The New Atakke

Yesterday I did "Elizabeth" the workout at Crossfit NYC Black Box. Both my girlfriend and my mother share that name. Anywho it 21-15-9 reps of squat cleans and ring dips. I did it in 16 min with 115# cleans and unassisted ring dips. Last time I did it with 95# cleans and used a rubber band to help with the dips. Plus I learned how to kip my dips. Progress feels good!

That night Elizabeth and I went to see Atakke last night for the first time since they kicked me out. They played with Amebix and Kylesa. A whole bill of gibberish band names. I got there early and Atakke was sound checking, they sounded good.

My old train hopping friend Toby was there. Blast from the past, yo! I spent the bulk of 2001 riding freight trains across the country with her. I was awesome to see her. We chatted a bunch. My old boss, Ian, from Dragonfly Courier was there too. He'd been laid off from the architectural fabrication job he took after selling Dragonfly and was looking for work. He asked me for a job. It was depressing.

Seeing Atakke suck, sucked. They were sloppy sounding and Nick (the guy who replaced me) was stiff, barely moving. By the end of the set they were out of tune. My lady friend gave me a Twinkie for some reason and sheer willpower kept me from throwing at them. They ruined my band. I think would have been happier (jealous but happier) if they were better without me, but they weren't. It was just sad.

Kylesa just killed it. I was rocking out hard until this one drunk kid ruined it. He kept getting on stage and putting his arm around Laura while she was playing. My girlfriend pulled him off stage twice and he hurt himself pretty bad. I was in a shit mood, so once he this happened I went from rocking out to watching this kid to see if he would fuck with Elizabeth so I could justify beating him up. When their set was over I turned to the guy next to me and said "If that kid stage dived one more time I was gonna steal his shoes." He replied with "I tried but they were double knotted."

I left two songs into Amebix. I have to admit I like their artwork way better than their music. Kinda like the Velvet Underground. Out front I watched the bouncers fuck with a drunk punk kid trying to get in to see Amebix while Elizabeth talked to her friend Scott from when she worked at NY Mag. Ian came around the corner, stumbling drunk and tried to get back in and the bouncers wouldn't let him back in either. He shared a cigarette with the young mohican as we hailed a taxi back to Brooklyn.