Last night was my first night at Nation. Damn, that is one huge club. “Cavernous” doesn’t really do it justice. It’s easily bigger than all the other clubs I’ve been to combined and then doubled. To get some idea of it’s external dimensions, imagine one of those skyline-blocking gyms, like Bally Fitness or some such, and paint it black. That’s not an exaggeration. I used to think that warehouse-sized clubs were a Hollywood invention. Now I know better. I’m tempted to think a few of the myriad rooms were added by my dreams in the 3 hours of sleep I got last night, but I know that’s not the case. In case I haven’t been perfectly clear, it’s really, really, big.
It was a little disturbing being frisked at the door. I always hate it when that thin veneer of cordiality is cracked to reveal the abject (and justified) distrust with which clubs view patrons. I understand it’s necessary, but I hate that it is.
Open Bar. What a difficult concept to get my mind around. You go up to the bar, and you ask for a drink, and the bartender gives it to you, with no money exchanged except for a tip. Surreal. Yeah, yeah, I know, TAANSTAFL. But the illusion is remarkable.
I didn’t really do a lot of dancing, mostly do to drama which I won’t go into in this (or probably any) entry. Lots of fun people-watching though, and it was nice to see ratspy, clockwerks, netherswandust, fenix_grimwolf, and others. In addition, I was very pleased to see a couple people we had lost track of, and get contact information. Merry meet indeed!
There were bands. They sounded a lot alike. A couple of them sounded pretty good.
Then there was Genitorturers, the headliners. To be honest I was a little dissapointed with them. This was due to a number of factors. First, I’ve been hearing about them for so long that it probably would have been difficult for them to live up to the hype. Second, I was distracted by the above-mentioned drama. Third, my attention was diverted by some genetic throwbacks in the audience who decided to mosh, an activity I thought I’d left behind at punk shows and stinking muddy music festivals. I realize that ever since clouting each other about the head with clubs ceased to be a viable career option men have had a lot of pent-up aggression, but I wish they’d find some other way to express it than body-slamming me while I’m trying to watch a concert. Fourth, the volume was at a level that made it hard to differentiate the songs. I’d heard and liked a some of their music before, but it was all one big muddy wall of thrash and yelling last night. I think they may be one of the few bands that, musically at least, is better recorded than live. The live show got a little old after awhile. I guess I had expected more choreography and theatre from what I’d heard about them. It seemed like all it consisted of was a new character emerging every song or so, cavorting with Gen for awhile while she sang, and then exiting. All in all, as a rock show it was mediocre, and as burlesque it was uninspired. Put together it was reasonably entertaining, but not enough to distract me from the ache in my feet from standing so long. There were some sexy moments, like Gen humping the upright base, and the suspension was interesting. I’d never seen that done before. Quite a sight, even if I couldn’t suppress a shudder ot two, especially seeing the fresh trails of blood down the guy’s back after they lowered him.
I think the best entertainment of the evening was the trapeze artist that performed before the Genitorturers. I’d like to know what the music was she performed to, I liked it.
didn’t you say in a previous post that you wished people would dance at live shows, not just stand and watch? 😉
I said dance, not assault other clubgoers 😛
I’ve actually enjoyed slamdancing on occasion. But on those occasions it was a different kind of music (punk or hardcore), and they did it politely – audience members spontaneously formed a human wall around the pit, and the moshers were throwing themselves more at each other than at the crowd.
I might have gotten some good out of joining them last night, but I was too busy keeping them off of, and I was afraid of getting a little too into it, what with the mood I was in.
I have to admit, I am not entirely sympathetic (though I might well be had I seen the situation first hand). In reading it, I flashed onto a confrontation I never forgot. I was at a skinny puppy concert. it was mid 90s and the nouveau watered down mtv indies had just started to feel they had climbed the pecking order. one of them, a young fop by the name of brandon, replete in his torn pants hung together with safety pins, turned to grab my arms and yell at me, deeply offended because I kept bumping into him. I just looked at him blankly for a moment, then said “this is a skinny puppy concert. if you can’t handle it, move back.”
however, i admittedly always preferred the elegance of the tornado structure (whereby you move closer to the centre for harder or away from the center to ease it up) to the bouncing atoms atmosphere of total lack of concern for anyone or anything around you. in short, i am both sorry it was problematic for you and avivahg, and can also see someone saying “what did he expect? it was a genitorturers show.”
I love moshing, personally, but involving people that actively don’t want to be involved is a much different matter..
It’s a good live show, but it does get a bit redundant. Of course, I’m told that’s the ‘toned down’ version.
I had wondered. I had heard they altered the show depending on the location, but having nothing to compare it to I didn’t know whether last night’s was the naughty or the nice version.
Honestly can’t say that the ‘naughty’ version would really be my thing, personally. But to each their own.
Hmmm I have been interested in seeing the Genitorturers, just not in the mood to go out to see them.
“Third, my attention was diverted by some genetic throwbacks in the audience who decided to mosh, an activity I thought I’d left behind at punk shows and stinking muddy music festivals. I realize that ever since clouting each other about the head with clubs ceased to be a viable career option men have had a lot of pent-up aggression, but I wish they’d find some other way to express it…”
I think my girlfriend (and several other women I know) would be very offended by that statement.
Offended in what way? It was a sarcastic statement with purely humorus intent, but I’m still curious in what sense it is offensive.
Didn’t realize it was sarcastic……mainly she’d probably be offended by the fact that you’ve implied that moshing is an activity enganged in exclusively by neandrathalic men.
I realize it’s not… although from my observation, the (voluntary) moshers last night were exclusively male. Also, see my replies above – I’ve participated myself, and I don’t feel particularly neandrathalic. I was just feeling pissy about the behaviour of the moshers last night, which seemed to consist at least partly of hurling themselves at the crowd at large.
I’m so damn jealous. *sigh*