If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old?
Last weekend, I went to see my favourite local band play at my favourite local bar.
The band: Death Valley Driver
The bar: Baba's
It was Friday the 13th. And what better place to be than amid a bunch of heavy metal-worshipping, black t-shirt wearing, tattooed freaks, crammed inside a tiny boozehall . . . Am I right?!!
The added bonus: it was about 26"C outdoors that night, and about 36"C inside the modest but completely packed (yet totally fire regulation-abiding) bar.
I credit the attendance level to the KICK-ASS line-up that night (DVD/Orchid's Curse/Credgidence); and the temperature level to all the sweaty, moshing, body-grinding metalheads who were expressively enjoying the kick ass show.
Indeed, the whole room smelled like armpits and the foamy leavings at the bottom of last night's beer cans.
In a word: Heaven.
Now, I understand that to the average 39-year old female*, this might seem like a less than desirable place to spend a hot summer night.
* = Gasp! I admitted my age! But I had to; it's relevant to this post.
And not every girl's idea of heaven is getting pushed around a sticky dance floor, with a high probability of getting:
1.) a drink spilled on you
2.) blood splatters on your new shirt
3.) an elbow in the back, a foot stomped on, or a punch in the tit (....Toombs!)
And, certainly, not every woman enjoys the scent of B.O. and booze. But to me, it smells like my youth. And I could inhale that shit all day, man.
So what, exactly, does youth smell like to me, you ask? Well, lemme tell you:
It smells like high school - when I first got into Metallica, and Pantera, and Slayer, and Anthrax.
It smells like leather jackets and cigarettes.
It smells like sweaty hair and stale booze.
It smells like adrenaline and the complete abandonment of self control.
It smells like Baba's did on July 13th.
That's what youth smells like to me.
And that's why I love going to the bar for a live show.
One of my male acquaintances once said to me, "I don't want to be 40 and still going to the bar to see bands." To which I replied, "Why the fuck not?"
Seriously. Why can't anyone of ANY age go to the bar to enjoy the music they love? Is there an age limit I didn't know about?
I understand that you have to meet the minimum age of 19+ to drink beer while enjoying your favourite band. But is there an age maximum to enjoying live music? Why can't I be 80 and still rockin' my Slayer t-shirt and thrashin' out at a bar? Or at a concert, for that matter?
As long as I have my Medic-Alert bracelet on, I'm good!
(Hey. There's an idea, someone. . . leather Medic-Alert wristbands! Fuck yeah!)
My point is: I think it's ridiculous for any of us to think that we can't go see a live show just because the year on our driver's license pre-dates 1990.
Music is for all ages.
As children, we started groovin' to the music that brought a smile to our faces and made our feet move. So why doesn't it make sense that we would want to grow old rocking out to the music we love?
In fact, I hope I DIE at a metal show!! A heart-blasting coronary, that throws me face-first into a Marshall stack. Yeah, man! At least I would die happy.
And, c'mon...how hardcore would that be, right? (Answer: HARD AS PHUKK!)
Yep, as long as I can make it up the staircase to Baba's Lounge, I'm gonna be thrashin' to the music that makes me thankful to be alive - and still able to hear it and enjoy it. To the fuckin' fullest.
And anyone who thinks that's a bad thing...needs a punch in the tit.
x
The band: Death Valley Driver
The bar: Baba's
It was Friday the 13th. And what better place to be than amid a bunch of heavy metal-worshipping, black t-shirt wearing, tattooed freaks, crammed inside a tiny boozehall . . . Am I right?!!
The added bonus: it was about 26"C outdoors that night, and about 36"C inside the modest but completely packed (yet totally fire regulation-abiding) bar.
I credit the attendance level to the KICK-ASS line-up that night (DVD/Orchid's Curse/Credgidence); and the temperature level to all the sweaty, moshing, body-grinding metalheads who were expressively enjoying the kick ass show.
Indeed, the whole room smelled like armpits and the foamy leavings at the bottom of last night's beer cans.
In a word: Heaven.
Now, I understand that to the average 39-year old female*, this might seem like a less than desirable place to spend a hot summer night.
* = Gasp! I admitted my age! But I had to; it's relevant to this post.
And not every girl's idea of heaven is getting pushed around a sticky dance floor, with a high probability of getting:
1.) a drink spilled on you
2.) blood splatters on your new shirt
3.) an elbow in the back, a foot stomped on, or a punch in the tit (....Toombs!)
And, certainly, not every woman enjoys the scent of B.O. and booze. But to me, it smells like my youth. And I could inhale that shit all day, man.
So what, exactly, does youth smell like to me, you ask? Well, lemme tell you:
It smells like high school - when I first got into Metallica, and Pantera, and Slayer, and Anthrax.
It smells like leather jackets and cigarettes.
It smells like sweaty hair and stale booze.
It smells like adrenaline and the complete abandonment of self control.
It smells like Baba's did on July 13th.
That's what youth smells like to me.
And that's why I love going to the bar for a live show.
One of my male acquaintances once said to me, "I don't want to be 40 and still going to the bar to see bands." To which I replied, "Why the fuck not?"
Seriously. Why can't anyone of ANY age go to the bar to enjoy the music they love? Is there an age limit I didn't know about?
I understand that you have to meet the minimum age of 19+ to drink beer while enjoying your favourite band. But is there an age maximum to enjoying live music? Why can't I be 80 and still rockin' my Slayer t-shirt and thrashin' out at a bar? Or at a concert, for that matter?
As long as I have my Medic-Alert bracelet on, I'm good!
(Hey. There's an idea, someone. . . leather Medic-Alert wristbands! Fuck yeah!)
My point is: I think it's ridiculous for any of us to think that we can't go see a live show just because the year on our driver's license pre-dates 1990.
Music is for all ages.
As children, we started groovin' to the music that brought a smile to our faces and made our feet move. So why doesn't it make sense that we would want to grow old rocking out to the music we love?
In fact, I hope I DIE at a metal show!! A heart-blasting coronary, that throws me face-first into a Marshall stack. Yeah, man! At least I would die happy.
And, c'mon...how hardcore would that be, right? (Answer: HARD AS PHUKK!)
Yep, as long as I can make it up the staircase to Baba's Lounge, I'm gonna be thrashin' to the music that makes me thankful to be alive - and still able to hear it and enjoy it. To the fuckin' fullest.
And anyone who thinks that's a bad thing...needs a punch in the tit.
x
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