This was my reaction paper in sociology, I thought I'd share.

On September 8th, I attended the concert of the people that inspired me the most. The air was hot and the line outside of In The Venue was wrapped around the building twice. The bouncers were watching closely. It felt like I was waiting in a queue at Disneyland. My boyfriend, Taylor, bought me tickets and I was so excited. What I saw in the people was exactly what I imagined. Tight gray skinny jeans, V-necks, cigarette smoke, scarves, biker jackets and 8:00 shadow. I felt at home and so excited. I was surprised at how many friends I made around me in the line. Girls that were getting butted in line, I stood up for them. I felt like the only mom, although there were more than a few middle aged peeps. I was confused at what happened at the entrance, they called out, “MEN TO THE RIGHT, WOMEN ON THE LEFT!” and God forgive me, I felt like I was in the holocaust for a split second. They patted down the men and searched their pockets while the women just walked right on. I looked around and thought, “Any of these women could have a bomb under their shirts.” But I got over it as soon as I entered the dimly lit building. There were kids everywhere, couples mostly. As Taylor and I moved to a place where we could see the stage, I looked up at the upper level to see an open bar. But only if you passed the I.D. checks at the bottom of the stairs. Now, I loathe beer. I loathe vodka, tequila, jaeger, alcohol in general so I automatically wilted when I found out I was going to have to deal with this all night. But I was revived when the lights turned to the stage. The opening band, (something something) California, consisted of four, old, balding men. They were maybe the worst thing ever. The crowd was silent during their set, no one moved, no one did anything. Mostly because they weren’t in with the times. They kept shouting to us, “DO YOU GUYS LIKE SEX??” Everyone stared in disbelief. They were very very weird and I was more than grateful when they finally were done.


Then everything went black. Total darkness. The already intoxicated people overhead started a low cheer for what was about to come next… a single light spotted the guitar of Isaac Brock, my mentor. He plucked at the wiry strings, a tune that resembled my favorite song. Lights shone on Jeremiah Green and Eric Judy, the drummer and bassist. Modest Mouse, my favorite band in the entire world, was singing my favorite song in the entire world and I was there with my favorite man in the entire world and in that moment, I felt 100% happy with anyone, anything and everything. But, of course, since they are a slower indie rock band and the song was called dopamine, everyone whipped out their joints. I felt like I was the only one not puffing smoke. I’m entirely against drugs, but it was beautiful what I saw. What I saw was black shadows of a crowd, glowing orange circles bouncing to the slow beat, thick smoke rolling up and into the blue, pink, green and purple lights. Of course, I got an immediate headache like I do when I smell all smoke, but I repressed it for the sake of the show. I assume that most likely the women smuggled in the drugs. Taylor and I were standing on the edge of a pathway, so we were dealing with a lot of drunks funneling down from above. The heavy smell of alcohol on their breath was disgusting and it made me nauseous. About an hour into the show, the drunken people started getting rowdy. All around me I had men at LEAST 6’4” and thicker than an Oak. They were my protectors when people came through the path and tried to cop a feel. One drunken idiot actually walked by and shoved me, almost to the ground. The man on my right and his two friends that I’d been talking to all night about idiots who drink, had seen this and they were not going to let it happen. They full on punched him in the back of the head with all their might, and when he turned around to see me, my 6 foot boyfriend and two logger guys, he ran into the crowd so fast, it was funny to me. Another time, a group of short, stuck up girls stood right in front of me, on the pathway, blocking the view for me and the girl I had made friends with to the left of me. We politely asked them to move, considering there was a wheelchair guy, coming and going on the path, but they started cursing us out. That was rude, so me and the girl to my left bit right back, and they moved. Honestly, I didn’t expect so much fighting. The band was about peace, and people were shoving, knocking people down and punching their way through the crowd, just to get a tiny bit closer. It was chaos to me. More than one older intoxicated men asked me if I wanted to be “in a train” to the front. Basically, they were going to hold me in front and push me through the drunk and high crowd because “no one will hit a girl.” He also asked me if I wanted to crowd surf. I would, but I’m too scared that I’ll get sexually assaulted so I never do. LOL. There were a lot of shananagans, But I shut it out the best I could and watched the best band in the world with my boyfriend holding me, protecting me, holding my hips and dancing to the music.


The show was exactly what I expected, plus or minus the violence. I went home that night with a Modest Mouse shirt that I’d bought at the show for 35 freakin’ dollars, and my hair smelling of pot and cigarette smoke. I was glowing at the show and when I think about it now, I get the same warm glow that I felt. The music was amazing and I knew all the words, all the songs, all the people, all the guitars, clothing, beats. I lived the music and I’m so blessed that I got to see my greatest influence right in front of me. And they were amazing.