March 8th, 2009

The past few days have been such a blur. A great, memorable blur. I waited so long for Thursday to come and it was totally worth it. Something I thought would never happen but did. I have no problem admitting my how much of a fan and how much I love Against Me!, despite their signing to Sire records and changing their sound for the most part. Maybe they're not "punx" enough but I really couldn't care less. Favorite band, hands down. Anyhow, at their "secret show" they played Thursday at Blackbox, they proved that they still put on one of the best live performances around even after signing to a major label. The 'box was packed wall to wall and may have even been overflowing with people, I'm not sure. Against Me! opened with 3 or 4 new songs that no one knew - they weren't even on New Wave (nor were any of the songs that night). After they had finished those, they played about 14 of their old favorites and closed with "Baby, I'm An Anarchist", which was incredible to hear live even though I'm pretty sure that Tom and the rest of the band have left behind their anarchist beliefs and ideas.
Opening for them were locals Idols End (...) and Larf, and Spoonboy and Emilyn Brodsky, whom they brought with them. Both of the latter were amazing as well, if you're into folk punk -and everyone is into folk punk, whether or not they'll admit it. I had listened to Spoonboy (who consisted solely of Max Levine of the Max Levine Ensemble) briefly before, but after that night I had a newfound appreciation for his music, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Emilyn Brodsky performed solo as well, with just a Ukelele and was very funny and fun in general in between songs. By the end of the night, I was sweaty, tired, sore, and beyond satisfied.

Skip to Saturday (because no one cares about my school day), at Harvest Of Hope Fest. Originally I had planned to go all 3 days but my mom, being a mom, made me settle for going one day. Whatever. I remained pretty calm up until Paint It Black came on, who put on a really great show, although I only knew a few of their songs. Next up was Valient Thorr, who I watched for a laugh, and after them - Strike Anywhere. Another one of those bands who I will always love no matter what. It had been almost exactly a year since I'd seen them last, and despite the heat, the dirt, and the huge stage, they put on a really great show and was pumped after they finished. Bouncing Souls were up next, but I avoided the enormous crowd and watched from afar. I've never really been a huge fan, but they did an acoustic cover of "Hybrid Moments" by the Misfits and for some reason it got me really emotional. After they finished, I made my way to the very front to see Bad Brains - never really been a huge fan of them either, but, come on - it's fucking Bad Brains. They were amazing, even though I only knew "Pay To Cum" and "Sailin On". After them was, once again, my favorite band - Against Me! My hopes weren't very high for the night though, because of the huge crowd - I'd say over 1,000 people, the big stage, and the fact that it wasn't Thursday anymore.

I was wrong.

Once again, they opened with new songs - only 2 this time, before busting into "Pints Of Guiness" to open up a (rather short, sadly) set of classics. Only one song was played from New Wave, but it was Americans Abroad, which is a decent song in my opinion and came out way before the album did. I'm not sure, but I think the set was something like:

New song
New song
Pints Of Guiness
New Song
Cliche Guevara
Walking Is Still Honest
Rice And Bread
Americans Abroad
Turn Those Clapping Hands Into Angry Balled Fists
TSR
Reinventing Axl Rose
I Still Love You Julie
Don't Lose Touch
Sink, Florida, Sink

I think the original set list was longer (I swear I saw "35 Percent" when they put down the lists), but it got short because of a pre-show speech about the Harvest Of Hope Foundation, but hey, that's okay. Strangely, there was something really beautiful about seeing them play those songs to such a huge crowd who all knew every word.

After they finished, my mom picked me, my brother, and Elliot up and brought us back to the hotel (so punx, I know), where I showered off more dirt than I thought could cling to a human being. We left to come back early this morning, and I've spent today hanging out with my friend Morgan and relaxing for the most part. I can kind of feel myself getting sick, but I hope I can fight it off because I hate missing school.

Other than that, I feel refreshed, satisfied, and ultimately happy.