Two Sold Out Shows and (no) Broken Bones

Awhile ago I heard that Kid Rock was going to be playing Irving Plaza on October 9th. I was psyched as this venue is smaller than all the other ones I've seen him play. But apparently not psyched enough to remember the stupid ticket on-sale date. Because I failed myself, I was upset. But I figured there was always EBay.

Soon after that disappointment, I found out the Hives were going to play Webster Hall. This quite possibly excited me more because it's been a few years since they've played New York. I saw them twice on that last tour (Irving Plaza, and Webster Hall) and loved every minute of it. I couldn't wait for them to come back and had been bitching ever since that they hadn't. I saw that they were on tour with Maroon 5, but fuck that. I wasn't going to see them in an arena, I wanted a headliner show and here it was. I got my ticket as soon as they went on sale.

I had a hard day. I have just started a new freelance assignment that had stressed me out all day, and I wasn't feeling good around the time I was scheduled to leave in order to make doors by 7pm. I thought maybe there would be an opening act that would give me some time to chill before going into the city. But when I called the venue, they told me there was NO opener and that the band was to go on at 8. I sacked up so to speak and made the next train in, arriving at the venue around 7:30. I kissed front row goodbye, but was glad I didn't stay home like a whiny bitch and was happy I made it to the show at all.

When I got to the venue, they had a sign posted that said the band has changed the showtime to 9pm. I went in anyway, as I had nothing else to do. There was hardly anyone there. Exxxcellent.

I grabbed my front row spot, only to have a short chick weasel her way in front of me. I'm so stupid that I let her by me, thinking she was a photographer. Well she wasn't. And on top of that she had a 6' tall guy with her that stood right in front of me. I sulked for a little bit until I realized I have every right to ask him to move. So I did. And he did. Later on in the show, the girl who duped me tried to steal my spot after she left for a minute and came back. She tried to dance obnoxiously and knock me around but I just dished it right back, so she gave up. F you shortie.

When the lights went down, and a neon red sign reading "The Hives" lit up, the crowd went crazy. I was on Nic Arson's side. When he wasn't attacking his guitar with a vengeance, he was making silly faces and waving the crowd on to make some noise. Gone was his short black hair. Now he was sporting a curly, light brown 'do that flopped around as he thrashed his way through every song.

Pelle is a great frontman with a swingin' personality. He's got the rock star stage strut from the School of Mick Jagger down pat. He loves toying with the crowd: "Do you want to hear a new or an old song? Here, let me decide for you. Everyone say "New song!"

As for the setlist, it was a mix of older songs and a few new ones that I don't know because the album isn't out yet. That's a pet peeve of mine, and I've run into this situation with quite a few bands. I hate when they play shows before the album's out. One or two songs, ok. But 4 or 5 and now you're risking alienating me. It's not that I didn't like the songs. They were great. I'm just a big baby and like knowing everything being played or I start to feel disconnected and almost bored. Oh well. From what I heard, I will most likely be buying the new CD when it eventually comes out.

Of the stuff I knew, here's what I remember from the set:
Two-Timing Touch And Broken Bones
Walk Idiot Walk
No Pun Intended
A Little More For Little You
Diabolic Scheme (highlight for me)
Missing Link
Declare Guerre Nucleaire
Die, All Right!
Main Offender
Hate To Say I Told You So
Supply And Demand
Tick Tick Tick Boom (which sounded GREAT live)

Crappy Cell Phone Photos:






After the show, I thought I would go over to Irving Plaza to see if I could try to meet Kid Rock since the two venues are only a few blocks away from each other. When I got there, I heard music coming out the front doors. I went up to security and asked "Is the show still going on?" and he said he thought so. I innocently asked "Any chance I can get in?" He looked at me, said "Come with me", and took me to the box office, where he ripped a ticket, gave it to me and told me to have fun.

I was SO psyched. This show had sold out and here I was getting in for free. I ran upstairs to find the place jammed wall to wall with drunk people. As I battled the suffocating heat wave coming off the crowd, I found a spot where I could see. All I ended up was seeing the last 3 minutes of "Bawitdaba" and the stagebow. But I was so thrilled just to have gotten in, that it was still a treat.

