Last night, after the usual cycling through phases of being too tired to go out and then wanting to make a night of it, we were persuaded into making our way across town to the buddytown-endorsed Be a Victim houseparty in east Nashville. There was in fact, a girl with a bulls-eye emblazoned across her chest, but other than her and a few whiskey-killed dead-eyed hipsters, the party seemed to take no prisoners. The dancefloor was presided over by DJ Travitron and others atop a disco-lit mountain erected from stretched bedsheets, billowing smoke over the already steaming crowd of kids in lamé fabric and skinny jeans and that one guy in a striped polo shirt.
Later in the night though, when everyone got a lot sweatier and a little less hip, I remembered what I love about this scene. It's okay, in this crowd, to be that guy who came by himself and is dancing awkwardly near your friends with a PBR and heavy eye-contact. I was even that guy for awhile. It's also a deep affirmation of that hope we all hold dear: a few beers into the night, no one's too cool to dance to Criss Cross and Ludacris. Houseparties make me miss the brilliance of the things we stopped doing once we graduated high school, like lighting sixteen cardboard boxes on fire in the middle of your backyard and watching forty drunk hipsters flock to flames. Kudos to the kid who had that idea last night.
But outside the danceparty hipster hip-hop scene, you should be checking out the slew of shows that's been going on at houses around town. East Nashville trio Meemaw have been rallying the crowds of young, broke, unsigned bands and fans to bring the music back to where it began--in backyards, in basements, shoved into someone's living room stripped of its secondhand sofas and coffee tables. Their cave of a basement has been home to a ton of manically brilliant shows, including a mindwarp of an electrodanceparty I was lucky enough to end up at this summer, as well as the recording studio for their first batch of songs, oddly compelling in their roughness and imperfection. They've got a sense of humor, too, but if you're not their best friends already you should start with the two below, both kind of dazed hot drunk summer afternoon ballads played on a Walkman at the start of a block party.
Meemaw, "Fever Dreaming"
Meemaw, "Blue in the Blacklight"
You've got two chances to catch Meemaw this week, this Tuesday with Jeff (not to be missed) at 2930 Primrose Circle, and this Saturday with Jeff and Dawn/Marj! at the Princess Mao House, at 330 Bellevue Road. Seeing as Protomen and Wax Fang are playing Saturday as well (more to come on that show), I highly recommend you check out the show Tuesday, bring your own booze, and come dance with me. We'll have a blast.
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