PWR BTTM concert in Portsmouth!

PWR BTTM

This is a more personal post than my other ones have been, about my concert experience this past weekend.

So, this past weekend I went to a concert for one of my favorite bands, PWR BTTM!
PWR BTTM's members are Liv Bruce and Ben Hopkins, and they identify the band as "queer punk", which is exactly what I need in my life. Both Hopkins and Bruce are nonbinary and use they/them pronouns, and write about gender identity and being gay.
I went with my friend Katie and my date-people to Portsmouth, NH; decked out in glitter, emulating Hopkins' signature look.


I still can't get the glitter out of my hair.

My friends and I somehow found our way to the front of the crowd, big X's marking our hands.
Then, Q turned to me and said "Oh, my god, Liv is running the merch table!"
I immediately started hyperventilating, because I may or may not have the biggest celebrity crush on Liv Bruce that the world has ever known.

who wouldn't have a crush on Liv, honestly. Just look at them.

After I stopped hyperventilating (actually, that's a lie, I just was hyperventilating less) we went in groups of two (to keep our spot in the front claimed) to buy things... And to see the ethereal being that is Liv Bruce, in the flesh.
After fumbling to buy things and just generally making a fool of myself in front of Liv - who somehow looks better in real life- they asked us if we wanted to take a selfie.


You can tell Katie was REALLY excited to see Ben.

They took the picture, and Ben jumped in last second, wearing no makeup (a shock), and told us we all looked cute and gave us hugs. Which was amazing. I'm still excited about it.
I then applied glitter to complete strangers, which was fun.

Then, the actual concert happened. There were 4 bands playing, PWR BTTM was on last, preceded by Tancred, Lisa Prank, and Bellows, who were all really great musicians (as well as sweet people- we got to meet them as well). Ben came onstage to play with Lisa Prank, and she gave Ben their very own rainbow tiara. It was adorable.

The image says it all.

Then, it was the moment of truth. PWR BTTM was onstage.
"As you can see," Ben said, decked out in blue glitter and greasepaint "I'm not wearing any makeup to the show".
Both members were such good performers, as well as musicians, with their back and forth banter and stories.
My friends and I were super pumped, yelling quips back to their comments. Basically, we were obnoxious and loud. It was great.
"Serenade me!" I yelled at one point.
"I am!!!" Ben shouted back at me.
The bassist, Nicholas (who was not part of the band, but played with them for the show) said, "That's like, the whole thing. You paid us money for us to serenade you."

About halfway through their section of the show, Ben stopped to appreciate a girl's light-up flower crown. I felt a sigh of relief that Ben didn't talk about how obnoxious my group was being. Except that they totally did.
"And to this group in the front, who has been tweeting about the show nonstop."
Called out. Oops.
After the show, Ben and Nicholas came up to our group and thanked us for being so into the show. It was the most amazing thing. ever.

 

And Ben took another selfie with us. With no makeup, clearly.

Ben parted and left us with this final nugget of knowledge:
"You can never tweet too much, and if you ever run out of things to say, jut tweet 'egg'."
Truly iconic.

We got home at 2:30 AM, completely exhausted, and collapsed, still covered in glitter, into bed.
(My pillow looked like a unicorn was massacred in the morning...)

So that was that! I had a really great time with my friends, the music was amazing, and the band members were super nice!

Creep it real y'all!

 

3 (Alternative) Makeup Hacks

1) Every goth probably knows the struggle of fallout- when black eyeshadow falls on your perfect base and having to remove your foundation and concealer underneath.
Ugh!

the struggle is real...

If you don't want to do your base second (which makes no sense to me- but if go ahead if that floats your root beer), I recently discovered a fix for fallout, and it has since pretty much changed my life!

When eyeshadow falls on your cheek, first of all- do NOT try to rub it off or touch it! Rubbing fallout will only smudge it in! Instead, grab a fluffy powder brush and a setting powder, and dip the brush in the powder and just dab at the fallout. The idea behind this is that a powder will attract more powder . Like magic, the eyeshadow should come off your face, and your base should look fresh and new again!


2) No good black lipsticks around- and the ones that are available are a billion dollars!

Kat, I love you, but I'm not paying $21 for lipstick.

 First of all, I recommend TaterRoundsBeauty on Etsy! Some of my favorite lipsticks (the lime green and grey brown, anyone?) are from her shop, and she has a great black lipstick (with red glitter) that comes out to about $7 with shipping. It is also available in a liquid to matte form for a little more money (I swear I'm not sponsored!).

But, if you're too cheap to buy those, you could always grab a cheap black (or any color you want, really) eyeshadow and an old chapstick, and melt them together.

1. First, scrape the eyeshadow out of the pan into a small* microwave safe bowl. The more eyeshadow you add, the more pigmented your lipstick will be.   *a very small bowl is recommended, it's easier to mix and pour the mixture if it's less spread out.
2. Next, screw the chapstick all the way out of the tube, and cut right before the little plastic bit at the bottom. Put the chapstick into the bowl as well.
3. This is where I like to add in a tiny bit of coconut oil or Vaseline for extra hydration, but it's not required.
4. Put the bowl in the microwave in ten-second increments until it is completely melted. Mix the mixture. Be sure to use oven mitts or something when taking the bowl out of the microwave, it will be very hot!
5. Screw the chapstick container down all the way, and carefully pour the mixture into it!
6. Lastly, put the lipstick into the fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes, and voila! homemade black lipstick for cheap!

3) Doing exaggerated, big eyeliner looks- but they turn out uneven!

the best thing to do is to grab a small flat brush and go in with a grey or black eyeshadow to outline the shape. If one is uneven, you can "erase" it a lot easier than eyeliner!
Then, when you get them perfect, you can go over them with eyeliner!

Go forth with your new knowledge, and creep it real!

Si

Vocabulary: What Is "Punk"?

Punk fashion centers on a DIY ethic, and is generally against consumerism and focuses on individuality.
A lot of punk clothing is hand customized or hand made, which ties in with the individuality and anti-consumerism and DIY ethics of the culture.

The main styles that one thinks of when they hear "punk fashion" is big leather boots, safety pins holding ripped garments together, spikes and studs, flannels, t-shirts, mohawks, shaved heads, piercings, tattoos, and customized leather jackets, jean jackets or vests.

The punk subculture is associated with the fast paced music of punk rock, and centers on anti-authoritarianism, nonconformity, and individualism.

Brief History of Punk

There's some dispute as to when punk really began, some saying mid 60's and others saying mid 70's.
Punk started in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. It was a build-off from the hippie culture of the 1960's- but a darker, more anarchistic version of what the hippies started. Punks rejected the flowing, naturalistic ideology of hippies, but maintained their distaste for "the man", societal norms, and all things mainstream.

The name "Punk" came from exactly where one would think it does- it began as an insult, calling punks worthless, but they turned it around and wore the label with pride.