Reality awaits when you stop doing acid.

Wednesday night, after I worked an 11-9 shift at my "day" job, I went straight to my second job at the bar. There was a show with four bands on the bill and it was my night to do the door (check i.d.'s and charge the under-age admission). I arrived around 9:30 and there were already around 30 people inside and I took my place at the door. The first act was playing. It was an acoustic act composed of one gentleman with a guitar and another with a bass. It reminded me of early 90's grunge rock in the vain of Alice and Chains. It was almost intolerable and the stage comments were just as daft with "here's a song about acid...", with the chorus being something like "you look like you're trippin', well look at my face buuuuday (buddy)". As their set was over, I noticed the swarm of underage kids hanging outside the front door and I knew I was in for a fun night. Also to add a little background info, I had been sick with a pretty bad cold since Monday and after working 10 hours I had little tolerance for nonsense. So one by one these 18-20 year old came waltzing in the door and they all insisted that they were some part of one of the bands and didn't have to pay $5 to get in. I began wondering if there were six bands playing with 5 people in each or if there were 10 people in each band because by the looks of these confused little beings they could have been a part of some cirque de hippy band which I could very well see possible. Turns out, none of these kids were actually in any of the bands except one tall gentleman who appeared to be one of the bands drug dealers was the second bands "manager of sorts" as the bass player made me aware. All the kids with $5 were allowed in with big "X"'s on their hands and the ones who claimed they had no money walked out the front door and snuck in the back. So as the band played and the kids stopped coming into the front, I made my way to the back to weed out all the rebels who snuck in. One girl who I had marked, already had a drink in her hand within about 5 minutes of walking in the door...and out she went. After sorting out these "slick" guys and gals I went up front to man my post. I was listening to the second band which seemed to be all the rage, in my opinion was worse than the first band with dudes in the front row sticking their hands out and "bouncing" as you would see at a hip-hop show but the music was far from. It was kinda rock n' rollish maybe in comparison to Jet with "face-melting" solos and and heavy on the wah-wah pedal. The singer mentioned more than once for everyone there to come party at his place after and insinuating that they were all gonna get high and wasted. These guys definitely thought they were Jet, as they attempted to rile the crowd up and flung their hair around in a sloppy unprofessional manner. I was really confused by their fans too. Some had their pants drooped past their ass, one of them had a tattoo of dice and flames on his neck and yet was underage. I know neck tattoos back in the day were an extreme expression of defiance, but now if you ever want to get a job anywhere, good luck. I'm pretty sure this young man who was 20 years old max. didn't have a career under his belt (and judging by how low his pants were he couldn't afford a belt). The rest of the crowd was made up of girls who looked like the just graduated high school yet they didn't make it out of the house much, 18 yr kids with what appeared to be homemade half-sleeves done by their friends, hippies, and the usual mid-twenties young-professional, yet not fully responsible patrons that the bar usually attracts who were not paying any attention to the raucous going on onstage. Just as that band finished, the next band who I think they thought were modern day hippies/rock stars took the stage and their bandannas and 80's thrift attire set them up for me to stereotype them. I will agree that stereotypes ensue judgement but if the shoe fits then... you're part of the problem. This band stated numerous times that they're from Akron and their crowd whooted and hollered every time. I kept thinking to myself, being in a touring band and how hard it is to build a following across the country makes you very humble and you appreciate what fans you do acquire and when you have good shows at home much less on the road. I could tell this band has probably never played a show out of their hometown, much less for anyone who isn't one of their friends/family and their egos were extremely large ordering us (the bar's employees) to fetch their drinks and having their friends buy them beers. Honestly if these were my friends, I wouldn't come see their shitty band play OR buy them drinks and encourage this mockery to go on. I would most likely have told them a while ago that music wasn't their calling in life and they should get a get a formal education or backpack some country or continue doing drugs until they have an epiphany where they see they're meant to be a animal hypnotist or sell bongs. Enough about them, finally the last band played and the place cleared out except for about 20 to 30 people who all seemed to be decent folks. A two man band played, one dressed in a banana costume the other in a woman's nightgown and pink wig. Although it wasn't my taste, these guys were older and having fun and were much more talented then the little pricks that played before them. So to sum things up, if you think you're a rock star cause you can get your douche bag friends to come see your craptastic band play a show a couple blocks away from where you all went to high school, you suck and should rethink your life.