I have a horrendous cold. On the other hand, I got to see the Kings of Leon this week. And again: I got to see the Kings of Leon this week. What’s more is that the support act was We Are Scientists, another of my favourite bands.
This concert is something I’ve been looking forward to since I bought tickets back in September. My aim was to touch a King of Leon – sadly, I didn’t get to (although I was really close to them), but it was a pretty amazing experience none the less, especially since it was so much cheaper than it would have been back home. As with the Kooks, the gig took place at the Electric Factory in the slightly dodgy end of central Philly, complete with dark alleys and far too many touts. The Electric Factory is impressive, as I have previously mentioned, and this time it was packed out with hipsters and indie kids, along with me and my friend Chris, an exchange student at Haverford from Aberdeen University.
The Kings of Leon were awesome. They knew exactly what would please the crowd – over an hour and a half of their best songs, with everyone screaming wildly along to Sex on Fire, and dancing madly to Molly’s Chambers. There’s something about these good-ol’-Southern-boys-turned-dirty-rockers that makes their fans abandon all sense of cool and jump up and down, hands in the air, belting out lyrics like their lives depend on it.
From the gig, Chris and I hotfooted it back to Haverford, skipping around homeless people and jumping out of the way of drunks, so that I could make it to the Drag Ball, the highlight of Haverford’s Outweek program.
Being from England, I am entirely used to seeing groups of lairy, hairy men wearing schoolgirl outfits, blond wigs, fish nets and bad make-up – all in the name of stag nights, rugby nights out or work parties, of course. Apparently, no other country outside of Britain really does this, or understands why we do it, and dragging up is considered a bit outside of the mainstream, a bit unusual. Luckily, Haverfordians are all a bit outside of the mainstream and some are downright unusual, so most got into the spirit of drag – many a sparkly dress and feather boa (for the men) or outsize shirt and hastily-drawn moustache (for the girls) was seen on the most unlikely of candidates, a good portion of whom proceeded to flounce down an impromptu catwalk for the chance to win cinema tickets.
On a different note, I’ve been totting up the wild animals I’ve seen on Haverford’s campus since I arrived. This week, I got to add a deer (which really freaked me out as I walked home one night) and a raccoon (which despite its probable rabies I would have liked to capture and keep for a pet) to my list, which was rather exciting. Haverford’s campus is very green, and I enjoy the spontaneous encounters with quite wild wildlife.
It’s Thanksgiving next week, which is something I’m really looking forward to.
Bon apetit.
