WANNA ROCK WANNA ROLL

THREE WORD WEDNESDAY 

 Amusing, adjective: causing laughter or providing entertainment.

Deeply, adverb: far down or in; intensely (as a modifier).

Elastic, adjective: (of an object or material) able to resume its normal shape spontaneously after contraction, dilatation, or distortion; able to encompass variety and change; flexible and adaptable; noun: cord, tape, or fabric, typically woven with strips of rubber, that returns to its original length or shape after being stretched.

“Oh go, It’ll be fun!” 

Famous last words…

Bitchfest is a three day music festival located in Nashville, TN. It's main purpose is to celebrate feminine fueled bands and aggression in a safe and empowering environment. 

Performing:

White Mystery

Thelma & The Sleaze
Birdcloud
Hot ChaCha
Slutever
I Am Sabot

Fancytramp
Lurancy Vennum
Dirty Dee & The Sweaty Meat
How Cozy!
Crybaby

WANNA ROCK WANNA ROLL 

If all the honky tonk’n in Nashville makes your ears bleed, you just missed your chance to ROCK OUT in the Rockytop state.   The fifth annual BITCHFEST just happened in Nashville. The name alone intrigued me.   I am no stranger to dive bars and seedy joints, these are my haunts, my kind of places, they are where fun can and will be had by anyone seeking some adventure, and mostly they are within walking distance of my homestead.  While Nashville is known for country music, Bitchfest is about rock- Women who rock.  

The ambiance of the bar made me feel right at home, like our local juke joint, JUNIORS.  Nothing about the place was new. It had the raunchy décor that deeply resembled an abandoned building that only had power for the night. The carpet was well worn and mismatched, the tables were not in any kind of order and getting around the place was difficult without someone hooting and hollering in your ear.  Most patrons were sipping on cheap beer, but I am only calling it cheap because it came out of a keg, and the fancy appetizers offered were free hot dogs and sweet corn. 

The entry fee was only $7, but if we had rode up on our motorcycles, we would have gotten in free.  We arrived by pedicab.  Not quite the same bike.

The music was loud.  The percussion by the drummer was mesmerizing,  (hard not to pay attention to punk thump) He used  a variety of sticks, mallets, bongos and shakers that cascaded with whatever rhymes the singer was spitting.  I am no music critic or know the genre of music I am listening to most of the time, but my ears heard sounds of punk music and grundge, and I wondered if this was today’s rock and roll and I am behind the times.  It was really, really loud and had a frantic surge about it. The sounds floundered like a piece of elastic, screeching loud and tight, then they shot at you with a quick release of an almost quiet pause between lyrics that would make your heart bounce out of rhythm. 

The lights went out on one band but that didn’t stop them. The music powered on and wailed out tunes in the darkness.  With amusing names like, Daddy Issues, Mouth Reader, and Tennessee Scum, these bands sounded like I needed some drugs and teen angsts to fully appreciate the mangled mix that was blasting all around me.  I held my breath a little when a guitar player jumped on a wobbly table and tore into a solo performance.   The venue was so tiny, I felt like I was in the band- even though just from the looks of me, the band would reject me on sight.  I was content to stand nearby and if I lost my balance and fell over, I’m sure I wouldn’t have been picked up and sent crowd surfing, they would have left me on the dirty carpet.  When they noticed me lying there, it might have caused a weird grunge dance in which I would have been offered up as a bitch sacrifice by the revelers.

Before I paint Bitchfest out to be a product of a flash mob of women whose theme song is Pinks- lyrics to “So What” song: “Na na na na na na na na na na na na I guess I just lost my husband, ... I wanna start a fight, ... And I don't want you tonight." Bitchfest was a musical celebration of strong willed women who have a philanthropic side to them.  The event raised $200 for Planned Parenthood and another $100 to charities devoted to helping women in developing countries. 

Rock on Ya'll!

- DP