[San
Francisco, CA] Even though I’d been driving for weeks and life had been weird
for months, I was enthused for this show. I had uncharacteristically bought the
ticket more than a month beforehand. I had timed my arrival in Seattle to
ensure I was in-city for the big day. All for the headliners, Against Me! … but
there were problems – what would Against Me! fans be like? What would the venue
be like? What would live music in Seattle be like? Fresh and early for dinner
in the area, I scoped out the venue beforehand. Not looking good. A long line
of very young and aggressively countercultural kids. I firmed my shoulders,
headed across the street for a salad and glass of white wine, and conducted a
private critique of the Seattle alt-weekly as compared to Austin’s (The
Chronicle won, of course). Dinner done, shirt tucked in, I shouldered my purse
and returned to the melee. Fortunately, the crowd had diversified with the
arrival of the older & less eager. An exceedingly civilized venue. There
were seats in certain areas. The bar sold earplugs. There were seats. There was
helpful staff everywhere. There were seats. And all the bands started nearly
exactly on time. I think the seats were reserved – like I wanted to sit anyway…
This band was a grower rather than a shower. Female singer, female bassist,
male drummer, male guitarist. I invented a genre for them: ITM – intelligent
thrash metal. Psychy – mathy – lots of musicality, and some songs with Gun Club
style rolling drums. The singer was sweet and genuine, thanking Against Me! for
mentoring the band, thanking the crowd for coming, thanking her mom for
birthing her (jk). The crowd cooed back at her. Sweet and genuine became the
theme for the night – not sure if it’s Seattle or the sort of fans Against Me!
attracts. And I knew for sure I was going to be all right when Roky Erickson
was the dedicated filler music between band 1 and 2.
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