Rolling the Dice

Last Sunday I went to see Henry Rollins, Janeane Garafalo, and Marc Marin at Gramercy Theatre. Marc Marin was hilarious, and Rollins and Garafalo were very passionate politically - something I turned away from after high school. Rollins is an inspiration in more ways than one. He is very present and angry. He is in great shape, and he lives a life which I envy. In one interview: "he recalls something David Lee Roth had said, and he paraphrases, “you sometimes get shit from the guys at the watering hole who say, ‘it must be nice’ referring to your lifestyle. And [Roth] says, hey, we all started off as seniors in high school. You went for your dad’s bank job. I went for art. You took the easy road. I rolled the dice. Don’t be mad at me.”

Do I want a bank job? Sometimes I feel like I am who I am in reaction to the life my father lived. My dad was a musician and rarely held a job or had much discipline. He was extremely talented but squandered his money and talent on drugs. I need to roll the dice. I need to write and travel. I realize how so much of what I do conforms to society's expectations for me.

The beautiful thing about the performers at Gramercy and later at Vassar is that they are all unapologetically authentic. Shingai Shoniwa, the lead singer of the Noisettes, ran from one side of the stage to another, looking very much like the actress she once aspired to be at one moment and the psychedelic rocker she is the next. Jumping from speaker stacks and fluttering her eyes at the crowd a second later. Her hair is pushed forward, and she wears what looks like a torn and tattered ballerina outfit. Her whole look says fuck what you expect. Her theatrical antics complement the shyness of Dan Smith, the guitarist, who stands there shyly contemplating his next guitar solo, while Jamie Morrison's be-afro'd hair thrusts from one side of his drum set to the other, oscillating violently to the beats he pumps out with great precision. The Noisettes were so happy to be opening their last set for TV on the Radio and I wish them great success. Their juxtaposition of smooth relaxing melodies and harsh guitar riffs clearly shows that they will not go gently into the night.

That is what an artist is, someone who lives so vibrantly that they inspire others to do so as well. TV on the Radio had the floor bending and was amazing.

Anyways, from Shingai to Tunde Adebimpe (vocalist for TV on the Radio) everyone on stage served to remind me to stop conforming or even thinking about it, and to start pouring my soul into something I believe in.