So last Wednesday I went and saw Catch 22. It was weird. I didn't even feel like going. Catch has always been one of my favorite bands but for whatever reasons I knew this show would be different. I had to navigate through a lot of traffic on the way up and it gave me time to think about things. Like I realized that I've pretty much stopped listening to ska altogether. It's a crazy thought and something that I never would have guessed would have happened, but it has. And I knew the crowd would be different. I was wondering if anybody from the old scene that I grew up with would be there. There was only like maybe five people I knew at the show. I didn't even watch the opening bands. Instead I sat on the patio and drank and talked with my friends. I'm slowly turning into the bitter old people at the back of the room that I never wanted to be.

As for the show.... Well, I got there late due to construction and detours so I missed the first band. Then I spent almost the entire set of The Supervillians out on the patio talking to Ren and catching up. I caught like maybe the last half a song? Then Patent Pending came on and I watched the first half of their first song and before you knew it I was back on the patio talking to friends. My friends and I brought water guns and passed them out to random people and explained what they were for and explained the "On and On and On" chant. I gave my guns to two little kids who couldn't have been more than six. They were stoked! We were actually out on the patio when Catch came on. So we went back in and danced and sang and chanted. They played "On and On and On" for us. They did refuse to play it more than once though. They played "Straight Forward" which is one of my favorite songs. You know how it goes, "Hey! Get off my back! I'm living for the moment 'cuz I'm thinking that's all I have." Yeah, that's kind of how I live my life, for better or worse. For their encore they played "Keasbey Nights" and the water guns were in full effect. It was beautiful and worth having a wet pocket due to a leaky gun. One of the guys from Patent Pending came out to sing on it and I kept squirting him in the face. He ended up taking my gun and squirting people with it. Don't worry, I got it back after the song. I talked to him after the show and apologized for squirting him and he was like, "Don't worry about it. That's awesome. I don't know why more people don't bring squirt guns to shows." Cool guy. For whatever reasons he said I looked familiar and thought I was from Long Island. Don't know what that was about.

So anyways, it ended up being a fun night. I get the feeling that Catch 22 won't be around much longer. I get that feeling about a bunch of the bands that I grew up on. Go see bands while you can because they not going to be around forever. The ska scene really needs some new blood to step and take the place of these aging bands.