Top 20 From The First 20 Years #4: CIV/Texas is the Reason 8/1/95

Ok..we've taken too long of a break from posting anything, especially this monumental show nonsense. Also we are skipping ahead in the chronology a bit considering the show I'm going to tonight.

Oh man, 1995...what a year. I graduated high school, about to embark on the (failed) experiment known as college, and went to so many shows it was ridiculous.

I remember buying the CIV "punk haircuts" s/t seven inch at tower records on third and broadway. Picking it up out of the bin the block letters drew me in, the "hey i know that sign...its over by st marks at the barber school" recognition. Then i turned it over and saw the REV star on the back and just grabbed it. I mean, cmon...its on REV, the mark of quality, it has to be good. I went home and listened to it and was blown away...the b-side was even better, i mean lou from sick of it all was on there. I did not have the hardcore history down at the time, i did not know that this was essentially the gorilla biscuits. I would head back to school and tell everyone of this record. I would bring it over to people's houses, i would make tapes. I remember when my friends called me to tell me that there was a video on mtv for "cant wait one minute more", i could not believe it.

Suffice it to say, i was super high on the band CIV, still am actually...saw them last year, right up front singing along. This show was not the first time i got to see them...that is the problem with this jump in shows, i saw them the May before, and hopefully writing that entry soon. This show at Coney Island High, was only the second time i got to see them, and much smaller than limelight...and now they had a video and all my preaching lead to a really large group of people heading to see them from my school/circle of friends. (i remember someone's girlfriend x'ing up cause she thought it was cool...i berated her til she washed it off.)

The flyer for the show, which the internet is failing me on finding, was the Thing from the fantastic four just punching, and of course it was on orange paper. Just 2 bands at coney was almost unheard of. I knew we had to get there early, the opening band we had never heard of, texas is the reason, needed to be seen. Now i had no knowledge of the band or what they sounded like, but i had gotten a flyer for a show in jersey back in June that they were on Snapcase/mouthpiece/bloodlet/the doughnuts/texas is the reason, plus the flyer mentioned that it was ex members of shelter and 108. I KNEW i had to see them, i KNEW EXACTLY what they were going to sound like.

I have never been more wrong in my life.

I have never been so happy to be so wrong in my life.

I can't tell you the setlist. I can't tell you how long they played. I can tell you that i stood there with my jaw on the floor like i had just been struck by a bolt. I can tell you that i felt every note and every drum hit in my bones. I can tell you my life changed that night. And the band i was there to see, that i was super crazy about, was still going to play AFTER THAT!

CIV came on and fully entertained the crowd. The stage diving and mosh pits were back. The crowd much more into it, much less confused than they were during titr's set. No one was jaded and considered "can't wait one minute more" to be representative of selling out, or being indicative of the scene going mainstream or anything. Everyone sang along and had a good time. It was hot, it was sweaty, it was fantastic.

That night cemented the already pretty goddamn solid commitment i had to new york, the punk scene, the hardcore scene, the emo scene whatever you want to call it now...it was all hardcore then, to the point that tonight July 22, 2013, eighteen years later, and entire lifetime later, mathematically, i will be seeing Texas is the Reason for more than likely the last time, in a room about the same size as that first time, and my passion and love for those songs has only grown from that time. They are a part of me, and i will always have them in my heart, and on my hard drive, and on a variety of colored vinyl...

Monday Morning Comic Review: X-men #1 by Brian Wood & Oliver Coipel

Because no one demanded it!

What? You don't like the time displaced original x-men in All New X-men? You don't like the borderline villain x-men in Uncanny X-men? The fun and pure joy of Wolverine and the X-men not good enough for you? Neither Cable and x-force or Uncanny X-force doing it for you? Well now there is a title just for you! It features characters you can already read about in all those other books! And get this it is a team made up of all WOMEN!

REVOLUTIONARY!
NOT PANDERING AT ALL!
WOULDN'T CALL IT X-WOMEN BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T SELL*!

The good: The book is pretty as hell. Seriously Coipel is at the top of his game. I can't wait for the three whole issues he's doing before there is a fill in! Also Rogue does not call a single person "Sugah," so...there is that.

The Bad: Pretty much everything else. I mean John Sublime? Who cares. John Sublime tracks Jubilee from Bulgaria to NYC via commercial airline because he does not have time to get a private jet. Gets to Grand Central Station, and for some reason cannot discern where young Jubilee is headed...because y'know, where the hell would a former x-man in Grand Central be headed? You know what he does? He goes to the payphone that jubilee just used AND HITS REDIAL BECAUSE THAT IS SOMETHING THAT EXISTS ON PAYPHONES. This guy who has been around since the start of life on earth could not figure out she was heading to Westchester from a train station that exclusively travels north. Oh, and Captain i cannot wait for a private jet from Bulgaria somehow charters a helicopter to take him from Grand Central to Westchester faster than the Metro North Train.

