Strike Anywhere. Revised.

Five years ago, four high-spirited, adventurous high school students took a secret road trip to Ocean City, MD. Strike Anywhere was playing and it was a show not to be missed. What high school student would pass up the opportunity to take a secret road trip with good friends to sing and dance to a good band at a (good?) beach? The trip was a success and the memory cemented in my mind. Strike Anywhere continued to be a favorite band all through college.

On Friday I happened to be searching the web for upcoming shows in Vienna. I go into the city almost every weekend and like to know what shows, operas, exhibits, etc. are playing or open. When I saw Strike Anywhere was playing that night at Arena, I knew I had to go. A friend from Bruck an der Leitha came with me and we had a great time. It was her first punk rock show. I was pretty surprised at the amount of people that knew them. Strike Anywhere is from Richmond, Virginia and definitely plays to promote certain political agendas. I had actually used one of their songs in my two oldest classes, the 8th forms, when we talked about the Living Wage Campaign at UVA.

Of course, after the show I went up to the stage and told them I was from Maryland and Virginia and had last seen them in Ocean City (I think of myself as from both now...although with regards to our state rivalry, I'd have to side with Maryland). So I got up on stage as everyone cleared out and hung out while they broke down the set. They were leaving for Switzerland that night so I said it was nice to finally meet them and headed out to meet up with friends at 1516, an old IES (study abroad program) haunt...