So what does one do when one has had a shitty week?
One lays about the house for three days, does absolutely nothing, buys tickets to go see Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab for Cutie in concert, sees that The Strokes are stopping by in April and Washington DC is the last town on their tour (tickets go on sale March 3rd), AND THEN on top of all of that, one goes and sees Flogging Molly in concert!
Holy shit.
Yes, last night, Mendy and I went into DC to go and see some kick ass Irish folks rock our motherfucking socks off.
And this morning I can feel every part of my body in a not-so-positive way.
From the beginning.
After Friday I had already decided that I didn't want to do much of anything on the weekend. My week sucked, I was beaten, battered, emotionally worn down and couldn't care less about anything other than me under the covers in my soft, comfortable bed.
So that's where I stayed on Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday.
I watched the What Not to Wear marathon on BBCAmerica, Elizabethtown, Just Like Heaven and the Project Runway marathon. I considered it to be a very successful weekend of complete nothingness. I got my mind off of a lot of things and simply wasn't worried about anything.
Monday was President's Day. Mel and I decided to hit the tanning beds and go out to lunch. It was nice sister bonding time. We normally don't get out with just the two of us so I thought it was good for us to hang out and talk. It was mostly about how we're losing our minds over Franz, Death Cab, and The Strokes coming to town and how Mel wants to write all of her personal information (phone number, email address, ect.) on a pair of underwear and throw them on stage. I thought it was brilliant.
Tuesday arrived and it was good to sleep in when I knew that everybody was waking up at the ass crack of dawn and making the usual commute into work. I had already let everyone at work know ahead of time that I would be spending my evening getting crushed in a mosh pit so I wanted the whole day to mentally prepare myself for what I was getting in to.
The show would be held at the 9:30 Club in DC. Mendy and I had never been so we figured since it would be dark, we'd be in DC, and going to an unknown location, we should probably leave two hours in advance even though the directions we got from Mapquest told us it would approximately take twenty-one minutes. Our history with driving in Washington is that we normally spend the first hour driving around aimlessly while hoping that something will look familiar and then miraculously end up on the right road and make it to the doors at least ten minutes early. We thought, better safe than sorry.
Unfortunately, we left a little after 6pm. The doors opened at 7pm. Would we make it?
We took my car since it's smaller and easier to park, and Mendy drove since she knows more about driving in DC than I will ever care to learn. All I remember is being lost in that godforsaken place for two hours in the daylight, literally driving in circles. I swore to never drive into DC again if I could help it.
Who knows how we managed to find the place with ten minutes to spare, but I wasn't complaining. We didn't get lost, the directions sort of made sense, and the line wasn't so scary that I wanted to scream. We were extremely proud of ourselves considering that the club is this tiny hole in the wall in a semi-run down part of DC.
We had to pick up our tickets at the window. As we stood there in the bitter night, we observed that this wasn't our normal crowd we hung out with, and we stuck out slightly.
Me: "Mama, I hate to tell you this, but you appear to be the only person of color here."
Mendy: "I know. I didn't really think there would be a lot of dark folks hanging out here though."
Me: "Jesus, I feel like I'm wearing rainbow colors. My outfit is too bright."
Mendy: "You? Look at me! I've got light blue on."
Me: "True. I feel like I should start smoking or something to show that I'm bad. 'Look, I smoke Camels. I've been to jail before.' We're totally getting stabbed tonight."
Mendy: "Yep."
After we got our tickets and found our way to the end of the line, it wasn't long until we started moving towards the doors.
We got our hands stamped, found our spots in the front, and then I ducked away for two seconds to go to the bathroom. Mendy had to convince me though because I was scared that I might lose my spot. Later on I would be eternally grateful that she made me go to the bathroom.
We would be seeing Lemonface (I think that's what their name was), Deadpets, The Briggs, and of course, the incredible, Flogging Molly, in that order.
Things got started off slowly, but after Lemonface made it on stage it was a steady flow. The Lemon Darlings were just that; precious darlings. They couldn't have been any older then thirteen and still had some things to work on, but otherwise they were pretty tight and had a lot of energy. The drummer was seriously kick ass and the girl who played the bass was adorable. I couldn't really make out the lyrics, but it all seemed really good.
