One lesson I am starting to learn when it comes to rock shows is: be ready and go or miss out. Many of the best shows I've been to were ones I was invited to at the last minute. You never know when you're gonna get or be a +1. Saturday July 27th my long time Bay Area friend Emily Jayne invited me along to The Cult show in SF at the Fillmore! I've raved before about my awesome friends, but a great trait with many of my pals is passion for music. Artistic types seem to befriend each other, and I have a colorful variety of creative and expressive friends. Emily Jayne has a band called The Fashion Slaves, which became her brain child after she broke her arm at an Iggy Pop concert.
She had previously been to an International Swingers show, where she was able to meet the band. She did her rock star thing and began to network.
"I found this song by a first generation punk band called Chelsea. And I loved it. I got the band to record it. But I couldn't find the lyrics anywhere. So I wrote my own. James Stevenson (Chelsea, Generation X), the songwriter of the original, gave me credit for my small lyrical contribution. I am one of the luckiest people I know."
We showed up to the Fillmore in our Saturday rock n roll clothes. Emily had on a very fashionable silver glittery outfit with leggings, while I wore black pants with my David Bowie top that shows off my tattoos. Opening was a band called "White Hills." The male singer bared a strong resemblance to Alice Cooper, and the woman singing was wearing a red velvet looking coat with silver trim. They were spacey, acidy, and very psychedelic. The Cult finally hit the stage after a long set up between acts. After rocking out for an hour Ian Astbury announced they were going to play for another 2 hours! So it was a long, exciting, sold out and sweaty night. Before the show ended Emily and I went up to the VIP area to get ready for the after show. There we were standing among glamorous looking people with cool hats on their heads and a cocktail in their hands.
After the show ended the guys from the band came out and we got to meet them. Shook hands and met lots of awesome people. Spent some time chatting with Chris Wyse the base player, he was really personable and chill and had a lot to say about music. We talked about bands, record labels, and the Rolling Stone cover featuring the Boston Bomber fiasco. Beers were being handed out and seats were taken to kick back and take a load off. Emily brought some CDs to hand out of her new EP "Go Insane", I was proud to see her walking around networking. The Cult's new guitar player James Stevenson had nothing but great things to say about her and her music. Once we realized we were the last people there and could hear the vacuum cleaners, it was time to head home. We really got caught up in conversation! They band members were getting ready to head to Portland and wanted to get some sleep. "I could understand." I told them "I got tired just watching you guys." Even though obvious groupies were about, (one making out with the security guard to get to the after show) we were the ones who got the attention, conversation and beer.
Thanks for bringing me along, EJ!
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