This was the second year in a row that I headed to The Showbox on New Year’s Eve to see Thunderpussy and their influential multi-band lineups, but what made it better this year was that I got to bring along one of my best friends. While I won’t EVER knock going to concerts alone (which is something I did for the first time last year and have continued to do several times), I do understand why going with friends – especially very good ones – is such a special experience. Plus, my friend helped me remember to breathe when we walked into the area designated for the VIP party and I found myself just feet away from four musical goddesses.

Oh yes, there was a VIP party! From my understanding (perhaps assumption), it was the first one Thunderpussy had hosted for fans, and I saw it as another step toward their increasing popularity and success. But then again, it wasn’t hard to get into – I hastened to download their new app as soon as I found out about it and became a member of ‘Club Pussy’ (I’m only a free member, but hopefully not for long!), and a few days before the show Molly Sides posted that there were still spots open for the VIP party and to just inform them of one’s name. I told them my name and my friend’s (since I knew he’d be coming with me to the show) and they confirmed our access to the party. I appreciated how simple it was, though I doubt it’ll be that easy in the future. But I do love them for it!

So, as soon as my friend and I arrived at the venue (a little bit late, but amazingly I wasn’t so anxious about it – ANOTHER PLUS FOR HAVING A FRIEND THERE!) and checked in for the party, we walked through to the allocated area and my heart and social anxiety remembered as a delayed reaction that four members of my current favorite band were here and I could TALK TO THEM. I noticed Molly Sides first, dressed in an elegant furry-looking black-and-white checked dress and chatting with people, and I grabbed my friend’s arm and whisper-squeaked out, “Oh god, I’M FORGETTING HOW TO BREATHE!” And less than a minute after I said it and we fellow introverts inched close to a corner of the bar/socializing area, another possible introvert with long brown hair approached us who I recognized as Thunderpussy’s new drummer, who I had yet to see them live with. Lindsey Elias, who acted nearly as awkward as I felt (which actually helped put me at ease, don’t get me wrong), asked us how many shows we’d been to and if we’d seen the band during any of their traditional NYE shows at The Showbox. Though I’d wanted to say something to her about how much I was looking forward to seeing her with them, I couldn’t think of any way to encourage her without making it sound like I was skeptical (and because I’m still such a huge fan of Thunderpussy-established drummer Ruby Dunphy), so unfortunately I wasn’t able to reassure her as a new band member which I quickly felt she might’ve appreciated when she first approached us. Still, I appreciated that she came up to us, and she was very nice!

As my heart hummed with happiness at the knowledge that I’d now met one member of Thunderpussy, my mind was screaming about the fact that guitarist Whitney Petty and bassist Leah Julius were just a little ways away, and if my friend and I removed ourselves from our introvert corner and looked more approachable (oops – my shyness fault), we could probably talk to them. I was especially excited (and dying) to meet and talk with Julius who, just by observed social media presence, I felt a kinship with unlike any of the other members. Once my friend and I inched our way over to a table where snack foods were set out and we waited until her attention was no longer distracted by anyone else, we finally got our chance to talk to her. It amazed me (and flattered me, and I was screaming on the inside like you would not believe) that the first thing she said to me was, “You look familiar, I feel like I’ve seen you before.” And she probably had considering I stood at her feet in March in my current town of residence, and my friend and I had been very close to the stage at Seattle Pride Fest when they played there in June. So I explained that she might have, because this was my fourth time seeing them. And then my friend and I explained where we’d come from to see this show, and she related about the show in March – which I told her I was at and how much I appreciated that they played there since it’s where I live. (I also told her shamelessly that it was my favorite concert I’d ever been to, which was true and might actually still be true, lineup and performance-quality considered.) We chatted for a little bit longer, but ultimately her attention was pulled away by another fan who wanted their photograph of the band signed, so my friend and I inched away again and caught sight of guitarist Whitney Petty.

What still surprises me about meeting Whitney Petty is that the first thing she did when she saw me was say “Come on, get in here,” and motioned for me to hug her. All she did was notice me and requested that I hug her. While I’d been privy before to the generosity/sympathy of musicians who’ve hugged me when they noticed how nervous yet appreciative of their music I am (*cough* Ann and Nancy Wilson *cough*), for some reason I had not at all expected Petty to react to me on-sight like that. But I appreciated it, and hugged her, and then she asked us our names. (LOL) I made sure to quote her about how rock n’ roll is not dead (although I didn’t add, and maybe should have, that I personally think that’s thanks to Thunderpussy and some of my other favorite bands of all women) and we three shared our enthusiasm about that night’s show that was then barely an hour away from starting. My friend also got two pictures of me with her which I am still floating (glowing!!!!) about:

The doors opened soon after we met Petty, so my friend and I sadly had to concede that we would not get to meet Molly Sides. Still, I was so grateful that I even got to meet three out of four of them that it was better than I could’ve imagined.

