2002-03-11 - 3:45

Wrecking itself, taking you with me

Okay, so who's surprised that I did decide to hit Montreal for the Pinback concert on Saturday? Yeah, exactly. What else was I going to do?

Since it was such a late concert and I had nobody going with me this time, I knew that I'd have to spend the night in Montreal and come back Sunday morning. In my younger days, I might have just tried to kill time until I could catch a bus the next morning. (I recall wandering the streets in Toronto after a couple of late shows.) I've gotten soft with age, though; so I broke down and got a hotel room. Considering the hailstorm that greeted me as I left the club, that was probably a good call.

It'd be nice to have some excitement to talk about apart from the concert; but the fact is that I wasn't really keen on leaving early, so all that I really did was hit the show, catch some sleep, and head home.

As for the concert itself, I've been surprisingly prompt at writing my review again this time. (That's a streak that is bound to falter.) As usual, it is available on my home page at this location or on the Tomes site, here.

Pinback was fantastic and I'm really glad that I went. I've only been into the band since Sylvia made me a great mix tape last fall (thank you, again!); and I'm really happy that I was able to see them live already.

One of the only drawbacks was the fact that there was no coat check, so I was stuck with my winter jacket all night. I made the best of that situation, though, by moving to the very front of the crowd, where I could safely plop my coat on the floor in front of the stage. I actually prefer being a few steps back, since there is usually more room to move to the music and it's easier to take in the whole stage.

Being at the very front was cool, though, since I was really able to pay attention to the band at work. (Zach kicks ass on the bass, by the way.) I also got to chat with Rob for a few minutes after the show. I got a laugh out of his Venom shirt, since it isn't exactly the most obvious connection from Pinback. I asked him if he was wearing that shirt because it was true that all the best bands are affiliated with Satan; but I don't think that he caught the Simpsons reference. I guess we're even, though, since he asked me about some obscure, early black metal band whose songs included flutes, and I didn't know anything about them.

I always find it cool when the band is approachable like that. Of course, I suggested that Ottawa should be included on the next tour. You never know. I could save myself a trip to Montreal . . . maybe I'd even find someone to catch the show with me.

Even if this weekend did fry my schedule (3:45 is probably not the best time for journal writing), I definitely had a lot of fun taking in another great concert.

J.