Thursday, December 4, 2014

The Birthday Massacre Show

Hi, there...  I haven't been posting much lately, mainly because I've been too exhausted both mentally and physically.  Spending half my weekends this year at my mom's house taking care of things was NOT easy.  Even though she's back home now, I've discovered that I apparently went into "Mom Mode" during the year, and because her mother never acted much like a mom, I think she is enjoying the feeling, even though I doubt she is actually conscious of it.  So now it's time to turn off the "Mom" button and get back to my normal "my child is now an adult and therefore I don't need to mother anyone" space.

So... Monday night I finally got to see a goth band live!  One of my favorites, The Birthday Massacre, was playing at Slim's in San Francisco.  I bought the tickets before Halloween, just to make sure I didn't back out due to anxiety, which has been a bad habit of mine that I've discussed in previous posts.  

The opening band was The Red Paintings, a group from Australia.  They were pretty good, we enjoyed them, and the lead singer was pretty funny between songs, although he dropped a slight overabundance of F-bombs.  They actually have local artists on stage with them, creating original artwork while they are playing; it was interesting to watch the art "grow" on stage!

The next band was called New Year's Day.  My mother always said that if you can't say anything nice, you shouldn't say anything at all, so I won't.  Except that the lead singer dropped even MORE F-bombs than the other guy, only she wasn't funny at all.

Then The Birthday Massacre came on.  Awesome show!!  They are just as good live as they are on their studio CDs.  And Chibi, the lead singer, is funny, lovely and gracious.  An added plus: NOT ONE F-bomb from her the entire time they were onstage.  The whole set was upbeat, and people were finally dancing, whereas most had not done so during the first two sets.  I wish they didn't live in Canada; apparently they last toured the U.S. a few years ago.  We need them here more often!!!  (Certainly more often than we need Justin Bieber...)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/The_Birthday_Massacre_2011.jpeg/295px-The_Birthday_Massacre_2011.jpeg  The Birthday Massacre

I had a fantastic time!!  I danced through most of the first set, ALL of Birthday Massacre's set, and through a fair amount of the recorded music they played before and in between sets.  I was probably the most trad goth there, wearing a DIY-altered skeleton t-shirt, a floor-length black studded skirt, my 4-inch Demonia platforms, fishnets, and a long black velvet coat.  And as far as I could tell, I was the ONLY one there wearing a spiked collar!  Errrr, where did all the trad goths go???  We saw one or two people we've seen at Death Guild, but a LOT of the patrons didn't even look particularly goth, although many were wearing black.  And I couldn't see any platform boots, except for mine.  Oh, well, I didn't care, I was dressing for myself, anyway.  And no one could question my right to carry a Goth Card, heheh...  ;-)

Just writing this has improved my sucky mood immensely.  Now to get back to work; they expect me to do that here once in a while.  

Have a great week/weekend, and I plan on posting more of my regular stuff in the very near future.  Oh, and I was totally serious several posts back about learning to play the bass.  I finally found some music books for bass online and ordered them!  So very soon you may be hearing some truly odd noises on this blog...  ;-)

18 comments:

  1. I didnt know you were a fellow Canadian and I didn't know that The Birthday Massacre live in Canada! Ha!

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    1. Oh, sorry, I'm not Canadian, but thank you for the compliment! I saw the show in San Francisco, guess I didn't make that clear. But The Birthday Massacre definitely IS Canadian, so perhaps I shall have to visit to see them in the future. I've always wanted to visit Canada, it sounds like a great place!

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    2. LOL sorry, I guess I misread...oops! You should come visit!

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    3. I'd LOVE to visit, and I plan to... someday, when I have the money, and can find someone to watch our kitty herd while we're gone.

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  2. Sounds great, I like their music although their videos are really scary! Glad you weren't too anxious, great concerts are always worth it!

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    1. I've only seen the "Blue" video, but yes, it WAS weird and scary! I rather liked it... ;-) And I'm glad, too, that I didn't let my anxiety issues get the better of me. I always find it worth it when I overcome those. I read something not long ago about how excitement can go into overdrive, and then we experience it as fear. I think that must be my problem.

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  3. Glad you had fun, it sounds like a great gig. Hope you aren't too exhausted with everything, and look forward to those weird bass noises soon :)

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    1. Hehehe, yes, it should be interesting, to say the least! Fortunately, I've had experience with a regular guitar, so at least I know my way around a bit and won't totally sound like a tomcat or whale in heat! ;-)

      Actually, I was TOTALLY exhausted, even though I got to bed before 1am. I probably should have stayed home yesterday! As it was, I went to bed at 8pm last night, slept until 6am, and still feel a bit tired and blah. Well, it's true I'm not 20-something anymore, but REALLY, I shouldn't fall apart quite that fast!! It was probably all the dancing and extra energy I was using up that did me in!

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    2. oh I hear you, we went to see Bad Pollyanna last weekend, didn't drink and were home by 10:30 (venue is also a nightclub so bands have to be out by 10) - I was utterly shattered the following day, and had some rather stiff dancing muscles. I've just been previewing BM's new album, sounds good and with post Christmas present pennies I will be downloading in the new year :)

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    3. Their new album is excellent! Someone loaded it onto YouTube not long before we saw them, so I'd already heard it by then. I wanted to get it that night, but they'd sold out at their last stop! But I will probably order it from their website. Hope you aren't stiff anymore! And did you hear any bass noises today?? I'm just glad I'm able to use headphones so the people upstairs aren't terrified! ;-)

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  4. F-Bombs? hehehe ... welcome to punk rock. Heck, here in NYC F-Bombs are like regular words and can be nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. We use them all the time.

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    1. You poor thing! Doesn't it get boring after a while??? When people use the same word that often, I start wondering if they know any other ones, and I definitely stop listening to what they're saying! ;-)

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    2. Nope, doesn't get boring at all. Actually, I only notice people who don't curse because it's so unusual around here. I tend to curse like a sailor, especially around people I know. *shrug* I'm a NYer. That's what we do.

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    3. Wow, very different from San Francisco and the Bay Area! Of course, people DO swear here, but not nearly that much. Maybe it's the difference in cultures from West to East coast. As Spock would say, "Fascinating!." :-)

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  5. I've watched and listened to The Birthday Massacre videos on YouTube and I like them. I'm glad that you got to listen and dance to their live performance. It has to be good for the soul after all you've been through.

    By the way, I'm still grateful for your acquainting us with Diary of Dreams. They have become my favorite dark-wave band.

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    1. It was VERY good for my soul, yes indeed! :-) Although it's taken me a few days to recover from the extra output of energy, which is weird. Guess I'm getting old? Naaaah.

      And I'm SO glad you are enjoying Diary of Dreams! I just got three CDs that I ordered on Alibris, and they are great! Now I can listen to them at home as well as on YouTube at work. (Our regular computer is on the blink, and our laptop speakers SUCK.) I just wish they'd come to the U.S. on tour someday, but as far as I know, there are no plans for that.

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  6. I love Birthday Massacre! One of the few "modern goth" bands I like.

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    1. Oh, good, another fan! :-) And it's good to "see" you back online again.

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