“Do you want to go see Against Me! on Thursday?” Holly Butcher asked us as we came in to Monday night’s Guilfordian meeting. “Of course!” we said. Against Me! is one of our favorite bands. “Where?”

Holly looked sheepish. “Atlanta,” she said.

Holly, Kyle West, and Becca Spence were at it again. The following Thursday, the Guilfordian concert crew would once again go on a music adventure. Only this time, it was six hours away.

We left at 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. Holly drove first.

Kyle took over the wheel after stopping in Charlotte for sandwiches and transported us all the way to South Carolina. We decided to stop at a lovely Southern truck-stop called Mr. Waffle for a bathroom break.

It was a scene from a movie. As we walked into the gritty diner, every chair swiveled and every customer turned their dirty scowling face toward us. We tried to smile at a man in a skunk skin cap, but he wasn’t amused.

We walked briskly back to the car with the song from Deliverance echoing in our heads.

Becca drove the final three hours. The road into Atlanta is seven lanes wide with plenty of traffic, a brand new experience for someone from West Virginia who isn’t used to roads more than three lanes.

We arrived in the city safely and found the venue, The Masquerade, with no problem. Even finding a parking space was hassle-free.

“Has Against Me! played yet?” we asked the lady at the ticket booth. She frowned. “They just finished.”

We had driven for six hours and missed our band.

The night wasn’t a complete loss, though. Holly recognized Warren Oakes, the drummer from Against Me!, and we told him our tragic story.

Coincidentally, Warren played drums with Guilford alum Eric Mann of Kudzu Wish in high school in a band called Lamda Lamda Lamda. He knew Guilford well and promised to see us at Ace’s Basement, where they would be playing with Kudzu Wish on Tuesday. He even sang “Fight, fight inner light” with us.

We hadn’t missed the headlining band, the Bouncing Souls, who put on an excellent, high energy show. One of the best parts, though, was watching a little girl on her mother’s shoulders dancing along to the music. The Bouncing Souls said the show was being recorded for a live album, so the concert crew may have witnessed a piece of punk rock history.

At 7:30 PM on Nov. 22, we drove the 15-minute distance to Ace’s Basement to catch Against Me’s! last show of the cross-country tour, since we missed them in GA.

The drive was short, and we found a parking space quickly and got ourselves in line. The rain made the wait a little worse than it could have been, but the worst was the drunks behind us, belting out their rendition of “Grease.”

The promise made by Warren came true, after we huddled around each other trying to find someone to let us backstage. Becca stopped a member of Kudzu Wish, asking if we could talk to Warren. Soon we found ourselves at a table with Warren and Kudzu Wish guitarist Eric Mann.

The informal interview started off after an offer of oranges from Warren. Becca asked about Warren’s thoughts on the alcoholism in the punk rock scene. “It’s pretty much an epidemic. Everybody kinda dove in headfirst,” he said.

Talk turned to the Atlanta show, and Kyle asked if they had any interesting stories. Warren told us about how Let It Burn’s guitarist celebrated his 21st birthday at the show, and after drinking decided to flip off the stage while the Bouncing Souls were playing. He then managed to split the corner of his right eye open, went to the hospital and within an hour was back out partying. Later that night, the drummer from Let It Burn was jumped by a skinhead, and also sent to the hospital.

We asked Warren lastly if coming back to Greensboro had any special meaning to him. “Coming to Greensboro is all about Kudzu Wish,” Warren said. With that, he went to get ready for the show, leaving us to go back into the main venue to wait for Kudzu Wish to come on out.

Against Me!
It would be hard for me to give a bad review of an Against Me! gig. That being said, I was blown away by their performance and the atmosphere of the show.

I tried to work my way to the front of the crowd before the band started playing and managed to squeeze up to the second row.

As soon as Against Me! walked on to the stage, I was pushed back by the wave of human bodies that swept forward. I somehow ended up at the front of the stage by the far right speaker.

The band started off with “Walking is Still Honest.” I let myself get completely into the music, singing along and dancing, sweaty kids all around me, feeling the same abandonment.

Sadly, our euphoria was interrupted by a troublemaker in the crowd who tried to start a fight with another fan. The band handled the situation well, though. They stopped playing and confronted the bully directly.

“We’re just here to have a good time,” they said. “Make sure your idea of fun is the same as the person next to you.” I was impressed.

The angry kid backed off, but soon started another fight. This time he took off before the band talked to him again. Everyone cheered at his exit.

My only complaint about the show is that I could hardly hear the vocals because of my position in the mob. One nice part of this, though, was that I could hear the crowd singing along with every song clearly.

A highlight of the show was the favorite, “Baby, I’m an Anarchist.” This song is incredibly fun live! The crowd went nuts and at least 15 people swarmed the stage.

Against Me! has incredible energy. They create a real sense of community and vivacity at their shows.

I left the show feeling, as their song “Reinventing Axl Rose” says, “We are all stronger than everything they taught us that we should fear.