Friends Are Good

There are many reasons why I attended Sunday night's Friendship reunion show at The Proletariat. Admittedly, I'm friends with all four Friendship members (Proof: they named their first song "Travis P. Ritter.") I worked at Amy's Ice Cream for a time with each and every one of them. They also played the infamous Max G. Arnold Pudding Disco at Super Happy Fun Land. And like myself, bassist Ted Conway, my first and best Houston friend, is moving away soon, so where better to see the many friends we've both made over the years than at the Friendship reunion show?

After quick 15 minute sets by Cop Warmth, Gay Marriage, Blades and Carter Brown, Friendship set up shop in front of the stage. Lead screamer Garrett Arnold dressed up as a large tin foil robot, and after amassing the largest crowd of the night, the hardcore band opened with "Travis P. Ritter." Needless to say, it was my proudest moment. To get the crowd involved, the lyrics were displayed on an overhead projector, and photocopies were distributed. The band churned through the remaining five songs they wrote and recorded more than two and a half years ago, including the one-bar, seven second-long speed metal rendition of the Batman theme (twice), "Lee Walker," "Birds," "I Wanna Be Your Friend, Yo!" and "Andrew Morgan." By the end of the set, the robot costume, complete with blinking bike light eyes, was completely destroyed. At once, those 15 happy minutes all of a sudden became really sad, knowing that my friends in Friendship would probably never play together again. — Travis Ritter