Friday, May 20, 2011

Strange dreams of Black Sabbath

I have just awakened from a complete non-sequitur, a dream that has no apparent relationship to anything that I've been thinking, feeling, seeing or doing: I am at a Black Sabbath reunion show at the Pacific Coliseum. The place is packed and the energy is high. I am aware that a girl I once had an attachment to is in the audience, with her current boyfriend, though the reason for their presence is mysterious to me - they play no further role. Black Sabbath, performing with Ozzy Osbourne, are on stage. They give an exciting show - not that I recall them singing any actual Black Sabbath songs - though at one point, hoping I will not be noticed, I have to sneak away from my seat to take a bowel movement in an odd sort of curtained toilet set up at one side of the auditorium, which is a bit embarrassing (this element of the dream is the only one with an apparent explanation in waking life, since I kinda actually do need to go to the can). Shortly thereafter, when the band stops to take a break between sets, things begin to go wrong - Ozzy goes out to a bar, and we discover later, is disinclined to return to performing. The band members try to do a few solo numbers and finally just open things up to an informal meet and greet with the fans, since the show can't go on; in particular, when Geezer Butler is introduced (why Geezer and not Tony?), the fans mob him, and in the crush, I see one of the member's wives get nearly steamrollered. I go over to her, ask her if everything is all right, and we chat a bit.

I mill around the increasingly emptied out Pacific Coliseum, hoping that the show will somehow go on, but soon I am the only one there. A little (Asian?) kid arrives and takes a seat near me; he's waiting for something quite different, and asks me what I'm doing. I explain about Black Sabbath and heavy metal, but he is unfamiliar with either; I try singing him the beginning of "Paranoid," to cue his memory, and when I realize that I can't quite get the lyrics right, revert to imitating the riff. He is amused, but he doesn't know the song.

In exploring the empty auditorium, I notice that there are various bags of items - including things belonging to the band and a few items they had been planning to give away - and amongst them, I notice two volumes of Adam Parfrey's Apocalypse Culture books. They have no obvious owner, and I briefly consider taking them, since I don't feel like I've gotten my money's worth of the night. But I can't justify it in my head. Surely they belong to someone? I put them back and look around - the place sure is empty. I guess the band won't be coming back, after all...

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