Alarming Female

Just got in last night from Reno after a quickie road trip to see the Foo Fighters and Against Me. It was a blast from beginning to end, largely due to my traveling companions:

John, Yasmine, and James. No, John and James are not gang members, despite the red bandannas and goofy poses; they were just prepared to mosh (which, much to their disappointment, was a bust—the Reno crowd was pretty unresponsive). Three very cool teens who are like sibs and who are all laid back and funny. Easy traveling companions and much beloved.

The Reno Events Center is a really small venue compared to, say, the Delta Center (oops—I mean Energy Solutions Arena). One tier of seats, about half as deep–it was cool. General admission seating, but I was able to get a seat really close, and of course the kids were on the floor.

How far from SLC to Reno, you may ask? Over 500 miles. Left on Thursday, returned on Saturday. Motel 6-ed it in between. I’m tired and sore from sitting in the car but it was worth it. I even missed Utah a little bit—primarily for the smoke-free atmosphere. You could never get away from the cigarette smoke in Reno; even the “non-smoking” motel room reeked.

Dave Grohl and the band were as awesome as expected and played for a solid two hours. I love this band—though I’m partial to any band who imbue their lyrics with attacks against injustice and hypocrisy (take that, GWB, you fucking pretender).

I’ve seen Against Me before in SLC—they weren’t their previously raggedy selves; I guess selling out will do that to a band. Not that I blame them; it’s hard for punk bands to go big after singing about “stickin’ it to the man” for so long. And they do make fun of themselves for it–you gotta give ‘em that (watch the video for “Stop” in the link above.) I enjoyed them, too.

Back to real life and work tomorrow. No good concerts on the horizon, either. Bummer.