Kel and I got to this show a little bit early, just as it was starting to rain. We went inside what we thought was the club, but it turned out to be this separate little bar. We ran around to the back, and since the Queers were there, we let ourselves in. The security guards came to talk to us, but they were actually really nice! Wow! I told the guy that we were with MTX, but they weren’t there yet and we wanted to wait inside so as to not get wet. The guy said that that was fine, and alerted the other security guards so that we wouldn’t get kicked out. A refreshing change from the usual security guard attitude, especially since the security the past two nights had been really really rude.We found Joe, and talked to him for a while. We also got the scoop on why the Queers merch guy went home after the first night, a question we’d been wondering about for a couple days. As it turned out he didn’t seem right for the job, and the new guy, Geoff Useless, would be arriving the next day. MTX weren’t there yet, so Kel and I just waited around for a while. Finally they arrived, I think actually after when the doors were supposed to open. Jym rushed to set up the merch table as the kids started pouring in.
I saw a girl who I was almost positive was this girl Katie from the Empty Starship message board crew (if you don’t know who I’m talking about, it’s no big deal). It turned out I was right. She came over to talk to me, and told me that she wasn’t going to goose me (she had previously threatened to on the message board). Phew! I was quite relieved, especially I had forgotten about the whole promise to goose me. Later she came back and wanted to take her picture with me since I’m such a "legend." I thought that that was pretty cool, so I agreed to take a picture with her, despite my strict, "no pictures, EVER" policy.
Jon Couger Concentration Camp played tonight as well, so Kel went up front to take pictures of them, while I stayed by the merch table with Jym. At one point he asked me, "Have you seen the Riverdales t-shirts from Spain?" I told him no and he said, "Oh, well, they say ‘Punk Rock Loco’ on them." It was quite funny. Pretty soon my friend Joey showed up, so I talked to him for a few minutes. The Parasites were getting ready to play, so I went and joined Kel at the front.
The Parasites were absolutely awesome! I had convinced Kel to take some pictures of them for my sake, but she soon realized that they fit into her thesis quite nicely, so she took lots and lots of pictures. I was quite happy with that. She hadn’t heard the Parasites before this tour, and I was bound and determined to make her like them!
After their set, there wasn’t much time before Mr. T. Kel went to go do something, so I guarded our spot at the front. MTX were really really great! I was actually on Joel’s side of the stage for the first time in quite a while. Fortunately there was no conglomeration of girls clamoring for his attention, so I was safe.
I was really really tired by the time MTX finished, since I’d gotten only about two hours of sleep that morning. (I drove straight home from Philadelphia overnight, and was only able to get in a couple hours of sleep before we had to get up and leave for Columbus, ugh!) I went back to the merch table by Frank, and this boy came and showed him some cool pictures he’d taken of the boys. They were quite cool, even though the picture of Frank looked really weird. It didn’t look much like him, and looked sort of like a picture that would be in Seventeen.
The Queers started playing, and a few songs into the set I went up front. They were excellent as always, and I had a great time despite being a bit dragged out from all that driving. Afterwards I was back by the merch table, and the conversation about kids from online led to another entertaining conversation about Jym Mania. He said, "Do you know who those girls are that do that webpage?! It’s so fucked up! Like that story! That’s not true!" He then went through the story (it’s a story about Jym giving these girls his boxer shorts, if you haven’t read it), emphasizing how wrong and fucked up it was. Joel overheard and said, "Wow, I really would’ve liked to be there the time we played to 1000 people in Washington D.C. [a detail from the story]" He went on and on the page for a really long time, and I was just dying laughing. I mean, the page is scary and fucked up and weird, but SO entertaining at the same time.
Sometime later in the conversation (I forget what led up to it exactly), Frank came up with his line, "We used to be rich, but then we spent all our money on dope, guns, and Beanie Babies." It was really hilarious. Unfortunately, he used it EVERY night on stage after that, and by the end it sort of lost it’s appeal. The kids all loved it though, so who am I to complain.
We started packing up, and I asked Frank where my sweatshirt was (it got packed with their stuff the night before, due to the security being stupid and mean). He said that he thought it was in the van, and then started imitating me from the night before. He said, "I’ve never seen you so mad before! You were like, ‘Fuck it! I fucking don’t care! I’ll fucking just get it tomorrow!’" Now, that’s not exactly what I said (I only swore once), but it was really really funny.
All the stuff got taken outside, and MTX still couldn’t find my sweatshirt. It was quite cold too! Kelley said that they were holding it hostage to ensure that I go to more shows. Haha. We were talking about her parents later, which got Frank started talking about when he has a daughter. Apparently he’s going to keep her in a box for her entire life. Then Joel started to say, "What if..." and Frank interrupted, "...she gets out? Don’t worry, I’ve got it figured out. I’ll just have the box suspended from a chain high up in the air." It was hilarious. Then Frank was quoting an episode of the Odd Couple and said, "Sex is like a baseball game. The boy is going to try and get to first... and that’s alright. But if he tries to steal second, knock him out!" I think I actually screwed that up, but it was really funny.
We said goodbye to everyone in MTX, and then went over to talk to Joe. He chided me over not having a coat, and I explained to them that I have a coat (sort of) but that MTX have it. Since he’s such a nice guy he lent me his sweater ‘til the next day so that I wouldn’t be cold. We talked to him for a few minutes, and then took off ‘cause even with the sweater it was quite cold. We set out on our way home, but that wasn’t the end of the adventure quite yet.
On the way back, we passed the Parasites (they’re impossible to miss, they’ve got a huge picture of George Cloony in the back window). We were a ways outside of Columbus, so I figured they must be on their way to Michigan. I felt bad that they had no where to stay, so we were going to tell them that they could stay at my house if they wanted to. I slowed down in an effort to get even with them, but the more I slowed down, the more they did. I didn’t get it (Dave (the singer) later explained that you’re not supposed to pass in the right lane, so he kept slowing down). Finally I was going like 50 miles an hour, and they sped up. I got even with them and honked a couple times, but Dave wouldn’t look over at us. Scott (the bassist) was waving, but he was in the passenger seat so we couldn’t really see him. Kelley rolled down the window, but Dave wouldn’t roll down his window. I stayed even with them a long time, until we got to the freeway I needed. Kel and I didn’t figure out ‘til later that the smart thing would’ve been to hold up a sign. Duh. Apparently the Parasites thought we were really crazy, and were trying to run them off the road. It all worked out alright though, and we explained it to them the next day.