Dear Friends,
It occurred to me at some point yesterday afternoon that coming home and going back to work and such was like putting on a different life. I love that I get to have these little adventures where I slip out of my everyday skin and get to be this guy in a great punk rock band. It’s a treat.
I mean, there are differences now to when I was younger and got to do similar things. It’s nice that people already know the band when we play out of town. That’s a huge plus, to be honest, but I’m also a different guy. Last weekend was so fun but I really would have loved to have been able to share it with Rhondi and the kids.
The truth is, though, is that it is really fun to be the headlining band from out of town. I’m not the main guy in the band, so I’m kind of anonymous at first and can just move through the crowd like anyone else, but after we are done, people look at you differently. I’ve been on the other end of that so many times as a fan it is fun to be the one getting looked at like an otherworldly creature.
That’s a stretch. Haha. Maybe not otherworldly…but something close. On Sunday night, a complete stranger came up and told me I was amazing. That was a pretty cool thing.
*****
Prior to our lives changing quite a bit with Doug dying, the plan was for all of us to go out to the Sticker Drop and make a weekend of it in Southern California. I felt that sense of loss over the last few days. It was nice to just kind of be, too, and expand myself out into the universe and get rid of a lot of the tension that sadness and grief bring (as well as the tension of not seeing my wife for so long), but it would have been wonderful to have them all there.
Today, though, I get to step back into a role I love and go to work and teach. I got to have several chats about my daily life with people I met or hadn’t seen for a while over the weekend, and it helped me realize that I am very lucky. I love being a teacher and getting to do a job that you love to do is an amazing privilege.
*****
We had a nice family dinner last night at Otro. Rhondi should have been there, but it was still a good time. Some of my mom’s cousins were in town and it was good to see them. Got to spend some time chatting with Ben and Max, too, and that was great.
I was a bit tired so I was probably not the best conversationalist, but I think everyone was okay with that. Liam and Teresa went with me, so I was not alone. We had a good chat while driving to the restaurant, too.
*****
In the summer of 1985, I went to see Youth Brigade and SNFU play at the Mason Jar. I went by myself, which is something I did a lot in those days, but I don’t remember why. I think it was because I had to work that day, and I just walked to the show after I got back to our apartment after work. I was fifteen years old.
It’s crazy for me to think about the fact that this was almost forty years ago and SNFU’s excellent record, …And No One Else Wanted To Play has been a part of my life for that long. I can’t remember if I had already bought this record before seeing the show or if I bought it there or right after. Either way, it couldn’t have been too long after the show that I owned an original pressing with the pilfered Diane Arbus picture on the cover.
Of course, I still have that copy. It’s quite a stunning image and all subsequent pressing have had a different cover due to the band not having permission to use the picture. That’s pretty fucking punk rock.
I was so impressed by the energy that SNFU brought to the Mason Jar that I didn’t miss a show of theirs for many years afterwards. Some of the later stuff didn’t resonate with me as well and I stopped going to see them, which I regret, but for the last years of the 80s and the early part of the 90s, I saw them almost every time they were in town.
At one show, I even got Mr. Chi Pig, their amazing singer, mad at me for giving the rest of the band some acid. They were amazing that night, I do have to say, and we had a blast hanging out with them. Good times.
…And No One Else Wanted To Play came out on BYO Records in 1985, though, and it is completely and utterly bad ass. From the opening notes of “Broken Toy” to the last note of “This Is the End,” I was mesmerized and have remained as much to this day. When I listened to it a couple of days ago to prep for this writing, it was probably the fifth time I’ve listened to it this year. That says a lot in a year where I have been writing about a different record each day.
One of the things I liked about SNFU right away was that they were socially conscious, and their lyrics were either bashing someone for being sexist, greedy, or just an asshole or they were just fun. Mr. Chi Pig was such a great front man and leader for the band. He had the guts to be a good person, too, in a time when a lot of great punk bands were saying a bunch of stupid shit, lyrically.
My favorites on the record were “She’s Not on the Menu” which talked about dude’s be chauvinist pigs and “Seein’ Life Through the Bottom of the Bottle” which is pretty self-explanatory. The latter of the two really resonated with 15-year-old me as I was still pretty confused and sad about how my uncle, Allen, drank himself to death and caused a world of pain for my family.
“Cannibal Café” and “Misfortune” are also favorites in the middle part of the record. I love singing along with “Misfortune” when it gets to the part of the song where Chi Pig starts spelling the word. Such a great bridge part.
One thing I really focused on during my most recent listens to the record is how fucking good the drums are. A guy named Evan “Tadpole” Jones played on this record and just ruled. He left the band before I got a chance to see them live, but I wish I would have been able to see the whole lineup that recorded …And No One Else Wanted To Play.
The album wasn’t done churning out favorites, though, after “Misfortune.” Towards the end of the record, I absolutely love “Bodies in the Wall” and “Get off Your Ass.” Each of them are about as punk rock as you can get and seeing those songs live was always a treat. The pit would go apeshit when SNFU would play “Bodies in the Wall” and I would be right there in the middle of it.
So many good Canadian bands from that era…damn. SNFU was about as good as it gets, too. I’ll never forget that evening at Time Out of Mind, though, when I made eye contact with Muc (guitar) and both of our eyes were about as round as saucers. He was up on stage just frying his balls off and all I could do was smile and dance and celebrate being 19 and alive. Thank you, SNFU.
Thank you for …And No One Else Wanted To Play. This record truly changed my life.
*****
See you soon.
According to AI, his name is "Alphonse."
Comentarios