The year was 2004, and my behind-the-times ass was watching Fight Club for the first time. That final shot (if you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talking about) is one of those cinematic moments that really sticks with you. Days went by, and I found that I couldn’t get the quirky song that accompanied it out of my head. On my second viewing, I found out that the track was “Where Is My Mind?” by the Pixies — a band I had somehow completely missed out on despite the fact I’d been musically exposed to many of their contemporaries by my parents. In the years since, they have become constants on my playlists and one of the few bands whose albums I regularly listen to in their entirety.
Fast forward five years. It’s Friday the 13th, a freak hail storm is in full swing north of Seattle, and I’m on my way to see a band I never thought I’d have the opportunity to catch live.
Two firsts for me yesterday: my first visit to the Showbox SoDo, and my first TMBG show. One was epic, one was terrible. Considering we’re talking about a band as awesome as TMBG, can you guess which was which?
We got down about a half hour before the doors opened. Since it was my first time at the venue, and their website is suspiciously vague about accessibility other than to simply say “accessible: yes”, I wanted to make sure we’d be the first ones in the door to scout the area and claim a good spot. The problems started before we even parked, though. You see, the Showbox SoDo has one handicap parking spot, and the knuckleheads in charge apparently thought that side of the building would be a perfect place for one of the acts to park their RV. Sideways. That little logistical morsel meant that rather than having to drive my chair about 20 feet through the rain, I had to drive it about three blocks.
Once I finally got to the front of the venue, fought through the zombielike masses, and arrived at the doors looking not unlike a drowned rat, things were starting to look up. The staff was very friendly and helpful — just like they were at the other Showbox — and let us in about 10 minutes before everyone else. Once inside, I realized that the layout was not really what one would consider well suited to wheelchair users. The guy who let us in said I had two options…
Never before have I seen so many people simultaneously throw up the horns. Double horns, at that.
The fucking Vines didn’t show. Bastitches. Sparta was the only opener. Surprisingly, they were halfway decent. Then, when Incubus came out, the entire arena filled with deafening screams.
They played for about two hours. Half of the music wasn’t even actual songs, it was just individual solos and jams. The craziest part though was the drummer, Jose. This guy is an animal, seriously. While the rest of the band took a break, he busted out a nonstop, 10 minute drum solo. When he finally finished, he kind of collapsed on the drums, and some guy came out check him. After dumping an entire bottle of water down his back, he got right back up and started playing again. Insane, I say. Insane!
My favorite part though had to be the encore. The demand for an encore was huge. So Boyd came back on stage all by himself with his guitar. The arena went silent. All of a sudden, everyone found themselve singing along with the theme from Sponge Bob.
I have to go to my cousins 2nd birthday party this afternoon. When we get back, I’ll see if I can remember any more details about last night.