Piercings: Or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the holes in my face

my dream..

My sister got a piercing when I was 10, she had got her ear cartilage pierced and made me promise not to tell our mum. When my Mum did eventually found out, she didn’t get angry, she actually wanted to get the same piercing herself and this kind of ruined it for my 15 year old sister. Through out the next couple of years she would get lots of things pierced and my mum would only look at her go ‘Oh dear’ but never seemed to care. My sister was like the black sheep of the family and now and again my grandmother told her that no boy would ever marry her if she looked like that.

It seemed that piercing was something my sister would always be interested in, she’s taken a lot of them out but still has her facial piercing. I was watching her change, and seeing how she became more confident because she had indulged in something she thought looked good. Even though some of her friends hated them, she didn’t seem to care, she said that it was her choice and it didn’t matter. I mean it’s only a bit of metal. So when I was 12 I decided that I was going to get piercing’s and tattoo’s because I thought they looked cool. Now I have only uttered the immortal words of ‘I think they look cool’ but why is that not a valid reason? Do I have to have a spiritual reason to shove a needle through my face, it’s just cool man, you don’t understand okay.

For somebody who is considering getting a piercing that will be on display you will have to have the same love/hate relationship with it that most people have. I have been shouted at in the streets, family and friends say I’m ruining my looks and it’s unlikely you’re going to get a job as easily if you could if you didn’t have piercings. If you’re someone who won’t stand by your principles, save your £20 and the pain and don’t get it done. I have considered taking my piercings out, but I love them, I don’t think I could take them out without feeling like me. Piercing falls under the umbrella of ‘body modification’ which literally means changing your body, this includes fake nails, hair extensions, hair dying, make up, wearing a corset and tanning. I bet most guys wouldn’t be able to leave the house without gel in their hair, like most girls wouldn’t face the world without their make up.

Now I’m nearly 18, I’ve realised that I don’t need to conform to what people want to actually survive in the world. I can go work in bar, a music shop or be one of those awful charity workers on the street and proudly wear my piercings. If I get more done I know that even my sister would have her doubts that it looked good; after all, there’s a lot of piercing hierarchy. Ideally I’d like to get another lip and nose piercings, an industrial bunch of cartilage piercings, cheek piercings, my tongue and some naughty places too. If you see me in 10 years and I’m not covered in tattoos and have all those piercings it means that I lost my principles and I’m working in Tesco.

Don’t spill your beer on me: A guide to Indie gig etiquette

At St. Brendan’s I like to think that musical taste is varied and people respect that. When I walk into college you can kind of make assumptions about what music people listen to according to fashion sense, of course I shouldn’t do this, but it’s unavoidable and I’m sure everyone’s guilty of it.

I don’t like that some peoples musical taste seem to take over their lives in that, they have listened to one punk band and now they are like right, I’m punk, forever. Nothing else.

Similarly this can be said for the Goths, metalheads, emo, scene kids and indie scenesters. But why is it like this? With people mixing outside there music taste why doesn’t an indie kid take a Goth to see The Long Blondes? Can an emo be taken to see Metallica by his long haired friend? To try and spur people to discover new musical genres I have written a guide to an indie gig for the inexperienced.

1. Dress for the occasion.

you're trying too hard

Yes you may just be going to a concert but trust me unless you can pull off effortlessly cool and underdressed chic it would be good to put in a bit of effort. You will understand why when you see the Hoxton/Shoreditch wannabes and you realise that you haven’t washed these jeans in four days and you can see a soup stain. There’s nothing worse then getting the evils of the Thekla/Lousiana fashionistas. Don’t worry about anything like at Bristol Academy, nobody cares and you will get beer on you at some point. Although one thing to remember is don’t go over the top, you don’t want to end up looking like Peaches Geldof.


2. Decide where you are going to be and stick by it.

If you are at the back, stay at the back, if you try and make a break to the front you have to have some level of skill at pushing. If you are near the front middleish then decide who is going to
handle getting the alcohol and nessecery provisions.

This is so when you have to get back from the bar you can use the classic line ‘My friends at the front’. Looking as embarrassed and peevish works well too. Always finish your drink before the main band come on, because it will get knocked all over your face and it never looks classy licking it off.


3. Avoid the Mosh Pit.

Sometimes at Indie gigs at the Thekla people get this crazy idea that the band is really heavy metal dude and they have to start a half arsed mosh pit. The half arsed mosh pit is a dangerous thing, if it was a real one everyone who didn’t want to be in it would form a neat circle around. A half hearted mosh pit is like a black hole, from nowhere one will erupt and you will dragged into it by a middle aged balding man (it’s always him).

Although it sounds like I’m making it sound like a bad thing it can be very fun when it’s the right band and atmosphere, for example I was in a very enjoyable mosh pit for Be Your Own Pet (R.I.P). However if you are following this guide and have brought a Goth, emo, scene kid or metalhead then do not let them near the pit. They will either sneer at the pit all night or want to jump in and show all the stupid indie kids how it’s done, and most people will do the latter. Then get chucked out.

4. Don’t stand near Jeff.

For the LOVE of God don’t stand near Jeff.

look the other way, it's jeff

Amanda Palmer at the Custard Factory in Birmingham

Amanda Palmer at the Custard Factory in Birmingham, 3rd October 2008

If you’ve ever seen one of those amazingly intricate and beautiful designer adverts in Vogue or Grazia that you’ve wondered how that all came together to make the final picture, then you’ve already experienced what Amanda Palmer’s recent show was like. All done without the aid of Photoshop too. I use the word show instead of gig or concert, because this wasn’t a 45 minute set with one old song and the new album in its entirity without any kind of entertainment making you wonder why you paid 20 quid for it.

It’s worth coming to the freezing cold Custard Factory in Birmingham and paying £4 for a glass of wine to experience what Amanda Palmer is trying to tell you. Having created the spectacular album that is ‘Who Killed Amanda Palmer’ with its own youtube mini video series, crime scene photos and lists of prospective subjects you don’t expect to resold stale wine. As she is raised from the dead she plays her opening track on the album ‘Astronaut’ in a vintage white veil and corset, something only she could pull off.

To help her create the atmosphere she has hired the help of ‘The Danger Ensemble’ a group of dramatic actors and artists from Australia, who she tells us has come for no money but beer and the spare change people throw at them. They deliver what is expected; a dramatic interpretation of Amanda’s songs, only slightly ruined by the rendition of ‘Strength through Music’ about high school shootings that supposed to be sincere but ends up tacky; I mean everyone has seen a Michael Moore film. Then she plays a song about playing Guitar Hero and all is forgiven.

As she introduces her Neil Gaiman (ed: fantasy and graphic novel author) inspired song which starts with the line ‘I Google you, at 3am when I’m drunk’ somehow she doesn’t seem comfortable in the atmosphere that has been forced on her and that is a normal concert because like modern art, you either get it or you don’t. The best thing about Amanda Palmer is that even though she’s making serious points and personal outlets she still cant take herself seriously, with the show ending with her mouthing the words to Rihannas Umbrella with the Danger Ensemble dancing with Umbrellas around her as the sprinklers as set off.

EMILY WADDELL