Last night started off on an inauspicious note: I was at Clarke's on belmont fantasizing about the bacon cheese burger I was about to eat and marveling about how smooth the table is considering how many people eat there. Clarke's has been there forever, but while it's not my favorite restaurant in the area I really wanted a cheese burger. When the waitress asked me what I was having I said, "I would like a turkey burger please." What the fuck? I was thinking bacon burger, I was imagining bacon burger, but I said turkey burger. So I was only a little disappointed to get a turkey burger later on. It's okay because it was totally my fault. The turkey burger turned out to be pretty good, I really dug how it had avocado in it, but it would've been better if it had bacon on it since bacon and avocado is one of my favorite combos ever. After stuffing my self with fowl and delicious steak fries, they have great potatoes at Clarke's, I decided to have a few drinks at the L & L Tavern.
The weather fucking sucked last night. Around mid morning big, soft snow flakes started floating around. By the time I was out the formerly friendly snow had turned into stinging bits of hateful frozen water, which would occasionally be whipped by the wind in the opposite direction that I was walking. Luckily the L & L is not that far from Clarke's. I was introduced to the place by Vinnie the Shark (seriously, that's what I got him under on my phone despite being the only Vinnie I know) and his charming wife, Jodi. It's not a shiny annoying bar like most of the bars in the neighborhood, it is a straight up dive. The stools are taped together, it's so dark in there that it's almost a hazard, they have a big board over the bar that reads, "IRISH WHISKEY," and lists the various whiskeys and prices. It's one of the few bars that I like in that neighborhood. (also dig Risque Cafe a few blocks north. Trace, just south of the metro. the Gingerman just north of the metro. I hate drinking at the metro because it's expensive, but i do it anyway because whiskey fills the heart shaped holed in me. Of course none of these bars are cheap cheap. Last week I was visiting a friend who lives around there and was strongly considering going into this clearly rough trade gay bar because it had 1 dollar cans of pbr. I didn't, but I bet it would've been a better story if I had.) I decided to split after a few beers and shots of Jackie D because I had to go see fucking Motorhead at the Aragon.
I got off the train at Lawrence and looked over to my right where the Aragon sign was sorta blazing, it's a missing a few letters bulbs that make up the letters, but you get the gist. The Aragon is beautiful old place, built sometime in the mid 1920s, it would be one of my favorite venues in the city solely because of that, but they also have really good sound. It also helps that the only times I'm there I am rocking so fucking hard that it doesn't make sense. As I was going up the gryphon flanked stairs to the hall I heard the end notes of a song and the cheering of the crowd, I love that sound. I walked by past the bar and walked toward the right side of the venue sticking close to the columns. I thought about going to the balcony but I didn't since I always end up regretting that decision later on when it's time to rock. So I just hung around the edges and watched Volbeat.
Volbeat didn't suck, they don't actually suck, but in the given the grandness of the venue they were really unimpressive. Volbeat play a hearty mix of rockabilly and hardcore, which sounds like a horrible mix, but it turns out okay. They'd be great at a bar like the Mutiny, somewhere where the drink flows fast and cheap. Or they would be good background music for an early summer day when working with one of your boys on their camaro and drinking pbrs. You know, unoffensive. At one point the lead singer said, "What do you guys want to hear?" A single roar came out of the crowd sounding like a wave crashing on the shore, "MOTORHEAD!" Fuck. If that's not dispiriting then I don't know what is. For their last bit they teased Raining Blood by Slayer, but like so many bands before them they chickened out and didn't get into it, like chickens. What the fuck bands, if you're going to play the intro to Raining Blood then fucking play Raining Blood! DON'T BE PUSSIES.
The next band that came on stage turned out not to be Lacuna Coil, apparently they had played first. This pleased me greatly because fuck Lacuna Coil. I'm going to a rock show, not some la dee fucking da tea party. It's not that I don't like lighter music, it's that Lacuna Coil play wussed out rock music for people who want to say that they like metal but get all butt hurt when you push them outta the way to get closer to the stage or when some long haired freak whips them while headbanging. Lacuna Coil is the Twilight to the Evil Dead 2 of rock music.
Of course Motorfuckinghead came on next. By then I had worked my way pretty close to the front and prepared myself by taken my glasses off and working myself just short of a frenzy. The lights came on and Motorhead was standing there. Lemmy (Lemmy!) said, "This is Bomber." That's right, said, not screamed or screeched or anything, and BAM! The rest of Motorhead's set is a blur of loudness and 1000s of people jumping around, fist pumping, moshing, and generally carrying on like a bunch of heathens. I was in there doing what I do every time I see Motorhead or any band I really like, rocking the fuck out. For a while I was in a moshpit. A guy to my front loses his glasses, finds them someone, slinks away from the front. At one point a girl was hunched over and there were people holding everyone else so they wouldn't crush her as she was puked mightily. She got up, looked around, and howled in triumph and proceeded to high 5 everyone. I was singing along to Killed by Death and this other guy turns to me and we both scream "Killed by death!" just as Lemmy does. Some one was attempting to launch by using my shoulder and another dude's so we just pick him him up and toss the guy who flips over and is carried away by the crowd. I helped a dude up in the pit and he nods thanks, I smile and push him as hard as I can. A small hispanic girl elbows me in the face and tries to apologize but I scream "It's a rock show!" at her. Whenever I am at a show like that I always think, this is what it must be like for people who are faithful and go to church. Motorhead sounded great, loud and fast, but not too fast as to make songs unrecognizable. Fucking pros. Of course I wish they did more songs, but, alas, they were not headlining. They took a bow after Overkill, which was their last song, and the place filled with cheer I bet you could hear from a red line L train.
While waiting in line for the pisser I ran into a guy I knew. He was dressed all nice and shit and asked where I was during Motorhead's set. "Up front, where else?" I saw a bunch of people I know at the show very cool. One of them went to see Ghost at Reggie's, dude said tickets were going for 80 bucks outside the venue. The show orignally cost 12 dollars! D: A dude said to me, "Hey man, I know you! What's up!" I had no idea who he was but we fist bumped and talked for a second. I talked wiht another metal head I know about what movies are good recently. A hot red head girl stopped me when I was walking around and hugged me, and I was like "cool?" until she said, "I just saw your sister!" Then I realized it was Ally one of my sister's friends. Although that doesn't make her less hot. Ha ha, socializing.
Megadeth had a massive light set up, Thomas Edison would shit himself to see how far light bulbs have come. I've always thought as Megadeth as Metallica Lite. I think I have one Megadeth album and I've never been like "I'm going to listen to this album all day today." Yesterday they... proved me right. They opened up with the song Trust from that horrible album and proceeded to bore me. They weren't technically bad, they just played too damn slow and with too much time between songs. I started off optimistically, giving them a chance, Megadeth deserves a chance to shine you know? But they didn't. Well their light did, that was kinda cool. I maybe stayed until halfway to their set before I decided to take my leave.
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