This was originally written on 09.02.2002

Last night at the Garrison show, Marius handed me a little flyer he had made for a party he was having tonight. He told me that I should come. Well, as party time approached, I was, being my usual, non-gregarious self, a bit worried. As I walked the short distance to the Marchmont neighborhood, I even thought about turning around and just spend the rest of the evening struggling with computer architecture and reading Rushdie. I walked on though, and took a deep breath before heading up to the party. It was pretty small when I got there. Marius greeted me and showed me around the flat. The Pop Idols final was on the tele, and Marius said that he reckoned that was the reason not many people had shown up yet. Well, the kid with the stutter lost, and as if on cue, kids started showing up. I don't go to parties, and usually don't have fun when I do, but I found tonight that parties are definitely more fun when you go alone. Back in Columbus, at a party, you just see your friends and talk about the same sort of things that you would talk about any other time. If someone wants to bail, you feel obligated to go as well, and most people don't seem like they're having much fun anyway. When you go alone, it's sink or swim and you have to just go out and try to meet new people. That's definitely a good scenario for someone in a new place, because meeting people can be hard. Going abroad has been good for me for a number of reasons, but one of the biggest is that it's forced me to be more outgoing and to meet people and go out with them rather than hole myself up in my room. At the party, I met an American who studies at Smith, and her Austrian friend. We talked about politics, and the Austrian political climate in general. The most interesting thing that I found, was that the Austrian said that the rightward shift in Austrian politics was portrayed somewhat unfairly by the media as similar movements were gaining ground in Spain and France as well. I always find it fascinating to get different perspectives on government and politics, though I guess I should feel a little guilty for talking about politics at a party. I later met another Austrian, and spoke with her about the normal student stuff: courses, traveling, music, etc. The most interesting part of the conversation was when we both realized that we knew Dana and had that odd small world realization feeling. At about 13:00, I was feeling pretty tired and decided to head back home. I said goodbye to Marius, thanked him for the invite, and told him I hoped to make it to the Piebald show during the upcoming week.

I thought that I'd get to go straight to bed, with maybe a little late night reading. That was not to be. When I came in, Pete and Iain's friend from A-deen were talking in the common room. When I had first met Iain's friend Colin (or Cullen, I'm not sure) (actually, I now think it's Collum)he seemed pretty quiet. Definitely not a walking liability like certain anectdotes seemed to indicate. Well, I can now see why the latter characterisation might be more accurate. This kid is madness. When pished, he is a character and a half, and a truly hilarious and engaging storyteller to boot. When I came in, he was telling Pete a story about how he almost went to bed with a friend's forty-something mother. This led way to a re-telling of the infamous Volvo through a fence story, which led to a diatribe about his Super Bowl viewing experience. I was a bit unnerved when he started talking about how much he loved the confederacy and how he always supports a southern team over a northern one (for some reason he considered St. Louis part of the deep south). I could have tried to set him straight, but he could hardly remember my name, so I'm guessing he wouldn't have walked away with much, even if I had tried to reason with him. He eventually departed, and I was left alone with Pete. This weekend, evidently had been a hard one for the kid, and he had some troubles with his girlfriend. I think that they broke up, or at least agreed to take the relationship down a notch. It seemed like Pete was fairly upset, and it reminded me of when I ran into him at Cavendish earlier that week and he told me that he felt like he was "pulling his own bird". That idea struck me as really tragic and I hope I never have to feel like I'm trying to win my sigoth over after a long absence. So, we talked about that for awhile. It was an akward conversation, the sort where someone you don't know really well tells you more about themselves than you expected. Furthermore, I'm never sure if I should just listen attentively, or try to offer some sort of advice.

This was originally written on 09.02.2002

Last night was great, and though I felt pretty awful when I woke up this morning, the music of the show still ringing in my ears, things were much better after I showered and scored some cereal.

Yesterday afternoon was a rainy mess and after fighting with awk and sed all afternoon, I almost couldn't be asked to go all the way to Glasgow for the show. However, as Iain and Marco were going going home to the 'Deen for the weekend, I definitely didn't want to be alone in the flat. So, Rob gave me a lift to the bus stop on the way to taking Marco to the train station. I hopped the 6:30 bus for Glasgow after phoning Brooke to make arrangements to be met at the bus station.

