positivelyBLEAK Grinning back into the abyss.

What I Wore To…Rich Horror’s Party Machine

First off, you’ll have to pardon the less-​than-​dynamic poses in these snap­shots, it was about 12° out and I was just barely adjusting to being out of the toasty warm car:

What I Wore: 2-​12-​2010

• Siri Skirt by Cheap Monday (worn as a dress!)
• Wolves In The Throne Room 2009 tour shirt
• Jersey-​knit black leggings
• Urban Decay Oil Slick eye­liner, Sephora Chrome Mono eye­shadow in No. 6, Tarte cheek stain in Flower Child, Pink Me Up lip gloss in straw­berry, a whole mess of bobby pins holding my hair in place.
• (Not pic­tured: my trusty Frye Engineer 12Rs, skeleton gloves, Lucky Crossbody Convertible, my go-​to hands-​free bag, and my toasty winter coat!)

Edit: I got a lot of com­pli­ments on this when I wore it out but man, did this outfit ever get roasted by the pre­ten­tious posters on a cer­tain fashion forum. (The uni­form over there is big on denim leg­gings with elf boots and hippie tunics, so I think I’ll take that as a compliment!)

For the non-​locals reading, O’Brien’s is basi­cally a hole in the wall, with a bar on one side and a stage on the other. It’s super small and has cheap drinks, which means that you can sit at the bar and still see the band really well — for a weekday show, my 9-​to-​5 draggin’ ass appre­ci­ates this. Their sound system is loud enough to rock out, but quiet enough to not actu­ally need earplugs (although I wear them anyway, thanks to learning the hard way). On the down­side, it’s too small for a mosh pit or even for proper head­banging — alter­na­tively, this may be because Allston kids are “too hip” for these things, because it was one of the most stock-​still audi­ences ever.

The Party Machine is put on by Rich Horror/​Obscenity Cult booking, they host a lot of local metal events. I swung in early with the McManbeast, we ran into an old head­banger friend of mine, we staked out our spots at the bar and pounded back a few. The Beast and I drank Victory Ale’s Hopdevil, which is deli­cious and s-​t-​r-​o-​n-​g! Much time was spent being smug and pre­ten­tious, but more time was spent banging our heads, since the three of us com­bined create a pro­lific wall of flying hair, and fending off the hip­ster grifters trying to poach beers.

So in sum, Nachzerer and Witch Tomb were both really solid and a lot of fun, Black Pyramid really brought it with the fan­tastic psy­che­delic break­downs (I was already a big fan of theirs anyway), Darkwor put on a fun show with a lot of stage pres­ence, but was really not much to write home about musi­cally. (Sorry, Darkwor, but your bassist’s fiancée was out­side the show and she is awe­some and hilarious!)

Afterward, we wan­dered around the corner to The Music Gym, only the best rehearsal space in Boston, for PBRs and sit­ting on the floor with Peanut and Zana the pho­tog­ra­pher — nothing winds down a Friday night like destroying someone’s willpower to quit smoking and talking smack about ska.

Also of note, local band pho­tog­raphy champs Return To The Pit shot the show — you always know you’ll see show photos online when there’s a prac­ticed, unob­tru­sive pho­tog­ra­pher climbing halfway up to the rafters to get their shot. (They’ve also got a fan­tastic radio show on New Hampshire sta­tion WUNH, you can listen to a recording here!)

Bonus weekend mate­rial, because I never get tired of posting about my cat, Lillehammer von Metalkatzen wearing her best “I hate you” face in a paper bag:

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