Article? What Article?

By John Athayde

Bobo pretends he can actually write something USEFUL!

Well, i'm out to prove all of you wrong because i know you're thinking "oh god, more places for him to spew his bippidy boppidy bs all over the net". ha. funny haha? no. funny strange? maybe. and So i begin.

I went to Charlottesville this weekend. Not that I don't go down there on a regular basis, it just sounded like a good way to start an article. So I went to Charlottesville this weekend. I did NOT do a DMB tourist shrine visitation (since I did that but unintentionally before). I was playing a show. and not just any show. a Frat show. my first in fact. So this is all about Frats and what not.

Okay, now i go to Catholic University in Washington DC: the if not one of the most conservative universities on the face of the planet. Hey, when the Pope dictates school rules, things can kind of suck for nightlife - thank God for DC... Anyways, we have NO social fraternities. 0, zip, zilch. So needless to say, i'd never been to a real Frat show. It's this stigma if you will: Animal House set it, Revenge of the Nerds reinforced it, and now it's subliminal in every high school boy going to college:

Join a Fraternity, Get booty, beer, and brothers

Hey, sounds like a plan to me. Of course, they leave out pledging, and then there's the dues... but it all equals out in the end. And you don't have to walk home at the end of the night.

But - as i was saying, my first Frat party was also my first Frat show. There are benefits and downswings to playing a Frat

GOOD THINGS

1. people are there

2. people are drunk. and drunk people dance. alot. they also grind on the dance floor. alot.

3. you get paid. alot.

4. depending on what kind of male:female ratio there is, you can have a fairly good night.

5. a PLEATHORA of good looking women.

BAD THINGS

1. small rooms with bad sound - you go deaf

2. Bad beer. Now I have nothing agaisnt nattie lite or whatever that beer was. But when you're used to drinking Killians and what not, droppign down to piss poor beer is rough. (I know, poor baby)

3. people are drunk. and drunk people do stupid things. like spill beer all over your pedals.

4. none of those good looking women are talking to you unless you play EVERY song they want to hear. And then, by that time, they're either passed out or with some other guy.

I could go on for months like this.

Now. People that aren't in frats hate frats. Why? I dont' hate frat guys. If my school had frats, i'd pledge one... I'm just trying to show WHY bands play frats - because the good outweight the bad. And frat guys are actualy nice guys. They help you when you need them, the pledges server you beer, and at the end of the night, they pay you.

So next time you want to rip up on teh abercrombie and fitch frat boy stereotype you despise, think twice that if it weren't for the frat boys, many of the bands on the market wouldn't be there. Fraternities give bands shows when no one else will, they are teh MOST ardent supporters of local music, albeit drunk, and they are some of the best crowd people. So say hello to you neighboring frat boy and don't be so close minded. Peace.