I had a dream where someone said to me “Dont be afraid to turn off your snares”. I wish I could remember who said that, it seems pretty important. Maybe it was my long lost spiritual guide trying to contact me from the great beyond, I’m pretty sure thats it.
My earplugs melted. The dryer is at fault, but we talked about it, and he totally didn’t mean it, so its cool. Its not so much a tragedy, as a sign that I needed new ones anyway. These were pretty old, and my ears have certainly changed shape. I can actually recall the first show I ever played with them, at the old Birch Hill. (wow, there is some Jersey History for you) They no doubt saved me some serious hearing loss, and spared me the pain and humiliation of wearing those bright orange or green foam things which do nothing but sound like you have your hands over your ears.
What ever happened to those wonderfully trashy Jersey Venues? The Birch Hill, Club Bené- later Club Krome, the future Starland Ballroom… They were like a shell of these late 80’s metal palaces. You could practically feel the Aqua-net depleting the Ozone. It was like playing in some weird Xanadu type thing, once intended to be so huge and important, but kind of falling apart, sitting empty most of the time. It always seemed to be a dark and stormy night, and you always had to explain to the promoter, who was probably shooting up in the back room, why you didn’t sell all of your 35 tickets to a show on a sunday night that cost $15. I like to imagine RATT rolling into town on their bright pink tour bus, the door opens and thousands of beer cans tumble out the door, followed by Stephen Pearcy, and they run right to the stage to play to a packed house of 21 yr old Jersey Girls and their biker boyfriends.
I just wonder if that will happen to any of these downtown venues. I mean, it no doubt will. Pianos, Bowery, The Mercury Lounge, while they don’t exhibit the same excesses, they have the same esoteric “cooler than thou” attitude. Hipsters are certainly the new Hair Metal kids, it’s only a matter of time.