.planned parenthood benefit

Friday I attended the Planned Parenthood event for southern PA at the First Unitarian Church. I was incredibly lucky finding a ticket last minute on Stub Hub since the show was sold out. When I entered the basement of the church I remembered seeing a Youtube video of Sleater-Kinney playing a show there back in 1996. So many punk / underground bands played there in the 90s. I missed out on a lot then again I was still too young. Anyway each band went on for about a half hour with 9-10 songs each. Amanda X came out first. They will be at the Union Transfer soon. I enjoyed their set.

 Then Littler came out. They are a four piece band and their bassist had a Black Flag shirt on that said "Bernie Sanders" which was pretty cool. They reminded me of the early days of riot grrrl. After Littler a 3-piece group called Dark Thoughts came out with a male lead singer. They reminded me a little of some old school punk bands.

Cayetana was the final band before Screaming Females. I enjoyed their vibe. The lead singer had cool blue hair. She said the band made vegan rice krispy treats and to make a donation to Planned Parenthood since they were not taking all of them home. The drummer had a really rad shirt that said, "Pro-cats, Pro-choice, Pro-feminism." I hope to see them again. They had a really fun set and could tell they were having a blast, especially the drummer.

The place was really packed towards the middle of the show. I luckily nabbed a spot up front but to the right of the stage. I'm kind of glad because all hell broke loose with moshing and pushing. Luckily I wasn't touched.

  
I was so happy to finally see Screaming Females. Marissa is so tiny but one hell of a guitar player. Skills beyond. I sent my dad a text today with video footage and was he like "She's really good!" Basically I just watched her in amazement the entire time. King Mike really killed it on bass. During her set I could tell her finger was bothering her because she had an Instagram post about it. Finally she just ripped the band-aid off of it but continued playing like nothing happened. Towards the end of the show I was nervous to talk to or meet her. Some fans encountered her while she put away her gear. I kind of hovered not knowing what to do. Finally I just went up and shook her hand, "Excellent set" and stupidly said "Thanks for coming to Philly!" She was like "It's no trouble at all since I live here!" Ugh I feel so dumb but she was nice about it and sweet. I know they hail from New Brunswick but why I thought she lived in Northern NJ or NY? I need to do better homework! She was at the merch table with all the other bands but I barely had any cash on me. I felt embarrassed asking how much the stickers were and not having enough (I only had $4 in my wallet). However, that didn't stop me. I went home and bought some merchandise on the website and along with that made a donation to Planned Parenthood of course. I was happy to see a lot of guys at the show too. Overall it was a really cool experience and I'm so happy I had the chance to witness it all.