last night twiddle thumbs, dani, and i went to see cafe tacuba at club monaco in sunnyvale. i am so fucking bruised and sore. in terms of crowd rowdiness, that was the worst show i have ever been to. i was right in front of the singer for the entire show, which means i got the bulk of the action. there's a basic code of honor for concert behavior and it seems to be almost non-existent at rock en español shows. these shows are always fantastic but that's the dangerous side to them. as always, cafe tacuba was right on it. their performance was brilliant.

we really wanted to meet cafe tacuba to get our cds signed. we got a late start and arrived at 6pm. it was supposed to be doors at 8pm and show at 9pm. we waited for awhile then had some snacks at the burger king next door. when we got back to the venue, we stood in line. we never got to see cafe tacuba before the show. they started letting people in around 8:30pm. we secured our spot at the front and then waited and waited. we chatted with the closet cases around us.

i hate the the fucking music that gets played before the shows. they always play the same crap. just when you think they are going to play a good song, they only let about 20 seconds play and cut it in favor of chipmunk techno. hang the dj. at 10pm we were really ready for the show and it was announced that the band would go on in 1 hour. fuck, people were pissed at that one. but still, what could we do. we waited. i watched the guitar tech clean all the guitars and tune them. each time i thought he was done, he picked up another guitar. shit, how many guitars do they have?! the band finally hit the stage at 11:20pm! the way the place is set up, there is no backstage. the band entered from the same doors the audience entered the club. from there they went right on stage. after the show ended, i bet they went straight into a vehicle to leave because we never saw them or any car that looked like it would be for them.

throughout the show, of course people were trying to cut into the front. some did, but i would not give up my space. i would not give it up. i fought hard and managed to stay up there the whole time. the barrier is fucked--a really shoddy piece of work. it was some large planks of wood held together by metal parts. inbetween the barrier and the stage was about 1-2 feet of space. before the show started, we tightened the bolts on the barrier ourselves because they were completely loose! i didn't trust that thing and feared that it would break during the show. several times we were knocked around and pushed really hard against the barrier and the barrier moved with us. luckily, it never broke. the first time i saw cafe tacuba was at a tiny club with a crap barrier just like this and the barrier did break. a guard and i think a fan were momentarily pinned underneath it.

aftermath: some bruises from the night before

i understand that the front of a concert is rowdy and can be a dangerous place, but one does not have to be an asshole about it. one should not maliciously hurt people and try to push them out of their spot just to get closer to the stage. that's the kind of shit that often happens at rock en español shows and i will not tolerate it. at first it wasn't too bad, but i could feel it getting steadily worse. someone by me was really stinky. it was horrible. they had the "i'm too fat to bathe myself properly" smell. someone else (maybe the same person) kept farting as well. it was a putrid smell. then the pushing. one bitch kept putting her arm on the barrier, with her elbow in my face. i tried to move around it but the elbow was constantly right in my face. i thought if she keeps it up, the next time there's a big push from the crowd, i'm going to bite into her arm until i draw blood. for other hands that kept creeping up, i was going to bend them backwards until they broke. things never got that far though, damn. i was being revved up for a fight that never happened, until...

note the bruised part of the nail on my ring finger

some bitch kept trying to pass love letters up to the members. if she had asked me to pass them up, i would have. but instead she crammed her arm over my head and was pushing down on me. i didn't like that. i took her note and let it drop to the ground. out came another note. i did the same thing. it was like a tissue box. finally she got pissed at me and grabbed my hand or something. i really don't remember. it all happened so quickly but this is what i can recall. i flew into a rage, turned around, went after the bitch. she tried to get me but i positioned myself so that she really couldn't. i know a girl's weak spot is having her breasts exposed and she was wearing dressy clothes. so i grabbed that shirt so her tits would fly out and we sunk lower into the crowd. it was all black. i couldn't see. i don't remember what went on. i only remember thinking that this is it. the guards are gonna pull me out for fighting. is it even worth it? next thing you know there's a man's face really close to mine and i'm starting to stand back up again. i thought it was her friend or boyfriend and that he was going to seriously kick my ass. i thought i was done for. he motioned that he didn't want to fight, it's ok. i motioned back to him and turned right back around to the front of the stage. i looked to see if the guards were coming after me. no. i was so tired. breathing hard. dying of thirst. by my left brow felt a little sore. i don't know if she got managed to get a punch in. i don't think so. it must have been from the initial pounce.

