Looking back at much of the things that have been posted on this website over the last two years, dating back to the time period when a long term relationship began falling apart. There has certainly been a lot of anger. I see the words of a man who was in an incredible amount of pain. A man who was looking for a target to blame for that pain. And all I can think of is the scene near the end of The Shawshank Redemption when Red is finally released from prison: "Rehabilitated?.. I don't have any idea what that means... I know what you think it means... To me it's just a made up word... There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then. A young stupid kid... I wanna talk to him. I wanna try to talk some sense into him. Tell him the way things are. But I can't... I gotta live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word."
In commemoration of International Women's Day, we are going to continue to celebrate international female artists all March long!
Have you ever discovered a new band at a festival that was completely off of your radar before you saw them? Munshy is a band from France that I was able to catch live by mere coincidence. The Van's Warped Tour has always held a special place in my heart because I felt like I always discovered at least one new artist that made a big impact on me every year that I was able to go. One year back in the early or mid 00s, that band was Munshy.
They were playing on the Ernie Ball Battle of The Bands Stage, which is reserved for up and coming artists who had won the opportunity to perform at Warped Tour through various Battle of The Bands events in their local areas. I was wandering around the festival while I had about an hour to kill before another band I came to see would be starting. If you ever find yourself at a large music festival with multiple stages I highly recommend giving yourself a block of time during the middle of the event to wander around and check out different artists. You never know what you might discover.
As I approached the Ernie Ball Stage, I heard the low rumbling bassline of their song "Satisfied." I was like Toucan Sam, with my colored mohawk, following my ears instead of my nose toward the enticing sound. It was unlike anything my Californian ears had heard at the time, aside from maybe a hint of Korn. The singer was a girl named Faustine who rocked an energy far bigger than her small frame as she bounced around the stage hyping up the crowd with her aggressive vocals. They were a relatively unknown band from France performing in the US for the first time. The crowd wasn't very thick but those that were there absolutely loved it!
I don't remember much about their short set-list which I only caught about 2 or 3 songs of but I do remember them playing "Rotten" last. I'm a sucker for songs like Green Day's "Longview" or "Brain Stew" that have an ebb and flow to the music. Some of my favorite concert memories have been in the pit during Green Day sets at for those two songs. The pit slows down and everyone walks during the verse, and then the chorus breaks out into a chaotic frenzy. This was the feeling in the crowd for "Rotten," albeit with a bit more elbow room. I was hooked! And from the looks of it so were a lot of others.
