A Walk Back in Time: NYHC show last night
Sorry for the delayed post but I was feeling a little war-torn this morning. After another intense workout with my trainer yesterday (we did legs again), I drove down to Brooklyn to visit my friend Dina and see her husband's band play in a tribute concert for our mutual friend S.O.B. (who passed away about a year ago) at the Luna Lounge in
I do not go back to
I drew closer to Dina's house and images of a life long gone began to haunt me. The new owners of my old babysitter's house tore it down and rebuilt completely. My cousin Renee's family does not live in their old house anymore, my great uncle Jackie's house has had at least two new owners since he passed away; so many of my childhood friends' homes were sold and rebuilt.
Dina always lived next door to my grandmother. I have not gone back to that street since we sold my grandmother's house four years ago. The new owners have really fixed it nicely. They have invested a lot of money into renovating the house. I was happy to see that – even with all the work – they left my grandmother's Camellias in front of the house. She loved that shrub more than anything else witihin her garden. Caught between nostalgia and present-day life, my emotions got the better of me as I looked at this building that had housed my family (in essence, my roots) for multiple generations and knew that we didn't belong to it anymore. Everything felt both familiar and foreign at the same time.
I do not really listen to Hard Core music anymore. With one only exception, I have not gone to a Hard Core show in many, many years. Last night, I ran into many of the same people that were at these shows with me when I was a teenager, in similar clubs, in the same neighborhoods. I felt like I walked through a time warp.
Our friend Javier (aka S.O. was a founding member of Marauder, a NYHC (New York Hard Core) band. I first met Javier at around 15 yrs old through Dina. At that point, I held high hopes of becoming a documentary photographer and spent most of my time photographing my friends. Throughout the years, Javier usurped me (it is the only way to describe it) into becoming his (and Marauder's) personal photographer. I would travel to many of their shows and take pictures of them onstage.
He would call me randomly at various sundry times to pick him up in
Dina's husband Jorge is the lead singer of Marauder. Jorge and Javier were friends most of their lives. Jorge was largely responsible for organizing last night's concert. Dina and Jorge have a 21/2 year old son, Devin that is obsessed with Ronnie James Dio. Devin is a rock star-in-training (which is REALLY cute). He knows all the old heavy metal songs. He sang for me; Holy Diver, Breaking the Law (Judas's Priest); I want to rock and roll all night and party every day… It is beyond adorable.
Dina decided to take him last night to see his father perform for the first time. He was so excited! Well, Daddy did not go on stage until 12:30 — this kid was a trooper! He stayed awake all night waiting to watch his dad play.. First, EVERYONE there fawned over Devin, recognizing and honoring his position as the son of someone that is important to their scene — and now the image of Devin's father as a Rock star will be ingrained in his memory for the rest of his life.
Around 8:00pm, Dina, Devin, Stephanie, Hector, and I decided to get something to eat. We really only wanted to eat quickly and go back to the show, but everyplace we passed was packed. We went into a Peruvian restaurant that looked interesting, but it too was packed. We asked the manager how long we would have to wait and he told us "five minutes."
So, 15 minutes later, we asked again. "The people at your table are just leaving, give me a moment to clear the table and you can sit down," he responded.
About 10 minutes later, we are still standing there. We look at the table to see a totally different group of people sitting there, so, now pissed off, we were about to leave.
The manager stopped us, "no, we have a table for you outside, it is bigger. Why don't you wait outside and we will be ready for you in a minute."
After another 15 minutes outside, we got up to leave. We had now been waiting for almost an hour and we were ready to get back to the show. Besides, Devin had to eat something soon. As we were walking out, the restaurant seated us at a different table (which had miraculously cleared) and compted us a round of drinks. The server brought Devin some rice and beans right away while the rest of us ordered dinner.
Dina became very frustrated with the wait. After all, it is her husband's show; she had now spent two hours in a restaurant and had not eaten yet. As soon as Devin finished eating his rice and beans, she took him and left. Perhaps she made the right move as the restaurant then took another hour to actually serve us our food – and they didn't get the orders right. When the food finally arrived, we ate quickly and left. All in all, they held us hostage for almost three hours!
Dina and Jorge asked me to take pictures during the show. Just like old times, I brought my camera. Now, as much fun as I had walking down memory lane last night, never, had I wanted or intended to get back into a mash pit – especially with a camera. Before Marauder began playing, many people came up to pay tribute to S.O.B. I took a spot at the base of the stage and began taking pictures. However, I was ill prepared for the band to start playing immediately following – which put me directly in the way of the pit. "I am too old for this shit," I thought as after some moron knocked my glasses off while rushing the stage. Let us just say, two big dudes had to rescue me.
We got back to my friend Dina's house at 4:00AM, hung out for a while, and finally passed out. I woke up around 9:00am to make the trip upstate.
Well — I was hurting badly this morning. While driving home I intensely craved red meat. All I could think of was a big juicy rare steak. I stopped at the Stateline Diner in
When I got home, I laid down comfortably and quietly on my own couch with my dogs and went to sleep. I enjoyed my trip down memory lane last night. It reminded me of where I came from and drew my awareness to how incredibly different my life is now. Rest in peace Javier.
http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s171/LadyinRedDS/Meurader%20SOB%20Benefit/
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