Last week, a post from this band called Basic Printer came up in my feed, talking about the tour they were on. They tagged another band, who I actually do follow so it made sense that it popped up for me. I noticed that the last stop of the tour was Pittsburgh, and it was ON EASTER.

We had NOTHING to do on Easter, aside from being pathetic empty nesters. And I did have a moderate interest in seeing the band that was tagged (Spirit of the Bear). But I got distracted as usual and moved on to other things. But then I got a sponsored ad in my Insta stories from Basic Printer and it really caught me at the right time, and so off to YouTube I went to see if this band had any videos.

I watched one, liked what I saw/heard, looked up the tickets for the show. $10!! I told Henry, “We’re going to this” and before he could even ask who/what/when/where, the tickets were bought.

($20 even – no stupid fees or taxes!!! It was like the OLDEN DAYS when you’d see a flyer or an ad in the City Paper and get cheap tickets at the door. But in this case, it was Instagram and Basic Printer’s website. Close enough!)

This was our first time at Poetry Lounge, but I have been following them for about a year now on Insta and I’m actually surprised that between them and Spirit of the Bear, I had seen nary a crumb dropped about this show.

First impressions:

• cozy & chill dive bar atmosphere FOR SURE; loved it.
• super friendly and helpful bartenders who did not make us feel like we stuck out like a sore thumb among the regulars

I was happy with this place so far!

There are booths along  the side of the place, but you can’t see the stage from there. That’s the only downside and short of gutting the space and rebuilding, I don’t see how that can be changed. There is only a small space in front of the stage, then the wall juts out a bit and the space becomes a narrow corridor between the bar and the booths, and everyone just has to cram up in there.

I desperately wanted Henry to take one for the team and get the Weird Al but he held firm in his refusal. “Do you want me to be sick?” he cried, but I will tell you this: if they had veggie dogs as a substitute, my fat ass would have beasted a Weird Al right there on that Easter evening, bathed under the blue lights of Poetry Lounge. I have Twinkies very rarely – like maybe one every 10 years – but I do genuinely like them, fuck those haters of ultra-processed greasy sweetened cream-filled sponges.

Come on, this is the same bitch who puts bleu cheese slaw and Froot Loops on her veggie dogs every time we visit Happy Dog in Cleveland (two whole times, but still).

And then it was time for Basic Printer! Henry of course stayed in the booth but I shouldered (POLITELY!!!) my way through the gathering crowd to get closer to the front. It was annoying because the “front row” was pretty far back from the stage, but during one of the songs, the keyboardist ran out and encouraged everyone to  move up so that was my chance – when the people in front of me barely moved I said “EXCUSE ME” super sweetly and blew past them so I could get closer. I like being all up in these things, I can’t help it! Even when I say to Henry, “You know, I’m older now, so I’m going to go to this show, sit at the bar and just relax.” Or: “I’ve seen this band enough times, I can be content with standing way back.” Or: “I don’t really know any of the bands that much, so I’ll just observe comfortably from the shadows.”

THIS. NEVER. HAPPENS.

Example: The Honey Revenge show!

PVRIS!

OMG you guys, from the beginning notes of the first song, I knew I had made a great decision! This band slaps! I love the quirky, retro keyboards and watching this young crowd of….what scene would this even be? Neo-hipsters? I’m not sure! But they dance in a specific way and I was loving it, like being at a Peanuts dance party. I’m used to the “too cool for school” head nods or just maniacal jumping, but this was something different and I was there for it.

My therapist was intrigued (you guys, I have no one else to talk to, LOL) and asked me to describe the crowd. I thought about it and said, “Well, for example, I was wearing a bright red kawaii sweater and was pretty much the only color in a scene of beige, camel, and olive.” No assholes at all though, everyone was very polite as they had no choice but to cut through the bottle-necked crowd to reach the bathroom. Cozy establishment but you better be OK with cosplaying a sardine in a full tin in order to enjoy a show there!

(Thankfully, I am OK with crowds in this context.)

But wow, Basic Printer! What a serendipitous sitch – so glad I was a “victim” of a targeted ad, LOL! After their set, I went to the merch table, bought a tour shirt, a vinyl, and got a signed Pokemon card from Jessie!

I sent a picture to Chooch who was likely furious because I never cared about Pokemon before and now here I am like, “Mommy’s first Pokemon card!”

I rejoined Henry at the booth after Basic Printer but then had to run again for Spirit of the Bear. Another solid, dance-y set!

There was one guy there who I pointed out earlier to Henry because finally we found someone who MIGHT have been in the same age bracket as him (this is a fun game we play at shows although I will say that I was also over the median age for this one as well). Anyway, turned out it was the singer’s DAD! He played the SAXOPHONE on the last song of the set and it was so precious!

Spirit of the Bear is from Youngstown, Ohio which is only about an hour away so this was kind of like a hometown show for them, and the last show of the tour as well so it felt really special! They kept reminding us that we were witnessing a moment, part of a memory in the making, and, well – you know how fucking sentimental I am so I was on the verge of tears even knowing next to nothing about these bands that night. But, the connection had been made!

I sat with Henry for a little while longer afterward while people were clearing out and just really took in the place. I genuinely liked it there and want to go back soon even if it’s not for a band! They had an interesting cocktail list and maybe I want something fancy in a shark glass.

Before we left, Henry and I (well, maybe scratch the “Henry” part) chatted again with Jessie from Basic Printer and I just felt so alive after that! What a fantastic way to spend Easter as empty nesters. I am so glad that we are finding things to fill the void while waiting for the next big Kpop concert to happen (BIGBANG!?) and that Henry is willing to accompany me because maybe he won’t agree but we have been having the best time lately!

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