Bitches Love Me

I saw Mindless Self Indulgence last night at Irving Plaza. For the record, I saw one of their first shows, when they had one fewer member, different names, and just as much energy, back in 1998 at Click + Drag (Mother). I was thanked on the liner notes of their first two CDs. In the early days, I used to stand right in front of the stage with the three other people who liked them, and I'd often get spit on or hit with some flying object. I loved it. Now, the average fan is too young to drive, and they pack themselves like sardines, pressing and surging against the stage, like a sea of adolescence with funny colored hair. They jump up and down in unison, and scream the lyrics (those they can understand) to every song. I didn't hear as many insults (You suck! I fucked your mom! Learn to sing, faggot!) as we used to sling in the lden days, but I was upstairs in the "grownup" section. My friend and I weren't interested in standing shoulder to shoudler with those fabulous hormone-racked, acne-riddled balls of energy, but we were still into enjoying the show. We stood on chairs to see the left sideof the stage and peeked at the monitors to catch the drummer and bass player.

A lot of people upstairs seemed to be there to observe or to wait for their kids (the only bar pen was upstairs, and no booze could go downstairs, pretty smart), but Lola and I yelled the lyrics, yelled at the band, and shook our booties to the ground. A couple of times I caught the woman in front of me throwing me a look, but I didn't care. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed their music. When they played such gems as "Dickface" and "Panty Shot," I hooted and howled and almost fell off my chair (we were all surprised I didn't fall, considering my history). The show itself was your standard MSI fare: Steve (Steve Righ?) jumped into the audience and crowd surfed while playing, James (Jimmy Urine) climbed up the balcony and sang while running through the crowd and having his clothes rended by adoring fans, instruments were destroyed at the end of the set. The surprising thing was that James stayed around to sign autographs for quite some time after the show was over. In the past, I've always seen the band run out of the building at the end of a show. Maybe they have less fear of their fans now.

The key points of this story to remember: I drank beer. Although I am old, I can still shake it. A big group of teenagers is an awesome spectacle. Bands who sing filthy, unintelligible lyrics are my favorites. Never wait in line when you can drink beer in a pool hall next door until the line is gone and still get a good spot in the grownup section.