Broken, Bruised, Forgotten, Sore...

I saw the Prophets of Rage on Saturday night, and went to the AFROPUNK Festival Sunday, and the aches and pains are finally subsiding now.

Saturday's show was my first time at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, and it's a decent venue for live music. My general admission ticket and I arrived early enough to get a spot very close to the front, as has been my wont lately, but in hindsight this wasn't the best show at which to do that. Things were fine when WAKRAT, one of Rage bassist Tim Commerford's side projects, took the stage; the vocals weren't always as loud or clear as they could've been, but it was still a damned fine set by a pretty hardcore three-piece, and the audience was fairly polite and enthusiastic. AWOLNATION turned down the rage a few notches but still offered up some great music. The Prophets' DJ Lord did some pretty phenomenal stuff with his turntables, offering props to Brooklyn's own late MCA and Jam Master Jay in the process, before the rest of the Prophets joined him on stage for an energetic "No Sleep till Brooklyn." 'Twas incredible to see Chuck D prowling around the stage and booming out his vocals, and B-Real's rapping and Tom Morello's guitar definitely brought the Rage.

After that, though, the crowd on the floor went berzerk and brought their own. Understandable, I know, and I really should've anticipated it, but I found myself being pushed forward, hard, and had to put a hand up against the barricade to keep myself from being crushed against either it or the guys in front of me as the band played "Prophets of Rage." The audience kept surging to the front, and we got packed tighter and tighter. By the time I realized my UP by Jawbone band had been scraped off my wrist by the mass of bodies, there was no way in hell I'd be able to see it on the floor, much less retrieve it. Oh, hell.

I tried my best to grin and bear it. I'd paid for my ticket, I wanted to see the band, and hey, I'd been in rambunctious crowds before, right? Uh-uh. Things got worse when they got to "Bombtrack," and I could feel the bruises forming as my shoulders, back, and sides were getting pummeled. By the time they started playing "People of the Sun," I was finding it hard to breathe, partly because I was being compressed against all the people and partly due to anxiety. I admit it: I decided to get out of Dodge, though once I'd squeezed my way off the general admission floor and found myself able to breathe near one of the stairways, I stood and watched as they performed another two songs. I ended up seeing a bit less than half their set, which was disappointing, but I don't think I could've put up with that for another hour.

the Prophets of Rage

Sunday at AFROPUNK got pretty intense at moments, too, but I didn't feel as unsafe or anxious as I did on the floor at Barclays. After grabbing a few empanadas from the Nuchas truck, I made my way over to the Green Stage and caught the tail end of the Suffers' set, and then Skye & Ross (from Morcheeba). They sounded great, but had nothing in common with the whirling dervishes that came next: Skunk Anansie! I'd heard good things about the band but had never really listened to their music; before they took the stage, a guy in the audience informed me that he'd waited 15 years to see them again, and they were amazing. And he was right. When their set started and Skin started running around in a shiny silver outfit, screaming like a banshee, I knew I'd found a new band to follow. People moshed, she crowd-surfed (and I got to help), and eventually, even with my calves still sore from the night before, I found myself needing to pogo, and so I did. Not alone, either. Then Skin came back out into the crowd after urging us all to crouch down, then she screamed at us to start jumping, and for a few brief seconds, I was in the same mosh pit she was. :-D I may, may, be in love with Skin. She's certainly gorgeous.

I think she was checkin' me out, too...

It took forever and a day for them to get the stage ready for the extravaganza that followed, but it was so worth it. Living Colour finally came out and did some of their hits and non-hits, including a Notorious B.I.G. cover, "Who Shot Ya?" They looked and sounded as good as the first time I saw them live waaay back in 1991, and Corey Glover still has some amazing pipes. The members of Fishbone started making their way onstage as the band lurched into James Brown's "Sex Machine," and Angelo Moore and the guys took over with a set of their own tunes after that. Angelo played a fucking theremin. And sax, of course. But a theremin! I'd never seen one played live, and even if I had, I doubt I'd have seen one played the way he played it. So much fun. These guys know how to party at ground zero, all right.

Bad Brains' guitarist Dr. Know, bassist Darryl Jenifer, and drummer Earl Hudson came out to raucous praise, and they did several BB songs along with Corey and Angelo and some of the other musicians. Yes, of course they started with "Sailin' On." Heh. All three bands rocked hard, with their own sounds and influences. And speaking of influences... George Clinton... George Clinton... the George Clinton joined this monster three-band-jam for a Funkadelic finale. More crowd-surfing, more moshing...

Night of the Living Fish Brains, with George Clinton!

I had to half-limp my way back to DeKalb and onto a Manhattan-bound R train, about an hour later than I'd expected to be leaving Commodore Barry Park, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Even with all the dust I inhaled (the dancing and moshing kicked up an unholy amount of the stuff) and the additional bruises I gained and the ringing in my left ear. And the lost UP band, which is taking some getting used to (I think I'm probably just going to wait and replace it with an Apple Watch). It was certainly a hell of a weekend for live music.

As always, more pics of these (and other) musical performances, and other stuff in general, can be found in the Gallery... of Death!

Blurry

I seem to have made an unconscious decision to make my life as much of a blur as possible lately. Maybe I want to get everything in before the impending Politipocalypse... In July, I went to three parties (despite knowing fewer and fewer people at each subsequent party), took in a few musical performances, saw "Ghostbusters" and "Star Trek Beyond" (both were very enjoyable), and trekked back out to Coney Island for some beach time. Made several batches of guacamole, too! I've got Dead Sara, the Boston Comic Con, Goli, the Prophets of Rage, and AFROPUNK lined up for August. September and October will see me attending a few more shows, including Amy Schumer the night before my birthday and Billy Joel the night after, Lindsey Stirling, Tania Stavreva, and Hinds, and hopefully a trip or two to the New York Renaissance Faire. And there'll be another trip in November...

