Maine

Took in a show in rural Maine last night; I caught no less than four locals bands and two touring bands. The venue was at an "alternative school"; a tiny high school where, apparently, the students teach themselves. O, America! This is kind of an interesting concept, actually.

The building was located in the woods in a very small town. You'd think the location and oblong day of the week (Monday) would be the kiss of death, but there were actually a good 40-50 kids there at the peak. I was very impressed with 3/4 local bands, and now have recordings of all three. The fourth was a ska-punk band, so the genre alone placed them out of my sphere. The gig reminded me of H_x punk shows of old. Diverse crowd, everyone getting along. People like to dance in circles here. The "circle mosh" can be quite a personally expressive way of dancing.

The touring bands did well; the louder band might have commanded a little more attention than the smaller band (which must have seemed like a bit of an oddity), but both performed well and received compliments at the end.

After the show, my travelling companions and I took in supper at the only place open - a quintessentially American family (chain) restaurant. We ate, we bickered, we laughed.

We pressed on.