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I didn’t want security to ruin all the fun, and I wanted to make sure that people like the stage manager for the venue knew what to expect. “I would always go to great effort to educate the venues on what was going to happen because I wanted to make sure that security was going to let people up onstage. “The fire marshal pulled the power,” Kleeman says. Honestly, everything from the mutiny that night is a little blurry (Four Loko and 13 years will do that to you), but Kleeman remembers it far more vividly than I ever could. “Please don’t hit our fans,” Grace directed toward the security guards before launching back into “We Laugh at Danger.” I took advantage of the chaos and rampant adrenaline to pull myself onstage, and soon security had relented on holding anyone back.

Bowman had entirely stopped performing to help push away security guards from other fans, and a member of their road crew (“probably John,” according to Against Me!’s then-tour manager, Jordan Kleeman) had fully launched himself at the guards holding me. “ And there will be a poetry spoken silently between me and the stereo…”īut just as it seemed all hope was lost, a black-shirted shoulder came flying in from the stage like some kind of deus ex-punk rock-ina. As I regained my footing, two security guards were waiting to thwart my attempt - alongside the dozen-ish other fans now flooding toward the stage. I pulled myself over the barricade amid the sudden confusion, nearly landing on my face from the combination of sweat rolling down my hands and just generally always being bad at hopping fences. “ And from this day on I will play along to all my Young Pioneers records…” Pat scurried up to the stage as security scrambled to get to him. “ It was a birthday gift of a Mexican Telecaster…”

Our combined efforts launched his skinny jeans clear over the barrier and into the photo pit. I reached down and interlocked my fingers to create a foothold for my new concert buddy. Moments later, that lone G chord rang throughout the Wiltern. I’d only really become a fan of the Gainesville punks over that summer when I got to know the band a little bit as a part of the Warped Tour, but I was already sold that singer-guitarist Laura Jane Grace, guitarist James Bowman and the rest (at that time, Warren Oakes on drums and Andrew Seward on bass) were one of the better bands in existence.Īs the set moved from opener “Miami” through a guest appearance from Tegan Quinn toward its inevitable close, Pat looked over to me, each of us far sweatier and more exhausted than when we initially made the plan hours before being crushed into the metal barrier.

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At the front of the line, an older punk (probably in his 20s, but some of us were still teenagers) looked back on us, sporting his denim jacket with a full back patch of the Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose cover.Ī couple of alcoholic energy drinks, hours in line and opening bands later, I was ready to do my part. I was to lift Pat over the barricade sometime during the drum intro between the opening guitar chord and first line - and then follow him myself. Frankly, I wish I could remember what he said, but here’s the takeaway: His name was Pat, and he needed my help starting a mutiny as soon as the band launched into “We Laugh at Danger (And Break All the Rules).” It’s the last West Coast stop of their fall tour behind New Wave, and my dorm neighbor has kindly driven me from the Inland Empire to the venue (I didn’t have a car for my first semester of college) hours before doors opened, sticking around to see a band she’s never heard of.Īs I sip my original recipe Four Loko (I did have a fake ID my first semester of college) and avoid making eye contact with the handful of other punk kids who don’t have to work on a Tuesday afternoon, the skinny kid in front of me strikes up a conversation.

It’s October 28, 2008, and 18-year-old me is roughly third in line for Against Me!’s show at the Wiltern in Los Angeles.

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