Every Year we at 3rd Millennium Comics, Steelgirl.com, and Geekassdotcom save the Styrofoam packing peanuts that we receive. Then on December 31st we fill a room and party like it's 1999. This year however it was 2003...and we had 3 years worth of saved packing peanuts, a band in the garage, and lots of liquor to start the new year off right. 

We set up the peanuts in Jon's living room. It measures about 15x20 feet, with a couple of couches, a fireplace, etc, all lining the borders. We made a wall to block off this room from the main hallway and had our trusty lackeys Randall and his sidekick Mike begin filling the interior of this room with our bags and boxes of Packing Peanuts. When all was emptied we had a stack of peanuts along the borders of the room that came up to right below my knees. At the center of the room was a monstrous hill of Styrofoam that came up to my chest. This would prove to be a good night...

(Seen above are shots of the living room and the packing peanuts. Click on each pic for a larger image.)

Now that the fun in the living room was ready to begin we had the ConfedeRats start to set up their gear in the garage for the night of punk rock goodness they'd be presenting.  I unfortunately didn't take pictures of the set up or how the garage looked before the fun began. So click on the below picture for the earliest shot of the evening in the garage.

I want you to notice how clean the garage floor looks. How nice and almost polished the concrete appears. It was not to stay that way for long.

Around 9:30 things started to kick off. Kids were playing in the packing peanuts, people were gathered in the entertainment room to make drinks and play cards, and the band was beginning their 1st set out in the garage. While the kids inside gambled, drank, and cavorted in the foam the band proceeded to kick our asses out in the garage. I've seen the Rats play a ton of times, and I think that tonight's show was the best one I've been to yet. There's something about garage and basement shows that I just love. You don't have to worry about having a giant sound system, or having a big crowd to get the band going. Just a basic PA, and 12 people who appreciate the music. 

(Pics of the band playing, and kids gambling. Click for a larger image)

Midway through the bands first set Jon decided that it'd be a good time to dispose of some of the old computer monitors we have that no longer work. So he picked one up, raised it over his head, and smashed it down in front of where the band was playing. Naturally this made the crowd very happy. Who doesn't like smashing? A few more monitors were smashed, and members of the crowd took part in stomping the once proud screens and casings into tiny chunks of metal, glass, and plastic while the Rats played on in the background, never missing a beat while trying not to get hit by flying bits of debris. Jon took the opportunity to roll on the floor. Hardcore.
(Check out the pics to the right, the first one is the floor of the garage, with the Rats first set list perched on top of a smashed monitor. The second one is Jons bloody back after rolling around. Click for a larger image.)

After their first set was over everyone retired to the house again, and an epic packing peanut fight ensued. The wall of cardboard boxes we'd erected to keep the packing peanuts confined to the living room was torn down and used to bash people. The sea of Styrofoam then was free to flow throughout the rest of the house, and wound up being scattered to every room as it clung to people who'd been rolling in it. 


(The above pictures are assorted ones from the living room war. Click on each one for a larger image)

As midnight got closer the band headed out to the garage for their second set of the evening and the insanity continued. As more monitors were smashed someone found a cache of aerosol cans, and proceeded to add some homemade pyrotechnics to the nights entertainment.  More household items were smashed, a TV, a stereo, a computer tower, and a police scanner. The debris on the floor mixed with the spilled beer, water, blood, and ashes from the flames to form a disgusting mess of toxic proportions. Good fun. Being the most hardcore/insane of us Jon again rolled in the debris, this time slicing open a very disgusting gash on his right arm. "Dude, you should put something around your arm, I think I can see muscle tissue poking out...." The insanity in the garage continued, as people danced in the debris, helped add to it, and generally had a good time. Soon a road flare was ignited. WD40 flame throwers soon became the rage, and jets of flame filled the garage. This filled the garage with thick black fumes and we had to open the garage doors to air it out. (it still smelt bad today, a week later) 

(Some long shots of the band playing behind the debris on the floor,
Donning helmets, and the road flare/wd40 flamethrower. Click for larger
Images.)

(A ton of pics from the insanity in the garage. Check out the smaller details, the blood, the rakes, the fire, the beer cans. Ahh. Click for larger images.)

New years arrived mid song, and there really wasn't much in the way of celebrations. A few hoots and hollers and things went right back to the party: the band continued to play, the booze continued to flow, the blood continued to drip. As things wound down and people started to get tired we wound up back in the living room and throughout the rest of the house. It's funny seeing the punk rock guys you just watched moshing insanely and playing instruments in the garage suddenly giggling and playing in the packing peanuts like little kids. 

Overall this was a great new years eve. No one died, the cops didn't show up, and nothing major got destroyed. I saw some old friends, met some new ones, and had a great time.
~P.J. Geekass