Essentially Brian Wood is phoning it in. Much like his Ultimate X-men, this is nonsensical, kinda scattershot, and boring as hell. It is pretty much a waste of Coipel's talents. Wood is always best when he is creating something he is passionate about. I think he's burned out on X characters. You think he'd at least be passionate about a paycheck.

Oh, and the Manara variant cover is fantastic. Except that they allowed the stupid "Marvel Now" red bar across the bottom which a)obscures the art on a goddamn Milo Manara piece and b)none of the other Manara covers published over the last month or so have this graphic design flaw. Pretty sure someone should be fired for that alone.



*(Public reason: It would be disrespectful to the characters to classify them purely by gender. [Although they juuuust released an x-women tpb by milo manara. And really they could have called it XX-Men]).

Common Sense Consulting: Car industry/dealerships

http://consumerist.com/2013/05/15/enough-people-can-afford-teslas-70k-electric-car-to-beat-sales-of-audis-bmws-mercedes/


The above article has an interesting bit of info in it:

Tesla’s sales could get an even bigger bump, if not for states like North Carolina actively legislating to ban direct-to-consumer sales of the cars on their turf. As the Washington Post points out, it’s illegal in most states to allow customers to order up a car like they would a computer, have it built to their specifications and delivered to their doors. Tesla is currently pushing the state of Texas to allow such a model within its borders, and let consumers buy from the company directly.
North Carolina voted to pass a bill outlawing the direct sale of autos, and others are sure to follow as car dealerships fight to keep themselves relevant. And of course, relevancy here translates to the almighty dollar bill.

Many state politicians rely on backing from car dealerships for political campaigns, making the industry’s lobbying efforts mighty effective thus far. But as consumers continue to demand that retailers cut out the middle man, it could be only a matter of time before your dream car shows up at your doorstep, honking and happy to see you.

Why have the car companies not just gone ahead and pushed forward with direct sale? I mean i remember ordering my 1st computer from gateway, i was able to choose every aspect of the machine personally, with price and performance explained to me as i went. This was 16 years ago. The fact that this experience is not available to people making the life altering decision to buy a car is baffling to me.

Tesla seems to be doing well with it. Mind you, they are a premium niche brand, but the plan seems to be working. What the traditional car companies would need to do is a mix of what Tesla does and some of the groundwork they have already laid. Corporate owned show rooms, supplemented by franchised show rooms (formerly known as dealerships). Instead of being a high pressure hellhole where everyone feels scammed and cheated, they could be corporate controlled business with ethics standards and common practices. Instead of having to move vehicles off that lot that were ordered on spec, they could provide customers with what they actually want. Go for a test drive, check out various options, etc. Hand out codes that are needed to access the website to actually order the vehicles, thus providing franchises and/or individual salesmen the ability to earn commission. It is common sense really. Factories would make only cars for specific clients, increasing efficiency and decreasing waste. I believe sales would increase, as buying a car would not require the chore of dealing with high pressure salesmen.

It would be a better experience for the consumer. It would be a better business model for an industry that needed to be bailed out due to their poor business model. It would only adversely affect the professional car dealer. Commonly known as horrible scum people hate dealing with. So, y'know, no surprise that the various governments are doing whatever they can to protect them.

Why did you make me have to be an asshole to you?

Having a good time talking to a couple of friends and my girlfriend at the boysetsfire show last night. Some guy reaches into the group arm first and stops. "Is that supposed to be some kind of an 'excuse me'?" i say. "Nah, man i just wanted to say that's an awesome beard."

Ok. 1)Fuck you for interrupting a group of friends conversing for such bullshit. 2)I don't care about your approval with your ed grimley looking head. 3)You see, when a girl wants to talk to me about my beard, while it is odd, it is somewhat flattering as it is usually in a flirty matter. Don't get me wrong, i love my girlfriend, and would never do anything, but again the attention is nice. When a guy wants to talk to me about my beard, well, it's awkward and uncomfortable.

At this point i just turn my back to you and want nothing to do with you. My awesome friend Greg entertains me but humoring you with conversation. It was hysterical. Then you got to the point where you said you were at the show "for all the bitches." Class act there you townie fuck.

When Greg was done with you, you began to tap me on the shoulder. See, clearly the me turning away from you and ignoring you part didn't register. The me ignoring your taps should have really, really clued you in. The fact that i looked at you and said "I have less than no interest in talking to you," still nothing. Alas, this was your big trip to the big ole city from where ever the fuck pennsatucky you are from, so you really want to talk. So i slipped you this card seen above. That should have been the end of it. Would have been the end of it for most people, oh but not you.

