The Alt Black

On October 18th, 2015 I woke up eager for the events that would take place that night. I’ve been a fan of Real Friends since late 2012 and when I saw that they were coming back to town I wasn’t going to miss out on seeing them. I went through my normal concert rituals not eating breakfast, constantly checking the time on my phone, and the most important saving my voice for the show.  This show would be the first show that I attended alone, in addition to taking the metro by myself for the first time. My destination The Fillmore, in Sliver Spring Maryland, to see Real Friends on the AP tour.

When I arrived at the metro station the first thing that hit me was the scent of marijuana being smoked openly. Ok….. I thought to myself this is different, as I proceeded to the station to get my metro ticket. Before I could enter the station I was stopped by a man who needed money for a ticket. He had said that he had just gotten out of the hospital and needed money for a ticket to see his wife and kids. I reached into my pocket to give the man a dollar. Immediately his response was “That’s not enough sir”.  Taken aback by his response I gave him a five dollar bill and continued to get my ticket. (The man had approached one more time asking for more money, at this point, I told the man that I had no more money to give.)

Once I had finally read the signs, talked to the grouchy woman in the ticket booth, and been assisted by a Metro officer I got the information that I needed to get on the metro. Seeing as it was my first time on the metro, I was a little nervous, the last thing that I wanted to do was get lost in a place that I wasn’t familiar with.  After taking my seat in the car I called a friend who has assured me that if I took her directions that I’d reach the venue.

After an hour long train ride, transferring from train to train, and numerous calls to my friend I had reached my destination.  Silver Spring was a small city, sidewalks, tall buildings, with people who were on the move. Feeling a bit empty after my trip I walked into a McDonald’s for a quick bite. (Something that I’d regret later) After I was done eating cheap food, I started the walk to the Fillmore.  The telltale sign that you’re going in the right direction is the ever-present line that wraps around a venue and stretches on for blocks. ( the wait begins, thankfully I only stood in line for 20-30 minutes.)

As I entered the venue the first thing that I noticed was the size of the floor, compared to the others venues that I had been in.  This excited me, one of my favorite things about going to shows is the crowd. There’s a certain vibe that is created when you’ve got a room full of people anxiously waiting to go all out when their band takes the stage.  In typical concert fashion, I visited the merch table (The merch guy from Real Friends is Dan, I’d seen him earlier that year at Warp Tour selling merchandise for Knuckle Puck). I surveyed the table, walked around a to get a feel for the venue and came back to see Kyle ( the songwriter/ bass player for Real Friends).I turned to the guy beside me ” Dude, that’s Kyle.” He replied, “yeah dude Kyle is awesome.” I ended up buying a vinyl (Three Songs About The Past Year of My Life) and having a quick conversation with Kyle.  (time for the show to start)

It took a while for the show to start, longer than I was used to waiting through all of the sound checks.  I struck up a conversation with the guy who I’d met at the merch table, and came to find out that he had an autographed pair of Dave’s shoes (pretty cool).

The show opener was As It Is a pop punk band from the U.K (you might know their song Dial Tones). Being the opener of a show can be difficult, the opening band has to set the mood for the show, but it can even more difficult when you got a crowd that is less than enthused. Which was exactly what the crowd that night was in my opinion. In instances where I am not familiar with a band, I still participated in the act, clapping my hands, responding back to the performers. This crowd was disappointingly stagnant, and this attitude followed through This Wildlife set. Throughout the sets, the bands would constantly ask the audience are they awake or do the roll call of other bands in an attempt to get the audience involved. (During This Wildlife set, I got the chance to talk to Brian(the drummer for Real Friends) about the show tonight.   This Wildlife had a moment where the lead singer asked everyone to turn on their flashlights during the set, but that was the most alive the crowd had been all night.

After This Wildlife finished their set, I felt the excitement in the pit of my stomach, I had just met a couple where only one of them knew about Real Friends. ” You are in for a show tonight sir, song that,” I told the man as I recalled the times I had seen Real Friends live. The song that they performed was Cover You Up (I think), the third track from their most recent album Maybe This Place is The Same and We’re Just Changing.  Instantly I was in the moment, shouting the lyrics, jumping and down I felt exhausted (I blame the McDonald’s). Throughout the set the audience barely moved around or sang along with the lyrics. At one point in the set Dan (the singer) asked to the crowd to sing because of the strain on his voice. Still the majority audience just stood there, stagnant statues.  Being a dedicated fan, I made every song count. Of course this lead to people asking me to calm down(ers), or passively being aggressive.

Truth is I never people like that get to me, going to a rock show warrants a type of behavior and if you can’t handle either go to the back or if the venue has one go to the balcony.

Once Real Friends finished their set I left the venue. I’m not a big fan of MayDay Parade, the only song that I know is I Swear This Time I Mean It. (which thanks to a youtube video I saw that they performed it.)  After the show, I went to Qdoba the Mexican Grill for a handmade bowl absent of any directions from me. ( I asked the man on the line to make me a bowl that he would eat).  The bowl was what I needed as I began my walk back to the metro.  I had a good experience riding the Metro, I can see myself doing it more often. The show that I saw was great despite the stoic attitude of the crowd.