A little bit before the show started (luckily enough – probably mostly having to do with the fact that my friend was with me so I had someone to chat with – the time between the doors opening and the show starting seemed to pass very quickly), I was fortunate [and forward] enough to catch Leah Julius as she was walking across the GA floor, so I asked her if it was okay if I got a picture with her, and she very graciously (in her easygoing way that I totally relate to) obliged as my friend got one of us:

The fact that I had most recently gotten a photo with Julius was not my justification for choosing to face and stand by her side of the stage – actually, it was because I wanted to change where I stood from last year (which had been facing Petty’s side of the stage)! Fortunately, my friend and I staked out our place near the stage on the right side and stayed there for the entire concert period.

A couple months before the concert, I’d looked up the bands playing because I wanted to be prepared unlike last year, but I discovered that I couldn’t find much info about or music by Trash Fire, so I pretty much had no idea what to expect besides what I could assume from their band name (LOL). So when they came on and started playing, I immediately said to my friend: “Oh, okay, so they’re a punk band.” The main thing I have to say about them is that I’ve heard a lot of local punk and hardcore-type bands (local to my city community, at least) and a lot of them have pretty much sounded the same. And Trash Fire was no different. Which is to say I was not impressed or particularly excited by their music, either musically or lyrically. But one thing to note: I did appreciate one song’s lyrics about “You can love who you want/Fuck who you want,” (ignoring the fact that the next lyric was ironically “DIE“), but at the same time I can’t appreciate a song that says “Fuck who you want” in such a brazen manner without also clarifying “But get consent.” I told my friend this and he said, “Well, I think it’s assumed…” which I understood, but my point still remains that the message “Fuck who you want” isn’t significant enough without clarifying that you shouldn’t just fuck who you want without getting consent (because then that’s not fucking – that’s rape. Full stop! No motherfucking arguments allowed! And yes, I will be punk about it if you won’t!). It was fun to see Whitney Petty and Molly Sides come out in the audience to dance and watch Trash Fire, though – it made it even more clear to me how dedicated they are to supporting other artists, which is [subjectively?] what GREAT artists do.

As I’d mentioned, I’d listened to one or two songs by Constant Lovers, so I was prepared to at least be interested in their music, and my interest turned out to be pretty legit! Musically, I enjoyed their set, although it seemed a little pretentious that the lead vocalist used a couple of drums, a guitar, and a saxophone at least once during their set, and I say that because I didn’t think it was clear that he was actually good at playing all three instruments or at least passionate about each instrument. Don’t get me wrong – I understand DIY approaches to music, but usually passion makes up for lack of real skill, and unfortunately it felt more like ‘Look at all the instruments I can play like a real multi-instrumentalist’ instead of ‘I’m using all of these instruments to make the music better.’ Also, I could not understand even two words that the lead vocalist sang (screamed? Sometimes screamed. I always know when guys are screaming because I hate music where guys are screaming) let alone full sentences or lyrics, so that was also a let-down in finding out how much I could like their music; I’m not sure if that was a sound/technical issue, though, or if the vocalist really just was not enunciating at all. The band as a whole was good, though, and I liked that their music did seem to be doing something different and interesting which is basically what I look for in music now.

After Constant Lovers’ set was over, a person in the audience who later introduced herself as Amy asked me if I was excited to see Bear Axe and I told her I was, and she admitted “75% of why I’m here is Shaina Shepherd” which surprised me a bit because 85% of why I was there was for Thunderpussy. I thought it exemplified why actually talking to people at concerts could turn out so interesting, especially at multi-band-lineup shows (which is mostly a reminder to myself as a shy introvert to try harder!). So I explained to her that I’d seen Shepherd perform as a guest vocalist with The Black Tones and Thunderpussy at last year’s New Year’s Eve show, and since then I’d listened to Bear Axe and enjoyed their music a bit so I was excited to actually see Bear Axe. Luckily, my excitement was justified!

