went to a show for the first time since neutral milk hotel in 2014. so it's literally been 10 years, not counting places where bands were playing in the background or that i was dragged to and didn't care about or like, raves. it was very interesting, i learned a lot. some observations
- it's not that loud. my speakers at home can almost get that loud. i was right next to the speakers, too. i was also right next to some girls. the girls were way louder than the bands. girls can scream really loud, huh? so powerful.
- it's a losing game to try to dance to shoegaze, but, other people clearly don't care about the drums as much as i do. they literally don't dance to the drums. i thought that's what sort of set the pace and style of dancing
- i guess, unless it's very interesting in some other way, i need music to be kinda fast to enjoy it live. this was like normal alternative rock music and i was trying to dance and the fact that literally nothing happens musically was really messing me up. it's interesting that most normal alt rock sort of pauses the music part to allow us to hear someone singing lyrics written in the 1,000 most common english words. i don't usually listen to this sort of thing so it was sort of extraordinary to hear it.
- girls love music. there were like a million hot girls there and it wasn't even like a girly band, i was under the impression it was an internet band for internet boys. and they weren't just with their boyfriends, they were with other girls. or alone. or lesbians. inspiring
- kids love music. there were a bunch of teenagers there, i'm pretty sure. two people behind me looked like, 14. they acted 14 also. they seemed confused and were constantly asking each other about why things were the way they were. 'why are there people like, right up front...' one said weakly. i almost answered some of their questions, but i decided to just keep listening in
- you have to go early if you want merch or to be in the pit or to see the band. i basically knew this but it's good to confirm. also how you open up a pit at this kind of show is a mystery to me but if i was in there i definitely would have moshed
i mostly focused on spying on other people, not the bands. one group of girls next to me were so excited for these middle aged rock men, it sort of filled me with awe. they were screaming and everything. for normal alt rock men. i think that's beautiful. another pair of friends were talking about being autistic and how they were bored and should have brought stim toys. hot girls. hot girls were talking like this. i may need to go out more often
i did try flirting with some girls by getting in the merch line and then offering them my spot since i didn't want merch. i was going to do this to the hottest girls that walked past, but then i realized i would defintiely have to tap them on the shoulder to get their attention, so i decided to give it to the hottest trans girls that walked past, so as not to cause an international incident. indeed, the pair of trans girls i picked needed to be shoulder tapped to get them to talk to me, and they did not seem happy about it. i think they didn't realize i was trans, i must have just looked like a creepy gynecomastia band guy. i did wear a band t-shirt and cargo pants and boots. the type of girls i want to flirt with and hang out with would be nice to creepy guys, anyway, though, so i chose wrong. nevertheless, i told them they were beautiful, which was true, and left to go up to the stage.
something extraordinary happened towards the end of the show. everyone was filming with their phones, and as you know, the most notable things tend to happen at the end of shows. like, songs everyone's excited about, or whatever. the finale. so, when the band began playing a certain song, everyone got out their phones, held them up high, and began filming. of course, i was surrounded entirely by women. who all simultaneously lifted their arms... perfume and deodorant can't cover up all body odor after one has been dancing (or, at least, standing sweatily) for more than an hour. i smelled something incredible. it might have been all worth it for this.
