Three Things.

These are three things about the concert I recently saw at Catharine McAuley High School
(a Catholic all-girls high school).



ONE

I think there's a percentage of men who find appeal in girls who are Catholic. Now, now, not the stereotypical "catholic school girl" image with all the matching uniforms and plaid skirts. The religion itself is attractive, because you can tell these girls have been conditioned and educated to be set against evil vile things like talking to boys, holding hands at a young age, flirting, or anything else like that. Some men get the image that they are just full of pent-up sexual agression or have some sort of innonence to them that the stereotypical macho man would love to corrupt and defile.
Well...not me. I don't like Catholicism in the least bit, and a girl must be mighty special for me to see past her devout Catholic beliefs. I hold no truck with men who oggle the school girls who gather and giggle in groups before class. To me, they're pretty ignorant and frankly too young for any sort of fantasy to even begin to form. With that said, on to:



TWO

It was the strangest venue I'd ever been in. It was an auditorium, with a thrust stage and seating around. There was some space between the seats and the stage, but hardly anyone was standing there so we sat. I got to kick back in comfortable seats for this show, when normally I'd be standing in close proximity to other kids uncomfortably, no one moving save for some head nods or the mosh pit shenanigans. This wasn't so much of a Rock Show as it was a Rock Showcase, being specially presented to me. I had also imbibed in drugs beforehand, but not a lot. It was going to be a cool show.
The first band was Cosades.
The guitarist was a fat geeky dude in a tie-dye teeshirt. The bassist was a skinny guy with the "bassist" look and moves. The lead singer-guitarist looked like an immature Kurt Cobain clone who could possibly still be in high school. The drummer I knew. He was known as Boivan and he was the largest pothead in my building, possibly the whole campus. They seemed very unprofessional and immature. They had ten minute long breaks between each song since they only had one tuner (and couldn't tune by ear) and the lead singer would talk to the scene kids in the audience and plug his CD and next show. It's fine to plug your CD or whatever, but in between every song? It was like a highschool band.

that is...until they played.

They rocked. Pure and simple. It was this crazy bizarre rock, with some messed up raunchy vocals, but their sound was really tight. I totally dug it. Boivan was crazy on drums. His facial expressions alone made the show an awesome experience. They were a weird cool rock sound that I hadn't heard before. Blew me away, practically.
I didn't really understand their fanbase. Jake Simcock, ex-founder of Muscle City (you know, before it sucked) was there, but that could also be because it was put on by NE Booking which he works for now I guess. I was having a hard time placing the other kids in the crowd, since I hadn't been to any local shows recently, but I think they were Scenesters. I normally don't like elitist scene kid assholes but these guys were odd. One dude was practically the only guy in the room standing and he was dancing around a bit, basically looking like a total tool to me, but I don't hate on anyone for just dancing. He later got onstage and played along with a drumstick and a jamblock and then a macaraca. I didn't quite understand him, or the kids there, but they all left right after the set was over.

It was pretty weird to me. The fanbase, the band, everything except the music. The music was pretty fucking cool. If the other members of the band besides Boivan were a bit more professional, they would've been a lot cooler. Regardless, it's going to be sweet to see them open for Against Me! and Murder by Death.



THREE

Vague Valentine played after. This is a good point to explain the second half of the audience of the show, which ties into part one of this whole deal: the Catholic school girls. There were seperate mobs of them, and they were all there to see Vague Valentine. When the band hit the stage, Ben asked everyone to stand up and crowd the stage, so naturally they all did. I was feeling in a good mood after the last band, so I did too. At one point in the show, after Ben prompted them, they all began to dance crazily. The hip-hop kind of dancing. Dirty dancing. These were Catholic school girls too. Singing along with every word. It was a bit too much for me and I had to sit down.
anyways...the music.
I've only heard Vague play mainly acoustic sets, in the Burnham Lounge or coffeehouses, etc. Their one electric performance I saw, the first set I've seen of theirs, prompted me to buy their CD. I accidentally bought the wrong band's CD, U-turn, who opened for them. U-turn is a very lame Christian rap-rock group, who is not worth paying three bucks an album for. It was an accident. Moving on, I liked it. I like their acoustic stuff a whole lot, and at this concert, their electric was even better.
Honestly, when did VV turn into an honest-to-God (ha, Catholic high school) rock band? They rocked like a rock band. Ben Burgess acted like a rock band frontman should. He had funny dance moves. He soloed. He introduced all the band members during their solos. He prompted the audience to dance. He gave pauses for the audience to sing along. He worked the crowd like a Rock God. It was brilliant. His whole band had a rock band appeal. I danced along like I dance at every rock show I go to. The audience loved them.

It was just a damn shame the audience were only Catholic school girls, and a couple stoned kids who were friends with the band. I felt pretty guilty about that, but Ben knows I appreciate him. In heart.

We went out for Granny's Burritos and Coldstone Ice Cream, neither of these places I purchased anything in, the poor college student I am. But it was cool.