Deadpets. Ah, what can be said about Deadpets other than I was floored. We could have gone home after their performance and I would have been more than satisfied. The lead singer had on "sex pants", did a stage dive into the crowd off of the speakers (which was pretty high, I might add), and the entire band overall had so much charisma. There was a guy who played the trumpet though and he looked so much like Billy Idol, and after the concert we had our picture taken with him. That made the rest of my month.
The Briggs were good, but they didn't really do it for me as much as Deadpets did. Then again, they are a hard act to follow so I give them major props for coming out there and also kicking major ass. The bass player seemed to really like giving eye contact to folks in the audience though, because both Mendy and me thought that he was looking directly at us. It was a very good show they put on.
By this time, I had managed to squeeze myself between the barrier and a guy who looked freakishly like Jason Mraz. He asked if I really wanted to be up front since I would more than likely be squeezed until my eyeballs popped out of my head.
Jason Mraz: "Trust me, I've been to a lot of concerts like this and it is a bit painful when your ribs are right up against the rail."
Me: "I'll take my chances. By the way, I'm Sam. I figured I should introduce myself since we're probably going to be unnaturally close to each other when Flogging Molly gets on stage."
Who knows what his name was. All I heard was that he would try his best to not land directly on top of me which I thought was a very gentlemanly thing to do.
When the lights dimmed for the final time, the crowd began to move, scream, clap, and I began to feel my boobs being pressed into my back. I became a little worried and feared for the safety of my glasses. It was then that I finally considered getting contacts for the first time.
The music slowly got started up and then one by one each of the band members appeared on stage.
The crowd flipped out.
From that point on I don't really know what happened or how the show was. I was squeezed out from the barrier and placed one row behind the tall bodies that stood in front of me. I could feel Mendy behind me and every so often she would flatten my hair to my head because it would get in her face. I felt sweaty, gross, and was gasping for oxygen. These goddamned people were insane! I can understand some jumping around and head banging, but lord! I was pushed, shoved, kicked in the head, elbowed in the face, and squeezed.
During one of the slow songs, I took my glasses off, wrapped them in my sweater that I had worn and tucked it into my pocketbook. Hopefully they would be safe in there and I wouldn't be scared about them flying off of my face and being crushed by hundreds of moshers. I did briefly consider asking the bouncer who was in front of us to hold them for me, but he looked like he wouldn't give two shits about my glasses. I would risk it.
After I wasn't worrying about my glasses, I could focus more on getting oxygen and ducking the different body parts that were being passed over me. Skinny chicks were being lifted out of the crowd so more room could be made and I was glad that Mendy was there to guard me. The whole time I could just picture her giving all of these guys nasty looks that said, "stay away from my skinny bitch, dammit. She stays here."
They played Tobacco Island which did it for me. That's my favorite song off of their new album and I wanted to try and do my jig that I had practiced specifically for that song, but found it to be more than impossible. Instead I sang along a little bit and strained my eyes to see if I could get a clearer view of all of the band members.
I did make it back up to the front, eventually after they came back onstage for the last three songs. That was So Much Better for me. I had sort of gotten the hang of using my shoulders to push people aside. I would be damned if I missed the last part of the show. Besides, the very front is where all of the oxygen could be found.
And so the show ended. Mendy and I got a guitar pick that the guitarist was giving out and then I went searching for aqua. I couldn't feel my entire body, but it was strangely a good thing. I felt invigorated, like I had just accomplished something serious. Well, I did. I survived a mosh pit during a Flogging Molly concert. Mendy later told me that that wasn't a mosh pit. If it wasn't, then I'd hate to ever be involved in a real mosh pit. I would either end up in the hospital or dead. Both things don't sound too pleasant.
After we got some water and Mendy bought herself a t-shirt, we were getting ready to leave when we saw some band members from Deadpets and The Briggs standing near the bathrooms where the other merchandise was being sold. We didn't really know what to do, but then Mendy lead the way and we decided that we should go and tell them that they fucking rule.
So we did. And we took pictures. And we said "fags" and "cunts" in front of them. And we hugged. And we all smelled really, really badly. And we made small talk. And it was A-MAZ-ING.
They're awesome Irish dudes. We could totally hang whenever they come back for a visit.
That was my night. When I got home I was too sore and tired to take a shower so instead I got into some clean jammies and slept on top of my covers at the foot of my bed. I wasn't comfortable sharing so much DNA with my sheets at one time.
Pictures soon, I promise.