As I waded through the sea of crushed Bud Light cans littering the floor, I decided that I would try to meet him. Since there was a bigger crowd than I figured there would be by the stage door and I had work the next day, I just decided to head home. I didn't take any pictures of Kid Rock but here's one from the web:

Evidently he decided to dress like the Hives? By the time I got there, he was shirtless and crazy sweating. Which isn't a bad thing.

Good nights like these make me hate life less.

Smile, You're meeting Henry Rollins.

Holy crap was traffic bad tonight. Note to self: Starland is a PAIN IN THE ASS to get to during rush hour.

Tonight my schedule was finally synched up with Henry Rollins' and I got to see him perform at Starland. Clocking in at just under 3 hours, it was an evening full of some of the best stories you'll ever hear come out of someone's mouth. He told of rad nights with his favorite bands, his trips to Lebanon and Syria, and his idea that exotic beasts of the wild should be dispersed throughout random cities of America just to keep us on our toes. Of course there were some political rants Rollins-style thrown in as well.

I would like to bitch just for a paragraph or two about people who talk during a SPOKEN WORD performance. A stupid drunk chick behind me would not shut up and distracted me from the show a few times. Plus, our waitress appeared to be louder than any other waitress in the place (Starland was set up like a nightclub, with long beergarden style table seating on the normally general admission floor, and regular circular dining tables in the bar areas overlooking the floor. I was in the dining table area.) Not to mention the other two people who felt it was perfectly fine to answer cell phone calls and speak at normal volume so that the rest of us silent folk could hear their conversation.

It really upset me. I was taking this whole event so seriously- I wanted to soak up every single word Henry had to say and these idiots were being disrespectful. But I realized, I have a choice. I can confront these people or hope they go away. If I called them out on their behavior, that would take even more of my time away from the performance, as I would have had about 5 exchanges over the course of the show. And I don't know about your experiences with them, but I find that drunks aren't usually up for being told what to do. Trying to reason with them is about as effective as trying to clap with one hand (yes I stole that line from Anthrax). After I came to terms with the fact that I can't save the world from rude dumbasses under the influence, I eventually figured out a way to tune them out.

When the show was over, I knew where I was going: the tour bus. You know me- I can't pass up an opportunity to try to meet one of my heroes, especially one that's had a really profound effect on me. Since Henry had stated in a mass email that he normally comes out to talk to his fans, I knew my chances of speaking to the man were pretty good.

Being used to waiting a good hour before bands come out to chat after shows, I was surprised at how quickly Henry came out. In fact I almost didn't notice him as I was checking my text messages. I threw my cell into my purse and whipped out my copy of "Smile, You're Traveling" for him to sign.

When I approached Henry, I warned him that I was about to say something dorky and told him how the book has really made an impact on me and has inspired me to travel to random places alone. "Not any place like Syria," I said, "but I have now been to Wisconsin and Austin, Texas." Henry looked at me and paused. I thought he was going to shoo me off or move on to the next kid.

Instead, he launched into a story about his time in Tehran. I honestly don't remember half of what he said. I think it was something about how the people don't hate U.S. citizens, but have a real problem with our government. He was being drowned out by my heart pounding in my ears as I realized- Henry Rollins, the man whose writing has basically taken over as the voice in my head, was now telling me a story to my face.

As the group of fans (there were probably at least 30 or 40 people waiting to talk) stood in a circle around us, it took everything not to throw my hands to the sky and dance a jig of joy that this was actually happening. It was this weird perfect moment. I mean, the reason I love him is for his stories and take on life, and here he was telling one of those adventures in person, directly to me.

I had asked the girl next to me to take a picture of me and Henry. It came out god-awful. Let's just say I now know what I would look like with 2 1/2 chins. So that won't be posted. I would have taken another posed shot, but there were so many people waiting. I didn't want to hog his attention, especially after the cool storytime moment. If only I remembered what he said! Stupid joy distracting me.