"i just have one more question about your beard."
"Did you even read the card?!?!"
"Do you think the card has authority over me?"

was it my balled up fists or the fact i looked you dead in the eye and managed to mutter "please. stop. talking." that finally got the point across that you were about to get hit?

"well, have a good evening," you said.
"I was." i replied.
"you will, thanks to God," you said as you finally, mercifully walked away.

Really? A townie christian who is out looking for bitches. It took the pure joy of a boysetsfire show to erase the rage you caused in me.

Back to tipping cows and drinking under the bleachers for you.

dick.

Top 20 From The First 20 Years #3: Sick of it All/Shelter/Snapcase/Baby Gopal 9/23/94

CMJ music marathon 1994 was the first time i would go to shows four days in a row. Would be so very far from the last. Wednesday we went to Consolidated/MC 900ft Jesus/Hole/Weezer, Thursday was top 20 contender Quicksand/Into Another/Orange 9mm, Friday however...

Friday September 23, 1994 was the first big hardcore show of my life. I mean i had been to cb's once to see a high school friend's band (and did see no redeeming social value that night!), but this was pretty much as big a show as you could get. I also remember going to this show alone. My friends, including the ones who went to the quicksand show the night before, were apparently terrified to go to this show. I was warned left and right that i would get my ass kicked just for having long hair at this show. I marched on regardless.

If you see the above ticket, there was also a pre-determined end time. Had to GTFO before the club kids came in and overdosed. Which was fine for me, an early night after a couple of shows, with more coming that weekend sounded great.

It was my first time at Limelight, and it was odd, i only got lost once, and could not figure out how to get to the balconies. Baby Gopal opened the show. Now, over the years i have had plenty of arguments about this band, but syrupy sweet girl vocal pop has always been my weakness. They also gave me a false sense of security at the show. It seemed so safe and happy.

Quick set change and the driving, pulsating, screaming joy that was Snapcase blew me away. The crowd quite literally knocked me off my feet, but was pretty quick to pick me up, made sure i was o.k. and quickly went back to the chaos. It felt great. I didn't know any of the material, but i could feel it in my bones.

Shelter took the stage. Dressed in robes. I knew nothing of Hare Krishna, let alone Krishna-core so it seemed sort of odd to me. I felt myself compelled to get closer to the stage. Ray was (and still is) a very charismatic front man, and even to a long haired metal kid, i felt like he was addressing me personally.

About a month from this show, Sick of it All would release their major label Debut Scratch the Surface, this was something of a release/preview show. I only knew a few songs, and then they went ahead and played some new stuff. I moved and danced and covered my face and fell and had people climbing all over me the whole set. I don't think i stopped smiling once. Even without my circle of friends at the show, i was still surrounded by friends, i just didn't know them yet. I felt like i belonged.

The show ended, and oh my god did we get the bum's rush by security. I'm pretty sure they just screamed "GET THE FUCK OUT" over and over again. I left, sweaty and happy, arms around complete strangers that were now sort of family. I grabbed every damn flyer from everyone handing them out outside, and never looked back...

The Walking Dead and its TV Fans

As an employee of a comic book shop, i have to deal with a plethora of eccentric personalities. It is a cross i have to bear. I am mostly fine with it. Many of them have become tried and true parts of my life.

The Walking Dead TV fan, however, is a constant source of frustration.

From "Oh wow...they even have a walking dead comic now," to "those toys are stupid, why are they in black and white?" One of my favorites was when i was at the Die Hard marathon screening i overheard "Yo, they are going to re-run the walking dead in black and white so they could get that Night of the Living Dead feel, yo." I promptly got up and changed seats.

I think though, the worst are the people who have actually started to read the comic, but do not understand basic math. You see, the comic is well over 100 issues long at this point, it is sort of a chore to catch up. To his credit, Robert Kirkman, not at all because he wishes to make as much money as humanly possible, has made it easy to catch up. There are something on the order of 18 trade paperback collections, each collecting six issues of the monthly comic. The trades come out almost immediately after the last issue contained within it is released. Because of the speed of release, we see a lot of people drop the monthly in favor of the trade. Conversely, we see almost as many people pick up the monthly because they just cannot wait the 6 or 7 months for the next paperback. Also available, again not at all because they wish to make as much money as possible, are what are referred to as "compendiums" (compendia?). These massive softcover books contain 8 trade paperbacks or 48 issues of the comic. These customers are the ones who make me crazy.

Three times in the last two weeks, I have had people come in asking if we have the third Walking Dead compendium. Each time, the conversation went like this:

Customer: do you have the third walking dead compendium...yknow...the big books?

me: Sir (it's always a guy. i know, you thought "bad at math, must be a woman." you are a monster), there have been 110 issues of the comic, and 18 trade paperbacks. Each of the books you have collect 8 trade paperbacks, which leaves you 6 shy of the next compendium. At 6 issues per book, hoping the book maintains a monthly shipping schedule, you are looking at a minimum three year wait for your next book. The compendium volumes are a good catch up, but it would be my recommendation to grab volumes 17 and 18, and get yourself on a maybe twice a year schedule if you wish to follow the story in a reasonable time frame.

