i haven’t been to a house show in a long time. i loved house shows at one time. the chaos and disorganization. the x-mas lights. the underage drinking and stench of pot smoke. the heat and humidity of a small basement full of rocking. some weird bands you’ve never heard of. etc. etc. etc.

i’ve been thinking about putting on house shows for a long time. we did a couple at the place we were renting. we could have done some here before the basement was all fixed up if we really wanted to, but the room is pretty small. with some work and a lot of foam materials we could rig up some sound proofing for the garage. but our nice neighbor has twins babies now. and the crazy neighbor is crazy. and there’s a bunch of condos behind us. and if some kids got busted for underage drinking here, it’s quite possible i wouldn’t have a job anymore. it’s too bad straightedge music is so dumb and the people are all frat boys. maybe we could do house comedy shows. or story time. or game night.

upon entering the greenhouse i paid my mandatory $5 donation and asked to be directed to the restroom. place seemed nice enough. well, messed up enough to have house shows in, that is. i quickly got bored and purchased heart murmur, benji DIY’s zine. i read some of it as i sat downstairs watching bronze fawn set up. me and bryce talked about (the) hungry pines break up and how he could have played three times that night if he really tried. it was a funny joke. then, some dude showed up, set up a tape player and started playing.

mattress
i thought it ironic that a guy who named his solo project mattress would be playing in a basement that uses mattresses as soundproofing. it was just me, though. there were about 10 people there to watch mattress play. but one guy was *really* excited about it. i don’t know why. the guy sings with a low voice through a delay pedal along to some tapes of drum machines and synthesizer. it was all very weird. and perfect for the start to a house show.

after mattress, there were kids doing pop rocks in the corner. i noticed the glow-in-the-dark stars that my sister had on her ceiling in eighth grade. that i stole and brought to the old bartertown to put in my room.

bronze fawn
as my housemate is downstairs yelling at the U.S. basketball team over in China from our couch, i’m reminded that bronze fawn is the opposite of that. they do not make me want to stab anyone. in fact, they were the start of my hour and a half of feeling alright about the world. the start of the “this is what i needed right now” moments. fleeting, but present nonetheless. okay, i have to put on headphones to finish this. play some sad songs that i could sing along with really loud if i had a studio apartment instead of sharing a house with four dudes. hey, bronze fawn is four dudes. well, three play instruments and one does live video editing. if you have to have video, this is the way that makes the most sense to me. the video person becomes a part of the band that way. i didn’t notice this when they played king cobra, but i like it. through their million effects pedals and hard hitting drums, bronze fawn play bad ass mathy instrumentals. the kind that got my foot tapping from the first song. great tempo changes and arrhythmic breakdowns. if i could just sing along with bronze fawn, i’d probably be their third biggest fan, right after the ladies from the hungry pines, who i’ve seen at both shows i’ve been to. it is clear that i need to go to more bronze fawn shows.

joules
yes, you read that right, bronze fawn and then joules. my boy bryce is in both of those bands. i first saw joules at a house party, actually. juhu beach, joules and my old band played. it was fun. joules was also a fundamental part of the best show i have ever seen in my life: the advantage, joules and some crazy guy from portland playing drums and guitar at the same time. joules is in my top whatever of local bands. i don’t know how long the list is, but they’re on it for sure. probably near the top. they’re so good, that the room was packed and everyone was rocking out. of the five bands i stuck around for, it was the most popular set. maybe because they haven’t played for a whole year. man i’ve missed them. the premise of joules is basically the same as bronze fawn. epic mathy instrumentals. the differences make all the difference, however. joules is more stripped down. less effects. more subtlety in the drumming and the playing. more rhythmic in their delivery but still very melodic. a little bit more “WTF just happened there?” good luck clapping along.

with tiny bits of silly string dandruff, i sat outside and read benji’s zine and contemplated asking out that lesbian or talking to the only person wearing white. it matches his hair. but instead i stand under the streetlight and contemplate what my neighbor’s babies would think if i converted the garage into a venue.

the abodox
metal? well, the kids that are down here are into this. but there’s not as many kids watching the band as there are kids hanging around outside drinking and smoking. metal makes me really tired. from all the laughing. the abodox does it pretty well, however. with back-of-the-throat screaming and technical precision. they’re loud all the time. sometimes they are a bit grind-y. thank god it’s not all the time.

bloodhag
these guys have a good schtick going: they’re out there to educate us with metal/hardcore. all of their songs are about science fiction authors (this nerd appreciated all the anne mccaffery references). half way through the set, they threw some books out into the crowd (i caught one, but left it on the surfboard for someone who knows how to read). their music would probably do more good if you could understand more than one or two words per song, but hey, i’m old. also, they were trying really hard to be funny, which rarely works. i was a little disappointed that all the kids were missing the education by hanging out outside, but a few more filtered in by the time i left. by the time my ears started bleeding, that is. i really need to go buy some new earplugs, but american music is only open until 6 on the weekends.

i forgot to mention that between joules and the abodox, my friend from the south lake union block party showed up. the ass that throws his cigarette butts where others are going to sit for several hours. i took small joy in seeing a young lady kick over his beer. i left before his band played. i wanted to stay to watch little party and the bad business (seattle’s electronic no age), but i had no interest in the two bands before them. ah well.

just to remind me of my place in this world, on the way home, the universe decided to rip the muffler off my car. i circled back and picked it up, but really i found it hard to understand why i deserve this. but there is no question that i do, since it happened. the only thing to do is to find some exhaust shop that is open on sundays, or just drive around sounding like a semi truck until next saturday, which is the next time i could get even close to some place that can help me. or maybe no one can help me. i’d like to just laugh about it. i’d like to just not wake up until something good happens. but instead, i shake my head and think about what i’ll make for breakfast tomorrow. i have some eggs i need to use.

carousel festival day 3 tomorrow. i think i’ll go to the fusion cafe show. panther attack!