Gnarboots at Bottom of the Hill
Facing New York was a band from the Bay Area that broke up I don’t even know how many years ago, but they reunited at Bottom of the Hill to announce that they’re finally releasing new music and starting to play shows again. (If I understood that correctly at least. Maybe that’s just a rumor I heard, but we’re going with it.)
So many of my friends from the Bay were super excited about this show and Facing New York. I, on the other hand, was just really excited to see Gnarboots open.
I got there about ten minutes before their set. There weren’t a lot of people there that early.
I think Gnarboots opening a show and the audience being unaware of who they are is a very different experience from an audience that is specifically there for Gnarboots. Gnarboots is weird. I love them, but they’re really fucking weird.
So of course, this crowd was weird. They weren’t into it enough. I’m sure they didn’t know what to expect.
The two guys in Gnarboots spent the whole show in the audience with us, singing directly in our faces. They gave me fake flowers and put a unicorn head on me.
I think there was also a chicken head floating around somewhere, but my unicorn head was way too big on me to actually see anything.
I’m kinda curious if the fake flowers were even theirs or if they came from Bottom of the Hill, but either way, I kept them.
I was one of the few dancing and super into it, so they sang in my face quite a bit. It was entertaining.
They brought the drums out into the crowd.
And had us lay down on the ground so they could cover us with a parachute.
One girl took the mic and screamed into it. I tried to get her on video, but when my camera came out, she stuck the mic in my face.
My friend Andy was there with his sister for Facing New York. She at least did not seem into Gnarboots, so of course, one of the guys gets down on the ground directly in front of her to sing to her. It was beautiful.
They’re a lot of fun. This show was a little less crazy than the last time I saw them, but this crowd was a little bit lame. But it’s Gnarboots. I love them so much.
They thanked Facing New York and one of their old bands Wallpaper at the end of their set. They said they wouldn’t be a band without Wallpaper.
“We took their band and made it bad.”
So they ended up grabbing a guy from the audience and putting him on drums to cover a Wallpaper song before the next band took the stage.
Who was the next band? I’m not sure. I found my friend Elyse and we sat in the back of the venue near merch catching up on life instead of watching the show.
We came back in front of the stage for Facing New York.
I don’t know any of their music, but it would’ve been nice if the crowd was into it more. Everyone was just kinda… standing there. It’s rare to see that at shows I go to. Were they all just like… too cool to dance or something? (Note: the venue did fill up a lot since Gnarboots. So there were a LOT of people there, they just weren’t moving.)
A semi-creepy dude kept looking at me during their set, trying to talk to me, and put his hand on my waist. I repeatedly had to remove his hands from me. At one point I’m like reaching for Elyse to drag her up there with me because who the hell is this guy.
And then he asked me to dance. Again, no one is dancing. Everyone is just chilling, standing and watching the band. I have a lot of regrets for not responding by hip checking him and screaming “LET’S OPEN UP THIS PIT!”
I didn’t know the music, and it wasn’t bad, but Elyse and I were both tired so we left before they finished their set. The creepy dude opened the door of the venue to stick his head out and tell me he was leaving soon too and I’m just like “Uhhh k” and then he went back inside. Uhhhh? Elyse told me to text her when I got home so she knew he didn’t chop me up into little bits.
Do guys know how creepy they are sometimes? Or are they like… oblivious to that fact? I’m not sure. I guess I’m lucky that I go to so many shows and this is a very rare occurrence for me. But I guess most shows I go to everyone kinda knows who I am already, so like… it wouldn’t happen.
It is what it is.
