On This Day (1/30): After the Burial, Veil of Maya, Abacabb
This was in 2009 at the old Java Jazz in Houston when it was located on 1960. Most metalheads from Houston will probably recognize that name and location. The place was fucking legendary for a certain age group of metal fans who are all coping with the loss of their scene and their hair these days.
To be quite honest, I don't remember a whole lot about this show specifically. More just where I was at in my life. After making a good group of friends, most of whom I still count as my best friends today, I did the typical high school bullshit of getting drunk and partying, which essentially set the tone for the next decade of my life. Another harbinger of what my life would be like was that things consistently tended to go wrong for me in ways unheard of for the other people who were engaging in those kinds of illicit activities.
For instance, I can't count the amount of times any number of the people I knew drove drunk (and underage, at that), but it was, of course, my car that ended up getting wrecked out of everyone's. That being said, I lost a car, half of them ended up meth addicts. Point for me.
All that being said, I had taken a sabbatical from it all in light of the car wreck and most of my friends assumed they'd never see me again. This show was my dramatic return.
I remember the looks on everyone's faces as I pulled up to this show, and of course everyone welcomed me back with open arms. It was a fun night. I can't remember a goddamn thing about the bands, although I know I remember After the Burial busting out “Aspiration” as their closer, as they usually did in those days, and it was chaos. I was never really much into Veil of Maya or Abacabb, and nothing they did stuck with me. It is crazy now picturing how small that venue was and how many bands were on the bill that would have to headline now. That seemed to happen a lot in those days.
(Just a little bonus aside to put into context where these bands were at back then, here’s a Metal Underground article about the tour where After the Burial are seeking venues to fill dates on this tour using a fucking Yahoo email account.)
On the other hand, what does stick with me about that night is getting drunk and playing Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe at my friend Dustin's apartment, where half my friends were squatting, and what would soon turn controversial for a number of reasons. For that one night though, all was right in the world. What a time to be alive though, that just a few weeks ago I was with those same friends and we were talking about that damn apartment and the things that transpired there. Those things definitely have meant more to me over the years than any shows I've been to.