Customer: oh...ok...i'll wait.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

These are not "oh, all the books have to match of my bookshelf" nerds (as i am one of those), these are just people who are reading to cool popular thing, who have such a fleeting interest in the material that they do not actually care about it. I just do not understand it.

Oh, the show is terrible and Carl gets shot in the face and loses an eye and has a gaping hole in his skull. oops...spoiler alert.

Top 20 From The First 20 Years: Side Post #1

26 Shows between December 1991 and April 1994 before one made the list. I'd like to think that you have to have some experience before you can truly appreciate anything. That many shows under my belt before i really decided that this was something i truly loved to do.

I think it's cliche to use your first show (Metallica at Nassau Coliseum) in any sort of list like this. Megadeth/Suicidal Tendencies at the Ritz didn't make the cut because i wasn't that into S.T. at the time. It was also my first general admission show that i had no business attending as i was 14 and it was a 16 and over show (i did almost die in the pit the first 3 seconds of the show).

Going through the ticket stubs for this little project, i came across an entire row (3 shows) of amazing shows, that really meant a lot to me that were disqualified because of opening acts. These shows were fundamental in my changing tastes at the time, and i feel deserve some kind of mention.

The summer of 1993 there was a bit of a dry spell, or maybe we just were not quite savvy enough to figure out about shows. I mean, we knew to buy the village voice every week (yeah, once upon a time it actually cost actual money), but for us metal head kids, it seemed like we didn't have much going on. One week we picked up the Voice and saw an ad that we just could not, for the life of us, figure out. You see, we had been to Roseland a couple of times. Danzig on the How The Gods Kill tour and Pantera on the Vulgar Display of Power tour. These were big shows for, at the time, HUGE bands. This ad had some band none of us had ever heard of headlining TWO nights at the ballroom. How could this be? Well, we had to find out what all the hubbub was about, and besides, it was only $5 (this would also be the first time i would go to the Irving Plaza box office to buy tickets. Even 15 year old Matt was not going to pay a svc charge on a five dollar ticket).

On Saturday September 25, 1993, i walked into the still black and white striped Roseland Ballroom, sat through two opening bands i did not quite understand (unrest and the spinanes), and saw FUGAZI...and i knew everything was about to change. The friends i went with were less than impressed, but i felt a door opening.

Tuesday November 4, 1993 would be the first show i ever would get in trouble for going to. You see, we bought our ten dollar tickets for the show with two bands on the bill. Each band only had one record out, how late could this show possibly go? Then when we arrived, there were two more bands on the bill. Gotta love the CMJ music marathon. I remember calling my mom from the bank of pay phone that used to be between the men's room and the pin guy in the basement of Roseland, she was pissed. As was I. At least i got an early start on the Stabbing Westward hate. After them, and State of the Nation (who were surprisingly good) was Quicksand. Now i had seen Quicksand once before, opening for Megadeth at the Ritz. I hated them. In all honesty, any band that was not Megadeth that night was going to be hated, and Quicksand being what they were, well, i was with the majority that night. My friend had talked me into giving Quicksand another chance, and coming off state of the nation, they fit really well. I became a fan that night. The headliner took the stage. They were coming off a critically lauded run on that past summer's lollapalooza tour. The Roseland Ballroom was packed to the gills (again, gotta love the cmj music marathon), and Rage Against the Machine powered through a just shy of an hour set. While i had been sweaty at shows before, this would be the first time i had to just throw away my clothes afterwards.

Ten days later. The New York Coliseum. A building that, at the time was already a relic, being used as a flea market every other weekend, and now is long gone with the Time Warner Towers on that sight. A general admission venue out of need for a building bigger than Roseland to fit the crowd that Nirvana would draw that night. Imagine seeing Nirvana in a giant sized version of your high school cafeteria. The people who designed and built the New York Coliseum, clearly built all the public schools in NYC. Even the clocks were the same! (also when the hell have you been to a venue with multiple analog clocks on the walls?) The breeders opened and were the one hit wonders they were at the time, Half Japanese was the first band on that day and were just terrible, noisy in the not good way, squandering their prime slot playing before 7,000 people. Seeing nirvana live was a treat, I'm very glad i had the opportunity, i didn't know it would pretty much be my last. This show is most meaningful less because of the bands, and more because of the friends i made that night. We would somehow run into another group of kids from our school and sort of merge cliques for the night. After that i spent more and more time with these slightly punkier kids, who introduced me to more and more bands outside of my sphere, and pretty much got me into hardcore. They would, years later, move on...but i'm still here.

Show number 3 on the list...later today or tomorrow.