Don't say I'm not indie...bitch

First of all, I know it's just awful that I wrote "bitch". So derogatory of me. And I'm even a girl! Apologies.

It was a long weekend. Actually, it's only been "long" relative to my usual nerdy schedule. On Saturday, I finally got to see one of my favorite bands of the moment, We Are Scientists. Truly awesome. What was even more fun was that they were eating at the neighboring restaurant as I was dining with friends, too. Seeing that only Julie and I know about the band (refer to blog title...bitch), I think we were the only two people who were excited to see our heroes eating dinner. The show was great and extremely "indie" (i.e., not too many people there, but enough to have a good time). I remember the lead singer throwing a headlock in there somewhere. Again, Julie and I danced and sang up front for the Scientists' set. In the restroom after the set, the lead singer's girlfriend (who is an awesome bassist for another band on the bill, Bishop Allen) caught Julie talkin' shit about how the Scientists didn't play many songs from their earlier CDs. Well, Julie wasn't talking shit, per se, but, rather, sadly lamenting the absence of good songs. It just came off as shit-talking.

But that wasn't the most interesting part of the night.

The opening band for the night was an indie four-piece from Philly called The Teeth. They were extremely awesome. At the end of their set, the lead singer (Aaron, as I later learned...wait for it, wait for it...) said something like, "Yeah, and if anyone has a place for us to stay tonight, just let us know." A little excited from the good music or the booze (who knows?), I replied loudly, "You can stay at my house!" I can be a bit of a heckler at shows, but usually the shows I go to are quite loud, and no one can hear me. At an indie rock show during the very first band (i.e., even less people are there than at a regular indie rock show), everyone can hear you. Including the band.

I thought the dudes were joking and kind of forgot about my comment, until later in the night when Jonas (the drummer...wait for it...) asked me if it was imposing if they did crash on my floor. They really did need a place to stay!

Yeah, so I had a rock band stay at my apartment for the night. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the most prudent decision I've ever made, but I'm glad I did it because I can't bear to think of people sleeping in cars (it's awful as I learned in the Grand Canyon campgrounds). The guys were really awesome and terribly nice. Here they are in my living room, looking alternately dazed and tired (from left to right: Brian, Peter, Aaron and Jonas).



In any case, besides housing an indie rock band for a night and despite the assertion of the blog title, I really have no street cred to be "indie" or "hipster" at all. In fact, if this story demonstrates anything, I only have the credentials of a reckless chump. I also fear that I was an extremely boring host. For gosh sakes, I watched "Being Bobby Brown" and "Punk'd" with the guys in the morning. I just really like being nice when I can (so rare, these opportunities) and helping people -- I can't help it! But for this I know that I might very well end up robbed, assaulted and probably dead one day. God is waiting for me to mess up.

But I also think that maybe we (and I suppose by "we" I mean society in general) are a bit too cynical at times. There are nice people everywhere, right? Maybe sometimes they just seem just hard to find because we often assume the worst about people. Granted, this assumption is probably well-justified many times, but I guess I am still a bit kid-like and naive in my optism and faith in people. Seriously, I forsee a future of being dead and assaulted on a roadside one day. Don't be surprised.

To my credit though, I wouldn't house any stranger and came up to me on the street. Minimally, you must at least impress me with some marketable skill, such as being to able to rock a crowd with good music. The Teeth demonstrated this with more-than-admirable prowess. If they had sucked, I would found it much more difficult to have them crash on my floor.

On Sunday, I went to see the Caesars at the Double Door. They were ooookaay, although they had some weird images projected on them as they played. The guitarist was extremely into it (no, like, really into it...spinning around, dancing, doing mad moves that people usually reserve for air guitar), although the rest of the band did not seem to be ("Hey, let's just stand here and strum."). It made for a strange dynamic onstage, to say the least. I did not offer to house any bands that night...but I wish I did! Tee hee! Just joking...really.