Wonder Twins: Fiery Furnaces, Dent May and Cryptacize at the Magic Bag in Ferndale 11.11.09

It was kind of a toss up as to what show we'd end up covering for the Wonder Twins column this week, but with both D'Anne and I fighting off colds and (in D'Anne's case) a possible kidney stone, seeing this show at the Magic Bag was an obvious choice. Why? No smoke. Plus, a pretty sweet line up. But mostly, the lack of smoking. So to the Magic Bag we went.

I love going to shows, but the smoking thing keeps me from going out as often as I would like. I really wish more venues would consider going smoke free - even just for a couple of nights a week. There's all this talk about people not going out to shows and how to fix that, and I have no idea what the answers are. But I do know that a show at a smoke filled room that doesn't even start until 10pm on a weeknight is very unlikely to make my "must attend" list at this point. It just becomes such a chore. Getting home super late, having to take a shower and wash all the clothes my girlfriend and I were wearing (and if it's cold, that includes coats - this can equal a whole load and a half of laundry!) and waking up the next day tired with a raspy throat and sore eyes. Just thinking about it exhausts me. Sometimes a show looks great, but I think to myself, "gee, I'm already behind on laundry." Then I stay home. I don't think I'm alone. Possibly the only one uncool enough to admit it, but I can't be the only one.

Reasonable (and consistent!) door and start times and no smoke. I have a hard time believing these are totally impossible and radical ideas. And it seems to be working for other cities so it couldn't hurt to try it here, right? If other things are not working (and it seems like they're not), maybe it would be worth a try.

Oh! Also, this is tomorrow. It should be awesome, and I would love to see you there.