I am home now, on my stationary bicycle.

The show was swell. I always love going to The Smell, even after a hot day when the place acts much like a greenhouse would act. I paid my five dollars to allow my entrance and to get a kitty stamped on my wrist to allow my entrance several more times throughout the night. My first order of business was to purchase a copy of the new AIDS Wolf album, March To The Sea from their singer, Chloe. We spoke for a couple of minutes, she has a very firm handshake. After walking the CD to my car, and eating an apple, I went back inside to see an all female band named L.A. Dies (so incredibly clever) I recognized their guitar player as the singer from Kit, and their drummer as a member of Foot Village. Their set was a debut, a little shaky but very fun. I really hope they continue to play, because something is there.
Up next was Captain Ahab. I had heard the name a lot, but never actually seen these guys before tonight. I always imagined they would be a loud, fast band, but what they do is beyond description. I will attempt: Captain Ahab is two guys, one who does a sort of DJ/Live electronics thing with ironic club music, while the other guy dances like he is at the club. He jumped around on stage a bit, then he came into the crowd and danced with people, touched them, wrapped himself nearly around a few of us, all with a very sexual, grinding kind of feel. By the third song he was wearing nothing but his underwear. There was also video to go along with the music... the video was nothing short of amazing, that's all I can really say about it.

XBXRX played next. Short, fast and loud, as always. I went all the way to the front and as soon as the music began the crowd went completely batshit crazy, as is to be expected. I felt it was a little excessive, but the real trouble was to come during the next set. About one minute into the XBXRX set I had to shuffle to the side to avoid being battered by a bunch of rowdy hooligans. The big trouble was that I was constantly being hit in the face and head by other heads of other humans... Heads are one of the harder parts of a human. The set was great, as is to be expected.
AIDS Wolf. What can anybody really say about this band that would give anyone a clue as to what is going on at their shows? Just go see them, as soon as you are graced with the opportunity. This band, now a three piece, consists of a drummer, a guitarist, a singer, drums, guitar, microphone and a stage full of amps and other noisy gear. AIDS Wolf is great. AIDS Wolf is brutal. Let's talk about the crowd though... this is where all hell broke loose. At first things seemed fine. Everyone was kind of rushing the stage and smashing themselves together into a sort of human goo. Fine. Then, as things got more rowdy, less people were in the pit area and more room was established to run amok in. People all seemed to be swinging their fists and elbows around, and inevitably a fight was trying to break out between two tiny men, in a galaxy of one hundred-billion stars. There were enough people to diffuse the situation, which took a few tries before finally one of the men just walked off. Then things were more spread out and people took to running as fast as they could into other humans and forming allies with whom they would clasp together and plow into people. When decency really degraded piles of humans would form on the cement floor until one brave soul would pry each one off and sort of throw him in some direction. A lot of people, including members of the band, seemed rather perplexed by such behavior. My thought, "Relax, it's just music." Earlier when I had purchased the new AIDS Wolf album, in my chat with Chloe she mentioned that the new album seemed to divide the listeners, meaning not everyone likes it. I then said I would let her know what I thought of it, "on facebook or something" and she suggested I tell her after the show, so I waited until the merch booth that she was running cleared and told her how much I enjoyed the set. We also talked about the absurdity of the crowd, she was pretty confused by it, as was I.
I drove home listening to Inara George and Van Dyke Parks' album titled, An Invitation, for a change of mood. I then came home and talked to my pets a little bit, and amped myself up for a ride to nowhere on my stationary bicycle, which I have now been on for seventy-seven minutes... Got to go, NOW!