Mosswood Meltdown: Redd Kross and the B-52s

So they have these things called Space Bars. They are legal in SF, especially if you join a church. Well, someone I know joined the Church of Joe. But of course, I would never, because someday someone looking to hire me might read this blog. And it would only have been because everyone was staring at me grinning, and I felt a dare, which I can’t resist.

So, my brother took off, and we went and sat under a shady tree until Redd Kross came on. We were at the front of the stage, next to Martin and the Linda Lindas who were slamming there. Eloisa is a force in the slam pit. She would grab some guy and literally throw them at me. Other than a Neurotica song, a 90s hit and Pretty Please Me, Redd Kross did songs from their new album. They wore matching paint-splattered outfits which somehow managed to look cool and not 80s at all. But Steve was still rocking his cult leader vibe whereas Jeff was reminding me of Dave Vanian and Roy Orbison.

and what was this???

Steve did a good Robin Zander, “This…next…song…is …the..first..song…on…our NEW album!” Then I noticed Jeff and Steve kept looking at me, and I was like, “Why does Steve keep looking at me?” I mean, I do know them, so it wouldn’t be CRAZY, and most musicians tend to look into cameras and I had my phone out. But I started wondering if maybe the Space Bar that I definitely did not eat was making me paranoid, so I retreated to the shade again. But later I looked at my pictures and I AM NOT CRAZY.

I went back to the shade, and a woman offered me a big orange camping chair she had brought. They always looked uncomfortable, but if you sit kind of sideways, you can cozy up like a baby with your head on the edge. Everything was OK as long as I was in the Orange Chair. Then the B-52s started playing, and the people behind me were like, “Oh my God! They sound sooo good! I love this song!!!” ironically making it impossible for me to hear and enjoy the awesome voices and songs.

So, were I the type to do this, I would have taken another half square of chocolate and beelined for the sound booth, where the sound is always the best. Then I waded into the crowd until it resisted. There was a man with a giant fan annoying everybody, but I asked him to go THWAP! like they do at the drag clubs. He went THWAP! and it made us both so happy we were instant friends. In fact, EVERYBODY was my friend. We were one big undulating mass of music and good vibes while the back of my neck was fanned with cool air. The harmonies of the B-52s were angelic and the projections on the screen behind them were super psychedelic.

I was afraid of taking too many videos because I didn’t want to burn up my battery and have no way of getting an Uber back to the hotel, because I had no idea where Bob was in this undulating mass of 10,000 or more. So this next video is a short clip. I headed for the exit and heard my name. There was Bob, back under the shade tree. And there was the Orange Chair. Bob asked me if I wanted to stay for the encore, and the lady said I could sit in the Orange Chair again, so I curled up in the big orange womb and listened to Rock Lobster.