Damn, we went to so many concerts together. His dad was a cop and we would walk in with him and wait in the medical room until the doors opened. Then we'd run upstairs and try to sit perpendicular to the drummer in the balcony. I can't remember ever watching a concert with Serbi where we stood on the floor - it was always sitting in the balcony, watching in awe as the drummer amazed us. We wanted to do that. In fact, somewhere I have an essay I wrote around that time in my life about how I was going to make it on to a stage like the Five Seasons Center and how I'd have Serbi be my roadie. Hee hee. I had big dreams back then. As for Faster Pussycat, I can't say I would remember their concert if I didn't have a cassette bootleg of it that I listened to many times right after the concert though it's easily been 20 years since I heard it. I used to take my dad's portable cassette recorder and a couple of 90 minute cassette tapes. I would turn on the recorder and set it under my chair. One time, an usher saw me setting it there and shook her finger at me. I implied through my body language that I had turned it off - I didn't. The Faster Pussycat concert was one where I successfully recorded the concert. "Don't Change That Song" was their first song and they tried to get the crowd going. They announced they were from Los Angeles, CA, and since they were in eastern Iowa, I can only imagine the culture shock they felt.
The second time I saw Faster Pussycat was at a bar called Big Dog's that was near the Czech Village in Cedar Rapids. It was Mother's Day in 1993. I was with Serbi (again) to see them play. I think tickets were $10, if that. This stands out in my mind for a couple of reasons. First, I had come home from work that day to find a note on the kitchen table that my parents had gone out of town to a golf tournament with my brother. That was how my family communicated - notes on a table. Second, as a childish reaction, I got really drunk that night. I was catered to by Serbi because he lived in Palo and would come to my house to pick me up and then drive. There were so many nights that we went out when he was the designated driver. I know now that I was a very selfish friend when it came to who was going to drive. I also know that I never gave him money for gas to put in his car as he hauled my ass around town - another reason I was selfish. A third reason I think I was selfish back then is that I often needed him to be my right-hand man* when it came to going out. I can't count the number of times when I was beyond 'buzzing' and into 'smashed drunkenness' territory. So selfish of me. Serbi didn't bitch about it - he just would enable me to get drunk and have a good time.
Why do I mention these Faster Pussycat concerts from 1987 & 1993? It was that song I mentioned - "Don't Change That Song" - that came to my mind as being the opposite of what those bands thought when I read about the bands that wanted Donald Trump to not play their music.
Here's that article about bands not wanting to have Donald Trump's candidacy associated with their music.
Speaking of Trump, this article attempts to explain Republicans sticking with or walking away from him by using
poker. It's quite an interesting article but, sadly, it doesn't explain how awesome Anika Nilles is on this song:
* I intentionally used that phrase because I saw the sneak peek for The Walking Dead, Season 7, which is called "Right Hand Man" and I wanted a way to embed it on this blog!
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