AGING BRINGS WITH IT A NUMBER OF STARtling indignities and difficult internal monologues, and while we have our elders, decades of American literature, and countless two-guystalkin' podcasts to help guide us, there are some things each of us has to face alone.
What I am saying is that I did not expect to be the guy who rocked a little too hard at the Toad the Wet Sprocket show.
I wasn't the only one. There is something in the air about that medium-mope, wounded-dude mid-'90s music moment: Counting Crows, Collective Soul, Soul Asylum. Somehow I'm hearing it more now than in 1996, my glory days of wearing a Kangol hat backward and trying to use hype as an adjective. The soul-patched soundtrack of alternative radio, a revolution that was ignited at least partly by our disdain for classic rock, has become our new classic rock.
It's IPA-core-soothing, warming, heavy but not too-and it might be our last classic rock.
TOAD THE WET SPROCKET WAS PLAYING the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles last summer, with Gin Blossoms and Barenaked Ladies, a package tour so solidly middle-aged it could have been sponsored by Maybe Signing Up for a 10K This Year, a scene that with a few tiny adjustments could have been identified by the word megachurch. We were all doing it, and we were all surprised: sincere, blissful, plastic-pint-glass in-the-air howling. Deep, diaphragmatic whoos, even a yessss. Flesh becomes water, wood becomes bone? You're goddamn right it does, Toad. Here we are now, entertain us-and get us home at a sensible hour.
This story is from the March 2023 edition of Esquire US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2023 edition of Esquire US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
IN JUDGMENT OF DONALD TRUMP
He may never face justice for his most serious offenses. But the everyday prosecutors who've won clear verdicts against him have exposed Trump as the unfit citizen he truly is.
TRAVEL GETS LIT
Book butlers! Curated libraries! Custom cruises! Literary-themed vacations are the hot new trend in tourism.
RED ALERT
Dior’s asymmetrical, angular Chiffre Rouge watch is back and as bold as ever
The Undeniable Joel Kim Booster
The actor, comedian, and writer has hit his career sweet spot: not \"widely reviled on the Internet yet\" but high on the authentic power of making people laugh.
Angling for the Big Fish That Breaks Hearts
People fall in love with Patagonia for many reasons. The breathtaking landscape. The gauchos. The Malbec For me it was the thrill of fly-fishing in a mountain stream near the bottom the world. On my latest trip would I finally hook that elusive trout worthy of my majestic surroundings? By David Coggins
SHOES FOR GETTING WEIRD
The Rick Owens sneakers that remind Christopher Fenimore, the photographer behind the popular Five Fits series on Esquire.com, of a stranger time in his life
MAC DADDY
You need the simple, streamlined mackintosh coat in your spring rotation
Shawn Fain Is Done Making Nice
The combative new president of the United Auto Workers has emerged as the strongest voice in a resurgent labor movement in America
Game Time for Grown-ups
My most meaningful form of self-help right now involves an afternoon of Skee-Ball, Super Shot, Pac-Man, and a double-pepperoni flatbread from the Shareables menu—all punched into my Dave Buster’s Power Card
EVERY THING MEANS SOME THING WHAT IT'S LIKE BEING ROBERT DOWNEY JR.
Last night he came downstairs around bedtime and didn't see either of them.