Just be yourself the one and only

July 25, 2010

After my last circus class of this session I headed home, made spaghetti, watched True Blood and then passed out on the couch for an hour before getting ready. I, thankfully, chose to wear shorts and attempted to cover all my circus bruises with makeup, which kinda worked a little I think.

Ryan picked me up and we headed downtown, driving up the spinning center of a parking garage all the way to the top.

There was a line around the venue, so we opted to get a drink at Sweetwater’s while watching the line dwindle from the window. After an hour or so we walked across the street to the venue. People – I cannot even explain how hot it was in there. In all my days as a punk rock kid, fighting my way toward the stage, being crushed by giant sweaty dudes, I have never, NEVER been this sweaty. We found a spot on the balcony and by the time the band got on stage we were already dripping, but at that point I didn’t care at all. I wanted to witness all the kids down below (who are now in their late 20s, 30s and 40s) losing their fucking minds.

There is no crowd like TSM’s crowd in Detroit. Every person in that entire building, from the ones smashed up against the stage to the people all the way at the back of the building, EVERY PERSON was moving, skanking, pogoing around, hands in the air, singing every word. And they listen – anything Jay tells them to do, they immediately do. He is in the crowd 90 percent of the time and it’s thrilling to watch. Have you every been to a show where out of the middle of the moshing, skanking mess, a wheel chair crowd surfs and then right behind is the kid that was in the wheel chair?

Just a few songs in, despite the bar tenders using the soda guns to shoot water over the crowd, we were all soaked in sweat. I don’t think I’ve ever been this sweaty in my entire life. Every inch of me was dripping and any indication that I was looking cute before was gone. By the time TSM had finished their set my fingers were pruney.

After the show we waded through the crowd of kids spilling out into the cool air of the street, which was likely still in the late 80′s, but felt incredibly good.  We walked back to the parking garage and when the elevator doors opened the group of people inside would not let us in. We must have looked pretty gross and Ryan was not wearing a shirt. So we climbed a few flights and hopped on an elevator on the sixth floor.

Back on the highway with the A/C blasting, we stopped at Sonic for a bucket of tots and limeade and then called it a night. As exhausted as I was, I did manage to shower before climbing in bed, which I’m quite thankful for now.

This is the point where I wish I was a better writer, so I could accurately depict what I witnessed and how absolutely happy it made me feel. I’ve been going to see this band at least once a year, every year, since I was sixteen until they broke up in 2006. This was the band that made me feel OK for being a weird, gawky, teenager with spikey blue hair and giant pants. I have seen them in tiny 80 capacity venues and huge festivals. It would have been 10 times better if Royce and Dan were playing, but it was still pretty damn good.

And now I leave you with one of my favorite TSM songs, which still gets me a little every time I hear it:

You’ve got no friends and so you’re lonely.
It does not have to be this way
Just be yourself, the one and only
It takes some time but that’s okay…

(And also a note: Last time I wrote about TSM it got linked on a blog and there was drama and I ended up taking it down. So please don’t link this post with out asking first. Thank you.)

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