scene but not herd

When the Undertones announced that they would be playing two shows in the L.A. area I have to admit that I wasn't very interested. I knew Feargal Sharkey (original lead singer) wasn't involved so I didn't see much use in going. On the other hand, the O'Neill brothers were still involved so seeing how much enjoyment I've gotten from the bands they've been in (Undertones and That Petrol Emotion) I decided to go anyway. As per usual, last night as the show time approached I was kind of over it. I didn't have much enthusiasm about the show and I arrived at the Galaxy Theater at about 10:00 hoping to miss most of the opening bands. I met up with Tita there and she had gone Friday night and said it was great so I started to be a little more optimistic about the evening. Finally the Undertones came on and they opened with "Jimmy Jimmy" and they just sounded great. I simply forgot that Feargal wasn't singing and I just had a blast. God! I had forgotten how much I love these songs. "Teenage Kicks," "Get Over You," "Here Comes The Summer," "You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)." I was smiling and singing along to everything. There were a bunch of kids up front singing along to a lot of songs and it was nice seeing a whole new generation appreciating the Undertones. I think everyone came away smiling from that gig. It was a bit of a strange night. The girls from Voice of the Beehive were there. A pen pal that my friends Tita and Nancy had when they were seventeen was there and it turns out he had moved from Ohio to L.A. about two years ago. Needless to say the girls were a bit shocked to see him there. Tita wanted to say hello to the O'Neills so we stood outside the backstage area waiting for them to come out. I haven't done anything like that in ages, but it was fun. Tita recounted a story that when they were eighteen she and Nancy drove up to Santa Clara to see That Petrol Emotion after they had seen them at the Roxy and the Coach House. Tita's mom had forbidden her to go, but she left a note explaining that she just had to go and she went anyway. Tita and Nancy are talking to the band up in Santa Clara when someone walks in and asks if there is someone named Tita there. Tita says yes and is then told that her mom is on the phone! Thankfully her mom wasn't angry, but she didn't want the girls driving all the way back that night and they should find a motel and spend the night. It turns out that one of the O'Neills let them stay at his hotel room that night after hearing about Tita's mom's concern. Last night he was a little vague about the details, but he did seem to remember the incident a little bit. It was nice seeing those guys still playing music after all this time. Do yourself a favor and buy the first couple of Undertones albums or a singles compilation because even though they began in Derry, Northern Ireland during extreme violence they played some of the greatest, most joyous and innocent pop-punk ever. I didn't get home until 3:30, which is very not the norm for me lately, but it was a very fun evening.

Friday I'm going to get my Neil Young and Crazy Horse fix satisfied by Magnolia Electric Company at the Echo and Saturday I might check out Outrageous Cherry at Spaceland.