In the current Rolling Stone, Against Me"s lead singer Tom Gabel came out as transgender (he wants to be a woman) and had this to say: "However fierce our band was in the past, imagine me, six foot two, in heels, fucking screaming in someone's face".
Why imagine?
Against Me are opening for the Cult at Terminal 5, June 8th, and while I'm not a big fan of either band, I don't dislike them either. And I think Against me, lead by the renamed Laura, is gonna be a mind bending experience.
If you don't know Against Me!, they are the Florida punk rock, anarchist band, around since 1997. I find them a little weak on record and have never heard them live. Lyrically it isn't terrible, and they can definitely write a song , but musically it isn't hard enough for me. I am not sure how it translates live, it is more than possible they really can bring it on stage.
And whether they couldn't, Laura will have a lot to show and it will be a blast to hear her show it. So maybe, it is a little rubber necky. But the excitement isn't to see a man dressed as a woman… I've seen that before, but to see this man leading a hard rocking punk rock band on stage.
As for the Cult: another band I can take or leave behind. They;ve been around since 1983 and never made the slightest impression on me… but I could be wrong and am looking forward to have my preconception that the Cult are a bland bore stuffed down my throat.