I was quite amused to realize that Bear Axe were still soundchecking in front of everyone by covering the song “I Want Candy” – it was funny because we all thought they were starting their set, but they were still soundchecking! The experiment turned out fruitful, though, because I thought their set was nearly flawless sound-quality-and-technically-wise.

Apparently prior to the show I hadn’t listened to their music enough to remember it all, but I did remember the song “Uber” (mostly because I wasn’t a fan of it, heh) and recognized it when Shepherd began singing it. Though I wasn’t otherwise able to remember or properly identify what songs they played, I want to stress how much fucking FUN their performance was from start to finish. Even songs whose studio versions that I vaguely remembered and knew that I hadn’t been a fan of culminated into an AMAZINGLY vibrant, kick-ass performance. Honestly, I was rocking out and enjoying myself and the music so much that I wondered afterward if I had even watched half of their set (because my eyes were closed and I was feeling it – YOU KNOW!).

By the time their set was almost over, I both didn’t want it to end and I was still excited to see Thunderpussy, which just ended up as a shit-ton of excitement and I couldn’t stop smiling. I also remembered seeing a post on Instagram from Shepherd a little while before the concert about Heather Thomas guesting on drums, so I wasn’t surprised but I was excited when she came on for the penultimate song of their set, along with hip-hop artist Terry Monstrosity. And let me say that while I was not expecting a hip-hop collaboration during Bear Axe’s set, I was not at all disappointed and I enjoyed the music quite a bit!

The highlight of their set for me, though, was the their last song when Shepherd brought on her friend and fellow artist TeZATalks and also introduced guitarist Kathy Moore (who audience member Amy had told me about before their set which I’m still super grateful for!), and they began to cover the Beatles’ “Blackbird.” I can’t lie – it was so beautiful that I started crying as soon as they started singing. I also made a mental note to remember TeZATalks because she and Shepherd really did the song and its spirit justice. But I was not expecting that immediately after they finished the Beatles’ cover, they started in on a song I didn’t recognize but finally, eventually realized was a cover of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun.” (I’ve tried listening to Soundgarden – operative word there being “tried.” I still can’t. Sorry!) Despite my embarrassment of not knowing the song, it was an awesome experience to hear and see the band perform it and to hear the crowd throughout the room singing along. After all, an ideal concert will always have some audience participation, so that was TRULY ideal and amazing to witness.

Overall, Bear Axe were simply an incredible collection of musicians, and it was THE BEST THING to see them all enjoying themselves on stage – after all, that’s half the reason people go to see live music. Shaina Shepherd totally blew me away with how exciting she was as a frontperson and what an AMAZING vocalist she was, not to mention how utterly effortless she made it look. Let me say: the parts of their set that I do remember watching, I was thinking how happy I felt to get to experience this band’s awesomeness, and that was considering that I was still mostly there and excited to see Thunderpussy. But Bear Axe’s effort on stage honestly made me forget that sometimes, hence my simply-felt happiness when I watched them.

Finally, when Thunderpussy graced the stage at 15 minutes to the New Year countdown, I was transfixed (though had grown accustomed to this feature) by the dancers who slunk onstage after Whitney Petty. I assumed that Molly Sides was among the dancers, but because I was not facing the proper side of the stage, I missed when she was revealed amongst them except when raised screams went out through the crowd. Tantalizingly slowly, the band seemed to break into a new song – very atmospheric and interesting – that I hadn’t heard before, but it soon enough morphed into “Velvet Noose” which sounded amazing as ever as one of my favorite Thunderpussy songs. Immediately after the end of the song, they began the countdown to the new year which started with oodles of confetti, sharing some champagne with each other and a few lucky audience members, and an overall lovely camaraderie between the whole band on stage. After a few joyful minutes of celebration, as Lindsey Elias and Leah Julius began to head back to pick up their instruments (and smoke a little, which amused me!), Sides took that time to explain the symbolism of their costumes and the theme of the show (‘The Neon Glow of Electric Sax’); Sides gave a shoutout to Thunderpussy’s costume designer Pakio Galore for making their highlighter-bright, glow-in-the-dark outfits for the night, and she explained: ‘We all have a brightness within us, and we should all use it to carry us through this new decade.’ It was a coincidence that I felt like I was glowing on the inside, myself, after having met, talked a bit with, and hugged three of the four members of Thunderpussy prior to the show. Personally, I’ve been reminded by many people throughout my short life that there’s a guiding light within me that I must always remember to use, but I appreciated so much that Thunderpussy presented that idea for everyone to consider, verbally and visually.

