TOP 7 Lame Reasons Not to Catch a Show
Words George Booker
Friday, March 20th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
GET UP, GET DOWN Step One: Leave the excuses behind | PHOTO Howard Tarpey | The Boot
1 WORK SHMERK
If you are under 47 and don’t have a kid under the age of 6 (at which point they can fend for themselves), then you can suck it up and drag your ass into work on three hours sleep and a wicked hangover. I would argue that if you aren’t doing this a few times a week already, you’re wasting your life. Remember the first step to collecting unemployment, i.e. free money, is getting fired.
2 YOU’RE A BABY MAMA (or daddy)
Well bring the little sucker! The vulgar, debauched, smoky, unbearably loud show-environment may not seem appropriate for a tot, but understand this is a learning experience. If a kid does not learn how to rock before puberty, it is exponentially harder for him or her to acquire this valuable life skill (rocking is similar to language acquisition in this way).
3 SCHOOL
If you have’nt figured out how to balance a rigorous academic schedule with a problematic degree of partying and are not seeing four times more shows than you will see in the remainder of your adult life, you have already failed college.
4 COVER WOES
I’m calling shenanigans on the 70% of people who give me this excuse; half of them end up on Granby Street or the Oceanfront, guzzling $8 cocktails. Go see a show, drink a little bit less, and maybe you’ll have a new favorite band or meet an invigorating new person after more than zombie oblivion at the end of the night. For everybody’s reference, the cover for the best shows tends to be five (5) dollars, which you can easily blow on parking downtown, and is a small price to support the acts who bothered to stop by because they love music and are willing to get on the road and work hard to entertain you.
5 NOT MY SCENE
Enough about this damn scene of yours until it can fill up every night of your week. Represent your crew and roll deep but remember to roll everywhere you can. Non-capacity atmospheres need to be disturbed and illusory scenes need to clash and cross-pollinate. That’s where it gets exciting. I want cardboard and b-boys at hardcore shows and blazered professors purchasing microbrews at DJ nights. I want feminists at comedy shows and slam poets watching real rappers. Stop looking outward with fascination disguised as suspicion or contempt and jump in headfirst. Infect the world with your swagger and allow yourself to be influenced. Did anybody see Rachel Getting Married? Yeah, I want one of those weddings around here.
6 THAT WAS LAST NIGHT?
Yes it was. You were given advance notice. You were called the day before. You were called the day of. It was e-mailed; it was texted; it was Facebooked; it was Twittered. For the love of everything good in the world, it was announced on 24SevenCities.com! You have no excuse, and you could have made up a good one any one of the roughly 84 times somebody told you to be there. Are you out of the loop? Can’t find anything that tickles your boat or floats your pickle? Organize your own show. Really. Get on Craigslist and find people who want to do the same thing. They’re probably out there, and Craigslist is apparently where they are. Believe me, there are places that will let you try out your crazy idea. Have you talked to Clayton at the Bayside Inn? BaysideInnVB@aol.com
7 DUDE, I’M GETTING LAID TONIGHT
Well, okay. Make sure to tell me all about it.
""
COMMENTS
Facebook comments:
ABOUT THE WRITER
George Booker is writing this about himself in the third person. He was considering second person, maybe making this the "Bright Lights, Big City" of bios. He was looking into casting Micheal J. Fox in the forthcoming film adaptation, as the disabled actor would likely portray him with ample charm, sympathy, and fifty-something boyish handsomeness. Recently, however, Booker has realized that only Anne Hathaway or Chiwetel Ejiofor could really capture his essence. Late 20s, Norfolk raised music writer. Former DJ and production head for WVFS Tallahassee, former staff clerk at defunct Norfolk music stores DJ's and Relative Theory. Current Film Editor and Contributor to No Ripcord Magazine, contributed blurbs to Link and Port Folio Magazine.
Other posts by George Booker.
Other posts by George Booker.
RELATED POSTS
More Music Posts
RSS
Response to your top 7 reasons to not catch a show
1 – As someone who is 42, I agree with you. Nothing bothers me more than some “youngster” who cries about how they have to get up early to go to work. I do it, you can do it. Just more proof that the younger generation is full of pussies.
2 – I have to give them some slack on this one. Children are still developing and the loud music can really cause them damage.
3 – Great point.
4 – Another great point. Way too many good show which you can see for free for you not to go out and the beer is always cheeper than at these clubs. You actually save money going to these bars.
5 – Now come on, as an indy kid, how many times have you gone to see anything that isnt indy. The not my scene is a reason but its not a good one. People should go out and try to support local music as much as they can and look outside the box.
6 – Again, great point. Way too many ways t find out about a show for someone to say, “I didnt know about that show.”
7 – Duh
appreciate the comment, alfredo.
i think we both sense that we don’t agree with each other on most things, but there may be some things we hate even more than each other. that being people who can’t be bothered to get excited about anything. for some reason that seems to be popular. seems fucking boring to me.