Vajrasana

The Facebook grapevine told me that 2 people that I practice yoga with, Ryan and Claire, will be part of a Smashing Pumpkins tribute night this Friday at the Piston. Intrigued, I made my way to this local bar where I had last listened to Otouto. I timed my visit too early. Apparently 9 pm is only start of sound check and with 2 bands bowing out for various reasons, the first act won't come on until 10:30 pm. With so much time on my hands, I drank too much beer and don't recall much past 10. That's it for this post.

Seriously though, I met up with Ryan and Claire. We had an interesting chat about the vagaries of being in a small indie band. The consensus is that even with crashing on the floor in someone else's place while touring because you can't afford a hotel, it's still better than working a 9-5 office job.

First up was a solo performer who sang exactly one song. I think he might have been the organizer trying to fill some time. In any case, while I do admit to only knowing the more popular Pumpkins songs especially from their Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness double album, this seems to be the first of the night's trend to sing obscure Pumpkins songs. Next came Luau Or Die, a local surf-rock band who covered two songs before playing 3 of their own material. Then came a 22 year old male singer, since he was all of 10 years old when his hot camp counsellor gave him a Pumpkins concert t-shirt. He didn't say his name though he had some merchandise for sale at the back. I don't know if that was his normal singing voice, but he had Billy Corgan's irritating nasally whine down pat.

The highlight of the night was the one-night-only "super-band" of 4 musicians who play in other groups. I didn't catch the drummer's or other guitarist's name. On bass was Claire, who is the bassist for the all-girls pop punk group Tuuli. They probably had the biggest success in the early to mid 2000s. On vocals and guitar was Ryan, who is usually behind the drum kit with the drum-and-synth duo Lovely Killbots. They brought the energy of the room way up with their tight set including the hit Bullet With Butterfly Wings. That song was thrown in at the last minute and they had never practiced it together but it sounded great. Destructicus, a last minute band name in reference to the Killbots' video Hello My Dear, did a great job as evidenced by the many (ironic) cries of "Destructicus!" that echoed through the crowd. MJ Cyr was up next but being past 12:30 am I was ready for bed.

It was interesting to watch people that I usually interact with in more serene settings scream and thrash on stage. An amusing contradiction? Well, in yoga, you're supposed to be able to hold a contradiction in your head. Ommm. But maybe it wasn't such a contradiction in the end. What is the ultimate goal of a live music performance and a yoga class? To be fully in the present moment with no thoughts of the past or future. So I say, "It's time to rock out with your coc(cyx) out!"