The Mission... excuse me.... The Mission UK

it was a tad random
this blog post is going to be totally random
I was up in NYC visiting my brother
my guess he was in gradual school and I was in college... I mean kindergarten with beer
so this was the late '80's almost 1990... but not quite

so I was up in NYC visiting my brother and we had nothing to do I called some friends from DC who were in school in New York
it was a tad random
there was not all this pre-planning back then
we lacked the internet... there was no such thing as a cellular phone
long distance calls cost money... I had no money... so I had not made many advance calls
or maybe I was just me being a little flaky about pre-planning
maybe I am still a little flaky about planning
I am a big fan of the pop-in
I am not so good about making plans in advance

it just sort of happens
my guess is we drove to NYC and parked that diminutive beige VW diesel rabbit four door hatchback then threw our bags on my brother;s apartment floor
not sure if we had a plan... just took a trip from washington to new york for the sake of going to visit my brother

so when we arrived we tried to make an evening plan
to create a play we decided to call these friends
so... I get in touch with some friends of mine and then these tickets to The Mission UK at The Ritz appear in the equation
some details are coming back
if I recall I had road tripped up with my friend Jason (aka Jake Starr.. but not to me... to me he is... nevermind)

well...
there were two girls and four tickets

my brother had some good points... he was a bigger fan of this band
it was my brother who had introduced me to these Goth bands... Sisters of Mercy who became The Mission and who ever else came on with all that spook and all that synthesizer

did I mention... there were four tickets and two girls...
someone was going to get dogged!
no one wanted to get dogged... I did not want to get dogged... as the youngest I risked getting dogged
as good as my brother's points were... they were my friends first and I had made the call
which gave me a greater right to going to the show
and well... Jason knew the girls as well
my brother got bumped

the evening was classic
a very memorable show with an assortment of memories
the band rocked
the girls will remain nameless to protect the innocent
but Barnyard is a hint and there was some involvement in college radio... that is where the tickets appeared from
anyhow... here is one memory that just surfaced and made me laugh

this is a stray fact that could be confirmed or could be corrected
John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin not only produced this show but also played with them

here is the meat of the message
this is the point of the story.... the lead in has been long
but we have arrived at the point...

on this evening there was a very amusing choreographed moment...
there I was at the Mission UK at the Ritz in New York City somewhere in the late 80's college age
the band was putting on a stellar performance
the crowd was into it
everything appeared to by in sync

then something happened
somehow one of the men operating a spot light got distracted from the band and put his focus on a woman in one of the balconies
then... so did some of the people in the crowd
I noticed the spectacle... then did those around me
it became apparent to the people in the crowd why one of the lighting guys was distracted from pointing his spot light on one members of the band but instead on some random woman in the balcony

well... things were not so random
this woman not only had the largest breasts I had and may have ever seen
these massive gravity defying breasts were being concealed by what may have been the slimmest tank top ever created
I am not sure how the shoe string width tank top managed to maintain coverage of her nipples
and she had blonde hair!
okay... no digging my way out of that one... you would have to see it to believe it
a Nun would have not have been able to look away!

well... the crowd also became distracted
and well... the singer became aware of this distraction
this all appeared to be natural and unpracticed
unlike the Lollapollossa draped climbing by Eddie Veder of Pearl Jam
ironically I am listening to a song by Pearl Jam right now
unlike Allonis Morrissette I am using the word ironic somewhat appropriately

back to the show...
so the lead singer of The Mission.... HOLD ON! my iTUNES RADIO STATION IS READING MY BLOG AS I TYPE!
that iTUNES radio station is playing an Allonis Morrissette song

so... the singer of the Mission UK is still singing and the band is still playing but he has taken notice of this dirtraction
so he climbs up all of the amplifiers and PAS.... over speakers and onto the balcony
then over towards this woman... but not so much to get to the women
but to steal back the spot light and the attention of the crowd
it was a fantastic moment to witness
the lead singer Wayne Hussey had in fact won back the attention of the crowd and created a memorable moment... well... at least for me
there are other memories from that weekend road trip and from that show

New York City is still hardly known by me
that venue... The Ritz if I remember correctly... that place is a landmark
so to catch a show there goes in the same books as going to CBGBs or the old 930
but I have never been to CBGBs... my trips to new york were more directed towards dance
the limelight... club usa.... save the robots.... I can not remember the names
what was the place with the woman on the tapeeze?

sorry... tangentical memories....
not sure if FACEBOOK is a part of this
but FACEBOOK is EVIL and so is GOTH music
so I blame them for this long winded rant about nothing

my brother responded similarly when I had the chance to see The Smith's on their first American World Tour
they were playing at The Warner Theater and a friend of mine asked if I could drive his sister to the show
he could not bear the thought of hearing The Smiths much less seeing them live
my brother denied me
he rationalized why the car we shared could only be driven by him
it was some older brother logic
some how some way in a Marshal Crenshaw sort of way I ended up connecting with my friend Peter who had somehow landed two tickets to the show
that was also an amazing show
there is something about the connection of being young and experiencing something amazing and being open to experiencing it

THE MISSION UK on the Wiki Page

it is too late for me to proof read this
what you see... is what you get
now that same station is playing NIRVANA
I wonder if there were any other songs that paralled this post?

there is an additional worry
for a second I though I had a captivating story
then I think I lost it... then I questioned the value of the story as a whole
I could hear Ikonoklasst giving some sort of exhale that expressed some sort of judgement... some sort of let down
too tired to revisit... want to play with some images