tripseven3

TRIP SEVEN - CON'T AGAIN!

You know, I'm not going to apologize for the rambling. If you've read this far then you probably know me pretty well and know I can't help myself when it comes to gabbing, esp. about roadtrips. Sooo take a break, grab a beer, whatever. Grab a pillow, it's gonna be a LOOONNNNG nite!

After a moment of protest and Moo making it obvious that she was highly embarassed, I put my shirt back on. We walked around inside for a minute, Moo found a watch in the bathroom, booked it outside and changed into some dry clothes/pajamas. We watched them load all their stuff in, talked to one of the "slaves" for a bit and he scolded us for buying tickets again. "We'll put you on the guest list, just let us know what shows you'll be at..." Very nice gesture which was ended up taking almost every nite, but I felt horrible cause I don't like feeling like a mooch. Moo & I are self sufficient and it damages my ego to think of accepting help when it's not necessary. Good thing we said yes tho, because pretty soon we'd be beyond broke!!! (BTW, I'm going to avoid use of first names as much as possible, I dunno how they'd feel 'bout me rambling 'bout them and I can't exactly ask for permission either!) I got alot of comments about my shirt, I sported my fav. W.A.S.P. one with the "Animal" LP cover and the back of the shirt read, "I FUCK LIKE A BEAST". One of the many lessons learned on the trip I'll get to at the end of the show review! If that ever happens. We chatted alot that nite with everyone, got to know Moo's future punching bag alot better too. She probably started in with her cutdowns that nite, can't remember. Very peaceful sorta evening, and of course we were psyched that when we woke up in the morning we'd get to do it again!
Weird moment: One of the security guards was a dude we'd met in Austin, TX at a DBX show about 6 weeks earlier. Moo recognized him, don't ask me how! He was psyched that he got to work the GWAR show and had a blast.
We packed up the car and headed to eat, lord knows what we ate. Probably something that just gave us the runs. Stopped at the Welcome Center for S.C. for a good nite's slumber. But not before Moo grabbed as many hygiene products possible and retreated to the bathroom sink to "take a shower". The video footage is funny since it was those "sensor sinks" that only turn on when it thinks your hands are there. Imagine trying to rinse shampoo and conditioner out of really long ass hair in one of those then drying it under the hand dryer. I was far too lazy to bathe nor did I give a fuck. In fact I thought it was kinda cool that I'd be showing up with the same bloodstains all over my body and wearing the same clothes.
Our plan was to sleep till noon. Unfortunately, the hot blazing sun came up around 9am and woke us. We couldn't get back to sleep either so just decided, "Fuck it!" and drove to Atlanta, showing up STUPIDLY early. I think it was around 1pm when we got there!! Atlanta was another nite where we weren't going to get a hotel room so we seriously had nothing to do. Sooo we pulled up, grabbed some towels to sit on, a discman, some CDs, bottles to drink and plopped our asses outside the ticket window. And sat. And sat. And sat. ZzzzzzZzZZZzz... I think we tried to nap but it wasn't working. Some of the employees came out and asked what we were doing there. "We want front row!" was our war cry. "OMG you girls are crazy... it's early, you'll get your front row alright..." Yeah damn straight we better! And center! Even though we learned last nite that center is kinda rough in the sense that you get hit with so much stuff you can't keep your eyes open to enjoy it... Atlanta would be our last nite standing center. After that, it was back to the right side of left side, we tried to alternate nites but usually we'd just stand wherever we saw an empty space upon darting into the club and knocking down everyone in our way.
