I have just returned from an Andrew W.K. concert. My eye is black, my lip
is split, and I think I may have licked the basketball team's starting point
guard during a mosh.
Bruises decorate both my beaten arms, and I've got more bodily fluids on my
clothing
than I'd care to identify. So, you ask, how was the show?
It's time to party...
I've never been part of a more ...electric crowd. Over an
hour spent jumping, bouncing, head-bashing, and throwing punches in one-shot
fights with random strangers. W.K. keeps the crowd shouting through the entire
fucking show, even when he's not playing. Like between songs, when the
guitarist sprayed water on the front crowd, or when he caught a bra my friend
threw (he stole it, god knows who from, since it was huge),
put it on, and, grinning demonically, launched into "She Is Beautiful." We
were moshing, we were dancing, we were throwing punches at security and security
was saying
"fuck it" and
throwing 'em back. It was great, most energetic hour I've spent in forever.
And get this, there were only 100-or-so people there.
..Let's party...
You completely get the feeling that you're part of his show, not just an audience.
We threw clothing, he put it on (bra, boxers, sock...he put the sock on the
mike, go figure!). We yelled for songs, he played 'em. We threw a camera, he
took a picture of himself and threw it back (Don't ask what the picture was
...). At the end of the show, W.K. yells out for everybody to get onstage and
mosh, and security, un-fucking-believably, tried to stop us. Nice try. He's
screaming "I Get Wet," while 37 college kids are slamming around him, banging
out incongruous tunes on his keyboard, or sneaking in notes on the bass (that was me!). You
know what? It probably sounded like shit, but damn, it was fun.
..Don't even try and deny it...
We hung out by the bus before the show (yea, I know, it's lame...but hey)
and got to meet him. He talked to us, just casual, was cool ...bouncy as all
hell, though. If he were just some guy, I'd a been kinda worried about him,
he seemed to be holding so much energy in check. Told us to come back after
the show, and he'd give us some autographs (we, stupidly, didn't have a pen! stupid!). He
kept his promise, too. Great guy.
..We're gonna lose it all when you open your door!
So, if you ever, ever get the chance to see Andrew W.K. live, DO
IT! I promise, you won't regret it. If you've ever done anything
for the sheer, unbridled hell of it, do it again. I mean, my lip is bleeding,
and I'd head straight back, if he'd put on another show.