CMJ Recap Day 4 - Rugby, Stabbings, Homosexuals

Friday, and the week is drawing to a close, by this point I hadn't been home before 1 am in 4 days. My nose ran compulsively, and I sneezed into my hand more times than I washed it. Yet, I was happy, I had seen so much damn good music, and everything had gone off without much of a hitch. I had taken to napping in chairs on the NYU campus, and I think these 45 minute naps saved my life. After all, I was just a guy with a backpack, so I blended in quite well with the frazzled idealists scurrying back and forth trying to get one signature or another on an audit to drop their African Foreign Policy class and pick up a Survey course in consumer electronics. Or whatever it is college kids do these days.

I stumbled bleary eyed into the streets near NYU around 6, craving coffee, on my way up to see April Smith at the Rugby Store. My friend manages her, and I wrote her bio. April, on top of being a ridiculous talent, is cool as hell. She drinks whiskey, loves Tom Waits, and thought Robert Plant was Jesus until she was like 7 years old. She really is going places. I believe in April Smith.


After that we grabbed dinner with Metal Sucks Ben. I shoveled down another load of Pho, and felt it save my insides from civil war. A quick tab later and we were en route to the land below Canal street, through the busy tangle of fashion SoHo, past a shady mixtape spot or two, and into the Knitting Factory for the Panache Magazine showcase featuring a thousand hip-ass bands...

This was the only night my badge was denied, so I paid my fare and made it in for An Albatross, who I've been wanting to see for a while. They were alright, not as nuts as I thought, but I still support anyone tinkering with the components of metal as they do.


Then it was downstairs to see Sole, who was there with his Skyrider Band. Now, I haven't seen Sole in fuckin forever, but he was always a presence when I was chasing Rhymesayers around Minneapolis...back when they ran with Anticon. Now, both Anticon and Rhymesayers have blown up in separate sectors, and Sole has stayed busy, just not in front of me. I was excited to see him again, so it was funny when I saw him that night as a drunk, kind of fat, and sloppy version of his former self. Belushi. His music stayed quality though, and the live band is a decent touch. If you really focus though you can tell he was oiled up and about a millisecond behind the beat. Sole...


Then it was The Mae Shi. I love them, they were the reason I showed up. 10 minutes into the set, the "stand around with hands in pockets" bug left me, and I grabbed my girl, and used her as a battering ram to clear into the crowd, where we jumped up and down, grinning idiots matching their ecstatic music.
"What do they sound like?"
"Joy", I said.


Bonus bands...there were a lot of acts playing that night on three stages, so we buzzed around to see them, seeing only one or two tracks by each before heading to the next one.

Aa (Big A Little A). Noisy as hell, I loved it, even if I couldn't really see them. Midgets, obviously.


The Homosexuals. Their singer was an old british dude, looked like a Crass roadie or something. I don't know their story at all, but it was fun to watch.


Somewhere in there, it got really crazy. Ha. They had a free photo booth there, where you can go in with your drinks and take hilarious pictures. The guy running the booth was awesome. So, after shooting a few pictures, we were standing around waiting for our prints. Sole and his band got thrown out for being drunk, which provided some entertainment while we waited. Then the group after us went in for their photos...a bunch of bro type guys who were funny as hell, crackin' jokes and busting each others balls.

Everyone was having a great time, when all of the sudden my girl looks at this guy walking past and belts, "WHAT THE FUCK?!". The guy was hammered, about six feet tall, lanky and goofy looking. He turned around and shot her a weird glance, blowing her off. It was the kind of exchange I would have with a friend I hadn't seen in a LONG time, so I thought they knew each other. They didn't. She puts her drink down and runs up to the guy, jabbing him in the throat saying, "WHAT THE FUCK?! APOLOGIZE MOTHERFUCKER?!" I was stunned, she's about 5'2", he's pushing 6'1" and drunk, which was hilarious to watch...she'd need a step ladder to get him in the nose. I still didn't know what he had done, so I threw my bag down, ran up, and asked her what he did, her anger kept her focused on him, so she didn't respond. I NEEDED to know what he did, and once I knew, I could hit him. So since I wasn't getting any answers, I asked him, "What did you do??!! What the fuck did you do?!!"

Before anyone could answer, the bro's in the photo booth whipped out walkie-talkies and started hollering "Security!!" 2 more guys came out of nowhere, grabbed him, grabbed her, and started escorting them out. Photo booth guy came to the rescue, a cool southern guy saying "No way man, she was minding her business when this guy came up and grabbed her ass".

So there it was, an ass-grab. Apparently he didn't just grab a piece though, he went for the "full exam", from front to back, like a fuckin subway stalker. Thinking about it now, if I would have known I would have ran up and picked her up so she could chop his adam's apple in two. Even security hesitated so she could get a few good hits in.

So they let her stay, and offered to buy her a drink.

Security: "Sorry about that, what are you drinking?"
Michelle: "Uh...nah, its no big deal"
(Too polite to accept a free drink, and I hate a wasted opportunity, so I chime in)
Me: "I'll take another one of these Coronas with a lime."
Security: [Laughs] "I'm sorry, did you get YOUR ass grabbed?"
Me: "No, but this whole thing was very traumatic for me."
Michelle: "Jesus. I'll take a Vodka Cranberry"

After that, we were cool with security and got to go check out the rest of our bands. The best part though, is that if you check the photos of the bro security squad, the first three are all good times, the last one is them rushing out the booth with walkie talkies held high.

Michelle was pretty amped up though, like dog in a fight that didn't get to finish it off. So she stabbed a bum on the way home, I think she felt better after that. Hell hath no fury and all that...I'm proud of her.

Thats it for now. whew.