Thursday, June 05, 2003
Oh!!! I almost forgot. The Raveonettes are coming to the Norva Monday, June 9th!!! The Raveonettes are a hip, European band that I've seen once before up in DC. Crazy day that was. It was a free show at American University with Longwave (another great band), the Raveonettes, and the Mooney Suzuki.
I love the Mooney Suzuki! And I was trying to figure out a way to go see them when they came to DC. But the show was on a weekday, and I decided I wouldn't drive all the way up to American University, pay money to see the show, pay money to eat and drink while in the city, and then drive all the way back home to get three hours of sleep before work the next day. But then I get this email from the Mooney Suzuki people. It says that this Mooney show is going to be free, free, free!!! Well this changes everything, and my sweetheart and I decide that the driving hassles are worth it for a free show!
So it's a gray cloud day. Leafless trees pass by for a few hours as we listen to the radio. President Bush's 48 hour deadline to Saddam Hussein was going to be up at 8pm Eastern time. We arrive at American University shortly after the deadline passes uneventfully.
We make our way to “The Tavern” which is in the back of a student center/cafeteria type of place. Past the students sitting at tables. Learning. Girls slumped in stained couches. Talking. They all take for granted the sweet, loud music pulsating from the other room. This is “The Tavern”.
Longwave is on the stage. I had seen them a few weeks before in Richmond and liked them, and once again, they impressed. The band was playing on a very low stage. No more than foot off the ground, it was tucked in the corner of the college pub right next to the Jamba Juice and Chik-fil-a.
Longwave finishes up with their excellent song, Tidal Wave. Jaime and I look for a TV. Passing the “No War for Oil” signs and the petition requests we find it. It shows a static, green tinted image of downtown Baghdad. Some anti-aircraft fire had been seen, and some explosions had gone off, but everything was quiet now. CNN informed us the President would be speaking to the nation in about an hour.
Back in “The Tavern” The Raveonettes take the stage. They open with a screeching, squealing, version of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday.” Very cool! After one song, the bass player, the girl of the band, Sharin brushes hair from her face. She says, “Crazy day. I don’t know about you all, but after we’re done, we’re gonna just get the hell out of here.”
(Should I take offense to that? Or should I take her advice? Here we were at this music show, just a few miles from where the President was preparing to address the World. The men who were making the decision on when to wage a war where right down the road. The Pentagon was just over there, smelling of fresh cement and plaster. Of all the places in the world for a Danish rock-n-roll band to be at that moment, they were on the stage at American University in the capitol city of the United States. I’m still not sure how to feel about that moment. In fact, it creeps me out to think about it so I will suppress my emotions and go on with the story.)
The Raveonettes finished up and off we were to see the president. A large crowd of students had gathered around the TV by now, waiting to hear what the President had to say. Sune, the lead singer of the Raveonettes stood next to me, our shoulders touching in the crowded room. The President didn’t have much to say, military action is starting to start getting ready to start, or something like that. Rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, etc, etc, etc. I split before he was done 'cause the Mooney Suzuki was about set up.
I cannot emphasize how wonderful it was to see the Mooney Suzuki in this venue! The low stage kept the bands intimate enough, but the war declarations actually helped make the show, because only the FANS were left. It couldn’t have been more than 45 people there. A little group of us with our fingers in the air! The Mooney’s are such a great band, that they PLAYED!! Damn the consequences! Damn the band timing!! They PLAYED!!!
The lead singer, Sammy said it best, “We are the Mooney Suzuki, Weapons of Mass Rock-n-Rolling.”
I love the Mooney Suzuki! And I was trying to figure out a way to go see them when they came to DC. But the show was on a weekday, and I decided I wouldn't drive all the way up to American University, pay money to see the show, pay money to eat and drink while in the city, and then drive all the way back home to get three hours of sleep before work the next day. But then I get this email from the Mooney Suzuki people. It says that this Mooney show is going to be free, free, free!!! Well this changes everything, and my sweetheart and I decide that the driving hassles are worth it for a free show!
So it's a gray cloud day. Leafless trees pass by for a few hours as we listen to the radio. President Bush's 48 hour deadline to Saddam Hussein was going to be up at 8pm Eastern time. We arrive at American University shortly after the deadline passes uneventfully.
We make our way to “The Tavern” which is in the back of a student center/cafeteria type of place. Past the students sitting at tables. Learning. Girls slumped in stained couches. Talking. They all take for granted the sweet, loud music pulsating from the other room. This is “The Tavern”.
Longwave is on the stage. I had seen them a few weeks before in Richmond and liked them, and once again, they impressed. The band was playing on a very low stage. No more than foot off the ground, it was tucked in the corner of the college pub right next to the Jamba Juice and Chik-fil-a.
Longwave finishes up with their excellent song, Tidal Wave. Jaime and I look for a TV. Passing the “No War for Oil” signs and the petition requests we find it. It shows a static, green tinted image of downtown Baghdad. Some anti-aircraft fire had been seen, and some explosions had gone off, but everything was quiet now. CNN informed us the President would be speaking to the nation in about an hour.
Back in “The Tavern” The Raveonettes take the stage. They open with a screeching, squealing, version of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday.” Very cool! After one song, the bass player, the girl of the band, Sharin brushes hair from her face. She says, “Crazy day. I don’t know about you all, but after we’re done, we’re gonna just get the hell out of here.”
(Should I take offense to that? Or should I take her advice? Here we were at this music show, just a few miles from where the President was preparing to address the World. The men who were making the decision on when to wage a war where right down the road. The Pentagon was just over there, smelling of fresh cement and plaster. Of all the places in the world for a Danish rock-n-roll band to be at that moment, they were on the stage at American University in the capitol city of the United States. I’m still not sure how to feel about that moment. In fact, it creeps me out to think about it so I will suppress my emotions and go on with the story.)
The Raveonettes finished up and off we were to see the president. A large crowd of students had gathered around the TV by now, waiting to hear what the President had to say. Sune, the lead singer of the Raveonettes stood next to me, our shoulders touching in the crowded room. The President didn’t have much to say, military action is starting to start getting ready to start, or something like that. Rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, etc, etc, etc. I split before he was done 'cause the Mooney Suzuki was about set up.
I cannot emphasize how wonderful it was to see the Mooney Suzuki in this venue! The low stage kept the bands intimate enough, but the war declarations actually helped make the show, because only the FANS were left. It couldn’t have been more than 45 people there. A little group of us with our fingers in the air! The Mooney’s are such a great band, that they PLAYED!! Damn the consequences! Damn the band timing!! They PLAYED!!!
The lead singer, Sammy said it best, “We are the Mooney Suzuki, Weapons of Mass Rock-n-Rolling.”
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