The Dirtbombs @ Shinola Block Party

The Dirtbombs
@ Shinola Block Party - Outside 177 Franklin Street
New York, NY - September 14, 2013

Hard to imagine but it's been just over 9 years since I first saw the Dirtbombs on a Saturday night at the Bowery Ballroom. So we're heading for a full decade of this band being as something more or less simply described as my favorite band in the world. I couldn't always keep up the fandom at a fever pitch (a healthy mental decision to be fair to band and myself alike) and other bands of the present and the past have taken a turn in the spotlight of number 1 on the list of frequently played, but it has always come back to this Detroit (post-Detroit?) band. Even when the frequency of shows reduced, or even if I actually found a record not to my personal tastes (Party Store), they've still been IT to me. My brain has taken on all comers, musically speaking, but look who still find themselves at the top.

And in just a matter of days, the next record will be released. Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey! will be the next station on this locomotive ride of genres - the bubblegum pop record much discussed for years. I'd like to tell you how it sounds live but I can't - not a single song from it was played at this block party performance put on for a Detroit-based establishment opening in Tribeca. Instead it was the ramble of "hits" from most of the previous discography, songs I've written about too many times to count on this site and have played on my fake radio show. There was also what sounded like a few moments of "Wheatland".

As the stretches of time between performances have grown, and as I've gone from the guy who wears the band shirt to the gig (Jeeeesus) to the guy who danced a little too crazy to the point of getting actual whiplash one night in Cleveland to the guy who did the My Space page for a period of time when such a thing actually helped get things done to the guy who followed the band's tour of the Northeast but was feeling too old and tired at 26 to see any of those shows up front (except to allow for this) to the guy who just shows up when they play and after a rough week at the office dances a little too crazy once again but only to remind myself of the vigor of the old days (and carefully avoiding the whiplash this time) and also hey, sometimes the wife will come with and get a glimpse of how it was before she met me (and lord have mercy perish the thought even contemplating what progeny will think of this music), I have but one thought left on my favorite band:

Get it while you can.