Sunday, December 07, 2008

as promised

Full report on the Rev show, while it's still fresh in my mind:

There were 3 bands, and they all rocked my socks: Backyard Tire Fire, who has been touring for years and never been to Detroit. Nashville Pussy, who I didn't really like until I saw them open for the Rev last time (but damn do they put on a show). And of course, the Reverend Horton Heat, one of my favorite 3-piece rockabilly bands.

Opening bands usually disappoint, but BTF totally rocked it. They were southern rock with ventures into blues and rockabilly. NP has 2 chicks and 2 dudes. The chicks are the key - lead guitar and bass, and damn, they fuckin wail. Seriously, go check out some of the videos. The Rev is always a good show, but I think he was off his game last night. I think he was sick or something - his voice was scratchy and he wasn't his usual showman self. But a bad Rev show is still much better than lots of other "good" shows. Plus, the first 2 bands rocked so hard that it was more than ok.

Now for some of the more interesting details of the concert experience.

The bad:
Because there was a bar there, there were drunk people. And they decided to try and start mosh pits... you know, because it was a speed metal show. Oh wait, no. Rockabilly. Not mosh music. There was one guy in particular - totally smashed and really into "involving" everyone in the crowd in his impromptu shoving and hitting. I'm not sure where the transition is, but at some point he was yelling at Jay for calling security on him. (Jay wasn't the one.) Then he turned to me and we had the following conversation:

-"Hey, would you call security on me if I accidentally bumped into you four times?"
-"Actually dude, you kept hitting the guy in front of me who had a lit cigarette, and the cigarette came very close to hitting me in the eye. So yes, I would have called security on you."
-"It was HER! it was her!" (It wasn't me either.)

This is where he started he started pointing at me, with his finger so close to my face that I could see every grain of dirt under his jagged fingernail. I don't stand for that, so I slapped it away. This really got his bubbles boiling, so he kept doing it. Jay handed me his jacket so he could teach this guy that you don't point at a lady like that. Drunk Guy warned Jay that "you don't know who you're messing with - I'm a five time felon!" That was clearly a total lie, but Jay was ready to get him out of society's hair. Luckily Drunk Guy's friend stepped in and ushered DG out, and semi-apologized to Jay, and DG left the concert unscathed (at least by us).

Then came the awesome part where Drunk Guy #2 spilled beer on me. Not just a little bit - it was all over my hair, my face, my arm, my boobs, and my jacket, which was tied around my waist. He felt pretty bad about it, though he never came through on buying me a drink like he said he would. And that didn't change the fact that I was wearing a satin shirt and had wet beer boobs for most of the night. (It's not as hot as it sounds, trust me.)

I spent most of the show up front near the stage, but eventually had to retire to the edge of the crowd because a group of drunk chicks were trying to mimic previously mentioned Drunk Guys. Drunk Chicks kept trying to start their own little mosh pit, but could barely stand up on their own so it failed miserably. They did keep shoving my new friend Concert Buddy because she was dancing on her own and not touching anybody. I had to leave that area because one Drunk Chick kept leaning on me and shoving me, and rather then give her a beatdown I went to go find the boys.

The good:
I mentioned Concert Buddy already. We had the unspoken bond that exists between 2 concert goers just out to have a good time. We danced next to each other and knew that we had each other's back if someone like Drunk Chick needed to be shut up. In fact, when DC kept shoving her, Concert Buddy would throw 'bows and punches trying to get them to leave her alone. She was careful not to hit me, because she knew I wasn't the one being a retarded drunk bitch. Sadly, DC finally got too annoying, and Concert Buddy disappeared before I got to tell her that she was awesome and cute and I totally loved her hair.

When I finally left to go find the boys, they were hanging with... the chicks from NP. That's right. Jay got them to sign his concert flier, and I had the following discussion with the guitarist (who is shorter than me, btw).

-"Hey man, you guys are pretty good for chicks" (nudge nudge wink wink)
-"Fuck, I ROCK like a chick, man!"
-"Fuck yeah you do!"
-"And I throw like a girl!"
-"Yeah!"
-"And I'll fuckin hit like a girl too!"
-"Fuck yeah!"

At this point she gave me a leaning-hug, as she was also quite drunk. (Also as in like a lot of the people of the show, not me.)

This morning I am stiff from being so jostled, but I had a super great time. It was worth the 8 month wait. Incidentally, for some reason they didn't let me keep my ticket stub, but I did get a giant Rev sticker in exchange because I happened to be at the right place at the right time. Sorry for the long post, but you know, things to share.



ps - don't blame NP for their name, which is a bit crass and off-putting. Blame Ted Nugent, who of course is from the D.

7 comments:

mar said...

i had a good time at the one rev show i saw, way back when. it was also a sortof, try to mosh pit atmosphere, but i think that's because the rev came out on the rafters swinging like they were monkey bars into the crowd!

super des said...

What? That's craziness.

mar said...

hmm, i thought i'd told you that story before when you didn't get to go to the show in nyc. maybe it wasn't him, but it was one of the band. and the ceiling at gabe's/picador is quite low & open-beamed.

Count Mockula said...

Sounds fun! Minus the drunken idiots, of course.

super des said...

eh what would life be like if not for the drunken idiots?

LittlePea said...

Mosh pit? People still do that? I always thought it was stupid even when it was the new 'in' thing to do....yeah I want to go to a really good concert and get the crap beaten out of myself while beating the crap out of others all at the same time, otherwise I can't enjoy the music....

Drunk people, yep, pretty much what you said. Too bad you didn't make friends with your Concert Buddy. Maybe next time

super des said...

Some people equate getting hurt with having fun. Not me. In fact,it's the opposite.

And if I'm destined to befriend Concert Buddy, we'll meet again. :)

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