Ok I didn’t want to gloat. I put it off, but we can’t put it off any longer folks, lets talk about it: lets talk about the 4 hour eargasm that was Tuesday night.

Photos by Stephen Maturen, Daily

The Dirtbombs.

The dirtbombs are so feather pluckin’ awesome that it difficult for me to decipher why they aren’t just leaders of the freeworld.  This is how cool The Dirtbombs are: I saw the Dirtbombs twice in one autumn 9 years ago.  They played at a venue which represented one of the last death rattles of anything you could call an authentic punk scene. The setting was  Northeast Wisconsin-1999. The Concert Cafe-The dirtbombs rocked 14 year old me so hard that it took the entirety of highschool to recover.  I was in a fullbody plaster cast of rock. 

That was then.

This is now.

Now twelve years into the game, The Dirtbombs rocked present day Ian even harder than they rocked pubescent-Ian! I dont understand how, I dont understand why. Honestly I dont even want to understand because it’s creating a paradox in my brain so severe that my forehead may implode if I further contemplate it.  As I type this a team of doctors are actually performing reconstruction on my melted face.  The Dirtbombs rocked and rocked and rocked, they transcended genres, and invented new ways to rock I didn’t even know existed.  When the set ended the cool girl guitarist along with their two drummers and the bassist (it’s super awesome that they have two drummers!) stayed on stage continuing to play while roadies and their singer began  quickly taking down their equipment.  But wait it gets better.  As the equipment continued to be downsized by the roadies, the band just tightened up and consolidated; soon both drummers were playing on one set, a roadie takes the guitars. the guitarists play the drums.  by the end the four were playing on one drum. curtain drop. I collapse.

Its hard to imagine that TV on the Radio could have possibly held a candle to The Dirtbombs.  Its hard to imagine that anything shy of Immaculate conception could have impressed me after that but truth be told TV on the Radio, was maybe the best show I have been to in five years.  The two bands complimented eachother perfectly, they were friends, The Dirtbombs came out for TV on the Radio songs.   Everything about this show was on: the audience was on, the venue was on, and the bands were totally on.  The stars aligned, Saturn’s second moon passed to the left and the gods poked their weary heads down on this fair city if only for four blissful hours.  Sigh.