Split Lip Rayfield at the Bottlenck (Monday)

I'm completely doped up on cold medicine right now so bear with me if nothing I write makes sense.I don’t even know what to say about Split Lip Rayfield’s show. It started out as this amazing life-affirming show….and then things deteriorated as the evening progressed. I should make something clear though — the band was solid all night. The music sounded great. It was just the audience that was out of control.It was sold out. And the Bottleneck still does not believe in air conditioning. After a miserable Pete Yorn show a couple of months ago, I don’t know how I forgot about the little AC problem, but I did. Maybe I just blocked it from memory.So we were all crammed in like sardines. I was in the front row until a cameraman came and stood directly in front of me. Are you fuking kidding me? You’re a head taller than I am. Go stand in front of someone else! (There were two different sets of camerapeople there last night: One set was recording for a TV show and the other set were SLR’s camerapeople. DVD release, maybe?) Really though, eveyrthing was fine until people realized that the show would be ending soon. Then everyone felt like they HAD to be in front. Hell no! I’ve been standing here for over three hours now. You’re not getting in front of me! But as the throng of people pushed to the front, those of us who were already there got smashed. The cameraman in front of me was pushed into the stage. I was pushed into his back. I had people pushed into me on both sides. I just stood there hoping nothing would happen to my camera. And where's my bag?I started pushing back. I was literally shoving people off of me. I smashed one girl with my elbow because she tried to push in front of me. The girl next to me chewed out some super-drunk guy (who was throwing himself into people) and told him that he wasn’t welcome here and he wasn’t wanted.And that’s how the last six songs or so went. I got shoved. I shoved back. The whole night just stopped being fun. I really wanted to leave, but I was stuck. There was just no way to get out.Oh and the girl I hit with my elbow? I really wish I would have just punched her. She kept screaming at Kirk, “Don’t leave us please!” The cameraman and I were both looking at her incredously. You’re not really screaming “Don’t leave us please!” at the guy with terminal cancer, are you? You’re making it sound like it’s his choice to leave. The guy didn’t ask to get cancer! He’s not choosing this. So just shut your mouth.Yea. It was a long night. I’m glad I saw SLR one last time, but one last time was enough. I can't take that kind of night again.