I’m not too old for a punk show dammit!
So a month or two ago I saw that Henry Rollins was doing a traveling slide show and was going to be in Iowa City! Sadly it was on a weeknight, and I just don’t have babysitters. Plus if I did, I would have had to pay the ticket price and the sitting fee...
Then a friend posted that he was looking for someone to drive him to see Henry Rollins... so I thought it may be emergency enough to ask the X to take the kids for the night...but in the meantime he said HR was going to be in Des Moines the Saturday before the Iowa City show! And he had a brother we could stay with. And he would buy my ticket. And it was a visitation weekend! And there was a punk rock band playing on Sunday him and his daughter wanted to see (Gorilla Biscuits). So, I said “sure, but I’m a little too old for a mosh pit!” LOL I never went into a mosh pit back in the day anyway, so yes, I know you can go to a punk show without moshing it up... I don’t think I had even been to a concert in over 16-17 years! Well, I was technically at the Dawn and On festival for at least an hour before I threw up on the way out this past summer 😂
So I went! I had the best time ever!!! Henry Rollins was AWESOME!! He seriously talked from the time he got on stage until he left the stage about two hours later; mostly without taking a breath! I had to pee really bad around hour one, and seriously considered going in my empty beer cup because I did NOT want to miss anything!! He is such a dynamic and energetic speaker with so many awesome things to say!
Sunday, we started drinking at lunch with margaritas and some “fuzzy” orange drinks (at Fuzzy’s Tacos! If you have one: GO!).
Then we picked up beer, vodka, limeade, and some ciders on the way home from lunch. We drank some beer and then had quite a few vodka and limeades... so by the time we had to leave for the Gorilla Biscuits show we had a nice neighbor (who was hanging with us) take us because I wasn’t good to drive! We were among some of the first at the venue, and my awesome buddy, John, set me up against the stage on the far right hand edge. Excellent place to be (no sarcasm intended). I was close enough to the speakers to be able to feel the music through my entire body. I could also feel the music when I leaned on the stage. I had the best view of the stage! And John could keep an eye on me.
There I am - that face barely visible between the mic cord and the singer’s body.
It was a #nobarriers concert. The outside was all abuzz about it before the doors opened. That was how I was able to park myself stage right just next to the speaker and lean on the stage to keep my body up during all the shows!
I’m going to say that here I was looking at my phone, and not passed out on the stage LOL
The best part of this was that I totally got in on all the stage diving action. Now this may be a bit sarcastic, as I really could have done without everyone having to climb over me, with the small gap between the speaker and me and the wall, to get onto the stage for their stage dives. I do have a few nice bruises to prove it. LOL!! But, in some crazy way I actually enjoyed it as it was all part of the experience.
Me again, leaning on the stage and John’s head LOL!
John’s daughter was kick ass!! Seriously, she was in the mosh pit from the second it started - she may have even started it...
The first band was super impressive! Closet Witch. The lead singer is this little girl with the biggest voice!!
She seriously kicked ass.
The next band, and this is when I all of a sudden decided I should probably take a picture or a video...(not too successfully!) Modern Life is War was equally awesome!! And a super hot lead singer to boot...
Sadly that is definitely not me in the photo
But here I am! Either trying to get a video, photo, or trying to make my way back to my spot without spilling my beer!!
I think this is John’s head behind that fist!
So, notice all these awesome pics were from Angelo Rossi? And I have to say she got some amazing photos!!!
Here are the best of the pics and video I got #blurryafbutatleastaperson
I seriously laughed my ass off when I watched the videos I had posted to Instagram. Classic. #thisiswhyimnotaprofessional