Slam-dancing soup for the HxC soul

Que Pasa EsE!

This is one handsome-looking
canine. 

It's been a while since the last time I visited my keyboard to share with you my random experiences through this humble blog, continuously fed by the occurrences of Yours Truly. This is mostly due to the fact that I have been, like the Beatles once sang, working like a dog.  It feels good to be back, inspired and anxious to share my excitement with you. 

Even though I have managed to enjoy me one or two shows here and there, I hadn't really been compelled to sit down and write (I'm lying actually. Immolation, Napalm Death and Cannibal corpse was beyond believable!) Either way, for the sake of humanity, that all changed 13 hours ago...

Although I live in the heart of nowhere, London ON (a very non-metal inclined area), I have been lucky enough to meet some interesting folks that have been continuously keeping me in the loop when it comes to local opportunities to rock the f*** on. Mind you, that still does not happen too often, and when it does, one's gotta take that opportunity and hold on to it like there is no tomorrow - or else one will be condemn to eternal boredom, amen.

On that note, one of my newly acquired acquaintances mentioned to me a few weeks ago, by mere coincidence, that Madball was going to be in town. Had I been into gymnastics, I would have probably done a back flip right there, but for fear of further injury- which I happen to be quite prone of BTW- I did a tiny celebratory jump.

Why so excited, some of you may ask?

Simple: I just saved myself $60+, which is what I usually have to spend in transportation alone, to go to Toronto and watch a good show. The last time I had a memorable concert in the Forest City, was when Opeth came, like a billion years ago... Or five, I can't remember really; either way it feels like a billion years ago.

Another reason that fueled my excitement was the nostalgia of reminiscing my first HxC experience in my natal Colombia. I was naturally not expecting to have the same experience, given that La Mama in Bogota is a monster of its own kind when it comes to HxC shows; still, I was looking for that sense of Family. 

After all, I've learned well: HxC is family, here and Kuala Lumpur. 

On the night prior to the show, I chose my outfit, molested my piggy bank (oh, the painful days before payday make you do the unthinkable...), packed my stuff, chose my uniform to go to work the next day and got into the mental frame of having a blast. Fortunately enough, yesterday went by in the blink of an eye, so the night came rather soon. I finished at 9:00pm, changed in less than 30 seconds, and drove extra fast to get to Call the Office on time. Upon arrival, there were already a few fellas watching the first band, Crown of Thornz. In all honesty, as much as I enjoy seeing a HxC show, I am not a big connoisseur, and thus I did not know enough about them, but they certainly got my full attention when they covered The Exploited's Sex and Violence. And that's how is done, period.  

Overall, Danny Diablo kicked some major derriere, and yet I noticed there was not a reciprocal reaction from the audience. I wonder if we are simply getting too old to get physical...

About half an hour later, Madball came on stage and THEN the audience started to get a bit more rowdy, which is exactly what I had been looking for. Their stage presence was incredible and once they started playing, I finally saw hope in the form of slam-dancing. I have said this a gazillion times: I refuse to mosh, simply because I have nothing to bring into it, and joining for the sake of getting pushed around by men 3 times my size does not seem too intelligent after all. However, slam-dancing is a whole different world. The moment one starts gaining momentum, pushing others around seems only natural, and suddenly: 

♫Con todo el corazón canto esto para tí 

mis raices nunca se me olvidan 

Americano de Nacimiento

pero Latino Cien por Ciento♫ 

As I would say in my mother tongue: Ay sí, quién dijo yo!

I can't really think of a similar experience where many different aspects confabulated to make me feel so damn identified during a show. Timing was simply perfect:

Freddy Madball
+100%

+London, Ontario

+ Labbat 50

+sweaty bodies

+Yours Truly slamming like never before

+shouting at the top of my longs

____________________________

Recipe for merriment!

Mad Respect to MadBall, their show, their lyrics and their audience! I am glad to have been able to be a part of it, even if today I am experiencing a bloody annoying whiplash and my lower back barely lets me move around. I would do it all over again one thousand times!

Mis raices nunca se me olvidan.

Once Madball finished their set, although exhausted I was hipped to witness New York's finest HxC: Sick of It all. After almost 30 years of trajectory, I was in for a treat brought to you by the living institution of HxC. Once again, I didn't know enough about them, aside from the above and: Take the Night off. Their set started and two songs into it:

♫We'll save the world tomorrow

we'll have to wait until that day

We'll wait

But in the meantime

Let's celebrate that we don't give a fuck!

Let's celebrate that we don't care

Let's celebrate that we don't give a fuck!

with the middle finger high in the air

Let's celebrate that we don't give a fuck

take the night off. pass the buck♫

One word: SURREAL!

In sum: 

Although my heart belongs to my friend the Goat, the master of the dark arts and such, HxC has had a veto over my right ventricle since I got baptized with the bug of HxC by Abismo and Pitbull in Colombia, meaning that my heart will always beat to the sound and aggressive nature of HardCore Punk, always and forever, and ever. 

Rock the F*** ON!

 Fraulein Andrea MMXIII