invited to join them in their van to go to shows in small towns outside London. We'd listen to punk cds or the tape of Indian music the previous owner left n the van. We'd get to some of the shows and I would be let in for free posing as the band's roadie. I used to wear a costume top hat, and I'd look like Slash as I carried my friends' gear into the backstage area.
Shows aside, hanging out with these guys assured me a good time. One time we went to the Palasad, a pool hall that serves alcoholic bevarages. My friends were fooling around. One chased the other trying to poke him in the buttocks. Well, we got kicked out. Banned for life, though I've since been back.
I have two regrets though. One is that I never see these guys anymore. The other is that I never got to jam with them on stage or in their rehearsal places. I would have liked to have played with them on the set-finisher, "I'm Dead!". Still these were good times. Thank you Evan, Chris, John, Jamie and Jer for sharing with me your punk rock world.
I made friends with their drummer, Evan, who used to work with me. We would talk about music and one day he invited me to one of their shows....in the basement of some church.
I went, and, not to sound biased, but I liked Evan's band's sound better than the other groups. This would be typical of the shows I attended. Most of the other bands may have been talented, but I always liked the rythmic style of Evan's band, and their stage presence/attitude. They weren't trying to prove anything. They weren't posing. The genuinely enjoyed what they were doing and consequently their style came of as sounding and looking natural. Also I found that the other bands would do a sound check and I would be all excited, expecting some heavy numbers I could bang my head to (in a punk rock way of course) but I would always be disappointed by what I heard. Either they would play some emo shit, (which I don't dig), or "screamo"/hard core (which I REALLY don't dig), or they generally sounded lamer or more forced than their soundcheck let on. But again, Evan's band always delivered...even on an off night.
My favourite shows were either at this venue called the Embassy ( a sort of extremely run down hotel where young punks and/or goths could watch their friends play their subversive forms of music), or out of town . Sometimes I'd be invited to join them in their van to go to shows in small towns outside London. We'd listen to punk cds or the tape of Indian music the previous owner left n the van. We'd get to some of the shows and I would be let in for free posing as the band's roadie. I used to wear a costume top hat, and I'd look like Slash as I carried my friends' gear into the backstage area.
Shows aside, hanging out with these guys assured me a good time. One time we went to the Palasad, a pool hall that serves alcoholic bevarages. My friends were fooling around. One chased the other trying to poke him in the buttocks. Well, we got kicked out. Banned for life, though I've since been back.
I have two regrets though. One is that I never see these guys anymore. The other is that I never got to jam with them on stage or in their rehearsal places. I would have liked to have played with them on the set-finisher, "I'm Dead!". Still these were good times. Thank you Evan, Chris, John, Jamie and Jer for sharing with me your punk rock world.
posted by The Doctor at 5:11 PM
1 Comments:
You have alot of character Todd, not alot of people go through what you have and are able to talk about it. It takes alot of guts to tell the whole world your story. I salute your courage sir.
Wes
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