A Clumsy Shy Girl's Dream Come True

12 years ago the one and only leisure activity I was interested in was going to rock shows. I went to a few a week. Ah, the good old days. All those places are gone now - Brownies, Coney Island High, Trammps, the Cooler. Coney Island High was pretty much my favorite place to see shows at that time, because I really enjoyed the pop punk. It was there that I fell for Weston. They embodied everything I loved: nerds, painful crushes, silly lyrics, rock-star posturing, fun. I could sing along with them at the top of my lungs and rock out and not feel stupid for once. It wasn't about being cool at a Weston show, it was about being yourself and having fun. Well, that's what it was about for me. I went to a lot of other indie rock shows at the time, ultra-cool bands like Blonde Redhead and Magnetic Fields, and that was all about fashion and standing there with your arms crossed.
I was the only person I knew who appreciated Weston's brilliance, and I usually had to go to their shows alone. Sometimes, I could bribe a friend to accompany me. I didn't mind going by myself though, because once they took the stage it was just me and them. I would stay safely on the edge of any mosh pit that happened to form, and jump up and down and bop my head back and forth. I can't believe I just typed the words "mosh pit". Do people even say that anymore? I was going to just say "the pit", but I thought there was a slight chance that a few people might not know what that meant.

Weston made me so happy. Then somewhere along the way I got it into my head that I needed to grow up, act my age, or something. I stopped going to shows, I stopped wearing my uniform of T-shirt, jeans and Converse, and I stopped having fun. I sort of forgot about Weston!
Luckily, 3 years ago I met an amazing, nerdy, shy guy named Matt. In the course of getting to know each other, we talked about music, of course. Turns out he loved Weston too! It was fate. We broke out our old CD's and I remembered every word. I remembered how awesome I felt after a Weston show. We dreamed of their reunion. Little did we know they had already reunited. Did they ever break up?
I reluctantly joined Myspace.com for the 2nd time partly so I could keep tabs on my all-time favorite bands and not miss their shows anymore. Being a part of the Leisure Society affords me much more time to listen to music, as well as obsessively search the internet. So even though I hated it at first, I have to thank Myspace for getting me back "in touch" with Weston. For it was there that I learned that they were playing at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ Friday night. Yeah. And they were going to be recording the show for a live album. It was gonna be a sing-along. And this time, I wouldn't have to go alone. I could go with my sweetheart!

I was super-nervous for them. I always got nervous before shows. I knew they would open with "Retarded" just as they used to. I was standing on the bleachers on the side of the room at Maxwell's, and as they played the intro I was overcome with the physical memory of just exploding on that first crash of the cymbals. I almost fell off the bleachers. It was like no time had passed. They played all the hits, Dave Weston did his famous strum-and-point move that I had forgotten about, and we all sang our hearts out. The silly jokes were flowing, my favorite being "Who's D to P?" as in the abbreviation of "Who's dying to party?" I think they had as much fun as we did.
We got home at 3am, which is the latest we've stayed out in years. We couldn't hear a thing for 2 days, and my neck was sore from rockin'. All true signs of a good rock show. Thanks Weston!!

Guitar Heroine

I thought I would tell you about one of my new leisure activities. It's called Guitar Hero, maybe you've heard of it? Now, I know this thing has been around for quite a while but I am finally getting into it. I was never that into video games, even though I did have my 8th or 9th birthday party at Arnie's Place, a totally awesome arcade I went to when I was a kid. But being the contrarian I am, since everyone was playing them, I couldn't embrace them. The more people talked about them and how great they were, the less I wanted to even look at them. I also must mention that I sucked at most of them as well. I just didn't get it. Until now....

Most of my life has revolved around music. My first favorite band was the Rolling Stones when I was 4 or 5 years old. I also liked Kiss and ACDC at that time. I never studied a musical instrument, I know this is a total crime! But as I grew up, most of my friends were in bands or shared the same obsession with music. I even bought a bass guitar when I was about 23 years old and taught myself to play a few songs. I still really want to learn how to play the lap steel because I love Hawaiian music and old country, both which use this instrument. I have always wanted to be in a band, but I don't really play anything well enough. Anyway, when I first heard of this game, I thought it was an awesome idea. 

I first tried it at my friends' Christmas party. I was awful!! I was mortified. Then, my boyfriend's brother got it about a year ago, and brought it over to our place. Matt and his friends were psyched! They were all instantly good at it! I was too shy to try it in front of all the guys, because I can't do anything in front of people unless I'm really good at it. Some neurosis, that's a whole other blog. After all the guys left I'd ask Matt to show me how to play it. I sat there for 3 hours one night trying to get it, and I still sucked. It made me hate the game. 

But Matt really wanted to get it. So maybe two weeks ago, he brought Guitar Hero III home. It has amazing songs on it!! Watching him play, I couldn't deny my interest any more. I said "All right, I'm gonna try it again." I almost played Barracuda by Heart, quite possibly the most bad-ass guitar riff ever!!!! It was of course, at the slowest practice speed. But the seeds were planted. 

One day Matt came home with a second guitar. For me!! So we could play together! I then found out that you can play the bass or the guitar when you play with two people. Hey, I've played the bass before! Let me tell you, this completely changed the game for me. No longer was I booed off the stage. I was now Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, I was Flea. I played the Strokes, Guns 'N Roses, I even played Sabotage from the Beastie Boys with that sick bass line in the beginning! It really feels like you're playing. And I'm not all stiff and nervous anymore. I can actually rock out now. 

Gosh, just writing about it is making me wish I knew how to turn it on!! I'll have to wait for Matt to get home from work.