I Remain Old

I'll point out that I also said "I'm so old" at many of the other shows I've been to, particularly every Aquabats gig I've seen since, let's say, late 1999. (And that show with the Hippos and Nerf Herder. Felt old there.)

I just came back from seeing a band that has been on my short list for a few years, Andrew Jackson Jihad at Trunk Space. I don't get out for shows much. Actually, this is the second show I've been to in the past five years that wasn't a comedy thing. AJJ were great, but what was particularly interesting was that it seemed that most of the audience was singing along with most of the existing songs and loved it. Which is great. I saw an Auburn Court show last week (hi ladies!) and they put on quite the show, and I noticed one dude who was totally feeling all the music. I would say that if a man could have an intimate, sensual experience with a setlist, he was somehow doing it. The AJJ show was closer to some sort of revival or cult, minus the bizarre sexual practices and suicide pacts. Either way, fun times.

As someone who generally isn't used to people knowing what I'm talking about regarding music, it really was surreal to see an entire room of dudes and ladies just belting out what essentially amounts to catchy folk tunes about how much people suck. (Were I to simplify it, I mean.) I'm generally not used to fans being quite that passionate about the music, particularly because most of the shows I saw over the years, I was convinced people were there more to be seen than see the bands. (And let me tell you, these were some great bands.) So yes, AJJ fans may be some of the most dedicated I've seen as of late, but maybe that's just a growing part of the increasingly specialized music taste people seem to sport as the Old Tyme Record Shoppe becomes a thing of the past and Top 40 radio seemingly loses some of its influence.

You youngsters have good taste. Or at least those of you at the last couple of shows I've been to do. The rest of you, who knows.

Also saw something called "Bikini Lounge" which Pete tells me is basically untouched since the 1950s or 1960s. If you look inside, with a few exceptions like a bowling game and some other things, I believe him. If I ever hear the place is getting shut down or abandoned I'm going to bust in and liberate some of the signage and murals they had in there, as they are beautiful. Still, after the "wow neat" factor wears off, it's a bar, and I don't know what to do with myself at those kinds of places other than leave a few minutes in-- which is what we did. I kinda wish I had a picture of the place for you though.