an electric weekend sans mosh pit

For those who enquired: yes, I made it up to Denton Saturday night for some live music, and yes I enjoyed myself. The opening act, Trebuchet, was quite good, and the top billing was great fun.

Although the venue was much too small for a mosh pit, my fears of being noticeably older than the rest of the audience were unfounded. And my ability to dance like a fool has not changed much in 20 years. At least I blended in well.

There are some advantages to these smaller venues. Not only are they cheaper - I still can't get over how you have to shell out literally hundreds to attend a big name concert these days - but you can stand about six feet from the band. Watching a lead guitarist play a complicated solo up-close fascinates me.

Here is a link to the group's 2009 appearance at the Boiler Room (same venue as last Saturday). I was standing at almost exactly the same place as the person videotaping this song.

I can remember looking at the musicians and thinking how difficult it must be to survive extended road trips. They are probably sleeping in a bus, or a cheap motel, and rarely getting a decent night's rest.

The only drawback was all the cigarette smoke. Although it didn't set off an asthma attack during the show, I found myself scrabbling for my rescue inhaler while driving home. And I had forgotten how smoky bars make your hair and clothes stink. When I got home, I had to wash my hair before retiring and literally take my clothes into the laundry room so they wouldn't smell up the bedroom. So I didn't get to sleep until around 4:00 a.m.