Rock Against Bush
We rapidly aging punks joined the kids last night at the Showbox for the Rock Against Bush show. I was mostly there to see Anti-Flag, whose Terror State CD gets a lot of play here.
The show opened with the earnest protest stylings of Mike Park from Plea for Peace which received a polite reception from the attending punks. From there, the show moved into The Epoxies, which were the last thing I expected but were awesome, an unholy fusion of Devo and the Rezillos, fronted by Souxie, with a little bit of Revenge of the Nerds thrown in for good measure. Exceptionally entertaining.
Sadly, the overly testosterone-filled chugga-chugga of Strike Anywhere was not my speed, and while they were tight and animated, I just couldn't get into them, mostly because the femme little lead singer's voice was completely drowned out by the rest of the band. Nor was Midtown at all my style, so for two consecutive bands I pretty much just waited for it to be over. At one point a very drunk frat-boy guy was jumping around right in back of us (where we'd found seats in the "old punks lounge") and I feared he was going to pick that moment to hurl all over. Thankfully he did not, and was shortly thereafter ejected from the venue by the bouncers.
Finally, Anti-Flag took the stage, but the evening's surprises were not all behind us yet. They took a moment to introduce special guest....
Congressman Jim McDermott.
That's right. Before the climax of our punk show, we got to hear from Washington's own progressive, wacky, Fahrenheit 9/11-featured politician. And he was cheered wildly several times by the assembled punks. He encouraged the kids to use "the anger side, not the apathy side" of their punk rock ethic and take control of their futures by voting and motivating others to do so.
Anti-Flag rocked the house and I returned to the happy place I'd reached while the Epoxies were on stage. Returning from the bathroom, I found myself on the floor when the band broke out into Turncoat and I could not keep myself from charging into the pit, fist in the air with the rest of the kids. It was fucking fantastic.
Now off to the GAMA board meeting today.
The show opened with the earnest protest stylings of Mike Park from Plea for Peace which received a polite reception from the attending punks. From there, the show moved into The Epoxies, which were the last thing I expected but were awesome, an unholy fusion of Devo and the Rezillos, fronted by Souxie, with a little bit of Revenge of the Nerds thrown in for good measure. Exceptionally entertaining.
Sadly, the overly testosterone-filled chugga-chugga of Strike Anywhere was not my speed, and while they were tight and animated, I just couldn't get into them, mostly because the femme little lead singer's voice was completely drowned out by the rest of the band. Nor was Midtown at all my style, so for two consecutive bands I pretty much just waited for it to be over. At one point a very drunk frat-boy guy was jumping around right in back of us (where we'd found seats in the "old punks lounge") and I feared he was going to pick that moment to hurl all over. Thankfully he did not, and was shortly thereafter ejected from the venue by the bouncers.
Finally, Anti-Flag took the stage, but the evening's surprises were not all behind us yet. They took a moment to introduce special guest....
Congressman Jim McDermott.
That's right. Before the climax of our punk show, we got to hear from Washington's own progressive, wacky, Fahrenheit 9/11-featured politician. And he was cheered wildly several times by the assembled punks. He encouraged the kids to use "the anger side, not the apathy side" of their punk rock ethic and take control of their futures by voting and motivating others to do so.
Anti-Flag rocked the house and I returned to the happy place I'd reached while the Epoxies were on stage. Returning from the bathroom, I found myself on the floor when the band broke out into Turncoat and I could not keep myself from charging into the pit, fist in the air with the rest of the kids. It was fucking fantastic.
Now off to the GAMA board meeting today.
Bush at the U.N. General Assembly; Nicole at the GAMA Board meeting. What a country.