Five Times I’ve Been Pissed Off At Shows
Being in a band, going on tour, and getting to play drums all the time is great. But sometimes it sucks. Here are five examples why:
1) This punk space in Florida was pretty cool and I felt good about things until I walked into the bathroom. There was no toilet paper and no trashcan. I was on my period at the time, so in addition to getting mega-angry about the lack of toilet paper making the space feel very much anti-lady, I was at a loss as to what to do in case I needed to remove my bloody tampon.
Hormones, tour-stress, and a little misandry sent me into a blind rage.
2) One time I played a basement show in Alabama. It went great, and was a fun night overall. After our awesome, sweaty set, we were loading out and passed two dudes talking to each other. One of them was talking about me playing drums, looked at me, and started making jack-off motions with his hand. I death-glared at him and then whacked him with a cymbal stand on my
way out.
3) An old band of mine played a Take Back the Night Benefit at a local club, a place that I had played a million times before. We had loaded in, left for a while, and were coming back inside. The door guy was someone I had never met before and let in the other dudes in the band, but when I tried to walk back in, stopped me and said, “Five dollars. “I told him I was in the band, but he wouldn’t believe me.”What do you play? Keyboard?” “No.””You sing?” “No.””Guitar?” “No.” He didn’t really believe I played drums and wouldn’t let me in until every other dude in the band vouched for me.
4) We were setting up in a dark club in the Pacific Northwest when a dude came over. I was setting up drums. Obviously. This guy was about four or
five feet away from me, but turned to one of my male band mates and said, “So the girl plays the drums?” Something about the way he said “the girl”
while refusing to speak to me directly made me feel ultra creeped out, like he thought I couldn’t hear him or didn’t actually exist.He also thought my
kick drum was too small.
5)Anytime someone’s said,”You’re really good,for a girl.”Or,”Are you with the band?” This happens so frequently it’s not even worth nailing down one particular instance. It’s just a part of life.
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By Marie Uhler
Photos courtesy of artist