random thoughts – Day 1,264 – (Saturday) – night in the city

Long before Musk bought Twitter and rebranded it as “X” there was another X – the Los Angeles based punk/alt rock band formed in 1977, fronted by John Doe and with vocalist Exene Cervenka.

X entered my awareness in the early 1990s, during a chaotic time of life when time I was splitting up with X1, working full-time days, and attending grad school and photography classes at night. Things were busy and frantic and exciting and stressful. Their 1985 album Ain’t Love Grand, and especially the song “What’s Wrong with Me” ("What's wrong with me? It ain't none of your g-d damned business") really struck a chord with me so to speak.

When they came through New England on a tour in the 90s, my friends and I jumped to buy tickets for their show in Providence, Rhode Island. Recently, my friend and I were talking about the long ago “fun time when we went to see X in Providence.” Just a couple weeks later I saw a sponsored social media post promoting an upcoming show in Boston with X and Squirrel Nut Zippers. Boom, we were in. 

The Wilbur.

In the late afternoon, we headed from the hinterlands of Central Massachusetts to Tremont Street and the Theater District in Boston (once known as “The Combat Zone” and not a very family friendly neighborhood). The city was alive with fresh faced college students and college student parent types.

We stopped at Montien Boston for Thai food and then realized the show was at 8:00 and not 7:00 like we thought. That gave us time to walk around and stop for after dinner drinks. We landed in Guy Fieri’s Boston Kitchen and Bar.

At The Wilbur Theater, opened in 1914, we sat under crystal chandeliers that did not scream “punk rock.” The place was small and intimate. There were wait staffers delivering drinks from the bar.

Squirrel Nut Zippers opened with a fun and slightly zany set. Some of their music felt kind of 1914-ish and it wasn’t hard to imagine a band like them playing there when the theater was new.

X!

X sounded great. It was slightly surreal watching people in their late 60s on stage delivering a high energy set for an audience of people in their 60s, mostly seated like we were at a lecture or something. I couldn’t help but think back to the Providence show of ages ago, and how we stood and danced in place for the duration, then were ready to go out someplace else afterward. It made me feel old and I don’t like feeling old. 

As we left The Wilbur at 10:30 and walked to the parking lot with the other elders, we passed the young people who had just parked and were enjoying their night. I vaguely remember the many nights of at-home pre-party, out on the town party, and post-party breakfast in a late-night diner or coffee shop before returning home. As for me and my friends, we couldn’t wait to get back home to sleep. What a difference a couple decades makes. I hate this.