Girl at the Rock Shows

Going to concerts every night of my life will never feel like actual work, but I will admit that there are some nights that I wonder what it would be like to have a normal life and just stay home for a cozy night. Thursday night was not one of those nights. Honestly, my show couldn’t come soon enough. It was a good day, so it wasn’t that I needed a sense of relief but more. I never thought I would see CSS perform live, and I was finally getting my chance. I wasn’t going to miss a second of this show, so after a quick dinner, I rushed downtown to The Fine Line, snagged a good spot, and waited to cross this Brazilian band off my bucket list finally.

Before I could witness the genius of CSS, I got a brilliant opening set from local drag queen Luna Muse. As CSS said while thanking Luna Muse, support you should support your local drag queens and kings, and when you have a local like Luna Muse, that’s not a hard thing to do. In true drag fashion, Luna Muse was gorgeous but also quirky. I loved the way that she would dance hard and then act as if she was out of breath and tired. Although I’m sure she was tired as she was stomping around the Fine Line stage consistently throughout her set, these movements and signs of exhaustion were exaggerated to the point of hilarity.

Sure, the jokes were flying about how Luna Muse was “actually singing” and really was everyone from Katy Perry to Lady Gaga, but, realistically, she gave a super convincing set. Okay, that’s a lie. What I’m trying to say is that she was having fun as she lip-synced her way through a quick opening set. As she kept saying, she was there to warm us up for what was to come, and I think I can speak for the rest of the modest but excited audience that that mission was accomplished.

I don’t remember how I got hooked on CSS. I know it dates back to their debut album ‘Cansei de Ser Sexy.’ I’m pretty sure it was one of those albums that the record store I was working at the time got a promo copy of, and, being the music hoarder I am, I snagged it and took it home. It took a couple of years for me to come around and finally listen to it, but when I did, it changed my life. Okay, dramatic, but it was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was loud, brash, insane, chaotic, and just my speed. I fawned over that record for years, and I still have days when that’s all I listen to. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to see them live, and they took a hiatus from 2013 to 2019. There was a one-off show in 2019 in their hometown of São Paulo, but it didn’t seem like my chance to see them would ever come… until Thursday night. I remember the day the show was announced. I screeched so loud that I’m sure my boyfriend thought there was a spider in the house, but, no, it was just pure excitement that I would finally get to see this monumental band live, and now that it has happened, I’m honestly not sure how I’ll ever recover (dramatic, again, not sorry).

The music of CSS is all over the place, but regardless of where it goes, it’s high energy. They remind me of Sleigh Bells. Wait, scratch that; Sleigh Bells reminds me of CSS. Regardless of which came first, that’s the vibe of a CSS show. It’s powerful with a pumping bass and, at times, screeching vocals, but it’s not intimidating. Although the music is loud and insane at times, the feeling I had on Thursday night was more of that at an EDM show than a metal show. This was surprising to me but also really enhanced the night. After snapping my photos from the front of the club, I made my way to the back to just let the music take over me. I found myself consistently inching closer and closer to the stage after moving back, and before long, I found myself in the thick of it. People were the nicest in the little jumping pit that had formed, and although we were all clearly having the time of our lives, it was also clearly all about the music. Sure, we were all jumping and singing, but we made sure not to miss a second of this band being on stage.

I loved seeing a more personal side of this band as they performed on Thursday night. That’s something that is not a new concept to me and is something that always thrills me, but I just don’t think I really realized how finally seeing CSS live would make me see them in a new light. I loved the fact that, instead of just coming off as rockstars, they came off as cat-obsessed and passionate people. The way they had videos and photos of their cats flashing on the screen behind them after joking about how, when they started, a lot of their music was about sex but, these days, it’s about cats, to the way that the band let the audience in on the game of “who can name five Motorhead songs without looking at their phone,” I just really loved the personality that shined as bright as the band itself.

I didn’t take any notes on Thursday night. Honestly, outside of snapping a picture and a quick video for my socials, I didn’t take my phone out through the entirety of the set. If you’ve ever been to a show with me, you know that my time at shows doubles as my social time to check in with friends and get caught up on my socials. The fact that I did neither of these things should say all that needs to be said about how amazing my Thursday night at The Fine Line was.

Line Up:

Luna Muse

CSS

Venue: Fine Line

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 39

Crowd Surfers- None

Stage Divers- None

Mosh-ability- 5 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None Witnessed

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

Idiots Taken Out By Security – None Spotted

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Luna Muse – 0

CSS – 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score- 11 out of 10

Show on Deck —TBD (It’s a super busy weekend concert-wise and I haven’t made decisions yet)

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