One of the ways to stay balanced in the world today is to go out and have some fun every once in a while. During the start of the pandemic in 2020, most of us decided to stay at home and avoid contact with everyone. Lots of establishments were closed and we learned how to entertain ourselves at home.
Fast forward to the present, and things have been getting back to normal. But over the last few months, there have been hints of another strain of the COVID virus. I’ll see occasional mask-wearing out there, but for the most part, people are well on their way to getting back to regular in-person activities.
I found out early in life that I liked music. Now, I tried my hand at playing music with a Fender bass guitar, but to this day, the only song I can play is Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple. But I found a way to stick with my love of music, I became a DJ. I had a stereo system and crates of albums. I purchased another turntable, mixer, and microphone and before I knew it, I was getting hired to play at frat parties in college.
A new nightclub opened up near the university and I became the house DJ. The club had bands come play on the weekends and I played between sets. On the other nights, it was all me spinning the tunes. Not only did I do all the music, but I also handled the expansive light show. Wednesday night was college ID night and the place was always jammed-packed (easily exceeding the fire code attendance limit).
On the weekends, while the band was playing, the GM and I would go visit other clubs to scope out new talent to book at our place. I learned a lot about hiring bands and the business of music. I developed a true appreciation of the local music scene. There are bands that want to break out and try to make it big. There are also plenty of others who have regular day jobs and are very content doing what they love once or twice a week and are grateful to have a stage.
Fast forward to 2014, I saw this ad in the paper, Shoot To Thrill, Girls Rockin’ AC/DC. Now, who doesn’t like AC/DC but an All-Girl band? Is this group a spin-off of The Runaways? The venue was this hole-in-the-wall pub in Cary and I said I’ve got to see this. I did, and they were good. Not just good, really good. I would go see them again, and again, and again. The band I have seen the most times is The Ramones (5). I’ve seen STT way more than that.
Since the first first time I saw them, the lead singer, bass player, and drummer have all changed over time. But the core of Susan “Angus” on lead guitar and Wendy “Malcolm” on rhythm guitar has stood firm. Now with Kara as lead singer, Jai on bass, and Kate on drums, this is the best version of STT yet. Because of the pandemic and scheduling, I hadn’t seen STT in over three years.
I caught their show at the Lincoln Theater this past weekend. It was great to see and catch up with them, and other friends on the local music scene. Now some people like to make fun of me because I’m a Boomer hitting the clubs on a Saturday night. Maybe they think I should already be in bed after a hard day of pickleball (Oh, I don’t play pickleball). Their view of what I’m doing and what I should be doing is contradictory. It doesn’t make sense to them.
Always ignore naysayers. The reason they criticize is that something is lacking in their life. Music is something I enjoy and based on my history, this is one of the ways I enjoy consuming it. Naysayers don’t know my history so they don’t understand. That’s OK, ignore them and spend time having fun the way you think it should be.
I have never seen AC/DC live, but when I see Shoot To Thrill, I get a really good idea of what it would have been like. Thank you, ladies, keep on rockin’–n-rollin’.
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