the night that would never ever fucking end

i hate long rock shows. with a passion. my favorite type of bill is the three-band bill. it's the perfect potion of rock right there -- you have the opening band that no one really knows about, but, hey, they could be cool, right? you have the middle band who everyone has seen probably once or twice. then you have the headliner, the band everyone is there to see, assumedly. sometimes i can even stomach 4 band bills, but that usually means i skip the first two bands if i don't know them.

but last night, i went to a 7 band bill show. i didn't really know i was going to end up seeing most of these bands. i purposely went to the show that todd p put together at llano estacado, his new space by the river in williamsburg. the space is simply amazing, and i really fell in love with it the minute i walked in. it's like walking into someone's dungeon. i didn't dare venture into the bathrooms.... which were on some kind of pedastal with black plastic curtains around the toilet. anna went in and i had to hold the curtains shut for her so that she could pee in peace. the stage was not that big, only room for the drums, really. and then there were the bands...

i got to the show around 11. i missed deerhunter and bloody panda. i don't really know what to say about child abuse, but the guy singing and playing that fucked up, souped up keyboard was pretty fun to watch. younger was a little bit of a more painful experience... but perhaps they just weren't my kind of music... they were less experimental or something than the other bands i ended up seeing on the bill, so maybe that affected my view of them. i don't know, but it was painful. at this point, everyone around me was drunk. i was sober. i met a friend of daniel's due to anna's friendliness and talent at introducing herself to people (love that). but i was tired and there was nowhere to sit. i need couches! or at least a stool or something, anything. narchitect had all sorts of technical problems, so it was hard to tell what their sound actually was... and then finally, i saw no things. the band i came to see, and they were great. but i was in such a sour mood by the time they went on (a little after 2 a.m. i think) that i don't think i was able to fully enjoy the experience. i did like them though, and i want to see them again, at a reasonable hour when i'm sufficiently sloshed. puttin' on the ritz played after no things... bj who is in the band is an interesting character as is his drummer. it was like he was tony clifton, speaking-singing these cover songs like "girl from ipanema" and "my funny valentine." but i was happy to leave at that point and make the cold trek home with my weary legs. boy, that was tough.