I Wish Greg Dulli Had Stolen MY Phone

People who've known me long enough probably know of my incredibly, undying, obsessive love of Greg Dulli and everything he does. Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers, and now Gutter Twins are pretty much my top music ever. This love has even extended to pretty much anyone that Dulli has ever played with or collaborated with. Dulli got me to love Mark Lanegan (who I've always liked but now my love has grown), Jeff Klein, Afterhours, Joseph Arthur, Howlin' Maggie, etc. I read Scott Ford's (his bassist) blog and listen to his radio show (which is really good, btw, the link is on your right). Actually, Scott Ford's radio show and podcasts were very helpful to me when I was studying for finals and writing my thesis before graduation. So, Scott Ford, if I never in fact meet you in person, I will say through my blog, thanks for your radio show, it kicks ass.

So, of course, I had to attend the Gutter Twins show. It was at the Black Cat in DC. This story will not be a story of how awesome that show was (which, you know, it was). It is a different kind of story.

After arriving at the venue, I made a beeline for the very front of the stage. To my surprise, standing there was Ryan, a guy that I had Arabic class with and did a study abroad in Morocco with, there with his fiancee and one other guy. We say hey and I asked, "What are you guys doing here? I didn't know you liked the Gutter Twins!" Ryan introduces me to his friend that's with them, who apparently dragged them there, and who "hates" Greg Dullli but has the biggest man-crush ever on Mark Lanegan. We chatted a bit throughout the evening about Mark and Greg and Queens of the Stone Age and all that cool stuff and he seemed pretty cool.

Throughout the set, he kept snapping pictures of Mark with his cameraphone. Either Greg Dulli got really tired of this or thought that the guy was constantly texting during the show...I'm not sure. For whatever reason, Dulli came over and smacked the phone out of the guy's hand. It fell onto the stage and Dulli kicked it under the drum set. If I were that guy, I'd be freaking out. For the next couple of songs, he kept elbowing me with increasingly worried expressions on his face. I said, "I'm sure you'll get it back, Dulli can't steal your phone!" I actually wasn't so sure of this, but it seemed logical. His phone remained there under the drum kit for at least four songs. After that, Dulli took the phone, me and the guy gave a sigh of relief that he might get it back. Instead, he took the phone and stuck it in his pocket. The guy looked pretty freaked out at this point. I'm also pretty sure this incident did not enhance his love of Greg Dulli. The Gutter Twins played a couple of more songs, after which Greg Dulli finally relinquished the phone, handing it to the guy while wagging his finger at him like a reprimanding schoolteacher.

The rest of the night, we couldn't get over the fact that, for a brief time, Greg Dulli had stolen that guy's phone. Or, as he put it, "Greg Dulli RAPED my phone!"

The possibly pathetic thing is, while the guy was understandably freaked and annoyed by this, I am so very, very jealous. I would give anything to have Greg Dulli steal my phone. After all, phone are replaceable...even if it is annoying cuz then you have to replace them, which is expensive, and get everyone's numbers again, but still...a phone is replaceable and a moment with Greg Dulli...that's priceless, man.

To top off the overall crazy evening, while at the concert I ran into T, of all people (first Ryan, then T, it was quite an evening for running into people I didn't expect at a Gutter Twins show) whom I still have a weird crush on. I asked him why he was there and he said he's always been a fan of the Afghan Whigs, which definitely makes him a cooler person in my book. We didn't talk terribly long, but then, after exiting the venue, my friends and I ran into this random group of cute, friendly guys from L.A. looking for places to bar-hop and one of them gave me his business card, which is a first for me, I have to say. All in all...crazy, crazy night.