Saturday, March 4 3:30pm My ears are ringing, my head hurts, my lower back is sore and my neck is totally fucking ruined. For the 8000 people who showed up to the S.T.R.E.E.T.S./Ladyhawk/A Javelin Reign show at the 156 W. Hastings art-space last night, and even more so for the 100 that stuck it out after the police tried to shut it down, it was a rough Saturday just waiting to happen. As the venue slowly filled itself to capacity (the actual capacity, not the number that the city figures is the maximum amount of people that could be safely evacuated in the event of a fire) our boys in A Javelin Reign unleashed a typically ridiculous set that really set the bar for level of energy that would carry through the diminishing numbers until the end of the night. By the time Ladyhawk set up and were playing, which must have been sometime around 11, that little artspace was hot, smoky, sweaty and totally, totally packed--which is why Ladyhawk were only able to get through a couple of songs before the Man shut the show down, apologizing in that annoying, fatalistic way: "sorry guys, but if your friends hadn't over booked the show blah blah." I guess they do what they gotta do though.Needless to say, slight confusion ensued, but it didn't take long for the word to disseminate that STREETS were going to play as soon as the numbers thinned. After an hour (I think?) of mingling, the show went on, and it totally went off.

STREETS ran through their much beloved set of fist-pumping skate-inspired thrash while the crowd showed love. If there's one good thing about the fact that people were kicked out, its that the show went from being the hot-shit party spot and turned itself into a truly awesome, uninhibited rock show--if it wasn't for all the goddamn beer the scene would have almost had an all-ages feel, nobody gave a shit about shit except for keeping a smile on their face throwing it down for STREETS. So should it be, STREETS have been working hard around these parts for a long time and deserved a proper show, and I'm inclined to say everyone got what they wanted. Thanks are owed to STREETS, thanks are owed to everyone who stayed, and thanks are owed everyone who got kicked for taking one for the team.Skating Totally Rules, Everything Else Totally Sucks.