The bus ride was uneventful if not a little boring. It was dark so I couldn't really see the scenery and was feeling a little nauseas from all the stopping and starting of the bus, but I arrived unscathed. Brooke met me at the station, and we walked towards the club. If Edinburgh weather is bad, Glasgow weather, being on the west coast, is 10 times worse. We were more than a little wet by the time we made it to the 13th Note Club. So we sat around talking for a while. Her stories of drunken craziness weren't quite as good the second time around, but the conversation wasn't bad. She reminds me a whole lot of kids I grew up with, and sharing anecdotes from small town PA is like revisiting my adolescence albeit from the other side of things. I always like kids who have a wild nature to them, and at least she seems like someone who keeps things under control, despite a penchant for misadventure. The doors opened and we checked out the first band. They were pretty lame. Young kids playing mediocre rock music with all the influences of your run of the mill MTV stock. I wasn't suspicious because the local opener of the Cave-In show was of an equally (if not worse) caliber. However, as I looked around, the other kids in the place were not exactly the scenesters one would expect at an emo show. Inquiring at the bar confirmed that the Garrison show was at the 13th Note's other venue, the 13th Note Cafe. No problem they said, the show had probably only just started over at the cafe and, get this, they would refund my cover! I had heard that the 13th Note had just recently weathered some financial difficulties, and now I know why. They're too damn nice! Definitely support these people if you're ever in Glasgow. So, we walked the five minutes to the cafe hoping that we hadn't missed too much of the show.

When we got to the show, a more than decent Scottish melodic punk band was playing and Marius and Lauren greeted me at the door. A short digression is in order to explain the small, small, world relationship that hooked me up with these kids. Lauren went to high school with my former housemates Steven and Katelynn. In addition, she met my friend Dana while Dana was studying in Edinburgh during the fall. Marius is a friend of hers whose info I also got from Dana. A small, small world indeed. So in between sets I chatted with them a little about upcoming shows and asked Lauren for news about the Sweet Life. I felt kind of bad since Brooke didn't know any of them, not that I really did either, but I'm really glad to have a loose network of aquaintences here. It makes living in a foreign city much easier.

The next band to play was an emo band from France. I don't remember what they were called, but I liked them a lot. They played run of the mill new-emo, but did it really well. Strangely, their drummer was their lead vocalist, maybe because his command of English was the best. It was funny to see their caricature of American rock institutions with their guitar posing and devil horned drumstick grips. Awesome.

Garrison went on at about 20:30 and they were pretty rocking, although abit full of themselves. I think that I liked the French band a bit better, but Garrison played a good set. The space was crowded, and the kids were down, so it was all good. Garrison also plays a new-emo sort of music, though it has some interesting idiosyncrasies to it. They've released a split with UK post-hardcore favorites Hundred Reasons, and a new full length entitled "Be A Criminal" on Revelation Records. I snapped some photos of their show which I will get around to developing some day.

After the show, despite her objections, I walked Brooke part of the way home. I wasn't trying to be chivalrous, but I wasn't sure how well she new that part of town, and I've heard from some people that Glasgow can be a bit dodgy. On the bus ride home from the Cave-In show, Marius told me how he had a close encounter with a would-be mugger, and he's a fairly big guy so I guess it pays to be careful. We walked back to the center city before I bid her adieu and headed for the bus station. I had missed the midnight bus so I waited around for the later one (damn I wish there were cheap inter-city busses in the states that ran late at night) and read my copy of Fracture that I had got at the show. Fracture is this free UK fanzine that, from my limited exposure, features some really great personal anecdotes, interviews, and record reviews. Standard, zine stuff, I guess, but I thought it was good. The most interesting thing was getting a UK punk perspective on America, and in particular the whole 9/11 disaster.

posted by geoff on 2/15/2002 07:25:25 AM
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posted by geoff on 2/15/2002 07:24:32 AM
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semester abroad spent drinking with other american students

I saw this article in The Onion, and thought that it was far too true for many kids I've encoutnered over here in Scotland.

From the article:

Blevins, who said Seville is "in the Moor part of Spain," has not visited such landmarks as the Catedral, the largest Gothic edifice ever constructed, or the Museo Provincial des Bellas Artes, a museum in a former convent which houses works by Murillo, Ribera, and El Greco. He has, however, made three trips to the American Club, "this great bar near campus where they've got Dave Matthews on the jukebox and Sam Adams on tap."

posted by geoff on 2/15/2002 07:13:29 AM
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