Megan the Water Moccasin and I were sitting on a sofa on the roof of the Music Box when this 18-year-old chatterbox sits down next to us and asks if we're there for "MSI." I actually had to think about that one for a minute.
"No, we're here for Kill Hannah," I answer.
Then he tells us that we're the first people he met who aren't there for Mindless Self Indulgence. I tell him it's because we're old. He thinks we're 24. This kid is too kind for words. I tell him I don't get MSI. He has to explain why people like them to me. Then he starts talking about rock and techno.
"So, they're like gravers?" I ask.
[Insert blank stare here.]
"Gravers, they're like a cross between goths and ravers."
"No, I'm not a goth."
Then I mention the baggy bondage pants that gravers wear and the neon bracelets and he says it's like candy kids.
"Yeah, definitely, but darker, like goths."
Then Megan asks me who is playing and I said it's Amanda from Perversion DJing (really good set, btw, she always looks like she's having fun in the booth and that really means something to everyone on the floor). Then the kid starts screaming "Oh my God, Amanda Jones."
"Yeah."
He's very excited. So excited that he grabs his friends and runs downstairs to dance, which leads me to believe that he probably goes to Perversion or one of her other gigs fairly often, meaning that he does have some sort of goth tendency. Now, back when my friends and I were goth, we would never admit to it either (remember to only mention industrial, was the mindset). However, at the same time, there was no greater insult than to be considered a candy kid. Well, there probably was and it probably involved patchouli, dreadlocks, Burning Man and sub-genres of tribal-trance or whatever. Regardless, why someone would rather identify with candy kids than goth is beyond me, but, whatever, he was a nice guy and he didn't look like as much of a Hot Topic clone as 98% of the crowd did. Dude from MSI made some crack about Hot Topic onstage. The irony was lost on most. Hell, the irony might have even been lost on the band. I thought maybe I was holding some sort of grudge against them for dressing the way my friends and I did when we went shopping on Melrose back in 1994. Turns out that I just don't get this band. Maybe you do. Maybe you can explain it to me. Chances are, it won't make much of a difference.
Kill Hannah, on the other hand, drives me nuts. I even stood at the front of the stage during the set, something that never happens on account of my hatred of crowds and odd crowd-enhanced odors. Megan, who had never seen the band before, was also impressed. (Can't wait until she posts her photos.) We got to chat with Mat briefly after the set and found out that the band will be touring "a lot" after the release of the new album next month. This made me happy because New Album (properly referenced as Until There's Nothing Left of Us) has been on repeated play in my car and at my desk and manages to grow more intense every time I hear it. Last weekend, I played it for Melissa as we drove out to Bang! and she flipped. So, not only do I want to hear the new songs live, but chances are strong that the band will have a whole new crowd of fans out here within a matter of a month.
Oh, and we're still trying to figure out who opened the show, since no one seemed to know. Megan thought "Juliesomething," which I think might mean "Julien-K," who are opening for the tour in San Francisco tonight.