11. Sonic Youth, Chapter 2 continued from Darkness

July 25th, it's the birthday of Elvis Costello and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. It was the afternoon following tres palabras day. Kara and I decided to go a for a walk to the park, where she conceded the following, "I think we should be friends, things are moving a bit too fast and I'm not ready for it".

Once more, I struggled to untangle myself from the previous evening's blunder by telling Kara that I hadn't meant what I said and that the declaration was an unsuspected defection. She didn't believe me and earnestly appeared burdened by my unintended romantic profession. In retrospect, a part of me had meant it but I swear I never intended to say those three words.

"It really stinks that you feel that way Kara. I can respect that you need space. You're doing what you need to do out of self preservation and for the same reason, I can't be your friend. I 'd have a secret agenda and ulterior motive. It's not fair to you and certainly not fair to me."

I had anticipated that Kara would say she understood, but she didn't. She became resolute and persistent in petitioning my friendship.

"Just give me time to work it out". I made my way back to the bar alone.

At Stereofish, Max and Chunk were protesting intemperance by the local band, Fidelity Sound Lab who were performing with a mission to no one. They were wanking.

Chunk had censured FSL, "Tonight is total shit. These assholes fucking suck ass. FSL brings three fucking bands with them and the only audience is each other?"

Max was irate, "For six months, these guys begged me for a gig. We have a huge following they said. Huge fucking waste of a night".

Max normally had meritorious dexterity at drawing really cool talent to Stereofish. Touring bands like the Ramones, The Misfits, The English Beat and other indie music icons all performed at Sterofish at some point in their careers. We were reputed to be a disinfected version of CBGB's. Max was also proficient at selecting community talent, insuring bills were paid by booking bands that drew crowds. He hated it when they didn't come through.

"I am not in the mood for shit bands tonight but I have an idea. Follow me". I directed Max to accompany me to the office, where I pointed to the electrical panel with implicit purpose, "Play along".

Max choked on his laughter as I shut power to the stage. Then, with mock austerity, he returned to the bar and addressed FSL with an improvised apology.

" Sorry guys, this is really embarrassing, it happens all the time. The power has gone out. It's a chronic electrical problem. It usually takes some time to get it going again. Anyway, we're gonna need to pack it in, security reasons. Sorry."
We laughed our asses off as the bands were leaving.