The Clackamas print., May 01, 2019, Page 4, Image 4

STORY BY VICTORIA DURLING
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF '.'aiviCTORIADURLING
Black leather and metal glinted
in the sun as we circled the venue
a fourth time looking for parking; the modest
lin e leaned a g a in s t the b rick facade o f the
b uild in g and some stepped aside to sm oke -
this show was one we had all waited 10 years to
see. “ Did 1 leave my cheese stick in the car?” I
asked m yself as I speed-walked into the breeze
toward the H aw thorne.
T ak in g our place in lin e , I se ttle d in and
liste n e d to a sle n d e r, lo n g -h a ir e d m an and
the petite woman in front of me chat about the
concert and about his friend who had purchased
the m eet and greet package. A sweet couple
stood behind me, chatting quietly and cuddling
- they, and roughly h alf of the total audience -
were old enough to be my parents. Twenty five
m inu tes past the “ doors o p en ” tim e printed
on my tick et, the line started m oving. Inside I
stepped through security to get wanded, where
I was inform ed I had som ething in my pocket
they needed to look at - I fished around, pulling
out the offender - my cheese stick. Chuckling
to m y s e lf, I put it back in to my pocket and
filtered through the dark hall into the theater.
People already pressed up against the barrier
at the front of the room to stake their place in
the front row and the show w asn’ t begin nin g
for another hour.
M illin g around, we waited for what fe lt like
ages as the room fille d up. F in ally the clock
h it 8:30 and the 1 show started. Opening up I
the n igh t, we first r watched a local band by
the name Die Robot - 1 noted that they weren’ t
o ffic ia lly a part o f the tour I ’ d com e to see.
T hough th e ir m usic is c la s s ifie d as Techno
online, the heavy handedness of Scream o-style
vocals left me with more of a knockoff, new-age
Green Day kind of vibe. I fe lt bad as I rocked
on my heels and listened to their set - I noted
a guy headbanging heavily to their songs while
everyone ch atted and h a lf-lis te n e d . I later
overheard the headbanger talkin g to another
girl in our area, “ Everyone is hyped for The
69 Eyes, so the underdog bands are g e ttin g
u n d e rlo o k e d .” The lady he spoke to agreed
p o litely. She w asn’ t into it either.
Even though the audience d id n ’ t reciprocate
the e n e rgy , the sin ger and g u ita rist stayed
hyped and had fun with his set and looked like
they were having fun. Their bassist, on the other
hand, took another path with her attitude. Cool
aloofness seemed to be the goal, while she fell
far short of th a t, com ing o ff as disinterested
and d istracted. Die Robot cleaned up their set
and removed their gear so that the second act
could get their gear o n sta g e . The N octurnal
A ffa ir enlivened the theater.
The classic lo n g -h a ire d m etalhead style of
three of the five bandm ates was enough for
the crowd to become interested - neverm ind
the fact that they opened up their first song
w ith som e heavy t e c h n ic a lly - in t e r e s t in g
g u ita r and am a zin g sy n ch ro n ize d w in d m ill
h e a d b a n g in g . The w hole set co n tin u ed th is
way and by the end everyone was in te n t on
the sta g e , a n tic ip a tin g the a rriv a l o f the
headliners. Antsy, I looked around the V room,
liste n in g to others around me. One I m ore
perform ance un til The 69 Eyes were ’ to go
on. I kept fid d lin g with the warm cheese stick
in my pocket. The w aiting killed me.
Sm oke m a ch in e s cran k ed up so h ig h we
.couldn’ t see more than eight feet in front of us,
a pretty blonde entered the stage with her one
other band m ate. MXMS perform ed som ething
like six songs and I sat on the floor to escape
the smoke. The girl next to me joined me on the
floor and we.bobbed along with the Indie-esque
b an d , who d escribe th e m se lv es as “ Funeral
Pop” on Facebook. She w asn’ t bad and I even
sang along when she encouraged us to join her'
in a rendition of “ Som ething in the W ay” by;
Nirvana. I ’ m the first to pitch a fit when anyone'
covers a song, let alone a Nirvana song, (a band
for which I have a tattoo,) but I appreciated thei
way she emphasized different parts of the song
than, Kurt did, and she further slowed down the:
already very somber m elody.
Back on my feet I.w aited on baited breath as;
the crew set up the stage for them : the band
w e’ d all been w a itin g to see. The band th at
hadn’ t toured the U .S ..in 10 years. It was 10:30
arid I was in anguish. H ot, crowded and thirsty,
I just wanted to see The 69 Eyes. In front of me
was a fath er and his son, there for his so n ’ s!
first concert, The 69 Eyes are his^second favorites
b an d. Before the set began they allow ed me-
to shoulder between them to read thé set list]
that the roadies had taped to the floor directly
in fro n t o f u s.-R ig h t then and there I co uld
have died. My heart nearly burst as I read line-
after line - The 69 Eyes were right behind the]
_
theclacka