Knit Wrap Up

So the Knit show was something very special. Thanks so much to everyone that came out. The night went well, even if it was a bit weird.
Mon Frere opened ugp the night. They are a REALLY tight Seattle group that plays Gossip kind of riffs into pretty much full blown orchestral metal (kinda like that Type O - stuff). The crowd was still kind of small but people paid attention, even if they were sitting. The exception to this was of course New Brunswick's own El Colin, who danced up a storm, as if he wasn't the only person standing! Thats just the way he does.
Next up was The Pharmacy from Seattle. I had heard some much good stuff about these guys. Their internet stuff rocks. They are friends with the Modern Machines and Plan-It-X Records. Kimya D (ex-Moldy Peaches) loves them. The room had begun to fill up by this point and at least 40 people were crowded near the stage from the start of their set. The set only lasted 10 mins. After 3 or 4 songs the guitar player annouced "You guys need to learn how to dance," and they left the stage. Wow. A woman up front responed, "You obviously aren't familiar with jaded NYC." He came back with, "Fuck that." The woman replied, "You should be glad people are even here." The crowd was pretty stuned. People were confused and kept asking me what the hell the deal was with that comment and ending the set so early. I didn't really have an answer. From were I was, it looked as though there were a few people up front dancing and a bunch of others shaking legs and bobbing heads. The band had just really hit a flow and people seemed ready to start rocking pretty hard if the set was longer than ten minutes. I talked with the band afterwards and appearantly the guitarist didn't really mean anything by the comment. He said he was kind of in a weird mood and had busted a string on the song they ended on. The drummer informed me that they usually play really short sets and that they had only planned on playing 2 or 3 more songs anyway. I still think the band rocked and I picked a wonderful 7 inch by them. Wish that situation hadn't been so weird though. Note to self - always let the audience know that you appreciate them, espcially in a new town. No hard feelings here.
We went on next. We were forced to use the house drum kit. I always hate this. Somewhere along the line it was decided that drummers can't tell the differnce from one kit to another. NOT TRUE!! The house set kept falling apart on me and I couldn't get the cymbals into the spots I normally have them in. Also I couldn't hear a damn thing. Marissa even asked for more vocal in the monitors. We are a band that cut our teeth at basement shows. We are used to the worst possible sound. It takes a LOT for us to ask for a monitor change. Between the weirdness of The Pharmacy's set, cymbals and drums falling over, and not being able to hear things got off to a rough start. But here is where the magic began to happen. We started to ride this strange feeling of discontectedness and reflected it in the music. The music become this kind of wonderful, spiritual disaster. It was definitely our most dangerous set ever. We were all taking risks all over the place. Parts were spontaniously changed that had never been discussed. Without really having thought about it we decided that, "Hey if this is going to be a car wreck tonight lets make it one that no one will be able to take their eyes off of." A perfect match to this was the addition of Mike East on guitar for Baby Jesus. The plugs pulled out of his guitar but hey, what does that matter. When the time came (ie the breakdown of the song) Mike East and Marissa came through with an amazing crashing swirl of guitar tones in a way that we have never payed that song before, and probably never will again. After that Marissa played a solo song giving KingMike and I a much needed rest. We sat down on the stage and watched with the rest of the crowd as Marissa poured her heart out in a swirl of guitar noises that was, this time, beautiful. I was soaked. It looked as though I had taken a shower with my clothes on. I got up and looked to Marissa and KingMike wonder who was going to say, "That sucked," due to all the mistakes and craziness. Instead all I got was, "That was awesome."
The Pink Meat went on after us and rocked the crap out of those who remained in the crowd. Too bad Sam West is leaving the band. The new drummer is going to have a hard time feeling that throne. Taly, The Pink Meat's lead singer/guitarist, spoke in Spanish the whole time. It was halarious! I heard that she had never done that before. Keep that one going girls!
And the thing I have to point out, and the most important, is the crowd. Everyone loves and is amazed by you guys. These jaded music fans come out to what they think is going to be just another show but instead are quickly swept up into a pogoing mass of rocking kids. Everyone always mentions it to me. "The show was awesome but your fans are what made it unbelievable."
-Jarrett D