Then we started to see some familiar faces, heard everyone call us looney, nuts, twisted, etc... every word in that vein that was uttered was just another ego boost that made us grin ear to ear. Sorry if we're scaring ya but we just wanna see a show! (Or 2, or 3... or 14). After about 2 hours one of them came outside and told us to go upstairs to the dressing room and make ourselves at home. Huh?!!?! How are we supposed to do that? Talk about an uneasy, queasy feeling! But it was so hot outside we accepted. Of course along the way to upstairs we passed all the props and then a small yellow room where all the costumes were laid out. I gasped and covered my eyes, NOOOO!!!! I can't see this, I was scared, I know, I'm such a pussy. We bounded up the stairs real fast and saw a couch. We plunked down and tried to nap. One of those moments where Moo & I were kinda cranky and snapped at each other. There was all kinds of food and drink around that we were offered but I ran back to the car and bought up some of our munchies instead. I think the whole time we were up there we took ONE grape. Sorry, but after hearing the line of, "...slaughtered half the crew cause they ate my deli tray!" you won't feel any desire to touch the food upstairs! Esp. at a GWAR show. We napped for a bit and snapped at each other some more, arguing like catty little bitches about lord knows what. Whenever someone would walk in we'd quickly hush and play nice. Fortunately we almost always had company. They waltzed in and out, some gave us funny looks since we were invading their space but I swear we were given permission!!! Moo's punching bag came up and we rambled forever. The bathroom backstage was something to write home about, let me tell you! We watched some of the staff change a lightbulb down in the "yellow" room where all the costumes were. I probably held my breath and closed my eyes half the time, not just cause it stinks like hell in there but I was really freaked out. It was pretty obvious that I was feeling really uncomfortable so one of them who was back there with us picked up his mask and shoved it near my face, I cried out and hopped away, almost clinging to Moo while they laughed. Best thing about their hospitality and letting us hang out before the show? Doors opened at 8pm but since we were already inside, we bolted and ran for the front around 7:55pm, securing our front row & center designated spot.
By now, we were digging Cattle Decapitation and Bloodlet! I spoke with some of the guys in Bloodlet very casually before the show, telling them I was from Orlando too so we talked about "home" for a bit.
For some reason I remember more neon lights at this show than any other... Moo & I did our usual howling, we didn't know any of the people around us since we hadn't been outside while the line formed. Only person we talked to was a couple behind us, they were cool. The crowd was wild but nothing compared to the chaotic mess of Charlotte. Moo seemed to be doing alright, she held on but had this constant look of pain in her eyes. Something was up... little did we know she was slowly getting hurt. We kept cheering and hooting as the bodies kept coming up and over our heads, sooooo many people were plucked from the crowd that nite, so many crowd surfers, I got kicked countless times. Hell yeah!
Highlight of the nite? The couple behind us... the girl suddenly tapped us and motioned for Moo and I to try and part a bit... she was real frantic about it. I turned around in time to see her boyfriend who's face was all bloated, oh man, he's gonna yakk. A second later he leaned between Moo & I as much as he could and started puking. I felt bad cause I knew he wasn't an obnoxious drunk, he was probably smashed to death and couldn't handle it. Of course there wasn't much room so I felt chunks of hot vomit run all down my arm, on my shirt, in my hair, etc... normally I'd cry out and freak then run to wash off but Moo & I were trapped. Security pulled him and his girlfriend out and Moo & I stared at each other in shock. Then we started screaming to get hit with as much blood as possible to get washed off! Fortunately there was alot of show left and we were hosed down pretty well. Plus by then we were aimed for. Center is brutal since you're bombarded with quite a high-powered stream to the point where it hurts if you get hit in the eyes, that was our last nite taking center. Moo refused to let herself get yanked from the crowd, she didn't wanna be called a pussy nor miss another show so she held on no matter what. Fortunately just before the end of the set, 'Beefcake' noticed Moo's predicament and handed us a water bottle which everyone else around us tried to grab for. We even chased him down after the show and said thanks.
When the show ended and the crowd dispersed, I noticed Moo wasn't moving. She remained slumped over the barricade and twitched a bit. Uh oh... turns out she couldn't move because her left arm/shoulder/side was sensitive to the touch. Ahhh shit. An injury... NEXT!!!