Dayglo Abortions, The Antithesis, Mr. Plow

Punks, Like, SO Not Dead
The Boot pub, Whistler, BC

The Dayglo Abortions are a Canadian punk mainstay, so I was delighted to find out they were playing at a scuzzy pub in Whistler, BC. The locals told me that this show was going to sell out fast and that I should get there super early. And so I did, then hung around reading the paper for like a HALF HOUR before anyone else showed up. The good thing is that I got the only table and the only chair in front of the stage.

People from two distinct camps start trickling in. There are the local straight-laced kids who are working here for the summer (spa girls in the room - I can smell their lavender/rosemary/mint aroma), and the local punk dudes from Whistler and outskirts. The punk people make me feel like it's 1978 again - lots of tall hair, leather jackets with things like "Cannibal Corpses" and such written on the back in white, and TONS of those studded leather belts. I wonder if they still use sugar water to get their hair to stand straight up, or if they're using like Bed Head products now. Is hair product punk rock? The two camps don't interact much. The resort kids drink from glasses; the punk kids drink directly from pitchers.

I note that the old timers are not dressed in punk garb. WAIT a second. Is this an old fart rocker show? Could it be? If so, these are my people! I understand them! I scan the crowd for earplugs (telltale sign) but see not very many. Jury is out.

Mr. Plow takes the stage with his guitar, and he's pretty funny. He's kind of like Tenacious D minus the positive outlook. Mr. Plow does a GWAR cover, which is impressive. He seems to hate everyone, though. Does this make him even more punk, or just an angry singer/songwriter? Not sure.

As more people arrive, my table (the only available surface in front of the stage) becomes beer pitcher magnet. A very considerate young guy with a tall blue mohawk stations himself nearby. He makes sure his friends always have enough beer, unsticks plastic cups from one another, ties his shoelaces as soon as they became undone, and helps up the fallen. What a NICE young man!

Next is The Antithesis, which they pronounced "Auntie Thesis". They are an actual punk band - I know this because I can't understand a single thing they are singing. Finally some moshing starts. If there aren't enough people for a mosh pit and it's just two guys stomping around in a circle, what is it called? A mosh trench? A mosh moat?

Although the beer pitchers on my table have become community property, there is a line of guys in front of the table protecting their purchases. The mosh moat has become an actual pit, and occasionally someone gets shoved dangerously close to the table, which now sports at least 5 pitchers, 4 full glasses, and my lowly bottle. I am relying on these guys to be an appropriate buff...SHITE! Guy in front of me is moshed into and pitchers and glasses go flying. My legs, jacket, and (oddly) hair are covered in beer. NOW it's a punk show! FUCK yeah! But of course I flee to the back.

Only when the Dayglos take the stage to I realize what happened to all the old farts I was expecting at the show. They are all on the stage. Apparently this isn't the old rocker show I expected, but an aging punk band keeping it fresh and serving it up to the kids, yo. They are great.

Later I shove my way through the very packed crowd to check on my old table and the now raging mosh pit. Even the most drunk and violent guys are picked up right away when they fall down. The girls are holding their own. The skateboards are stashed safely to the sides. The crowd screams in approval when they are mocked by the band. And the security guy, even though he has an arm in a cast and keeps having people thrown directly AT him, is very, very happy.