Megalinie Productions took some awesome pictures at the Lionheart show my sister and I went to in Utica last Friday. There’s an album with a ton of great pictures, but I stole a bunch of the ones that have me and my sister in them to archive on my own site.
I’m a thief, but the pictures are watermarked and I’m giving full credit to the artist, so I think it’s okay.
Check out the genuine smile in almost every one of those pictures. Outside of the ones where I’m being a tough guy and singing along or dancing, of course.
At least the view was nice from this bridge that cost us $30 to traverse.
I had a fantastic weekend hanging out with my sister. Even though there’s eight years between us, we’ve always been extremely close. Since Dorena and I moved out on our own, our time together has dwindled, and I cherish the chances we have to be alone together.
There’s about four people in my life that I can be completely open and honest with, and there’s Punk, who actually gets the whole story, all of the time. It’s such a special bond, and I truly don’t know what I’d do without her. And most of the time I don’t know what to do with her! Wacka, wacka!
Alright, enough of that sappy shit, let’s get into the weekend recap. Rude Awakening and Domination are fucking incredible bands, and they’re all really great people. Seeing them twice this weekend was so awesome, and I can’t wait to see them one last time (on this tour) on Friday! They’re quickly climbing the ranks of my favorite bands simply because of how stupidly great they are live.
Lionheart is one of those bands that I’ve loved from the beginning, and I’ve enjoyed watching their maturation and evolution. It’s a real treat getting to see them two days in a row, and I’d genuinely be happy seeing them every day. They’ve been playing this really funky, Hip-Hop/R&B kinda breakdown, and it’s so damned smooth. Totally love it.
It’s also fun seeing how some of the same trends at hardcore shows upstate exist downstate as well. One in particular is that we really dislike circle pits in the Capital District. There’s just something about our dancing style that it doesn’t work for us, and whenever a band calls for one, we stand around looking at each other blankly, waiting for the next breakdown to get back to our moves.
Down in Brooklyn, a singer called for a circle pit, and I looked around, curious to see what the crowd’s reaction would be. They all had the same disinterested look I had, and I felt right at home. It’s always a relief when you’re away from your friends and you feel secure in the group you’re with. Hardcore dancing can become violent quickly when someone interprets an action incorrectly, so it’s great when you can settle in at a different place without much trouble.
I was also interested in seeing how my body would hold up to the vigorous activity two days in a row. I hadn’t done that in a very long time, and I was surprised how well I felt today. I even played basketball with Dorena and Josh for a few hours and I’m doing alright. Let’s see how I feel in the morning tomorrow. I’m expecting cramp city.
There’s a longer post in me about hardcore somewhere, and maybe I’ll get to it at some point. It’s an interesting culture, and I’d like to take a look at it with some depth. The two topics I’d really like to cover are pit decorum, and aging in the scene. We’ll see how that goes in the future.
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Captain America: The Winter Soldierwas simply amazing. There were a few moments that bugged me, but not even enough to mildly cut into my enjoyment. The combat in this movie is my favorite style I’ve ever seen. The mixing of parkour and power that Cap utilized was spectacular. It was the first time I felt that there was a super human fighting regular peons. His strength and speed were showcased beautifully, and the cinematography of the battles was top notch.
Not since The Book of Elihave I come away from a movie with such a lasting impression of how fights were portrayed. The fighting was great, the handling of Bucky was great, and I really loved the supporting cast of Falcon and Black Widow. Widow’s character has finally blossomed into a complete character, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m so down for a Widow movie, so get on it, Marvel.
The NSA-like S.H.I.E.L.D. program to monitor and preemptively snuff out criminal activity was poignant and very topical. There were moments of dialogue that made me swell up with pride, wishing more people would vocalize the sentiments that Cap had. The only way to stop this is to have our voices heard, and to witness it so succinctly conveyed in a fucking super hero movie was surreal. I’ve seen that Chris Evans is getting to that point where he doesn’t want to be Captain America any more, so if they can somehow parlay into the Civil War story arc and wipe him out, I’d be totally down for that. I have full faith that Evans could pull off the intensity that would demand. He put across a ton of stalwart conviction in this film…
They set up at least four new story lines to follow up on, and I’m excited to see them unfold. I Highly recommend this movie, even if you were like me and thought the first Cap movie was mediocre at best. It may have very well dethroned Iron Man as my favorite Marvel movie adaptation. Really, I enjoyed it that much.
Also, I cannot wait for the Blu Ray to come out, so I can snag some screencaps of the end titles, too! They were such a beautiful representation of minimalism that I’m sure they’ll be in constant rotation on my computer’s desktop. The polish on this movie was extremely high. Oh, and the nod to a previous Samuel L. Jackson character made my sister and I erupt with childish glee when we saw it.
I swear, it was in unison, and almost the exact same sound.
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TL;DR: Hardcore shows are still awesome, this old fucking man can still dance with kids half his age two days in a row, the new Captain America is fucking fantastic, and I love my sister!
