scream – Darian Mesneak Speaks

Darian Mesneak

WR-121-13

Blog 6#

It is about 5 o’clock on Saturday, April, 22nd, 2017, in the small town of Longview, Washington. As the clouds slowly begin to turn to a darker shade of gray, my father and I jump into his truck with excitement in our bones for the heavy sound waves that will be vibrating our bodies and the screams that will be piercing our ears. So we head down the gravel driveway on our way to Astoria, Oregon. My father and I are looking at about an hour and ten-minute drive from Longview to Astoria and on the way there we talk as father and son about music, family, and friends. All the good and all the not so good going on in life, which we all as humans have going on but tonight we are putting all the bad aside to go listen to some heavy music. We are headed to a show that my father and I been invited to by a band that I have been working with called Something With Teeth. We don’t know much about the show other than who is playing and an address that leads to Astoria, Oregon. The road to Astoria was a long but a good drive filled with trees, small farms and small towns lining our travel to the show. It wasn’t raining at the time but with the truck window down blaring a Yob CD, I could smell the fresh rain that had just passed not that long ago. As we went through a small town, I caught the scent of bark dust from a log yard we passed. That smell gives me an odd sense of home now that I have moved to Vancouver, Washington.

About thirty minutes later into the drive, we arrive at the front door of Astoria. We are greeted by a huge boat which is on display and I assume that it is a historical boat or a boat of importance. As we continue to drive into this seaside town, I can see the huge Astoria bridge which looks like a giant arm reaching across the water creating safe passage for all the drivers heading from shore to shore. Now that we have entered Astoria, we must find our destination based on the address. My father thinks that the show might be located at a local skate park that has held local shows in the past but we eventually find ourselves driving up a steep, winding road. As we come to the top, we see some of the band members of Something With Teeth getting out of their cars. We pull over to the side of the road next to the other cars and park in front of a broken down house with a sign in the dusted over window that reads “NO TRESPASSING”. We got out of the car and walked toward a green colored house which had few scars of missing paint and overgrown plants. We are greeted by tattooed, beer drinking, converse wearing rockers that some may say are up to no good and many of them would agree with that statement all in good fun, of course.

All of the people attending the show gather outside a broken down basement door drinking beer, smoking weed and telling stories with old friends. As the day grew later, the laughs got louder and the beer cases became smaller with the sound of heavy music from the band Proles seeped out the garage door. Eventually, Something With Teeth entered a room no bigger than a small bathroom at a truck stop which is filled with war-torn rugs and music posters covering the walls almost as an attempt at a DIY wallpaper. The amps are cranked and the speakers are buzzing with anticipation for the vocals to begin. The first long note of Something With Teeth is struck and the show begins. The bass is fuzzed out and woof’s throughout the night, the guitars screech and rip through the air and the vocals punch into the crowd commanding your body to bang your head along with the thundering beat of the drums. The room grew warmer from the number of bodies packed inside and friends gathered together taking pictures, clapping and just enjoying the music. This is what it is all about, in my opinion, a group of people, a small community, brought together by the love of heavy music. This type of scene brings people together and allows people of all ages to express themselves and to just have some fun! As a mentioned earlier in the article, I come from a small town myself and having shows like this always gave me something to do and made feel a part of something. I hope shows like this continue throughout time because I believe people need a place to go listen to music and just be free.

All Photo Rights Credited to Carrie Martin Parker (Something With Teeth Photographer)

Something With Teeth is Matthew Johnson, Jerry Wilkins, Monte Fuller, Stephen Brewer and Dusty Kirk.