Jonny Numb

(Header photo by Derek Von Essen)

I flaked on the War On Women show in York because I had an eye appointment in the afternoon, to which my pupils were unexpectedly dilated (not a “roofie” situation – it was consensual).

I hate getting my pupils dilated – even if it’s a “lighter” dose.

Complicating matters was the day itself: cold, dreary, with rain pouring down in fat, sloppy drops, soaking everything in its path. Silver lining, though: a clear, sunny day would’ve made the dilation even more irritating.

I was already in York, but with my eyes sensitive, I didn’t really feel like going anywhere remotely lit to kill a couple hours between the end of my appointment (2:30ish) and door time for the show (7pm).

Nor did I feel like engaging in conspicuous consumption, as the rush of the holiday season had stretched my funds a bit further than I wanted (though much of this was my own fault – I actually like going as all-out for friends and family as possible).

So I deliberately avoided I-83, thinking a leisurely use of back roads would be the safer, saner option, given my condition.

I still found myself behind (and in front of) plenty of idiots whose brains slide out their ears whenever a single drop of precipitation makes contact with their windshield…but made it home unscarred and no worse for wear.

It seemed to take hours for the dilation to wear off – I finally started to feel “normal” right around my 11pm bedtime.

The following day, I saw pictures from the War On Women show (via Skid Row Garage’s Facebook page), and it looked like a good time – a night of catharsis for all attendees.

Fortunately, I’ll get to see them early next year when they open for Helmet at Lovedraft’s Brewing in Mechanicsburg. (And I wouldn’t be surprised if they stopped in at SRG on a future tour – they are based out of nearby Baltimore, after all.)

But there it is: catharsis.

Live performances where bands don’t stand like statues, but push you around and knock you out of your 9-to-5 comfort zone.

I had two more concerts lined up for the week: The Jesus Lizard (Union Transfer, Philly) on Friday the 13^th, and a Uniform/Pharmakon co-headline show at National Sokols in Bethlehem, PA on the 14th.

I had never seen The Jesus Lizard live, and was only familiar with one of their LPs (Shot), and was accompanying a friend because…well, why not? I was somewhat familiar with frontman David Yow’s tendency to strip naked during performances, but that was years ago.

More relevant to my interests: Yow lent his vocal talents to Pigface’s inaugural album, Gub (Invisible Records, 1991).

In any case: the show was fun – a full-bodied blast of sonic energy that lasted about an hour (before the encore, which we skipped). Yow didn’t get naked, but unbuttoned his shirt at one point, revealing his 64-year old chest. It was sight to behold, indeed (and perhaps a preview of my own chest in 20-some years). He also wandered through the crowd and surfed over a wave of audience-member hands at several points during the set, while the band retained their technical precision onstage.

While we hung out on an enclosed side-deck at floor level, the people a couple rows in front of the stage thrashed and moshed with reckless abandon. It was fun to watch.

Cute little asides:

• Yow beginning the set with, “Hello, Baltimore!”
• Yow saying, “Keep on screaming and yelling and shit,” in the exact same tone, after at least a half-dozen songs