schoolyard brawl

saw a wilhelm scream tonite in syracuse. me, jenn, and greg rode up together, and jenn paid for me because i'm jobless and poor. thanks jenn! eric and norene met us there and ronniefuckinmiller came too. it was exciting. we played some pool at the youth center that was the venue. the sticks had fuckin metal ends. made for real precise playing. finally it came time for the band to come on. we shuffled into the dark room and stood around for a bit. once they started to play, some kid got into girlfriend defense mode (where some obnoxious turd tries to keep an arm's space clear for his turdette because she's just a weak wittle girl by using his elbows and whatever else he can manage to put into your ribcage or back or wherever). so the kid did this manuever to eric, so eric, being the good boy he is, started to rock out close to him, not touching him or his turdette, but was yelling the lyrics in his direction and just being obnoxious. at some point during one of the songs the crowd seemed to fall into one another, and that seemed strange simply because there wasn't much movement aside from me, norene, eric, greg and jenn. so for a moment we were bowling pins tumbling into one another. all good. we got stable. then, during "famous friends and fashion drunks" a sudden scuffle breaks out and i look and who's caught up in the middle of it, eyes wide, teeth razor sharp and glistening under the dim stage lights? ERIC! he's all tangled up with this husky balding kid. so i have bald boy wrapped up from behind, trying to pull them apart, the whole time yelling at the kid to calm down, that it's my friend, blah blah. he doesn't listen, and i know why now. apparently eric had grabbed him by the neck. whoops! the band stopped playing, the people were separated, norene and eric were booted from the show 3 songs in. suck! but apparently norene had stepped in to push the kid during a song after he was being obnoxious to eric and the kid pushed her, and that's why eric got all hot and instantly insane. understandable from my point of view, especially if you've ever loved someone. and especially if you're at a goddamn rock show trying to have a good time and see a band you dig. there's no need for any of it, honestly, but it's easy to be the spectator and say "this guy shouldnt have done that, blah blah blah, my-opinion-about-something-i-know-nothing-about-and-a-situation-im-not-in said here." some kid was getting ready to bad mouth eric and norene after it was broken up. he started saying something like, "i can't believe those kids..." and was about to launch into some sweet scenester indie-jargon-soaked insult when he looked toward me and saw me glaring at him. he mustve realized i was with eric, because he instantly trailed off. fucker. but we all met up back in the parking lot after the show, talked, eric felt like a dick, but whatever. no need to apologize to me. i had a good time. and he stuck up for norene even though the kid was much bigger. go eric! if things woulda gotten out of hand, like a real brawl, i woulda thrown down a mean footsweep on the kid, so there were no worries. actually, i'd take my fight advice from swayze as dalton in roadhouse: "biggest guy in the world, kick him in the knee..." and he goes down. paraphrasing at the end because i cant remember the rest of the real quote. but yea. he's lucky he didnt walk away with a broken knee cap. honestly, everyone's lucky it ended where it did. a fight isn't something you go home and think, "man, what a night! i really took it to that guy! god, i need a raw egg." that's the movies. maybe it's not, but i'd like to think people aren't really like that. no remorse for punching someone's face in, almost in any event, seems pretty goddamn ridiculous to me. but that's me. remember kids: beat your meat, not a fellow human.

the show overall was sweet. the singer gave us the mic for the start of the rip, which was sweet. me jenn and greg rocked pretty hard, but the rest of the people looked a bit awkward and maybe scared. i didnt really pay any attention because i was too busy making up for their lack of fuckin effort. i had fun. i hope they did too, even if it was because they were laughing at the way i danced or whatever. good for them. but the jokes on them, really. they almost didnt play the last two songs. they were having some equipment problems. the bass amp or something having to do with the bass went out, so they were all talking like they were hanging it up for the evening, but then 20cent (the bassist, his nickname if i remember correctly) got that shit workin, then got our asses workin that dancefloor for two smash hits from mute print: the title track and, of course, the motherfuckin rip. pretty damn rad, i must say.

setlist:
killing it
the king is dead
congratulations
famous friends and fashion drunks (1/2)
anchor end
mystery song (i didnt know this one)
me vs morrisey
mute print
the rip

spread the love. give hugs not punches to the face. i love my friends.

shawn