GNV FLA

"Maybe I'm jaded bored, always looking for more
Waiting around for the next big thing, I know
I'm a wreck, I'm a mess but I couldn't care less
Don't know what it would take to change me
Everybody's so afraid to be different
Please excuse me, but I don't get it...

I think sex is overrated and so is always getting wasted
Designer drugs and dead-end jobs, classic rock is so out-dated
I'm so sick of therapy and all the thing's it's done to me
How can I be satisfied when everything is overrated?"

I saw LTJ for the 20th time or so last Tuesday night at Station 4 in St. Paul. It was a fun concert, I really enjoyed the set the Expendables played, but all in all it was a little bittersweet. I must've asked 10 people if they had ever heard of the album "Pezcore," aka LTJ's 1st full-length release and a huge influence on my life since 7th grade. One kid knew what it was, no one else had a freakin' clue. Perhaps the last true LTJ fans are spending more time bellied up at the bar and less time skankin' around in the pseudo-pits these days, but something tells me that we're not in Gainesville anymore-- meaning that the last true fans are hanging out their club clothes and sitting out on the sidelines or not even going to shows at all.

I have more or less always listened to LTJ. I began my foray into the musical unknown with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles (I prefer the latter when all is said and done). South Junior High showed me just how poorly a soccer program could be run as well as how to cheat through math class. The best thing junior high gave me was the bands LTJ, RBF, Buck-O-Nine and the Suicide Machines. Pezcore mattered to me-- hell, it still does. I listen to it regularly, always scream for the band to play "Boomtown" (track 17, it crushes) and bought the 10th anniversary remix of the album. It has such raw, powerful energy (it was recorded on off days during a long weekend of touring in Florida).

I miss driving the 80ish miles from St. Cloud to the Quest Club in Minneapolis with a bunch of friends to watch Less Than Jake take the stage. Pre-game shots in the parking garage, shoving random d-bags wearing polos and Air Force 1's, mustering up enough nerve to hit on unknown and thus ever-tempting semi-punk young women-- I'll never get it back.

With that said, I least I had it.

"God created the Heavens
God created the Skies
God created Heavy Metal
And it's never gonna die!"