Just like last year, Sides also inspired us to turn to the people around us and introduce ourselves, which is how I officially learned fan Amy’s name, along with a woman named Hannah in front of me who complimented me on the Totoro sweater I was wearing, and I got an enthusiastic hug from a young woman beside me who didn’t end up introducing herself (but I failed to introduce myself as well – oops). Sides’ demonstration gave me a rush of affection for her and the rest of the band and their motivation to reinforce this lovely concept of human connection. And then they kicked into “Thunderpussy” – because what other fucking song deserves to be the first one to initiate the new year?

After their unsurprisingly badass performance of their self-titled song, they played a new song I hadn’t heard before. It was infectious to jam out to, of course, and I recall the lyrics mentioned something about “put your hands on me” which seemed in line for a Thunderpussy song (sincerely, not sarcastically). They next went into “Never Know” which I was excited for beyond measure because I had ALREADY predicted that this song would (should) become one of their new live staples, and they only proved to me why.

Then, to my surprise (as I’d wondered aloud to my friend before their set what songs they would cover), they started out slowly with the guitar riff to Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” as Molly chatted with the crowd. Of course the cover was badass, because how could Thunderpussy cover Aerosmith and have it NOT be badass? Rhetorical question.

An interesting move to me, they next played “The Cloud” which Sides endearingly dedicated to the crowd and which caused me to PROMPTLY dissolve into tears as the song began. As I told the band on Twitter, I am physically incapable of resisting breaking down into sobs whenever they play that song, because the opening lines of it just touch my soul in a way I’m not sure I’ll ever get over. So of course I continued to cry throughout the entire song while my friend nudged me a couple of times in solidarity which I understood because what the fuck else are you supposed to do when your friend dissolves into tears on cue with the music at a rock concert? And it’s funny to know it truly is that song that has such a powerful effect on me, because I’m able to stop crying by the end of it almost as immediately.

It was lucky I stopped crying so quickly, though, because their next song was another new one, and a hard-rocker. Memorably, it seemed to be about fire-breathing and rock n’ roll (although I don’t remember if Sides sang specifically about a fire-breathing dragon or if she was making a metaphor about fire-breathing rock n’ roll?). The song seemed fitting though, as I’d talked to Whitney Petty earlier about how rock n’ roll was alive and well, which is to say that if rock n’ roll breathes fire at all (and to say that it still does), it’s coming from the fire of Thunderpussy. (…irony intended.)

Apparently this setlist bookended their new fire-breathing hard rock song with their softer tunes, as the next song they played was “On the Line.” In preparation for it, Petty wielded an acoustic guitar and Elias and Julius left the stage, so “On the Line” was an extremely intimate performance between Petty’s guitar and Sides’ beautiful siren-esque voice as they played the exquisite love song. Plus it became so quiet during their performance (to hear the guitar, I’d wager, and because it was clearly a vulnerable performance) that I was able to actually understand pretty much all of the lyrics, which gave me an even deeper appreciation for the song.

But the band were not finished surprising me, because after “On the Line,” once Elias and Julius and their dancers returned to the stage, they started playing A MEDLEY of THEIR OWN SONGS. Which is to say they began with the beginning of “Speed Queen,” roared into “Fever,” and finished off with the swelling “Torpedo Love,” playing a third or so of each song until “Torpedo Love” which they played the most of. Unfortunately – though it still ended up sounding kind of cool – Petty’s guitar (a Gibson SG which I hadn’t seen her play before! New guitar, I guess?) was experiencing some technical difficulties, so they played the entire bit of “Speed Queen” with only the drums marking the beat, the bass carrying the melody, and Sides singing as though nothing was wrong, which was a formidable feat as far as I was concerned. Luckily Petty’s guitar started working again by “Fever” and we were treated properly to their medley. I’m still shocked by their decision to do that – although I understood it was to save time, I usually think of medleys played as covers and not purposefully by the original band. But it was cool, and I only hope that the next time I see them there won’t be any technical difficulties and we’ll get to enjoy the badassery that is “Speed Queen” (and hopefully in its entirety?). “Torpedo Love” was also a memorable performance because they started it not at the gentle and steady beginning, but toward the middle, essentially unleashing its most rock n’ roll energy to conclude their medley.

