tonyballinger.com

I never really had a drug phase. It’s not something I regret, since being completely out of control isn’t something I particularly relish. But if ever was going to have a drug phase, during Black Lips’ opening set would have been the ideal moment for it. Their lo-fi delivery of 60s rock psychedelia combined with their backdrop of projected lava lamp imagery would have really set the mood for mushrooms or whatever the kids are into these days. I enjoyed their performance enough to pick up their CD “Let it Bloom” from the merch table, along with a Be Your Own Pet EP.

As for Be Your Own Pet, they rocked the hell out. But apparently they didn’t feel like the crowd was fully into it. About halfway through their set, Jemina said “well clap or something, don’t be assholes”. Shame really, because they put on a helluva show. At one point, I was nearly beaned by her firing her athsma inhaler into the audience. I thought she might need that later, so I fired it back onstage. A song later, she fired it at the other side of the audience. Apparently athsma is not a problem when you’re screaming punk rock lyrics.

As for most Be Your Own Pet shows, they raced through about 15 songs in 30 minutes. After the explosion of drumming during each song, I saw their new drummer have to take a breath and collect himself for a moment before starting the next song. Jemina had commented earlier that their new drummer was only 16, and it made me think that I don’t think I ever did anything as physically taxing as that when I was that old. It also made me think for a moment that if I had been more careless with birth control when I was younger, I was old enough that he could have been my kid.

By the way, it’s really difficult to get an photo in focus of a person who is continually moving on stage. Particularly when that movement is comprised of seizure-like motions. I did the best I could without using the flash. Funny thing: they searched us on the way into the show (as usual) but they never search your hands. I just carried by camera right in. Either venues don’t care about cameras anymore and were just searching for weapons, or they just never think to look for something concealed when it’s right in front of them.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 23rd, 2006 at 10:20 am and is filed under Concerts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.