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The following story really happened. Preface: I have been an At The Drive-In fan since I saw them play in Orlando a year and a half ago when they were touring with Jimmy Eat World. I have their records and I listen to them all the time. I had the idea that it would be fun to get all dressed up vintage-style (70's) and go to a show, this being the At The Drive-In show. I also thought it would be cool if we wore afro wigs. I asked my friends and some other At The Drive-In fans if they wanted to join me. I thought it would be a creative way to show the band appreciation, not to mention having a little silly fun. Wouldn't it be cool for the band to see a couple of dorks down in front jumping and singing along to their music? When the day of the show came around about four of us did it. Though only myself and John wore afro wigs. My outfit consisted of black shoes, socks and slacks. I wore a vintage black sportcoat with a 70's shirt. My favorite shirt, at that. It's silver with a 70's looking pattern with a really big collar. Around my waist was an all silver metal belt with the coolest belt buckle. Believe me, I looked good. I also wore red heart-shaped shades. It was for the love I wanted to spread. We walked up to the club together and stood outside for a while then went inside. Our friends thought it was silly. It was a nice reaction. Later, as we all were standing around talking, I felt a tug on my wig from behind me. I turned around expecting it to be one of my friends sneaking up behind me. It wasn't. It was Cedric, singer for At The Drive-In. I said "Hi. Nice to meet you". He says, "Do you think that's funny? It's STUPID." Whoa. I was rendered speechless. This was not a reaction I ever expected. I don't know if anyone reads the ATDI webpage. I do. There's a quote on the biography page that says: "Cedric and Omar are still the non-stop jokers, always keeping everyone laughing, and two of the most trusting, sincere guys you could know." I knew this beforehand. I've read enough interviews with him to believe that statement. I asked why he would be upset. He went into this tirade about how he gets beat up back home (Texas) for looking the way he does (Cedric and Omar, one of the guitar players, both have afros). He goes on how he "does 'this' for a living" ("This" meaning having his hair the way he does.). He kept getting more and more hostile accusing me of "ridiculing him and his culture" and that I was trying to "assimilate to it". Whoa. All I could say was that's not what we were doing. I was confused by this reaction. I never saw it coming. Racist? Wow, what an accusation. I guess our intentions didn't matter to Cedric. He continued spewing bullshit and at last he threatend me. He said "If you continue wearing that (the afro wig) there WILL BE A PROBLEM". He then ripped off my wig and glasses, flung them into the air and walked away. Whoa! What do you do or say to that? We all looked at each other, almost afraid to talk giving each other the "did that just happen?" look. Of course, Cedric was totally out of line. Did we "cross a line" like he accused? Does wearing an afro wig make someone a racist? Of course not! I could see why he could be offending or mocking. The whole matter could be cleared up with a simple conversation. Like I said, I told the man what we were doing and what we were not doing and why. That's all I can do. If he believes me he believes me. If he doesn't, well, I can't be held responsible for that. I know better than to argue with someone who shows themselves as being closed-minded or judgmental even when they have facts. And especially when he had bodyguards watching the scene from a short distance. The incident pretty much ruined the rest of the show. Yeah, we did stick around. I'm sure some people would have left if something like that happened. If you read my zine or on the jeffreylist you know I like the band and I'd been looking forward to seeing them for weeks. I couldn't just leave. I couldn't. I love music. Sunshine played but I was too shaken to really pay attention. I really was looking forward to seeing The Murder City Devils. They were great and put on a rocking show. They had candles lit all over the stage. The drummer even set the drums on fire. I could feel the heat. I just wish I could have been in a better mood. I would like the opportunity to see them again.
A couple of days later, Johnny wrote about the incident on ATDIs web board. A rather large discussion ensued, even members of the band jumped in. My favorite quotes were:
Jeffrey says: This response is just flat
out WRONG. I can't believe this is what Cedric would say what
happened. Someone tell me this is not what he said! Please? I
don't want to believe this. NO ONE asked us to remove anything
at any time - NOT EVEN Cedric, he gave his speech then ripped
it off. NO ONE giggled at him. He was hostile from first word.
Now, I think he is a bigger asshole. The only part that is true
is that he noticed that we were wearing 70's garb. Well, duh,
we weren't dressing like ATDI. I said that already. More quotes:
Jeffrey says: This is a bit wrong, too. Don't tell me I was mocking them when I wasn't. Did Cedric not tell you I said we were not mocking him? I said that because that was never our intention. You can disagree all you want but it won't change the fact we wanted to just have a fun time and we had no intention of offending anyone. More quotes (are you tired of this yet, too???):
In closing, I want to quote Cedric. He said from the stage "It's not about the shoes you wear, or your hair - it's about the music".
There's a rather large discussion about the At The Drive-In controversy on the Grand Royal web board. My friend John, who also was dressed up wrote the first entry. More from the Grand Royal web board. And more from Orlando scene page on Tourdates.com. After I posted this there's been a lot of talk about it (for example). I'm not going to bother to link or keep up with it all cos I'm pretty much done with the topic. Some peeps get so serious. I mean, don't peeps have better things to do than worry about? Well, as long as you made it this far I wrote a brief opinion on 'Relationship of Command' in the record reviews section. Enjoy! |
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Writing and Photographs ©
2000 by Jeffrey Howard. |
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Jeffrey At The Drive-In
Oh
yeah, then At The Drive-In played. They made no mention
of the incident from the stage. I was sure going to rail them
if they did. I was pretty mad. It would have been foolish for
them to anyway. I wouldn't want them to appear to be hypocrites
in front of their fans. With the incident set aside, their show
wasn't up to par to previous years. Their intensity was lacking.
I had heard the same thing about the current tour from friends
around the country. It showed in the crowds reaction as well.
It's too bad. They can put on an amazing show. Cedric did some
cool things like putting drumsticks in his mouth, wriggling them
around inside. Then he would get on all fours, lifting a microphone
off the ground with his mouth. How..... cultural? Would that
be the right word to use? Ask Cedric?
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