If I could be.. where you wanted...

A couple of unfamiliar songs into concert, the crowd went wild as Ash played onen nof their early hits, Kung Fu. Lulu and Kenny started hopping like bunnies on amphetamines to the music.
It's not just the beer they downed earlier that caused such ecstacy. Lulu seemed really happy Ash came back--ten years ago he was still too young to see them perform in Zouk.

The turnout for that humid night was pathetic for a band like Ash. Maybe it's the expensive tickets. Maybe people forgot about them. Or maybe it's just Thursday night, and I felt silly in my leather shoes, which got stamped on by slam-dancing teens, and worried if I could get up for work the next morning.

To be sure, Ash still rocked--in a way most has-been bands can only dream of. (What happened to the the opening act Fishtank--which used to be one of THE local ska bands--is a case in point.) Ash played their brand of pop-punk (whatever you call it) with such dynamite that is unmistakably emblematic of youth. Who can forget the anthemic "Girl from Mars"?

And if Youth were simply reckless adventure, it certainly had left us slowly and surely. Gatecrashing no longer seem to excite us, even though we got into the venue through the wrong entrance with no security in sight. I couldn't believe we even dutifully made our way to the door and gave our tickets.Some things never change though, we'd rather walk a good distance than pay for the rip-off beer at the beerfest.

Not wanting to waste my time at a good gig, I didn't rue the passage of youth for very long. As Tim Wheeler ripped through the riffs of Goldfinger, I flung my heavy bag to Kenny, looked Lulu in the eye, threw myself over his shoulders and into the moshpit.

Emo's out but who cares.