Monday nights are tough for any band. Your audience just got done with their maybe kick ass weekend and returned to the bullshit work grind. It’s a crapshoot if anyone will show up to your show. And I couldn’t help but wonder: would anyone show up to this random Bully girl’s show?
And then I saw the Colorado Rockies traffic. And my optimism increased, because people can only watch grown ass men play catch for so long until they need some form of entertainment. And guess what’s just a few blocks away from Coors Field?
The Marquis Theatre. Where Bully, along with Bev Rage & The Drinks, were playing.
As it turned out, I’m not the only person who thinks baseball is boring as shit. I’ve seen weekend shows with less people than Bully and Bev managed to pull on this random ass Monday night. There were a ton of people from all walks of life there.
And by all walks of life, I mean all walks of punk life. Young punks in mohawks and piercings, old farts who probably don’t regret their past mohawks and piercings, twirly staches and dudes in skirts, a tall fucking drag queen.
Wait. What?
Full disclaimer: I didn’t realise Bev Rage was a drag queen until she took the stage. And let me tell you, Bev Rage & The Drinks put on the gayest fucking punk show we all ever did see. I’ll be honest – I’m not a big drag queen, burlesque, that sort of entertainment, fan, but if that’s what drag shows are like, than holy hell I’m missing out. If that’s what drag shows are like than I understand why conservatives are so scared of them.
How often do you see mosh pits in church? Never. How often do you see mosh pits at a Bev Rage concert? The entire time. It’s like a gay Dead Kennedys show with more hair. IT’S SO SCARY! JUST THINK OF THE POOR CHILDREN RELEASING THEIR ANGER IN A SAFE AND ACCEPTABLE WAY IN A CROWD THAT WILL ACCEPT THEM FOR WHO THEY ARE! THE FUCKING HORROR!
Between the crowd size and the fluentness on stage, I assumed Bev Rage was a former RuPaul contestant. I will save you a google: apparently she’s not. Consider me fooled.
Now I was born in southern California. But I left as a mere youngin. I never got to experience the famed west coast punk scene. Or any punk scene at all, because I was a toddler when I left.
Until tonight. I think? Because it felt like I was at a small venue right near the ocean filled with skaters and derelicts and troublemakers and all the other kooky characters you’d expect to see at a Black Flags’ show. And while I would have liked to learn more about Bully in between songs, there’s something raw about simply jumping from song to song and not giving the mosh pit a chance to calm down.
And I’m not alone. From the first note, the floor was literally bouncing. It was like a fucking trampoline. I bet that shit happens all the time at Coors Field!
Only kidding. The Rockies are always terrible. But Bully and Bev Rage weren’t, and that’s why the Marquis was full and Coors Field was not.
I could feel, quite literally, why people gave up their Monday nights for Bully and Bev. And with the tour hitting up more small clubs, I feel it’s important to release this disclaimer: be mindful of cameras near the mosh pit. You can seriously hurt yourself if you smack into the camera.
And if you don’t hurt yourself, I’ll do it for you. Dick.
Just kidding. I’m not an asshole. I know pit etiquette.
I can easily make it look like an accident.
Sometimes people call me a psychopath and I don’t know why.
To the super duper sketchy guy trying to sell me shrooms on the sidewalk… you know that shit is legal here now right?
