But I can't stop from just smiling when that damn sun is shining on...

What does any sensible student do on a Monday night of one of the busiest weeks of the semester? Go to a punk rock concert, of course.

So the other night Ross and I went to the Dropkick Murphys concert here in Tempe. The show was at the friendly neighborhood theatre, The Marquee....where we had to remove our shoes and show there was nothing in them, empty our pockets/have my purse searched, and get frisked. Whoa. Never had THAT happen at a concert before...it should have clued me in to the kind of night we had ahead of us.

Most everyone around us was wearing black clothing liberally decorated with various bits and pieces of metal and I felt a bit out of place not sporting a mohawk...yet another omen of the night ahead...

The very first act came on stage about 7pm. Now, Ross and I know the Dropkick Murphys but we hadn't heard of any of the supporting acts...even if we had, I'm not sure we would have been prepared for the first set. The band was "Maximum the Hormone"...a Japanese punk-metal band. Really, I can't make this stuff up. And even more surprising? They were really really good! The band was hopping all over the stage and thrashing their heads, screaming in Japanese, and the audience was, for the most part, eating it up. I'll admit, the first song and a half or so I just had a stupid grin on my face because I didn't know how else to react. After the initial shock wore off though, I realized that I was really enjoying their set. Just to show you how absolutely insane this act was, I have about a 40sec clip (and this was one of the MILDER moments!) So the singer is yelling all in Japanese (except for "Rock and Roll!!!!" and a slightly less family friendly line right after). Check out his crazy dancing and, of course, the ridiculous mosh pit in front. Not all of their songs were this scream-metal, several were much more melodic, but still....crazy I tell you!


Maximum the Hormone from Anna Bierne on Vimeo.

Like Ross said last night, it's a good thing I got the video because otherwise no one would believe us when we tried to explain it to them...

After Maximum, we had Everybody Out (pretty blah) and Big D and the Kid's Table (couple of good songs, but overall pretty blah as well...one of their songs, however, is where I got the post title from). Finally, the Dropkicks came on stage. I didn't think it was possible, but they managed to be EVEN louder than the other acts...phew! It was great to listen to the Murphys and I even indulged in singing along with a couple of my favorite songs.


Almost 5 hours after we stepped through the doors, Ross and I finally left The Marquee. Overall, the show was great...everything you want a live gig to be: energetic, entertaining, exciting, and filled with awesome new music and new twists on old music. The venue wasn't too bad either. It's much nicer than it's sister venue, The Clubhouse at any rate (although I did see one of the best live shows I've seen at The Clubhouse. No matter how many great memories I might have there though, it's impossible to deny that it's a TOTAL dive!) Besides the incredibly thorough screening process to enter, the Marquee was more than acceptable. The performance area was large, clean, and free of clutter. The security guards seemed attentive but not intrusive, and the speakers can get really really really loud. What more could you ask for? I'm definitely looking forward to the upcoming Citizen Cope and Cat Power concerts there. Hopefully the space won't be too big for them. And hopefully my ears will stop ringing soon.