Last friday, a few friends and I decided to go to a rock concert. I don’t know if I should be calling it a concert because it was really just a room above a cafe where there was a stage. Let me just start off by saying that arriving on time is arriving early because when we got to the concert room, we were the only people inside other than the band setting up. To say it was awkward would be an understatement. The room did eventually fill up however, and the opening act started.
Going into this concert, I thought we would be listening to indie rock but it was a little different from that. The first band on stage was nothing short of unique. The singer had his face completely covere
d by his hair and he was singing (yelling) heavy metal into the microphone. To be blunt, this singer couldn’t sing for the life of him. It wasn’t the genre of music, it was definitely him. I will say that the saving grace in this act was the guitarist with wrist tattoos because his guitar solos were fantastic. Arguably, the only part of their band that worked.
The first band was so bad that my friends and I were about to leave, but we decided to listen to one more band just to see if it got any better. Luckily for us, it was. The main guitarist was wearing Joker makeup, and it really added to the vibe of the venue. What I found surprising was that it was the drummer that was the main singer and while that threw me off at first, it was actually an interesting dynamic. Their cover of “Psycho killer” was wonderful and some of the people started moshing which was fun to watch. It definitely is not something I see myself doing in the near future, but it looked fun for them.
Overall, I would rate that experience a 7/10, and it helped me gain a greater appreciation in rock and live music. I have been trying to find more rock music venues to go to, but most of them require age 18 and above so it’s been pretty tough luck. If you guys have any recommendations, don’t be shy!
That being said, I have been starting to create new playlists to listen to because of this concert. I’ve been refining my indie rock playlist and building my rock playlist, but at this point I get really confused when I’m trying to sort them. Kaetlyn and I have been sharing music recommendations recently, and so here are a few of my favorite songs in the rock genre currently:
- “Pool House” by The Backseat Lovers
“I’m getting all choked up
I guess it’s just my luck
And I’m stuck on the porch
What am I waiting for?”
This has been one of my favorite songs since freshman year and each time I hear it, I am drawn to the slow, heavy tune of this song. I feel like so much is packed into the lyrics above as the singer reflects on a moment he can’t seem to enjoy or let go of. He just goes through the motions while watching everyone else find whatever they’re looking for.
- “Vienna” by Billy Joel
“Slow down you crazy child
You’re so ambitious for a juvenile”
Admittedly, this is one of my coping songs whenever I am in the dumps. Vienna is more in the genre of soft rock, and I think the constant presence of the piano is what gives this song such a comforting vibe. The lyrics are so grounding and at times I feel like they were written for me because it’s so relevant to my life. A child who wants everything, not understanding that his whole life is ahead of him. He has time to mess up and make mistakes.
- “Stand Still” by The Black Skirts
This song is a mix of pop and rock. The guitar riff at the beginning is truly impressive and it sets up a wonderfully written song. The melody is more pop influenced than the rest of the song but you can still hear the electric guitar in the background and a few solos are peppered in. This song has got to be one of my top feel good songs and I will never not jam out to this song. You have to listen. Trust me.
Hi Ashley,
I enjoyed your blog a lot; going to open mics and seeing all of the (typically) poor performances is fun for me, especially as a musician. Adventurous journeys are exciting for me. Going to a rock show at a random cafe’s upper level sounds pretty fun. For some reason, I’ve had an itch to go to a drag show for a while. I tried getting some people to go, but they aren’t into it. I’m not into it either, but I just want to go for the experience— I mean, it must be such a different world from what I’ve ever seen. It just seems so out-there, and weird things like that interest me. Sadly, most of the drag shows are at bars, so I am out of luck. Another weird journey is going on top of Van Buren Avenue’s parking garage in the middle of the night, since there’s some sketchy people there. One time, I went there with my friend and we microwaved aluminum foil, a lit match in a mason jar turned upside down (it creates plasma), and a fork. All of the strange people watched us from afar with our nefarious activities, it was pretty funny. A dude was filming us and told me that he posted it on WorldStar.
In regards to rock music, here’s a list to my car/aux playlist, it has some rock songs on it that I think are pretty good: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6d8UPIMG5X1zjIwC59cB7L?si=8d957d3ab5f04cf0
Ashley, I’ve always been a fan of big crowds and loud music. With this combination, you can expect my adoration for concerts. The smallest concert I’ve gone to was this summer in a venue called the Chop Shop- a restaurant/bar with a small standing-room stage. I was unsure what to expect without a crowd of hundreds or thousands, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. You must’ve gone to a very small one because every concert I’ve gone to still had lines leading outside of the building prior to entry.
I’ve felt similar to your experience with the first band, sometimes I really do not enjoy the opening band, as much as I try to. A couple times, at the point of “one more song,” I was at my limit.
And personally, I’m not a fan of Joker’s makeup but it is an interesting energy to bring to the concert. I’m sure it was a slightly-awkward but fun new experience.
It’s cool that you were able to broaden your perspective on music- specifically the rock genre. I get pretty confused categorizing songs, and when people ask: “What music do you listen to?” I often stop in my tracks. Similar to your exploration of concerts, I want to keep finding new music, and exploring new things. This includes rock, but I’m open to a lot of genres. Hopefully, we’ll both find a lot of new music that resonates with us.
Hey Ashley!
I knew I needed to read this blog to see how this night went from your perspective. Arriving on time is definitely early, I can’t believe we actually thought we’d need to rush for a spot. That was awkward at first. Correction! The first singer was Punk, to be specific, and definitely an interesting experience. However, personally I do not know what good and bad punk music sounds like, so I don’t really know if they were good or not. The guitar solos were definitely a highlight of that part. The drummer of the second band was pretty good (both drumming and singing), the clown makeup was a vibe, but let’s shed some of the base it was so smooth. Overall, I also agree with your rating of the evening. I feel a greater appreciation for rock and even live music in general because small venues like this give off a really great vibe. Before we move on, let’s not forget that the one bathroom with a door that would not close in that tiny hallway on the side also added to the vibe.
I also wrote about my playlist curation in my blog! Great minds think alike, some might say. You have given me a great appreciation for Pool House, and last year Vienna was my saving grace. I am getting into Stand Still as well, I’d love to listen to more music like that. I hope to read more blogs about more of the live music adventures in the future!
Ashley,
The timing thing is my worst nightmare. Apparently everyone universally interprets “on time” as late, and I often end up the only one in a room with a coach, sponsor, etc.
Kaetlyn showed me a video of the rock concert, so if your image heading in was the chill, Summer Salt-esque music that I associate you with, then I can see how you were caught off guard. I laughed at your point-blank diagnosis of his inability to sing. I’ve witnessed some bad openers, but usually I tell myself that maybe I am just failing to appreciate them. But once the main act starts, you truly realize how bad they were in comparison.
Though I don’t know that this genre of rock would be quite my vibe, I do like some rock and have been meaning to get into it. The live experience is incredible and if I was familiar with the band, I think I would lose my mind. I have been trying to add more rock into my playlists, but rock feels gatekept. “Do you even know what rock is?” or “Do you even know x song??” I imagine someone saying to me. I wouldn’t know what to do.
Overall, it’s very cool that you were able to try something new and take something from it, especially when it wasn’t entirely for you.