Somewhere In the Swamps Of Bowery Ballroom
Under most normal circumstances my friends are pretty well-behaved. Usually nothing they do causes great alarm. They go to shows and take them in without raising so much as an eyebrow.
Now for weeks my friends Paul and Elliot had been mentioning how excited they were to go see Lifetime play Bowery Ballroom. I was like, “Ok, guys, that’s awesome.” But I guess I had no idea how MUCH Paul and Elliot were psyched about the show.
I saw both of them before the show started, right when I came into the venue. They were telling me how much fun it was going to be and how they were definitely going to be up front for some of the show. When I went upstairs I kidded with some folks that it would be awesome if Paul stage dived. My friend Jeff was like, “I wouldn’t be surprised–they’re pretty much his favorite band.” I was like, “It WOULD be pretty awesome…” and then I thought nothing of it.
So there I was standing in the balcony watching the show, when all of a sudden I see some dude get on some shoulders and start crawling his way to the stage. I was like, “oh look someone crowd surfing” (below).
Then I looked again, “Wait a minute, that guy looks familiar.” Then that’s when I realized, “Oh my god! That’s Paul!! He’s getting up on stage! He’s going to stage dive!” (below). Then I saw Paul leap into the air, back first into a sea of equally enthusiastic men (and some women). The lot of us (me, Jeff, Gurj, and Karen) upstairs squealed with delight.
A few songs later I wondered where Elliot was–I hadn’t seen him in the crowd. Jeff said he saw him down there…then litterally a few seconds later I saw someone on the left-hand side of the stage get up on top of people’s shoulders. Low and behold, it was Elliot, riding high on the crowd (below). He didn’t make it to the stage, but he did get into an upright position during his crowd surf–very impressive.
The crowd was full of similarly aged (to me) folks bashing around like they were reliving their 15-year-old selves when they originally listened to Lifetime. (The band formed in 1990 and disbanded in 1997, announcing their reunion in 2005.)
That meant besides the slam-dancing and crowdsurfing, there was lots of adult-responsible behavior–like the guy who stopped slam-dancing when he realized someone had lost their hat, and he stood at the edge of the moshing hole, holding up the hat asking if anyone had dropped it. Then there was the guy who told Jeff that his shoelace was untied. Or how about the ladies that were in the midst of the crowd, wildly knocking about, with large handbags slung on their arms.
By the encore–”Starsixtynine”–it looked like some of the crowd was totally spent. I saw some dude with a backpack on, just looking around him, totally exhausted–as if to say “I can’t do this anymore, man.”
Pretty great, huh?
[...] Ok so today was the perfect day to get up, head toward the Adidas Block Party in NoLita, get scared of the huge shouting crowd, walk toward the Lower East Side, hear the “booos” as the Block Party got shut down, pick up some buddies, go get lunch, a pitcher of sangria, watch Italy win the World Cup, and then semi-drunkenly take a random bus to Brooklyn, run into 2/4ths of the Five O’Clock Hereos, get on another bus, head to McCarren Pool, get free ice cream bars from the Ice Cream Man, and then watch Les Savy Fav go berserk onstage during their free Pool Party. Don’t you think? I’m SO beat though, so the full update will have to be later (I also went to the Lifetime show today). [...]
i saw that guy holding up the hat! how cool was he? the guy who took it back hugged him fervently. couldn’t tell if they knew each other. cool. kinda wished there was more than one song for the encore tho…
the show was GREAT!!! they played two encores
Lifetime kicked ass. 10 years in waiting and they blew the roof off. Though I must admit, I felt a little old having all those kids land on my head….Still perfect though. Reminds me so much of my past…
Les Savy Fav rocked it that afternoon too.
Awesome Sunday!!
crap! two encores? on sunday? jeez, i didn’t think i bolted *that* quick. better ratchet down the coffee quotient i guess…
i was the responsible adult slam dancer you speak of. i retired sometime back in 1995 but made an exception for this show. i have no idea who the guy hugging me was… this totally made my day, cheers!
i gotta get out of here before my whole online “lifetime” passes before my eyes, but you rock for getting into—and out of—the pit in blazing style!
The balcony was the place to be for that show. Part of my joy was watching the boys relive their childhood too.
An interview with Lifetime (Ari, Dan, Pete & Scott)…
The recently reunited Lifetime played Bowery Ballroom in NYC two nights in row at the beginning of July (the 8th & 9th, 2006). Unfortunately for me, I was out of town. Lily Olive was there though, and not only did……
[...] Woah! I had heard on the news about a stripper from New Jersey being arrested after police found a human hand in a jar and six human skulls in her basement, but I had no idea that said stripper was one Linda Kay, former bassist of Lifetime (1992-93) until Elliot sent me this article today. [...]