SOIA

Yes...last night was the Sick Of It All show in ABQ. Twenty years of rage. These guys understand me. There were 4 bands on the bill: With These Weapons, First Blood, Stretch Armstrong, and of course SOIA headlined. With These Weapons hail from ABQ and are a really tight HC ensemble. They were young but solid, with everyone holding up their end of the deal. Their appropriately high-energy frontman, Josh, told me they don't have a CD yet, which is a shame. They do have some shows coming up in the ABQ area that I'd like to catch, and you can download their stuff from a website I have yet to research.

First Blood are from SF and are also very tight. Their drummer has the requisite speed skills (it sounded like quadruple-bass pedals to me) but is not just a speedboy. Their lead guitarist made his Les Paul do things no self-respecting guitar should do. (That's a compliment.) Their vocalist is their goldmine, though...what a set of pipes on that young man.

I had heard of Stretch Armstrong in passing. They are a band name that you drop when you're seventeen and want to sound cool. About a minute into their set, I realized they simply did not belong in the lineup. They were straight-up Happycore and I didn't care for them at all. My Bitter Half got offered twenty bucks for his prime seat for one song, and he told the guy, "You can have it. This band SUCKS!." Near the end of the set I heard the vocalist mention something about catching their video on MTV 2 and Fuse, whatever that is, and knew my initial instinct was right. We were in the loft area with a good view of the pit and the kids went crazy for them, though. (Damned all-ages shows.)

Because we gave up our prime positions for the MTV bozos, we had to jockey for position for SOIA . I am still reeling. Front man Lou quipped, "People ask us all the time,'How can you still be angry after 20 years?' [I'm still angry] because people care more about Tom Cruise's baby than about what's going on in the world!" Later, he tore apart the MTV culture before launching into "Disco Sucks, Fuck Everything". The kids in the pit were blissfully unaware that they were the objects of mockery and kept cheering, while we above snickered at their cluelessness. The band is an inspiration to the thirtysomethings-plus in their unflagging energy levels. They were everything I'd hoped and then some.

My bitter half, in a rare state of bliss, sought the autograph of guitarist Pete. He told me we should try to meet him. I told him that would put me in the uncomfortable position of having my husband and my crush in the same proximity, but my pulse sped up nonetheless. Pete Koller is an unbearably attractive man. Sadly, the uncomfortable moment did not arise. On leaving, though, I shook Lou's hand and thanked him, and told bassist Craig that they did an outstanding job.

This was the best Mother's Day ever, and it's only my second one.