let the throwdown begin

Last night my husband dragged me to the Shellac show in Pontiac at the Crofoot. It started out well enough. There was an amazingly talented solo guitarist who opened, and the venue was amazing. It's very shiny and new, with leather couches and a yet-to-be-marked wood floor. Very spacious, well-lit. It wasn't until Shellac started playing that I noticed it was about 98.5% dudes. And not your average indie-show crowd - it was definitely older than I expected.

So, I'm up at the end of the bar pretty close to the stage when I see the oldest dudes in the crowd dancing jerkily, fists in the air...ok, I think, there is going to be some Fight Club shiz breaking out any second....and there is a guy in the crowd who was a dead ringer for Robert Paulson, the guy with the man boobs. Man-boob man really starts to shake a tail feather as the songs progress, even kind of starts shoving the guys around him. But, thank god, no geriatric mosh pit breaks out.

About 2/3rds into the show, Steve Albini starts talking over a droning song, some really hippy-dippy shit. And he goes on and on...the crowd seems really mesmerized by it. Some woman in the audience (one of about seven in a crowd of 400?) yells out "You're blowing my mind!" (Ummm...not so much, but whatever.) So, incredibly, dickwad Albini responds with "I have something you can blow later." The crowd cheers. Those guys actually fucking cheered! I am instantly appalled, disappointed, and disgusted. I resist with all my might the impulse to chuck my water bottle at him and yell "Blow this, asshole!" In the moment, I even imagine the closest 100 men turning to come after me, so I even plan my escape route. I have visions of myself handcuffed, arrested for assault, being shoved into the back of a patrol car, shouting hysterically "We will not be sexualized any more!!!"

Seriously, I probably could have hit him, too. But I do nothing, I am silent, and the night goes on.

I later express to my husband how offended I was. Even if he thought she was heckling him (which was not the case), why is it that men always have to go there? But that's these guys...put a woman in her place by calling her out sexually. Really fucking original, Albini.