Friday rolls around and a subset of the Jumpfighter crew shows up at my house. Lord Bearded, Ian and Jon arrive and we waste lots of time talking, drinking beer and making quesadillas. We catch up, laughing a lot. Just like old times. We figure out plans for tomorrow and all retire.
Before drive
I wake to find Bearded already awake and drinking coffee. I shower, eat a pop tart and we hit the road to Seattle for the Capitol Hill Block Party, where the headlining act will be a reunion of the Murder City (fucking) Devils. epic.
Lord Bearded striking his 'I hate riding with my dad' emotional-teen pose
The drive itself was fairly uneventful. We listened to music and the entire Jerky Boys II disc. That shit always brings me back to seventh grade. Finding such strange humour at that point in my life has warped me, I just know it. I still find myself quoting obscure prank phone calls now and then -- how strange...
After drive
We arrive in Seattle and find the event. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it really was a block party. About 6 blocks were fenced off with three stages spread out between the streets and inside a building. It was a really cool vibe and the weather was superb, which I was thankful for, because I forgot a fucking jacket. Brilliant. We connect with yet another jumpfighter, Jerly.
We show up as Smoosh is just going on stage. I was blown away by these two sisters. Borderline novelty, they actually put on a really good show. Even the salty, callus scenesters in the crowd were bobbing along to the prepubescent pop that these girls so elegantly deliver. The drummer was savage, plus, she was grinning so hard the whole time. Watching musicians smile while playing is something I enjoy, but don't really see all that often.
We then go drink beers at some no-name bar and shoot the shit for a little while. While there were a lot of bands on the setlist, I really wasn't in the mood to check them out, for some reason. I think I'm turning into an old person. Sad.
We then connect with a few more Jumpfighters, Wispy and Eli to watch Minus the Bear, who put on a rock and roll show. Ian and I figured out that we've seen them 5 times in the last few years, which is crazy, as I'm not even that big of a fan these days. The last, well, 4 times that I've seen them, they sucked ass -- they always seem hungover and halfass their way through their sets. This was different, however. Maybe being in their hometown, whatever, they put on a really good set.
Zac, the original sexbeast.
More beers are consumed, more shit is shot.
Using Lord Bearded as a chair before the MCD set.
The Murder City Devils took the stage and performed a pretty amazing set. The crowd was so into it. Rowdy, to say the least. The heart of the 'pit' was so frenzied that they were hosing it down and throwing in bottles of water so people wouldn't overheat. Everyone who came out was dripping wet, with either water or sweat. Crazy stuff. Honestly, their set was a bit of a blur, all I know is that my vocal chords still don't quite feel right, a week after the fact.
What a smelly crowd it was.
After the set, we go to the 'afterparty,' which turned out to be a little more lame than I had expected. I was super tired and really wanted to hit the road, as a fourish-hour drive still stood in front of us.
THE MOTHERFUCKING JUMPFIGHTERS.
We finally hit the road around 1, take a few wrong turns, get caught in traffic, eat at Denny's, get caught behind a train, have to take a detour but finally make it home at 5am. I crash, hard. I haven't slept like that for ages.
Amazing trip.
Other than that, life has been pretty standard. Ms. Kim came to visit during the week and on friday, the roommates and I went to watch the midnight showing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail at the Bagdad, both of which were wonderful things.
On a side note, I just finished a fun, short novel: "The Contortionist's Handbook" by Craig Clevenger. An entertaining, engagint, quick read.
Life is good, friends, life is good. I love you all. Except the spammers.
Craig Clevenger rocks my legs, his new one'Dermaphoria', hits stores Oct.10th.
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