Black Eyes & Neckties Finale ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

I’ll admit, I’ve been avoiding writing about Black Eyes and Neckties funeral show that happened back on Halloween at the Nightlight in Bellingham. Not because it wasn’t an amazing show (it was), but rather in the child-like hope that if it’s not mentioned, it didn’t actually happen. But it did.

That being said, if a band has to break-up, and they all inevitably do, every band should be as lucky to have a final show as rowdy and overflowing with appreciation as Black Eyes & Neckties did. The band played two sets to a sold out crowd that shoved, crowd surfed, stage dove, and screamed along to every song.  Between swigs of too many bottles of red wine to count, the band played a set fitting of their gothic and theatrical birth and all-too-brief life. They were pelted with beer cans, insults, and compliments by a crowd who raged with equal parts appreciation and anger. For the band. For the show they were experiencing. And for the fact they would never experience it again. I had bruises on my knees and sides for days following the show from being crushed against the stage and shoved against my fellow funeral mourners. None of us, from the beer-drenched band to those of us who had to fight our way to remain upright in the surging crowd, would have it any other way.

If you’ve gotta go, and we all do, there’s no better way to go than doing what you love at 100%.  That’s how Black Eyes & Neckties returned to the grave. In a year of brutal break-ups, I’ve mourned none as much as Black Eyes & Neckties end. Nor have I enjoyed a funeral, nay, a celebration of undead life, so much as I did this. It was one of the most memorable shows of my life.

A Solemn Occasion ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

A Ressurection ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Fist ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Audience Guitar Appreciation ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Brenda Grimm ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Josh Homicide Crowd Surf ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

See: More Photos from the Funeral