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Gonzo Report: Fans follow Harry Mack to Soma in Point Loma
Every show is different, thanks in part to his way with words
Rule number one: don't skip Harry Mack.
“What do they call the people who follow a band from show to show across the country?” asked my friend as we stood outside Soma in Point Loma. “Lot lizards?”
“No,” I replied, “lot lizards are prostitutes who crawl around truck stops.” I knew that much, but I wasn’t sure of the term for what he was asking about. "Superfans" seemed too generic, and "groupies" made me think of people who actually traveled with the band or met up backstage for “behind closed doors” activities. There has got to be a better word for these people, I thought. If there isn't, then I need to create one. Because on a recent Tuesday night, there were a few of these folks at a Harry Mack show, and I wanted to describe them correctly.
“Rule number one: don’t skip Harry Mack,” a voice yelled out. The line to get into the venue shot straight down the cracked-up sidewalk. Concert-goers waiting for the doors to open could peer through the steamy windows of The Arena fighting gym and watch the fighters inside sparring. I’ve always admired this little armpit of Point Loma, with its concert venue, fighting gym, picture frame shop, and kite store all jiving in random, sweet harmony. Speaking of random, that’s exactly what the Harry Mack show was. Nobody told me how interactive it was going to be, specifically when it came to words. But surely that made it a perfect place for me to coin a term for the...mega-fans? Shit. Not good enough.
The Portland-grown hip-hop artist has millions of followers worldwide on social media, and it made sense that his fans would want to go to multiple shows, because the word is that no two Harry Mack shows are the same. Once, before he hit the stage, a QR code was posted on the stage’s screen. Fans were asked to suggest words or topics on their phones for the rapper to spit about. The word I suggested was “ham.” It wasn’t chosen. I maybe could’ve done better, but I stand by my porky word choice.
Some words that were chosen included: vanish, encapsulate, skrrt, polyrhythm, forensics, paradiddle, seismic, destruction, diabolical, odyssey, and mischievous. It seemed we had a dark-minded audience on hand. In stunning fashion, Mack improvised a song for each of the words separately. With that said, I couldn’t believe he didn’t know how to rhyme "ham." It was a lofted, salty softball of a word. A gift neglected. Speaking of gifts, I tried to fire up my own linguistic powers to describe the...fanboys? Nope, that wasn’t it, either. Not even close.
When the show wrapped, we made our way back out to the parking lot. The fighting gym was dark. There was a brisk wind, but no kites were flying. The wind wafted the smell of cooked swine in my direction. Hot dogs. Down the sidewalk, a vendor was frying up some bacon-wrapped links. No ham, but still — don’t mind if I do. I made my way towards the smoking metal cart and ordered a seven-dollar dog. The guy behind had me just finished one and ordered three more. “They’re that good?” I asked him.
His name was Bryan. He was from Riverside. “I’ve got my family with me, so I should probably feed them too,” he said, nodding towards his minivan. “We’re going to the next show in Denver after this.” Bryan said the Soma show was his forty-second time seeing Mack perform. Was this it? Had the spinning universe just dropped Harry Mack’s biggest fan in my path? He knew of only one other person who had been to more shows than he had — 45. “I’m going to miss the Dublin show,” said Bryan of Mack's upcoming European stint, “but I’m going to catch the rest of the shows in London, Brussels, Netherlands, Berlin, and then Paris. It’ll be my second Euro-trip for Harry Mack."
Bryan went on to show me a video of Mack giving him a shout-out for his birthday, acknowledging the man's steadfast attendance. After the upcoming Euro-tour, he may slide into first place for live performances viewed. So, what do you call a super-mega-fan like Bryan? Perhaps only Harry Mack could come up with the right word. All I had was "ham."
Here's something you might be interested in.
Gonzo Report: Fans follow Harry Mack to Soma in Point Loma
Every show is different, thanks in part to his way with words
Gonzo Report: Fans follow Harry Mack to Soma in Point Loma
Every show is different, thanks in part to his way with words
Rule number one: don't skip Harry Mack.
“What do they call the people who follow a band from show to show across the country?” asked my friend as we stood outside Soma in Point Loma. “Lot lizards?”
“No,” I replied, “lot lizards are prostitutes who crawl around truck stops.” I knew that much, but I wasn’t sure of the term for what he was asking about. "Superfans" seemed too generic, and "groupies" made me think of people who actually traveled with the band or met up backstage for “behind closed doors” activities. There has got to be a better word for these people, I thought. If there isn't, then I need to create one. Because on a recent Tuesday night, there were a few of these folks at a Harry Mack show, and I wanted to describe them correctly.
“Rule number one: don’t skip Harry Mack,” a voice yelled out. The line to get into the venue shot straight down the cracked-up sidewalk. Concert-goers waiting for the doors to open could peer through the steamy windows of The Arena fighting gym and watch the fighters inside sparring. I’ve always admired this little armpit of Point Loma, with its concert venue, fighting gym, picture frame shop, and kite store all jiving in random, sweet harmony. Speaking of random, that’s exactly what the Harry Mack show was. Nobody told me how interactive it was going to be, specifically when it came to words. But surely that made it a perfect place for me to coin a term for the...mega-fans? Shit. Not good enough.
The Portland-grown hip-hop artist has millions of followers worldwide on social media, and it made sense that his fans would want to go to multiple shows, because the word is that no two Harry Mack shows are the same. Once, before he hit the stage, a QR code was posted on the stage’s screen. Fans were asked to suggest words or topics on their phones for the rapper to spit about. The word I suggested was “ham.” It wasn’t chosen. I maybe could’ve done better, but I stand by my porky word choice.
Some words that were chosen included: vanish, encapsulate, skrrt, polyrhythm, forensics, paradiddle, seismic, destruction, diabolical, odyssey, and mischievous. It seemed we had a dark-minded audience on hand. In stunning fashion, Mack improvised a song for each of the words separately. With that said, I couldn’t believe he didn’t know how to rhyme "ham." It was a lofted, salty softball of a word. A gift neglected. Speaking of gifts, I tried to fire up my own linguistic powers to describe the...fanboys? Nope, that wasn’t it, either. Not even close.
When the show wrapped, we made our way back out to the parking lot. The fighting gym was dark. There was a brisk wind, but no kites were flying. The wind wafted the smell of cooked swine in my direction. Hot dogs. Down the sidewalk, a vendor was frying up some bacon-wrapped links. No ham, but still — don’t mind if I do. I made my way towards the smoking metal cart and ordered a seven-dollar dog. The guy behind had me just finished one and ordered three more. “They’re that good?” I asked him.
His name was Bryan. He was from Riverside. “I’ve got my family with me, so I should probably feed them too,” he said, nodding towards his minivan. “We’re going to the next show in Denver after this.” Bryan said the Soma show was his forty-second time seeing Mack perform. Was this it? Had the spinning universe just dropped Harry Mack’s biggest fan in my path? He knew of only one other person who had been to more shows than he had — 45. “I’m going to miss the Dublin show,” said Bryan of Mack's upcoming European stint, “but I’m going to catch the rest of the shows in London, Brussels, Netherlands, Berlin, and then Paris. It’ll be my second Euro-trip for Harry Mack."
Bryan went on to show me a video of Mack giving him a shout-out for his birthday, acknowledging the man's steadfast attendance. After the upcoming Euro-tour, he may slide into first place for live performances viewed. So, what do you call a super-mega-fan like Bryan? Perhaps only Harry Mack could come up with the right word. All I had was "ham."
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