20TH CENTURY BOY

Waiting out in front of 9:30 for brain coral and his brother, I noticed a guy slip out the door for a smoke with a group of four or five others.

He was short and slightly built, with straight-leg skinny jeans and a haystack of hair on his head.

He bantered with his friends for a few minutes, and when the group broke apart he headed back toward the front door of the club. He stopped mid stride and spun on his heel. “Can I have a kiss, honey?” he said very gently to one of the women in the group, and she complied.

I saw him smile and enter the club, noting for the first time the laminate attached to his shirt.

So when this fun, unremarkable trio named the 1990’s opened the show, and I saw that he was the singer/guitarist, I liked the band just a little bit more than I probably would have otherwise…