Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Endless Rumspringa

As is often the case, I've been keeping apalling hours lately, between work and... uh... not work. Monday being a holiday, I headed out to a local pub on Sunday night for a libation. The place was packed, rush hour on the Lexington Avenue subway line packed. The combination of a Monday off and a winter's worth of cabin fever had people heading out in droves.

Around 10 P.M., the band took the stage- a cover band called Amish Outlaws. Yeah, a bunch of guys in traditional Amish attire playing a hodge-podge of late 20th and early 21st century pop music- interesting schtick... or so I thought. I ran into one of the band members in the pissoir, and told him that the gimmick was great. He very politely told me that a bunch of the founding members of the band were actually Amish. Amish teenagers are given an opportunity to experience life outside the Amish community, a period known as Rumspringa. The majority of Amish youths return to the fold after this period of freedom. Luckily, some of them decide to leave the community and form hilariously entertaining bands. Plus, the lead singer of the band is a big, bad baldie... I didn't ask him if he were a bastard, though. Here's a sample of the band playing a song by some local girl who managed to hit the bigtime:





Last call in New York state is 4 AM... I managed to make it to about 3:30 before the mounting accumulation of snow convinced me to get my ass home. I pretty much spent the holiday nursing a hangover and some serious muscle aches- all the while lamenting the fact that, while I can still cut the rug for hours, I always end up paying for my corybantic endeavors the following day.

The best thing about dancing your ass off is that, at the end of the day, you've still got your ass.

14 comments:

Vonnie said...

I might want to make a tshirt with that last phrase of your post.
Very cool music. I think I would have loved that band.
word verf very rude today: grabisma

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

They were a very funny, entertaining group- anybody who dresses up in Amish clothes and calls himself Easy Ezekiel is okay in my book.

Dr.KennethNoisewater said...

Hangovers: one aspect of drinking I do NOT miss.

M. Bouffant said...

Advice from the wretched:

Are you drinking plenty of water while you're boozin'? Aspirin before bed? Maybe even forgoing the last couple alcoholic drinks? (You really aren't going to get much drunker then you are at, say 0230.)

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Are you drinking plenty of water while you're boozin'?

I usually drink two quarts of water after a major drinking binge- didn't quite do that Monday morning.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

if you don't stop drinking, you don't get hangovers.

Hey, what the hell is going on around here? It is pretty typical, admittedly, for BBBB to see hip an happenin bands, but thundra too? and I am sitting around teaching youngsters how to misuse power tools and build dangerous machinery?

Something is seriously off-kilter here.

Substance McGravitas said...

This was an interesting movie.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I used to watch them all the time in my yoot, ZRM.

Then The Man crushed me under his corporate boot.
~

TruculentandUnreliable said...

I thought maybe you were going to talk about the Rumspringa. But there are no bald dudes in that band.

Hunger Tallest Palin (or whatever handle I posted under the last time) said...

Until five seconds ago I always read that as rumPsringa, which sounds naughty.

I pretty much spent the holiday nursing a hangover

On behalf of the working schlubs who didn't get a 3-day weekend, allow me to say:

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! [Drops a metal trash can full of glass bottles down a flight of marble stairs].

Ppppffffft!

Hamish Mack said...

Ahhh one pines for the metabolism of yoot.

77south said...

If you want a band that actually employs an Amish gimmick, allow me to recommend the Amish Armada.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

On behalf of the working schlubs who didn't get a 3-day weekend, allow me to say:

Hey, now, I had to work on Saturday!

Ahhh one pines for the metabolism of yoot.

Yeah... used to be able to go out drinking, sleep a couple of hours, then spend the next morning coaching kids- I can't do that anymore.

Jennifer said...

The National Geographic channel has run a doc about the year-long Spring Break that Amish teenagers get. I'm sure they'll show it again at some point in the near future.

Yes, I watch NGC. I'm a fucking geek, what do you expect?