One Last Punch In The Stomach from These Arms Are Snakes
The Snakes will be a difficult force to replace. In addition to putting out a bunch of awesome (rock? punk? angular-rock? post-rock? hard-driving, thrill-ride rock?) records, their live show never disappointed. I was lucky enough to see them a number of times and spend a bit of time with them and every minute was a unique experience. They made you feel like rock ‘n’ roll should: stoked, awkward and out of place, excited, fulfilled, dirty and maybe a little scared. Brian, Labamba, Ben and especially Chris ripped and pummeled you while Steve’s vocals and antics constantly kept things interesting.
Off stage they are some of the nicest guys around; totally fun and genuine people. Their last Richmond appearance was a show that we convinced their booking agent to let them take as a night off from a terrible package tour. Steve delivered shots while Are You Fuckin’ Serious (not TigerShark, thanks Andrew) was playing so when the Snakes took the stage Jonny Z had a tray of shots waiting for them. The 75 Richmonders in attendance that night knew that they were in on a secret that others were missing out on, and everyone enjoyed every minute of it. Having friends in touring bands is always an odd thing because you see a very specific part of their life, but only glimpses of the things that keep them going in their home life. But when you’re in their touring life, it’s a fun and exciting ride.
Thanks to them I’ve got my own tales of being the sensible one of the 20 headed party monster that fueled by free alcohol: terrorized the VA State Fair, cooked Boca Burgers in a toaster (ruining said toaster), got flown to Denver for New Years ‘04, put up in a fancy hotel and fed endless amounts of free food … These memories I’ll have with me forever, and I thank Steve, Brian, Labamba, Dav, The Beav’ and Chris for providing them. RIP TAAS.
