Ruining A Classic

by David Holland

Back on September 13th, I decided to head to NYC. Since it was a Tuesday, my usual plan of action was heading to Chelsea for dinner & movie night with my good friend Melanie. However on this particular Tuesday, she was not available so I decided to catch up with 2 of my best friends Carolyn & Dino & catch a free show. We ended up going to Bruar Falls that night & for the most part, I wish we never did.

When we arrived, I saw an old musician friend Lynzee who I had just ran into a few nights earlier for the first time in a few years. She was just about finished with her bartending shift & wondered what made us come by. I told her we were here to check out the bands for the evening. As we sat there, I kept wondering when the show was starting as no one was really there & I did not see any equipment setup. A short time later, we started to see the first act setup. Eventually they were ready to go & that was when the experience began.

The first band to hit the stage was Laserbrain. I don't really judge artists by their name although I admittedly found it to be cheesy & was concerned that the music would match. Boy was I write, actually no, cheesiness is not a strong enough word to describe how horrible they were. The first few songs were ehh but I wanted to give them a chance. However once they decided to do a cover, my feeling of giving them a chance turned into full hatred.

You see for people that know me, they know that I can't stand 80's music. It is hands down the worst decade of music ever which is saying something compared to the mainstream crap out there now. Even with that in mind, I do have a soft spot for a few artists or songs from the 80's that besides standing the test of time, were actually pretty good. One of those songs is Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al. So when I heard Laserbrain announce their intention to perform a cover, my curiosity was peaked. After the first 30 seconds, I wanted it to stop as it sounded awful. I toughed it out & listened to the whole song or more accurately, the complete destruction of a classic.

After this, I kept telling Carolyn & Dino how I should go up there & just punch them all in the face for ruining one of my favorite songs. I was not really going to do it as it would be an unfair fight for them as I am clearly stronger. Plus let's be honest, it is not the mature thing to do. However the performance was so bad, I couldn't help but have such feelings. The three of us made the call to get the hell out of there & promise that we would never see this terrible band again. I am proud to say we continue to live up to that promise as of this writing.