thefinn: Older But Not Dead
by Turtle Jones

Did we mention thefinn is doing Sunday mornings as well as Saturdays? Maybe. I think we did. We'll be back later in the afternoon with something fun. Meanwhile, enjoy another great post from thefinn. We touced on this subject the other day but, believe me, the older you get the more it's on your mind - m/t

Sometimes you just get out of bed…. And everything creaks…. Knees, elbows, parts of your back that you weren’t even sure had bones in them….. It suddenly dawns on you, halfway through that first cup of coffee.... Dude you got old…..

You suddenly realize that you’re older than Darby Crash was when he finally bit the bullet. You’re older than Steve McQueen was in “The Great Escape”. You’ve got small flecks of grey in your beard, your eyes are a little more sunken and thoughts begin to harken back to your youth….


That’s when the reminiscing starts….
minorthreat.jpg And that’s what today’s all about…. Things that were there… Something that played a large role in who you eventually became that just isn’t there anymore…. Whether it be through time, or death… A parting of the ways or simple decay…. It just isn’t there….


I moved back to the States in 1990… My old man’s second to last tour was up and he was being transferred to California… He and the rest of my family were headed to the land of sunshine and palm trees… Me ? I was going back to D.C…

I’m an army brat…. I bounced all over the place as a kid, but we always ended up back in D.C. when all was said and done…. Because there were things about D.C. that never changed…. The Jefferson Memorial was always there, the heat and humidity of the summer, and the bands….

My teenage music years had been pretty constrained in Europe…. I had friends in the States send me hundreds of cassettes, but virtually no one I was listening to would be coming to A-burg to do a show anytime soon…. The Pixies and My Bloody Valentine might be touring, but not to small(ish) towns in Germany….. Minor Threat had broken up, Elvis Costello was starting to suck and I was not going to a Stevie B. show, even if the girl I was dating promised sex for it…… Christ, I was lucky to see the Pogues when I did…..

But D.C…. Hardcore was at the forefront of my mind when I got back…. Dischord had had put together a fantastic lineup in my absence…. Bad Brains had finally said “Fuck it” and went to New York, but had left in their wake a handful of bands who were doing it right…. And everywhere you turned there was a new sound coming together….. So, there was only one place I could go….

The 9:30…. It was old and decaying…. The only building I’ve ever been in that showed its cancer, inside and out… And it was funky.. A strange combination of smoke and beer and sweat and blood that no longer seemed to seep from the floor, but eminated from the walls and speakers, as well…. It was something that you could barely wash out of your clothes, that tattooed a stink on your skin for a few days (it wasn’t called “the dirty Thirty” for nothing)….. Tiny, nigh claustrophobic (but still bigger than the 15 Minutes) with a stage barely big enough to hold the Dead Milkmen (although I did see Gwar there.. fifteen people on a stage that was built for three and a drum kit….). Bad lighting and a pole that jutted up from the floor right in front of the stage that I saw more than one performer almost knock himself out on…. If a fight broke out… Let’s just say that everyone was invited…..

abandoned.jpgBut when the Thirty was good, goddamn it was good…. Ministry gave me three cracked ribs, a really quick pan in their “In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up” video and ringing in the ears for two days….Psychic TV played for 3 hours and actually made me dance (of course, the drugs really helped with that)…. Ride blew my left ear out for over a week, but was eminently worth it… The Jesus and Mary Chain made me retarded and G.G. Allin never fucking showed, but the parties held because of his absence were legendary…..

I left town not long afterwards (although, some would say I stayed too long) and headed north to my beloved Philly…. About a year after I got here, I was driving through Maryland on a job when I heard about the first big show at the “New 9:30” and it damn near broke my heart…. Yes, the old club was too small… Yes, it stank like your grandma’s drawers…. But there were nights when the lights came up on that shitty little stage and the guitars kicked in, the bass felt like it was moving your intestines about and you fucking rocked out…..

And now, it’s abandoned….. Boarded up, used up, thanks for playing inside my crumbling walls….

It got old, like me…. I might me boarded up… But I’m not used up…. yet.

These crumbling walls still have a few good fights in them, the lights still come up, and once in a while, they rock out….

Dude, you got old…..

Minor Threat - It Follows
Bad Brains - Banned in D.C.

Comments

we had the gilman where i was at. It's still around, but not the same. And berekely square. But thats gone. Cataylst is gone.

Jeez, now I'm feeling old.

great story

now I'm all depressed

get off my lawn!

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We had very few places like that on Long Island. Mostly I went to My Father's Place, which had some great shows back in the day.

Oh, there was the Mini Cinema, which was this tiny movie theater that sometimes had bands. I saw The Ramones there. It's a baptist church now.

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Sorry guys... Wasn't trying to bum you out.... Sunday mornings are usually the best time for reminiscing for me.... Next week Something Fun!!!

(I have no idea what it'll be, it'll just be fun.....)

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Oh yeah, the 9 Dirty. As a DC'er from 89-93 (college years) I saw so many great shows at 930 F St. My memories of fabled shows are still as fresh in my mind as that fabled stench (smelled like a condom) is in my nose.

My first show there was C.O.C., which I dragged all my timid roommates to go see with me. They were literally paralyzed with fear as they watched people get tossed into the pole at the front of the stage. Stricken with the flu, I rode my skateboard all the way from my dorm in the rain to see 7 Seconds. Saw the Bosstones absolutely destroy that place on their first trip to DC. Saw Sick Of It All open for DRI (crazy). Saw a nervous Kurt Cobain play in front of a packed house on Nirvana's "Bleach" tour. Bim Skala Bim, Nuclear Assault, Jawbox, Clutch...the list goes on. DC had so many great small clubs back then (15 minutes, DC Space, BBQ Iguana, The Bayou, Safari...even the church on DuPont), but you could tell the 9:30 had a sort of CBGB aura to it that would go down in history.

Thanks for the memories.

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Not bummed out at all. In fact, it was good to sit and remember some of the nights spent at those places. We both might write on this subject this week.

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all i know is i started going gray at 21, and it's been downhill ever since. All hail Clairol, whiskey and Ibanez.

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fuck the new nine thirty.

i can still smell the 930. my ears hurt when i remember shows there. oh the ringing the next morning.

the fucking downstairs bathrooms that you wouldn't want you mother to know you'd been in much less used.

the superbowl of ska. $5 fugazi shows. bad brains. freaking living colour dude. token entry. op ivy. 7 seconds.

and dude, slayer. i still have that ticket stub. fucking slayer at the 930. the next morning i couldn't lift my fucking head from the pillow. seriously. i had to roll out sideways and support my head with my hands...

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now i am curious to what it smelled like

i'm weird like that

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the closest i can come to describing it is sweat, brick and and musty beer... ya, that should get you somewhere in the neighborhood at least...

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