Rage vs. David Mitchell

Several months ago I learned that David Mitchell, author of such books as Number 9 Dream, Cloud Atlas and, his latest, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, would be reading at the Skylight Bookstore in Los Angeles. My husband is an even bigger fan than me, yet I still had to twist his arm to agree to go, as he's not quite the literary groupie that I am. Another reading on the calendar- awesome. That is until I heard about the last minute show Rage Against the Machine was doing on the same night, in support of those opposed to the whole Arizona immigration issue. I was torn- a reading with an extremely talented author, or going to what would be a great show with relevant political undertones?

My husband put the ball in my court, giving me the lowdown on the Palladium, the venue for the concert, and told me if I wanted to to go we could get tickets. I wasn't thrilled with the information- the concert would be standing room only, no preferred seating, and would probably sell out fast (it did). Given the political and social context it would be sure to be a pretty rough event, and considering it would be Rage's first Southern California show in years, the crowd would be pretty fired up. Ordinarily, I'd be fine with that, but given the fact that the entire floor would inevitably turn into a giant mosh pit I was definitely having second thoughts. I'm just not as young as I used to be. So, I decided to put on a shift dress and join LA's literati, instead of jeans and LA's grungies.

On the brighter side, I'm taking this as a sign that Rage is reuniting, which would mean more concerts in the future, preferably somewhere closer to home where I can pay eighty dollars for a comfy seat with a drink holder (Honda Center, perhaps).

Next time!