Love Battery at The Comet
“Do you need your cane?”
I wanted to kill myself when my wife posed this question to me.
Sometimes, I think Kurt had this one pegged. Maybe it is better to burn out than fade away. On this night, I was seriously wishing that I had. This past Saturday, my back went out again. This made it the third … fourth time this year. I’ve stopped counting.
I spent most of the day either in bed or in front of the computer, but when a buddy of mine texted and asked “Are you going to see Love Battery at The Comet tonight?”, I just couldn’t say no. Hell, before that point, I didn’t even know they were playing. The last show I had seen was The Melvins at the Showbox on September 7th, and I swear my ears were still ringing from that one. Still, I needed to get out for a bit, and I wasn’t about to let 8 out of 10 on the pain scale stop me.
As I walked, er, limped up Pike Street shortly after 10pm I realized that, 20 short years ago, I trudged up this same hill, to the same club, to see the same band. The only difference was that, 20 years ago, nobody had asked me if I needed to take my cane. Hell, 20 years ago, I wouldn’t have walked at all … I would have ridden my cock like a pogo stick to the top of Capitol Hill.
How the mighty have fallen.
Fortunately, the show cheered me up. The opening bands were quite good … a Fugazi-influenced group from DC & Olympia, a Celtic Rock-type band with catchy hooks, and LB … who played a few new songs, which hopefully is a harbinger of a new record. Only time will tell.
There was to be no visible enthusiasm from yours truly on this night, however. No moshing, poging, or crowd surfing. I stood in place the entire time, reticent to move lest I completely paralyze myself, and having downed a fistful of painkillers, alcohol-free. I was now my grandmother.
All things considered, it was a decent night, although not without its share of contradictions. Hopefully, I’ll be in a little better shape for the next gig … perhaps Dinosaur Jr. at the Neptune in a few weeks.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go outside and yell at the kids to get off my lawn.
I know your pain. I have a chronic herniated disk which irritates the nerves which run down the right leg. It is a constant annoyance compounded by several “episodes” per year which put my back, hip, and leg in agony for a week or two and out of commission for physical activity for a couple of weeks after that. Physical therapy only makes it worse. Last August I had a major blowout which lasted till around Halloween. I broke down and bought a cane for that one.
I’ve resisted steroidal injections so far, and damn glad I have after hearing about the meningitis outbreak they caused last week.
As the saying goes “Getting old sucks, but it beats the alternative.”
Same thing, but left leg. Surgery 10 years ago – not much better. But you learn what makes it worse and what keeps it better, (sorry, no bowling, and that scooter doesn’t help either. And don’t take up golf.) Press ups, hamstring stretches, ice and Advil help the most for me. I refuse to use a cane – it will not beat me.
Just wait till you really are old. It can get worse. Much worse. Three major operations in eight months can attest to that. These are the “Golden Years” for me and they feel anything but golden. At 64 i would still like a shot with the guy who came up with that line of bullshit. And i sometime wonder about that “beats the alternative” thing also. These recovery times are getting tougher every time. Anyway, i hope you get better soonest Rex.
Dinosaur Jr. is coming??
Possibilities….