i stayed in my spot and quickly realized that i was safe. i wasn't going to get kicked out. i was just so thirsty. for the rest of the concert, i kept eyeing the singer's water that was sitting on stage directly in front of me. i thought during the next calm moment i will motion to one of the band members or a guard to get me some fucking water. never happened. it was too crazy. can you believe that throughout all this, i managed to take pictures? at one point i knew i had to put my camera away and just defend myself. it was sometime after that that i got into the fight. it was during the end of the show that i took out the camera once more to take more pictures.

my right ear minus the earrings

the last few songs were they worst for the audience up in front. so many guys came flying by over our heads. the first guy of the night that flew over our heads had a really bad fall. it took him awhile before he got up. i didn't think he was ever going to get up. i think that a lot of guys that went over hit their head on the stage as they fell to the ground. i knocked a lot of them down, literally. whether it was grabbing them or hurting them in some way, or just pulling them down. i would not let them get past or get up on stage. after one guy kicked me really hard in the ear and knocked out some earrings, i just put my hands on my head to protect myself whenever they came by. i didn't realize it then, but looking at my ear now, when the guy hit my ear it was so hard that it caused my piercings to bleed. one guy knocked me so hard from overhead that my camera fell to the ground. i quickly bent down and grabbed it before it got knocked around and disappear from my sight. what was horrible about the guys flying overhead was that it was the same assholes over and over again. the audience in front was so pissed at them, that everyone starting swinging punches at them and shouting obscenities at them.

before the band walked off the stage, all except the singer (and drummer who doesn't really count since he's a hired hand) went to shake the hands of the audience members up in front. i got to shake them all: quique, joselo, meme.

when the concert was over, i kept motioning to the guards to let me have the water that i had been coveting. one guard noticed me but he wouldn't budge. the people around me started yelling obscenities at him. then he gave me the water. i took a sip and passed it around to the people that badly needed it. then the staff got the hint and passed around a couple of water bottles. i 've never been to a show where the workers were so inconsiderate of a crowd so desperately in need of moisture. i am very used to having the crowd get hosed down and given water or else people start passing out.

after the show, we went outside and talked about how horrible the crowd was and how great the performance was. i noticed my shirt had been stretched out at least one size. my hair was a complete mess. it would have been easier to cut it all off then try to untangle that thing. in fact, that's what i thought during the show. it's just my hair, it will grow back. but i will removed things off other people that will not grow back if they don't stop fucking with me!

trying to convey how very tired i am

some things my friends told me about people who had body piercings pulled so hard they were almost ripped completely out, people being gross and rubbing against women, taking advantage of women, etc. dani got something to eat. some drunk guy came up to me and twiddle thumbs and just gave us all that bullshit about the moon is a present to us and kept kissing our hands, etc. at least he was not a threatening presence. just an intoxicated lover of life philosopher.

when i got home i was still wet with sweat and god knows what else. i felt gross, disgusting, and wanted to cleanse myself of the evening. i immediately jumped into the shower.

at the end of the show i picked up the earring that dropped and, yes, we did manage to get a setlist:
reves
cero y uno
no controles
eo
mediodía
eres
la ingrata
esa noche
tírate
tortolita
ojalá que llueva café
las flores
el metro
el ciclón
las persianas
que pasara
la chica banda
déjate caer

encore:
el baile y el salón
como te extraño
pinche juan (not on setlist)