The night that surrounded the Pissed Jeans performance I saw was very surreal. I can’t even be sure exactly why. Perhaps it was my first time being backstage in such a large venue, perhaps it was all the free PBR, perhaps it was the rush I felt when I stole that single hand towel from backstage (sorry Sinclair). Either way, my vibe was killed by the next morning but the memories remain.
Upon entering, I was happy to see I didn’t miss too much of Speedy Ortiz. Usually a band that dwells the basement, it was interesting to see them playing on a stage so tall. I guess heights and crowds don’t scare this band easily – Matt Robidoux grabbed his guitar case and used that to tear his fender’s strings apart.
After a few free beers backstage with Speedy sans lead singer Sadie Dupuis (she was busy lying to people about having never heard Nirvana) involved us all getting carded several times (yeah I dunno) and me eating the leftovers of Speedy Ortiz’s food. I mistook a plate of beets for jelly and became very confused as to what exactly they had ordered. I mused Darl with an idea of working with him at Shake Shack, and he strongly disagreed (“Matt…we would get fired. But okay.”)
Ten minutes later, Cottaging started playing and Matt Robidoux realized that he lost his notebook. Needless to say, we had grown progressively drunk and could not find it. We gave up and caught the last few songs of Cottaging, which was fucking awesome. At first glance this stoner trio channels super fast guitar and bass backed by amazing drum fills which makes you think Melvins, but when the guitarist stopped playing, the beat and bass combined into a sound reminiscent of The Men.
Shortly before Pissed Jeans went on, we realized that we still hadn’t found Matt’s notebook. We ventured further backstage for a moment, but when I heard the taunts of Pissed Jeans lead man Matt Korvette, I came right back out. Pissed Jeans’ performance is just as alive as their music – fuzzy, grungy punk that’s has the thick tone of stoner metal mixed with the intensity of the best aspects of 80s hardcore. To be honest I’m not a huge fan of their latest album, Honeys (I’m stuck in 2005 and think nothing will be better than Shallow) but live I couldn’t help but enjoy myself and revisited the songs I didn’t enjoy as much at first.
My memory is also far too hazy to honestly say if they played “Boring Girls” or “False Jesii Part 2” last, but the set was much longer than the last time I saw them at the Elks Lodge. Although more intimate, it was quite short, and the performance at the Sinclair went late into the night, hell, they even did an encore. Sometimes I take a step back and wonder if this night even happened. Well, it must of.
