FUN!

So in 9 days I get to do something fun! Now this isn't just some run of the mill, "oh this should be remotely intereseting" type adventure that involves drinking, and wandering around Heritage til 6 in the morning. I digress, in 9 days, I get to see the Mars Volta live....in concert....again.

Now, last years excursion to see them was pretty fun. Tess was there, and a lot of drunken singing, and a few sketchy hobo ridden bus rides ensued, but this time around may give it a run for it's money.

The only real complaint I had about seeing TMV last time, was the band they were touring with. Now, I don't have anything particularly against System of a Down, I mean, their music isn't really my thing, (I never listened to them a great deal before seeing the concert) and I enjoyed their performance I suppose, but that night, I left the arena with an important realisation: their fans scared me.

You see, I love when two ecclectic musical acts come together for a tour, but in doing so, they should take care to make sure their fan bases will get along. With the mixing of these two crops, you had a few general types that would be attracted:

On the one hand, you have your average Mars Volta fan. Skinny, nerdy, probably plays an instrument and listens to King Crimson. Many are vegetarian, and will generally avoid socialising. Often attempt to dress in a manner mimicking that of Omar A. Rodriguez Lopez

Ex: Myself, Connor Oberst

On the other side of the spectrum, there is your average System of a Down fan. I don't want to sound like I'm generalising, but this is what I observed. Most of them were males aged 17-45, tall, heavy set, bald, drunk, and very sweaty. Some of them were paired with very dazed looking girlfriends who sported various metal t-shirts. They also partook in a lot of yelling.

Ex: Pretty much picture this guy with a System of a Down shirt, and black paint all over his face. Or even perhaps this one. They were all mostly bald, with varying degrees of facial hair and drunkeness.

You can see where there's a bit of a culture shock. I remember riding a bus after the concert, with Tess and the rest of the troupe that went to concert, and this guy, maybe about 18, was talking to me about the show, because he saw I was holding some merch. I told him I was glad to see the Mars Volta, to which he replied:

"man that band sucked."

Okay. That's fine, I mean, everyone has their own taste in music, so I don't mind when people don't like things I like. I'm cool with that. He went on:

"I mean...you should listen to system of a down...their music means something...their lyrics are so deep, I can't even explain it, and they're way better musicians than the mars...guys..."

Okay. So here I start to question my friend's creditibility, so I ask him

"so what instrument do you play"

I assumed if he was judging quality of musicianship, he must play something.

"Oh, I'm not a musician, but I know a good one when I see it." So, knowing when I'm completely under qualified to continue this discussion about music, and making the wise choice to not sound like a pretentious asshole by explaining how many instruments I play, I ask him what band's he's into other than system.

"well, basically, I like metal. So like...metallica, and system of a down, and...yeah those bands basically. What do you listen to?"

"Music? No, I don't like music" Conversation died, they got off the bus, and I was happy. Then an old hobo-looking man got on with 13 bags of groceries got on the bus. One of Colin's friends was nice enough to offor the man his seat, and the man graciously offored him a candy bar for his compassion. Now apparently, hobo chocolate isn't a very coveted prize. So the young man that recieved it, passed it to his friend, who passed it to another friend, who dropped it on my lap.

"I don't want this" I told him. But he was insistant and wouldn't take it back. "seriously, what the fuck am I supposed to do with hobo chocolate!?!"

"you're a girl...put it in your purse or something" then, noticing I didn't carry a purse, he gave it to Tess, who without knowing or thinking about it, placed it in her purse. The next morning, as we were heading back to PG, I noticed Tess nibbling chocolate. At first, I wasn't sure what to do, but I ultimately decided that I didn't want to Tess to die alone from whatever poison or diseases there must be in the candy, so we split it. Niether of us are dead yet, so I think it was okay.

Anyway, so this trip should be just as fun, if not shorter. I had a spare ticket that no one seemed willing to take, until a couple of days ago I mentioned it to Josh, so we'll be driving down Thursday morning. Early, I'm guessing, and then heading home Friday morning. It'll be whirlwind, but definetly awesome. Plus I'm meeting two school chums, Marcy and Diondra, so this should be an all around exciting trip. I'll try and post a quaint breif update after seeing them. I'll keep it short, hopefully, to compensate for my recent trend of writing epic multi-paragraphed essays.