Still working on my album in the middle of all this, of course. I'll Live is still comin' along, and I still anticipate releasing it before winter arrives.

In my last post, I'd asked if any of my musician friends and acquaintances would be interested in contributing a seven-second section of music and/or vocals to "A Blur," the song which will close the album (as opposed to "A Blurb," which will open it). I got one response. I love all of you, too. Heh. Regardless, I dig the way the music is turning out. From the pop punk of "Blond on Blonde" to the mellow jazz of "Too Loud to Be Eaten with the Naked Eye," from the surf rock (with electronic undertones) of "Down the Shore" to the holiday pop of "Christmas Lonely," from love and loss and life to politics and penguins and... giant giants, this album will run the gamut. The "Hate Theme from 'Waiting for X'" and "D.V." will finally see the light of day, and there'll be a new recording of the Aimee Mann-inspired "That's Just What I Am" and my own version of Greta's Unmentionables' "The Bite." I'm looking forward to getting this music out, and I hope you're looking forward to listening to it.

I've also been trying to drum up interest in an outing during Labor Day weekend to the Renaissance Faire. I always enjoy going, even alone, but I know some of my other friends are fans, too, and I think it'd be a lot of fun if a large group of us converged on the place and spent some time there together (and some time apart). Only one response to this so far, too... well, and also the one person I know who's at the Faire all the damn time anyway, so I know I'll see her. Heh-heh.

Some days, it gets wearying to do almost everything alone. Some days, it's hard to go to the party knowing that you're the odd man out. Some days, it'd be nice to have someone sitting opposite you at that table for two. Some days, friends seem so far away.

And you ask me how I'm doing... the unfortunate truth is that I'll live. ;-P

Juneteenth I: Life

Got a lot to say this time around, so I've separated it into three 'blog posts: life, politics, and music. This is the life edition.

I'm done with the insomnia, save the sporadic one- or two-night bout since that horrorshow ended in April; thanks, everyone who expressed support and offered suggestions. I think stress played a large role, but the truth is I haven't felt quite like me in a while now. While I've never done (or considered) yoga, or serious meditation, I'd always been able to conjure up a certain amount of zen, so that moments of anger or sorrow or what have you wouldn't overwhelm me for long... but not lately. Not for about three years now. It ebbs and flows, this self-diagnosed depression of mine, but it hasn't ebbed back as far as I'd like in quite some time. Maybe now that I've acknowledged that, I can do something about it, something that doesn't involve downing lots of Herring Wallbangers. I finally started using this Buddha Board, which I bought last year while visiting a Japanese cultural center with my cousin in Florida last year, at work:

I can paint on it with water, and as the water evaporates, my painting disappears. Not that I'm creating masterpieces, even ephemeral ones, with it, but I find it's a good way to get out my feelings or lighten my mood. I also realize that I haven't been running in far too long, and I need to start doing that again. Laura and I had both noticed that working out helped her "even out," and I'm sure it does the same for me.

Keeping busy helps keep my mind from dwelling on things too much, too, and I've certainly been doing that since my last 'blog post. I've seen Tania Stavreva perform at the Drawing Room again, got festive at Lambertville's Shad Fest, viewed "Purple Rain" on the big screen with Rhonda and her daughter Linda, went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Barbara for the "Manus x Machina" exhibition, watched my friends Dave and Shawn exchange their vows, took in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Captain America: Civil War" on the same day, followed by some dramatic readings of Edgar Allan Poe's works, visited historic Smithville (and the Olive Garden) with my parents for my dad's birthday, tried several times to engage with a rabbit residing near the office, and enjoyed a much-needed boozy brunch with Yesika in Gramercy, and a slightly-boozy after-work get-together (so many hyphens!) with Jenn and Vaida in Ridgewood. Yesterday, I managed to fit in laundry, the Mermaid Parade at Coney Island and a bit o' sunburn, Trenton's Art All Night (during the early evening, but still), and a Trenton Thunder baseball game, though technically I didn't get home until today. (As always, photos from my excursions through life can be viewed in the Gallery... of Death!) While I'm comfortable with doing a lot of things by myself, it's always nice to know that there are people who do want to get out and do things with me.

And of course there's more comin' up. I need to squeeze in a trip or three to the Jersey shore this summer, of course, as well as at least one trip to the New York Renaissance Faire (and there be new Vixens!). I'll be seeing Tania again in two weeks, first at Carnegie Hall (Carnegie Hall!) and the following evening back at Tenri Cultural Institute. Before that, I'm going to catch Brazilian sensation Céu at the Highline Ballroom, and hopefully two or three shows next weekend. You know what I say about blurs and blurbs... There's a Thanksgiving in July event I believe I shall attend, the Coathangers at the Bowery Ballroom, the Boston Comic Con in August (and I've already bought my ticket to get a photo with Amy Pond and Clara Oswald - yes, it'd long been established that I'm a geek)... and the Prophets of Rage. Yep, I'm going to see the supergroup of justified anger in Brooklyn on August 27th, and help make America rage again. I'm also going to see the one-time Angry Young Man himself, Billy Joel, live in concert for the first (likely only) time, the day after my birthday.

Juneteenth II: Politics