It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to a show. It’s been a long time since I’ve attended a show that wasn’t for someone I knew. And it’s definitely been a long time since I’ve been to a show after deciding to go just a couple hours before.

Last Tuesday, when we didn’t have school the next day I found out last minute that Cartel was playing a show w/ This Providence at El Corazon. I had been planning on staying in that night catching up on reading and homewerk -uh which I’m still behind in. I’ve never seen Cartel before, but they used to be one of my favorite bands and still are. I still listen to them at least once a week. This Providence is a band that I’ve seen many times before at my local teen centers with me front row every time. I had been waiting for a chance like this for a long time, to just feel the way that I’ve felt before when going to a show.

Fifteen-year old Katie would have been just as pumped to see these two bands. In fact, there were a lot of 15-17 year olds there at that show. They haven’t changed all that much. Kristina and I watched as they went crazy for The Dares, The Summer Set, and This Providence. When it came down to Cartel though, there was a much older crowd. It was my kind of crowd because we had grown up with them. I saw the younger crowd as obnoxious, very pushy, always wanting to get to the front by grabbing their friends into a chain and dragging them through. This is probably the worst thing you can do. And I kept asking myself, why are there so many kids here? It wasn’t until after the show was over and I had realized how excited I was to be dancing at shows again that it started to make sense. I used to wonder why as I got older the Seattle music scene was dying. I used to try and put together the best lineup at shows when planning to try and get the most people to come. This was a show that they came to. It’s evidence to me that it’s not dying, that there are kids that were like me then who still care about music and who will give the okay to their parents to come along to the show as long as they are in the back and the kids can do their thing. They have that same passion that I still have towards music, local or not.

And by the way, seeing Cartel was the most amazing thing I’ve seen in a long time. They have had a great run and are still continuing to do such great things. It’s nice to see a band not totally conform. This Providence, it’s not too late to go back to the roots.