Few things keep me smiling for days like a good live show, other than getting laid or making some shit I’m really proud of.
One of the joys of my post-conference four-day weekend was experiencing Captured Tracks‘ dream/punk lovelies Beach Fossils play a show so raucous I am still scraping blood off of my knees. ” This is definitely the most fun crowd we’ve played for so far,” said singer Dustin Payseur to a crowd of bright, young shining faces. DC’s Young Rapids and Go Cozy primed the sold-out crowd at DC9 last Friday with glimmering indie, setting the tone for a very memorable evening.
So, I’ve been to my share of punk rock shows, and I’m always one of the few girls jumping around in the pit ready to get sweaty. I’ve writhed around with dudes three times bigger than me, gotten stomped, moshed, and fallen on, but there is always someone ready to help me out; it’s just show etiquette This Beach Fossils show was a bunch of pointy teen elbows flying from all directions. With the start of the opening song, the self-titled first track off Clash the Trueth, Payseur dissapeared into the audience. “I can tell you guys are going to be fun,” he exclaimed, and pandemonium ensued.
The crowd surged so heavily from the back that I was pushed on stage, literally falling along with others into Payseur, who didn’t flinch. The bouncer had to come into the crowd, holding me up with one hand while he conducted riotous hipsters with his other. The bouncer told a pocket of kids to cool it, and one actually said, “we’re just kids trying to have a good time, man.” If I wasn’t trying to hold myself steady, I probably would have lost my shit. This start of the show was simultaneously annoying and hilarious, but I went with it.
Beach Fossils know exactly how to harness the energy of teens who have been trapped in their parents’ basements for too long. Recorded, Clash the Truth is wistful, dreamy and charming, much like many of the young faces in attendance that evening. The influence of Ben Greenberg’s (The Men) “better fidelity…punk rock energy” (per Captured Track’s website) is harnessed by their live performance; Beach Fossils are immediate, powerful, and fun as shit. In “Youth” and “Birthday,” Jack Doyle Smith’s (Craft Spells) basslines and Tommy Doyle’s drums knock people around harder then they can knock each other.
DC’s Young Rapids opened for Beach Fossils, warming the crowd with indie jams that soared with an effervescent Dan Gleason on keys. The audience was more than receptive to the sweeping heights of the song that this aptly named band presents. Go Cozy stared the night off with a set that I mostly missed but that sounded promising for the two songs I heard.
Payseur was so stoked by the end of the night that he asked if there was an after party they could play, saying “I can’t wait to come back” and “This is the best crowd we’ve seen.” Way to go, kids. I miss having a basement that I could invite bands to, and I miss having that youthful ability to stay up all night and function in the morning. I initially found myself intimidated by all the young faces at this show because I’m getting to be an old grump, but that feeling left my mind about two songs into the evening. There were just too many reasons to escape that inner bullshit I was dealing with and enjoy the abundance of good music ad happy faces that surrounded me. I think every person who went to that show has been smiling for days themselves.
Payseur had a patch sewn onto his black jean jacket that is the cover of Clash the Truth. He was wearing a modern art “Paris” t-shirt with a hole in the sleeve, and a Crass sticker on his guitar above one of Mickey Mouse. This juxtaposition is a delightful statement. A fuck-you, arty, punk-rock mentality ruling over commercialism gone wild. But, just like Disneyland, Beach Fossils are where live show dreams come true and unadulterated fun is at its purest.
