Against Me! and My Jerusalem

5/12/2016

Bands:  My Jerusalem, Against Me!  

Venue:  Saturn Birmingham

Pit Crew:  Me, Chris… No Brad. He said 20 minutes wasn’t enough of a warning. Whatever.

Note: All names changed just in case our kids read this

I haven’t been to a good, hard show in six months.  The last slam we went to was Danzig in October at Iron City.  I’ve never been in a real pit at Saturn.  The Dead Milkmen played here but the pit was almost geriatric. Nostalgia punk and normal forty year-olds is like pillow fighting with pillows that giggle.

Against Venue!

I’ve said it before, Saturn Birmingham is a heavenly venue for both the audience and the band.  The acoustics are sci-fi and the accommodations are interstellar.  The beer and coffee selections are out of this world too - don’t just orbit, you should gravitate in.  I had a perfectly brewed Hitchhiker by Good People Brewing and it hit the spot, took the edge off, gave me some bounce, and put a slight grin across my lips.

Against The Crowd!

Warning:  I’m profiling here.  Lots of lesbians, lots of future transgender boys, many minors.  Not any high heel wearing, red lipstick painted on, mini-skirt girls (Except Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace)  We scanned the crowd, wondering who was here to jump around.  One huge bald guy wearing Docs looked promising, but everyone else was wearing rectangle eyeglasses and Reba McEntire t-shirts.  Well not everyone…  I struck up a conversation with a couple of 20-somethings wearing Birmingham Barons (Our local, non-punk-rock, minor league baseball team) t-shirts.  For all their times at Saturn, these two said they’d never seen a mosh pit and definitely never tried to start one, and weren't going to join us if there was one.  I’m not being fair — there were plenty of punk rock concert tees in the crowd too.  But overall, the crowd seemed a bit timid and wobbly with cups of craft beers to their lips.  My Doc Martens needed to be deflowered with some skanking, but tonight might not be the night.

My Jerusalem from Austin, Texas!

Four piece band with a very talented instrumentalist who wailed on the keyboard, the guitar, and the trombone...  which brought up a point:  Where did all the ska bands go?  The link under the name shows more horns.  Overall, their sound made me hear Simple Minds meets Mudhoney.   They had energy.  To close the set, both the singer and the instrumentalist, in an to attempt to amp us up, stepped off the stage and circled in the crowd, wrapping us up in cables, and proving that performing is a sweaty job.  TO NO AVAIL - the crowd did not amp up, but stood and watched.  Chris tried to reward them with some appreciation.  He head-bob-strutted to their sides and shoulder nudged the singer in the back! The WTF! expression response was priceless.  I don’t think the guy had ever been assaulted by his audience.

Against Me!

Have you seen the news lately?  Transgender? Gender identity?  Which bathroom you're in?  There’s a story here and plenty of speculation to put to rest.  Yes, Tom Gabel is now Laura Jane Grace.  And she’s got perky girl bits to prove it.  Her overall point is one I subscribe to - everyone has a human heart, so be cool.  Ohhh and “Racism is scarier than transgenderism and guys, pleeeeease, lift the seat when you pee.” 

Against Me! hasn’t toured in two years, they’re fresh from the recording studio,  this was only their second show since the hiatus ended, they have only been to Birmingham one other time when they played at the now-defunct, all-ages punk venue Cave 9, and up next is a huge show at Shaky Knees Festival.  So, they are in need of and deserve some crowd energy! Right?

Against The Music!  (--Youtube vid from show!

Against Me! took the stage.  If anyone was like me, they were cocking their head to the right and left and thinking “Is he really a she, now?” But regardless, it’s about the music, the message, the energy, so we delivered a whoop-heavy welcome back to Birmingham greeting.  They appreciated the love and immediately opened the show with arguably their most popular song I Was a Teenage Anarchist.   The crowd nodded and patted on their thighs, maybe someone tapped a foot somewhere in there.  Song two - There was definite energy being delivered on the stage, the bassist, Inge Johannson moved all over the place, Laura Jane Grace screamed from under her long hair, James Bowman delivered a blazing guitar solo, and Atom Willard wailed on the skins! Yes! There was energy! And the crowd patted their thighs in appreciation.  

Against The Instigation!

I might give up too early sometimes and need encouragement.  Get yourself a friend who knows what needs to happen.  I’ve got a few.  Chris is one of them.  And he knew this crowd required some coaxing.  Someone had to get this show moving and why couldn’t it be us? He skulked to Doc Marten Wearing Beefy Bald Guy and bumped him.  Then again. And again.  Nothing.  Chris looked back at me needing some help to move this mountain.  But even with me nudging, he wouldn’t budge!   We got the hint and moved along.  I put myself in the middle of four dancing girlfriends.  It was warm and squishy.  Chris wandered to the other side to push on some drunks and enthusiastic head bobbers. The knitting circle pushed me out, but Chris scored. We had motion!  It lasted for about half of the song and so did my stamina.  I had neglected to do my warmup stretches.  Everyone took a 30 second break and Chris and I had to pull the starter cord again. Poke the sleepy bear.  This time we had a couple of other visitors — security.  Big-n-Round and Round-n-Big planted themselves in the dance.  I used to be wary of this type, but I figured something out:  be cool, give them a confident pat on the shoulder, and display some courtesy by picking up a fellow slammer.  By the end of the show, I had picked up a soft, 250 pound, Drunk Kid ten separate times.  Big-n-Round gave me a nod and both security guys left the floor to us.  FREEDOM from the MAN!  We slammed on.

At live music it’s the crowd’s responsibility to feed the performers.  What do they eat? Energy.  When the pit was at its thickest, we had 15 to 20 bodies bouncing up and down, side to side, girls and guys, thick and thin, smiling and gritting.  I stepped out and watched as the band shared an expression of accomplishment.  They had done it!  They still had the caffeine, even after two years of coffee break.  Against Me! was back!  That’s the meal we fed them.

When it was over, after a 3 song encore, I was sweating like a sprinkler.  Or was it beer?  Again, I’ve said it before, friends don’t let friends bring $6 draft beers into the pit.  It becomes a target.  My Docs, with their non-slip soles, proved their worth in that swimming hole.  I hit the floor once, but immediately I was scooped up and put back in the circle.  There was no near death experience like at the GWAR show but this pit gets the top position for its fun and coolness.
As far as injuries go, I have a trio of fingernail scratches on my elbow, and the bulging disk in my neck hates me, but nothing to keep me from instigating another pit.  A good punk pit with a sweaty, chill vibe is my heaven.  The ultimate hope is that word gets out that Birmingham can give punk bands what they want -- energy -- and those bands will show up week after week.

See you at the next slam! 

PEACE!