Fangs... sort of down and to the side

I drove from the north shore to the south shore through traffic and construction on a Monday night, and joined Cara for another hour plus of driving into Rhode Island, all in pursuit of our beloved Cobra Starship. Little could we have known that everything that could've gone wrong, would.

The exit we were supposed to take didn't exist. We went straight to exit 3 without ever passing a 1 or a 2. We finally found our way to the neighborhood where the concert was taking place and it was S. K. E. T. C. H. Y. To the extent that I crossed myself every time we came to a stop line in case being a stationary target would invite gunfire.

^ A shady Sunoco where we pulled over to check the GPS.

The only reason we even found the venue was because Vicky T, who plays keytar for the band, was standing on the sidewalk outside the first time we drove past.


Then we parked in the sketchy garage and argued with the "valet," who ultimately let us keep the keys.

The venue was called Hell. I think the name must have referred to its location; the inside wasn't so bad. Sure it was tiny - I imagine hell being much bigger than this place and having much worse music - but there was no grease on the walls. No blood stains. No bullet holes. Judging by the ladies' room, it was at least as clean as the Palladium. Which isn't saying much, mind you; I'm just saying it could have been worse.

However, the volume in hell would have been about the same. I don't know why sound guys (and girls) can't figure out the difference between a medium venue and a small venue... and a hole in the wall. You just can't play music at Palladium volume in a hole in the wall like Hell. It effing hurts. My ears didn't stop ringing until Friday or Saturday.

The show was okay. I always say there are two bands in this world that make me want to shake my ass: Cobra Star, and 3OH!3. Still true. But one thing they're not is showmen. They don't interact well with the audience. They don't spread the love around. I was three rows back from the stage and didn't once make eye contact with them. Gabe never came over to shake hands with any of us.
They talked a lot between songs without really saying anything. I've seen them before and their banter was funny then, but it mostly fell flat tonight. They didn't play more than two songs (if that) from their "new" album, which came out a whole month ago. I thought the point of touring was to promote new music? I get that the point of Cobra Starship is not to give a fuck about anything or anyone, but if they keep up this attitude toward their fans, it won't be long before they don't have any.

At least that's the way it should work.

But their music is just too damn good to hate 'em!