The hometown show is always exciting for me. I usually see a bunch of kids I didn’t even remember I knew, and it’s always a great show. A little reminder that Detroit doesn’t entirely suck all the time. This show was no exception. It was extra special, because it was my little brother’s first show. He had a great time, and now he’s hooked, right on!My new house is about 45 minutes from downtown, so Kel, Ben (my brother), and I left at about 5 o’clock. There was a bit of traffic, so we got to the club just before six. Already waiting for the show were these girls that I’d met a few weeks earlier at a show. The only comment I have about these girls is that when I asked them if they’re going to see the Hi-Fives they replied, "No, we can’t, it’s the same night as the Goo Goo Dolls and Marilyn Manson." Yikes. And your interest in MTX is...? Oh yeah, they have crushes on Joel.
MTX weren’t there yet, but we saw the Queers’ vans out front so we decided to go upstairs into the club. I tried to give Joe his sweater that I’d borrowed back, but he just covered me up with it and said to his friend, "Look at this, I give her a sweater so she won’t get cold, and she won’t even wear it!" I introduced Joe to Ben, and then he had to go talk to Geoff (the Queers merch guy). The Parasites arrived, but I hadn’t talked to any of them yet, so the three of us just went and sat down. Then the bar lady told us that we’d have to wait downstairs. Doh.
We went back downstairs, and there were already a good number of kids there. Dennis from the Parasites (the guitarist) was standing nearby, so I told him that Kel and I were the crazy girls from the night before. (See last night’s story for an explanation.) He was like, "Oh, I vaguely remember someone honking, I wasn’t really sure what was going on though." Dan (the drummer) then came in, and I told them the story of what we were trying to do the night before. I also invited them to stay at my house. They said that they just might take me up on that offer. Dave (the singer) came downstairs and I talked to him for a few minutes, but then he had to go help everyone unload the van. The club really sucks for loading, because there’s a big flight of stairs that all the stuff has to be carried up. Yikes! Of course the club people didn’t bother to help either.
It was fast approaching the door time, and MTX still hadn’t arrived! Kel and I were both a bit concerned, especially since they didn’t have a very long drive. They were late the night before though, so I figured they’d be arriving any time now. Around this time, the downstairs of the club (which is actually a bowling alley) was getting quite full, so the security guards kicked all the kids outside. It was really cold too! Since we didn’t particularly want to wait in line, the three of us went over to the Parasites van and talked to Dave for a bit while he sorted records.
When MTX still hadn’t gotten there at door time, we went to look for Joe or Dave in hopes that they would put us on their guestlist (since we didn’t want to be stuck in the cold until MTX got there, and both boys had previously offered). We were standing in the bowling alley hoping someone would come downstairs when the strangest thing happened. I looked at the doorway, and who was standing there? None other than the girl that was my best friend in 9th grade (also mentioned in show story number one), Nicole! I hadn’t even seen her in way over a year. Woah! I couldn’t believe my eyes. Just then MTX arrived, so I didn’t have a chance to talk to her until later.
I went outside and said hi to everyone, then we helped them carry their stuff upstairs (even more of a chore when the whole stairway is blocked by kids). Joe made sure we were on their guestlist, but it wasn’t really a problem since the security saw us carrying stuff and helping out.
I was sort of running around doing stuff for MTX, and then I ran into my friend PJ so I talked to him for a bit. He asked me if my parents were there yet, and just after he said that, there they were! I still get a kick out of the fact that they like to go to the shows. This time they were even on the guestlist, impressive! I said hi to them, and then went to find Nicole again. I was really really excited to see her. She’s one of the few ex-best friends of mine that actually doesn’t hate me (and vice versa).
I talked to her for a long time, but then the Parasites started so I went up front to watch them. I actually didn’t get to the very front, but I still had a really good spot, so it was cool. They were awesome as always, and the kids seemed really into it. After they played I went to talk to my parents a little bit. I asked my dad what he thought of the Parasites, and he liked them, woohoo! He’d never heard them before, so I was glad. Then I went to talk to PJ and his brother until MTX were getting set to hit the stage.
I headed over to the roped off "band area" and asked Frank if he’d mind me standing on the side of the stage (I didn’t want to get myself killed by the "moshing" kids in front) and of course he didn’t. I went and talked to Kelley (who was braving it in front of the stage) until MTX came on, at which point I took my spot at the side. The set was especially great. The kids were really into it and stuff. Plus Frank dedicated a song to my parents, which I always get a kick out of. Fortunately he avoided dedicating, "I Just Wanna Do It With You" to them like the last time though. He went into a big thing about how my parents, "make every show in Detroit a special one" and stuff, and right before they started playing he said, "Alright, here we go, the Rebekah’s parents song." It was great, and my parents thought it was really cool.
After the set Frank and Joel both said hello to my parents, and they got ready to go. They didn’t get a chance to meet Jym at the show before, so I took my dad over to the merch table and introduced my dad to him. Jym seemed to get a kick out of the fact that my dad was wearing a J-Church shirt (my second favorite band, who Jym does not share a fascination with). My dad bought an "MTX Starship" shirt, and then my parents took off.
I went back and talked to Nicole. She told me about how she decided to come to the show because she had to find me, and she didn’t have my phone number or anything anymore. She didn’t think it’d be easy, so she had a big plan to hunt down Joel, get my phone number from him, then track me down that way. And then I was the first person she saw. It was pretty funny. The Queers started playing, so Nicole and I said goodbye (she had to leave early ‘cause of school the next day), and I went to track down my brother.
Ben decided that he wanted to buy his merchandise then, so first we went to the Parasites table. He picked out a workshirt, and then went to buy a shirt from Frank. He got the "Alternative..." style shirt, and then we went to watch the Queers. I was sort of surprised, but Ben really enjoyed it. Considering he has an attention span of about 2 and a half seconds, I figured he’d get bored.
The Queers finished, having been great as always. I talked to PJ a little more before he left, and then went to introduce myself to Dan and Scott (the Parasites bassist). They said that they did indeed want to stay at my house, which was cool. We hung out for a long time waiting for everyone to get their stuff downstairs. In the meantime, we got to witness some interesting girl-throwing-herself-at-the-band behavior. This girl who looked to be about 16 (except for the fact that she was dressed in a really skimpy black dress) had been throwing herself at Frank all night, but then decided that Joel needed some attention too. Joel was just sitting there, and she came up and sat down next to him and started rubbing her fingers through his hair and touching his neck and stuff. Kelley and I were just dying laughing. I guess I should be used to this type of behavior by girls, but no matter how much it happens, I will never understand. Oh well. It was quite entertaining. We carried some stuff downstairs, and the aforementioned girls were sitting there. Waiting to talk to the band I’m guessing. Once all the boys were outside they came out too, and shocked Frank by telling him that they don’t like TV. It was really funny. He was like, "You don’t watch TV at all?!?! Do you at least leave it on while you sleep?"
Shortly after that it started getting quite cold, so we decided to leave. We went and got the Parasites, and took off for my house. Quite an exciting night!