Finally they played “Powerhouse,” which I had been DYING to hear as played with Elias on drums (rather than Chad Smith on the studio version). As I mentioned earlier about Bear Axe’s set, the ideal concert will always have some audience participation, so Sides instructed each half of the room to vary the “yeah”s and clapping which open the song (and then, as a soprano, I found myself actually wishing I’d faced Petty’s side of the stage!), and then faded as the song officially began, though started up again in the right place with Sides’ encouragement. Now I get to acknowledge that I TRULY enjoyed this version of “Powerhouse” better than the studio version, thanks to drummer Elias fitting in as I’d hoped with Thunderpussy’s groove (you can’t just replace drummers with any drummer, no matter how good and well-acclaimed/popular they are!). And I should probably say this now, too – I was very proud of how well Elias played with Thunderpussy, and if there was any doubt in my mind before that she fits with them, there is absolutely NONE now. Thunderpussy has gained yet another drum goddess, and that very much pleases me.

Interestingly, they rounded out their set with two new songs that I hadn’t heard before; truthfully, I don’t much remember them, but I enjoyed them due to the sheer joyful energy from the band and the audience. In hindsight, it is kind of funny to me, though, noticing when bands play new songs because there is little crowd participation (such as whoops and whistles and screams) – just purely listening, soaking in the new information of music and lyrics (if applicable). I said it last year, and I’ll say it again this year – that is the joy of loving and becoming a fan of a new[er] band.

When they walked off stage before 1:30am (the time my friend and I knew they were supposed to finish, as we’d seen the schedule posted at the VIP party), my friend apparently wondered if they’d come back at all, which I understood because last year I’d screamed a lot in hopes that they would come back for the encore. This year, though, I knew better, so I tried to save my voice until they came back on – which they did, of course. Petty and Julius threw remaining glow sticks, which had been sitting on stage since before Thunderpussy came on, into the crowd (I’d snatched an orange one during the VIP party and hooked it around my wrist, which you can see in the photo of me with Julius) before they launched into “Trust a Man,” which I’d wondered when they would play! Personally, I liked the symbolism of playing “Trust a Man” as the intro song to their encore. I also remembered that they’d play it at the Seattle Pride Fest show (before it was released on their EP Milk It, even!), and though I enjoyed it more this time because I knew the lyrics and I’ve listened to the studio version A LOT since Milk It came out, I think it has a little ways to go to capture its proper mood – part of me thinks it’s because it lacks the acoustic guitar element which essentially gives it its western-reminiscent sound, but I want to give them more credit considering they only have one guitarist who can only play one guitar at a time. (But a note to Thunderpussy: know that does not mean you have to become like my reigning favorite band Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, either by adding another slightly unnecessary band member or requiring Molly to play the guitar. YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT!) So mostly, I just think it’s a mood thing. Maybe slotting it elsewhere in the set, and not as part of the encore, would help it…maybe playing it alongside the “Firebreather” song, even? Here’s my secret dream/wish: to create a setlist for Thunderpussy.

As for another parallel to last year’s show, they played a cover as the final song of their encore, but this cover REALLY surprised me – Pat Benatar’s “We Belong”! When they started playing it, along with guest guitarist Kathy Moore, somehow I didn’t realize how much of the song’s lyrics I actually remembered until I was singing along basically word-for-word with Sides. But what an amazing experience! I loved how Sides introduced it, too, stressing the importance of connection and that we belong together as people, helping each other out. And though you’d think it’s such a short song and that it couldn’t have been a very long encore if they’d only played those two songs…well, the end of “We Belong” quickly turned into a literal party onstage as Thunderpussy were joined by some of Bear Axe and their guests, the lead vocalist of Constant Lovers, AND a surprise visit from The Black Tones’ Eva Walker! At one point it felt kind of funny to me that I was watching it, though there was plenty of good music happening at the same time, because it started to feel like I was literally watching a party rather than being part of it. But ah, I’m guessing that’s what happens at jam parties. At least I know what one looks like now? In all seriousness, it was fun. And it was charming to be reminded that “We can make each other happy” – as sung by pretty much all of the vocalists at some point during the jam.

So that was definitely one of the best nights of my life – meeting three members of Thunderpussy, watching Bear Axe perform, feeling like Thunderpussy proved yet again why they’re my current favorite band, AND getting to experience all of those things with one of my best friends. How could it have been better? To reinforce the future over the past, that’s rhetorical. As always, I’m stoked for the next opportunity I’ll get to see Thunderpussy, plus I’m officially excited to see Bear Axe again, too. The new decade has been ushered in, and I am fucking READY FOR IT. (The power of Thunderpussy compels me!!)