It was Saturday night on the Atlantic City Boardwalk hanging out with Armor for Sleep, Underoath, and Taking Back Sunday. Sounds like an Emo Kid’s wet dream.
Thanks to my sweet hookups and my suave skills, I was able to get my hands on an all access pass, allowing me to see first hand what it’s really like backstage at a rock show.
So many things that made backstage life desired by us normal folk are now just urban legends. Groupies? Not any more. I was expecting that my all access laminate would fool some girls into thinking I was in the opening act. But no, the only girls that were hanging around back there were wives and girlfriends.
“Now we are 23, some of us have homes, wives and families so if we don’t make money to an extent, we can’t do this,” said Underoath’s lead guitarist Tim McTague. So not classic Rock n’ Roll.
Drugs were a big no-no. I guess that fad died when everyone started to see what a massive mess Keith Richards has become. McTague explained his pre-show ritual, “We all get together to say a five minute prayer before we go on stage and then we play.” So, instead of coke lines, bands now like to stand in circles and pray?
Now that sex and drugs have been crossed off the list, I guess all that is really left is the rock n’ roll. It is up for debate whether or not “emo music” is even worthy of being deemed rock. I was interested to see what McTague (Underoath is a big emo group) thinks about “emo.”
McTague said, “Panic! At the Disco is pure crap. Bands like that and Fall Out Boy are just ripping from the styles of unknown bands that have been struggling in the underground scene for years. The only mainstream band out now that deserves every bit of success they get is Jimmy Eat World.” McTague then went off to his dressing room to prepare for his set.
An hour and a half later, the lights went off and sound clips from Tom Cruise’s “Vanilla Sky” played over the speakers, as Tim and the rest of the band took the stage, rocking so hard that the casino down the street was shaking. At least the music is still loud enough to knock out your eardrums.
We need to get these bands a copy of Mark Walberg’s movie, “Rockstar.” That’s how backstage life should be. Backstage life at a Boy George concert was probably more exciting. I don’t even think I saw any alcohol in those dressing rooms.
The only thing I saw Adam of Taking Back Sunday drinking was a bottle of Pepto Bismol for his upset stomach. I mean, I thought emo people are fixated with this idea of suicide. Alcohol poisoning is the most badass way to go.
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