Original Murder City Devils Photograph Taken From The Box Set
T’s Take:
Driving into Seattle from the airport for our Murder City trip, one of the first things that struck me was the shipping docks. Trying to ignore the fact that I was zipping by in a rented Prius, my mind took me to the song Press Gang. Living in Jersey all your life makes the rest of the world wholly un-relatable. So for a minute I tried to relate as best I could with Seattle’s past by means of the way I relate to most things, through song. And so I pictured brother P and I strung up on the docks with the gulls pecking out our eyes. Past the docks Murder City awaited. Or so we thought.
Killing time before the show was no easy task. It was a Wednesday afternoon and not much was going on anywhere, unless you count homeless people and art students wandering around as something going on. Past that we could have visited the Space Needle, which probably would’ve been the equivalent of visiting the Statue of Liberty on my home turf (something I’ve still never done). So instead we drove around trying to get our bearings and find something to kill the time. Before we left we corresponded briefly with the band via email asking for suggestions of tattoo shops to check out. When we finally found the one they recommended behind a well-hidden alley, the two artists working were with other customers which suited us fine as their books didn’t really pop out at us anyway. Eventually the sun went down and we headed out to the club.
The Showbox Theater sat about a block and a half away from the water and fish market so for dinner seafood it was. One thing I will say about Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in general is they do know how to brew some kickass beer. Halfway through my first pint and a half of Pike Tandem Ale at the seafood restaurant we hit up, I was already getting the feeling and starting to come around for the show. Afterwards we browsed a couple record shops on the way over to the venue in true FSS fashion.
Apparently P’s 8 year expired Jersey Driver’s license is good enough to get on a plane, but not so good as to get into the bar at the front of the Showbox Theater. So we ended up standing in line outside watching some homeless insanity and freezing our Jersey asses off for a good hour before doors.
Thankfully when we finally did make it in they were still selling the Feather Bed Whiskey Blanket box sets and we quickly bought two and checked them with the adorable 16 year old in a Nirvana shirt at the coat check (they sell them in gift shops there). I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried all night whether or not they’d still be there after the show. I’ve since seen them go for over $800 on eBay which is insane as it cost the FSS less than that to fly to Seattle, see the show, and buy the records ourselves.
Now I’ve been to shows all over… New York, LA, Boston, Philly, etc., but never in my life have any of them been as cold. It had to be 35 degrees inside that club. If anything it added to an already odd experience. Cap Lori and Past Lives opened and neither seemed like a fitting lead in for Murder City. I’d be lying if I said I was a little more than worried before MCD took the stage. Up until that point the whole damn experience had been a hodgepodge of the surreal, and nothing seemed to add up to where we thought it would. Before the night was over, it was entirely possible that we would be strung up on those docks, condemned as strangers in a strange place.
All my fears had been laid to rest with the opening chords of the mighty MCD. I immediately forgot all that brought me there and was finally for the first time during our trip in Murder City. The band tore through their catalog of hits with a vengeance. Johnny Thunders, 18 Wheels, Dance Hall Music, Get Off the Floor, Dancin’ Shoes, Broken Glass, Press Gang, Rum to Whiskey, Idle Hands, Bear Away, One Vision of May, and I Want A Lot Now. Spencer went for it as hard as he could, at times shoving the mic halfway down his throat as he screamed. The band followed accordingly. Finally I had gotten what I came for. Rock and Roll escape.
I guess that’s the thing about any town. Seattle or Jersey. Sometimes you have to forget your surroundings, let the music take over, and make it what you want. People ask me where Murder City is. I say it’s in my, it’s in my heart.
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