My Donnas story

So in early 2001 I saw a pink flyer with blue ink announcing that the Donnas would soon be appearing at the Bottleneck, one of the larger clubs in Lawrence KS but still a small little bar with some pool tables, a gig area and a few booths. Its possible I still have the flyer somewhere. If I ever find it I’ll scan and post it.

I saw my friend Tanya in the college library and excitedly told her, “The Donnas are coming to the Bottleneck!” We were both excited and counted down the days until the show. The Donnas were playing with Bratmobile, one Tanya’s absolute favorite bands so she was especially looking forward to the night of the gig.

Tanya and I were both heavy weed smokers and liked to hang out together and listen to music while blazing. I was into hardcore punk at the time but also loved bands like the Ramones and the Donnas as well as oldies rock n roll like Chuck Berry, the Beatles, and Lesley Gore. Tanya was very butch and liked some of the same hardcore bands I liked but she was especially into Riot Grrrl bands and queer bands. We both loved women-fronted groups like X-Ray Spex, the Donnas, Veruca Salt etc. She was a good friend and has helped me address some of my own feelings about sexuality, gender identity, feminism etc. It should be no surprise that she went on to earn a Master’s degree and is now and important person in her community.

On the afternoon of the show we were hanging out and getting high as usual. Tanya suggested that we might want to get tickets early in case the gig sold out at the door. This seemed like a good idea so we lazily got into her little black Pontiac Sunfire and hotboxed around campus blasting the Donnas “Get Skintight” CD (Turn 21 had just come out but neither of us had it yet). We drove a mile or so from campus to the venue to buy our tickets (Lawrence is small) and sat in the parking lot blazing a bowl before we went around the corner and into the Bottleneck. It was around 2 or 3pm and we weren’t even sure they’d be open yet. Like I said, we’d been hotboxing through the afternoon and thought nothing of smoking another quick one before buying tickets.

We got out of her car, smoke pouring out the windows, and made our way down the street. “Check it out, I wonder if that’s their van, or maybe Bratmobile’s” Tanya said and pointed at a van parked in front of the venue. I also remember saying something that made her laugh really hard and slap my arm but for the life of me I can’t remember what I said or what the subject was. The Bottleneck looked like it was closed but we walked up and pulled on the door which opened up and we, reeking of freshly smoked weed, opened the heavy door and walked inside. The heavy door closing behind us no doubt sent a “whoosh” of weed smell into the venue. We definitely were bringing the weed smell with us, we’d smoked a lot before we even went down there.

It was a narrow entryway that opened to the pool tables, bar, and gig area and there were people in front of us, not blocking the way but they had their backs to us and we just kinda stepped in and waited for them to let us by. As the door closed behind us and blew the weed into the building this girl in front of us turned around, smiled, and said, “Hi!” in this really cheery and friendly voice. Being a little THC intoxicated my brain first thought, “Whoa she’s beautiful” and then, “HOLY SHIT IT’S DONNA A!” Tanya and I both said hi back and, being shy people we kinda rushed excitedly over to the bar. “That’s Donna A” she whispered with a huge smile. “Whoa there’s Donna F!” Maya was at the other end of the long bar getting a drink of some sort. We were buzzing with excitement. The bartender came over and sold us the $10 tickets and Tana was saying we should ask Donna A and F to smoke with us. It sounded like a great idea but we were both telling the other to go up and ask one of them. We are both shy people and couldn’t figure out what to say or who should go ask them. At this point Brett was near the backstage door area and we thought they were probably busy and we decided we didn’t want to bother them. We still sometimes talk about the time we almost asked the Donnas to get smoked out with us.

The show was beyond great. They sounded so good and it was probably the best show I saw at the Bottleneck. Before the show I saw Allison, Brett, and Maya signing autographs so I waited my turn to get their signatures. I might’ve mumbled something or I might have been star struck and just handed Allison the “Get Skintight” CD cover. She was very smiley and said something I couldn’t quite hear, then handed it to the other Donnas to sign before making their way through the backstage door again. I’m sure many other people have better stories about meeting the Donnas but it was still a fun day/night that I look back on with fondness. I saw them 2 years later at a much larger venue and while it was still great it was a lot less intimate than seeing them at the Bottleneck.