I think my mom is going to be at my band's next show. I've been playing out in rock bands for over ten years, but, aside from my brother and sister-in-law, nobody in my family has seen my band play.

The idea of my mom sitting through one of our sets is weird. Still, NOT CRAP. It's nice of her to show interest.

What do you guys think about this? Do your folks ever go to your shows? Am I an even bigger pansy now?

It kinda depends on the music, but since you ask...

I'd say no a mother showing up (insert Faiz/Jung rejoinder) and lean towards a father attendance, but perhaps I'm being sexist.

What do I know. I never tell my folks about our gigs.

I'm sure they'll be proud of you. Unless you do a Brainbombs cover.

My dad came to see me play with Branca in 2001, which started this pissing war between him and my mom about who was more supportive of my "artistic" "career".

Of course, my mom wins, because she kicks ass.

She came to my show at Lincoln Center, but I'm not supposed to know she was there. So don't say anything, OK?

For many years my parents have insisted that they want to see my band(s) play. They always leave confused and wounded. My brother's top 40 cover band however, is regularly attended and enjoyed.
You get the picture.

But hey...at least they keep trying.

both my parents have seen all my bands play except my current one, which hasn't played any shows yet. some they like, some they dislike. the last band i was in, in which my younger brother was the singer, they actually liked a lot. they came to see us a couple times.

as far as being afraid of your parents seeing your artistic output, i don't think you really need to be, as long as they understand your motivation behind it. luckily, my parents don't come up to me after a performance and say things like, "so when are you getting signed?" because they know that isn't why i play music. if there's an understanding between you and your parents regarding your goals and aspirations of your music, then you shouldn't have any qualms about saying, "this is what i do in my free time."

also, both my parents have seen my stand-up act. if i can tell a joke about masturbation with my mother in the room, you can play rock music for your parents.

Anytime my dad and I are driving around, he will turn on a classic rock radio station. Sooner or later he will point out some mediocre guitar playing and say "why can't y'all play your guitars like that?"

I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt my feelings just a little bit.

My dad's pretty cool, but not cool enough to see me perform in a hovel and appreciate it.

He heard a record once and commented, "there's some weird effect on the guitars... i don't know what you did, but, well, i don't know..."

the 'effect' was overdrive.

He then offered to remix the record in Adobe Premiere ("It supports multiple audio tracks!" I think he said)

I'd be more than happy if he came to see me perform again. He did like the Kinks, at one point. Not Crap!

My parents are supportive from a distance. They did come to our record release @ the metro and didn't leave until we were done (we played last). That was pretty cool.


We played in St. Louis with the Conformists (buzzsaw's excellently odd band) and the Detholz! last year and John (our drummer)'s mom came out for the rock. she was taking pictures and filming us in the dirty-ass, but awesome Lemp Arts co-op. She loved Detholz!

She also got to see buzzsaw rock without a shirt, all tatooed and sweaty and buff and screamy. at the end of the night, she turned to Jim of the Detholz!:

(in southern accent) "I just loooooved you guys!"

turns to buzzsaw (still no shirt):

"you were.....very......................interesting........."

turns back to Detholz!

that was awesome.

Not Crap.

My mom came to see us open for Andrew WK a couple years ago. She wore one of our t-shirts and stood perilously close to the mosh pit. She appreciated our use of start/stop dynamics.

horsewhip wrote:She appreciated our use of start/stop dynamics.

so great.