semperfiona | It's been the worst day since yesterday...Flogging Molly concert!

The concert was fabulous, let me say that right off.

Tammie and I were on the phone just before Christmas, trying desperately to come up with a gift idea for Chris. I started surfing around looking for concerts of his favorite musicians, and decided on a whim to try Flogging Molly. Whaddya know, they were coming to St. Louis Feb. 25, and whaddya know even more, tickets were available! So I immediately acquired some, and we've been looking forward to the event ever since.

Anyone who has visited our house in about the last eight months knows: if there's music on, there's been about a 30% chance¹ that it's from the Mollies. One of David's friends had made a memorial photo montage for him to "What's Left of the Flag", and upon hearing that we made a concerted (heh) effort to acquire their whole oeuvre. It's loud and energetic--and fraught with a double-edged meaning for all of us but Chris in particular. Because of that, T & I were worried and excited about the concert at the same time.

We worried, too, about the venue. The Pageant doesn't have much seating available, and Chris is not comfortable (read: excruciating pain) when standing for too long. But he called them and asked, and they put us on a 'disability early admittance' list. It was supposed to be him plus one, but on the day they let both of us in.

There were two opening acts: The Mighty Stef, an Irish swing-punk band which we all enjoyed very much although I couldn't understand much of what he was saying, and The Aggrolites, an L.A. "dirty reggae" group. We bought albums from both of them, and I've listened to the Mighty Stef album already today. It's almost a completely different experience than the live show: the songs are melodic and almost mellow, with orchestration and backup singers, where the show was just four guys, instruments, and deafening amplification.

I liked the Aggrolites more than either of my partners did, but then I'm a sucker for bouncy music. Not that they disliked it, just in comparison they liked it less.

Flogging Molly came on about ten and played for an hour and a half. Tammie invited me to mosh but I was disinclined. I can't stand being surrounded and bumped into by people I don't know. I like to dance, but it's hard for me to find a happy medium, where there is enough space on the floor (or enough of the people are my friends) for me to be comfortable but where there are enough people to generate crowd energy. She moshed by herself. Well, obviously not by herself, but Chris and I stayed in or at least near our seats. Even from there the energy was terrific. My throat hurts from yelling and sing-screaming.

After dancing a while Tammie came back, and she was with us when "I Won't Leave this World Alive" came on, immediately followed by "What's Left of the Flag". We all stood up together and held on tightly to each other.

¹Recto-statistic extraction tool, U.S. Pat. Pend.