Reliving Our Youth - One Punk Rock Show At A Time...

Every now and again, a band from our punk-rock-teenagedom tours through NY. It's always hilarious b/c there's never a soul in the club under the age of 26... and yet we all rock out as though we're still 17.

Last night was one such night. A high school fave of mine, Face to Face, blew through NYC, and we were lucky enough to get tickets. I actually purchased tickets months ago - the day they went on sale to be exact... and Paul and I just knew that we were totally going to forget about the show until after it passed.

Fortunately, we didn't forget. Fortunately, I had my oh-so-lovely point-and-shoot camera, which took some sweet video. Fortunately, neither of us were injured, and the camera was fine too... even though I was elbowed on the top of my head, and my precious camera was accidentally slapped by some girl.

Many funny moments occurred... There's just something about a group of pushing-30s to late-30s and early 40s rockin' out to punk rock that just seems hysterical. I overheard and participated in many a convo about 'back in high school' and 'what was it - 1997 - or something?'.

But three things stood out for me, and I'd like to share...

1. I was never a mosh-pit-girl per se, but every once in a while I would jump into a more happy-go-lucky pit (as opposed to an angry pit). This really only happened during my most fave bands... Last night, I kept thinking, "Hmmm... It doesn't look so bad during this song." Or, "There's that slower part coming up." I tried to convince myself that it'd be okay, but some things kept popping into my mind that I never had to think about back in '97 (or whenever)... "I'd look pretty bad if I showed up to my meeting with a black eye tomorrow." "Hmm. I have to catch a flight on Saturday, and I have so much work to do tomorrow to get ready for a week off, so I really can't afford to spend time in the ER or in pain with a broken collarbone."
2. As I walked out of the venue, I heard a fella in a similar vein say, "Yeah, I totally wanted to crowd surf, but I have more expensive things in my pockets than I did when I was younger... Yeah, I didn't have credit cards back then. It was basically, 'Hey, Dad! Can I have some money?' So if I lost something back then, I could just ask my Dad for more money."
3. Face to Face is playing another show in NYC next week, and Trever Keith (lead singer) asked if anyone in the crowd had enough money to go to that show too... Pretty much everyone in the crowd cheered and raised their hands to which Mr. Keith said, "I love punk rockers with a bank account!"

That pretty much sums it all up. We've (mostly) all (mostly) grown out of the whole punk rock lifestyle - with the late nights, angst and crazy fashion sense, but we're all trying to keep it alive even if just one night a year when a fave band from high school comes to town...