90's Flashback.

The Alamo Drafthouse is my favorite place to see movies in Austin. Among its many amenities are plush, comfy seats, hilariously ridiculous previews, giant bowls of popcorn and cheap, student-discounted tickets. I had never attended an event at the Drafthouse though, and was slightly uneasy as I took my place in line for the 90's Sing Along on Thursday night.

I had no reason to be skeptical - the Drafthouse knows how to deliver, and it certainly did. The sing along, corny as it may sound, turned out to be the highlight of my week. It was two hours of complete nostalgia. Although it required some deep memory digging for some songs, most of them were instantly familiar. I see myself as a pre-teen, blasting Will Smith's 'Gettin' Jiggy wit it,' from my giant, black stereo. The memory recreated that jubiliant feeling of childhood. I couldn't help but stand up and dance. Neither could anyone else in the theatre. It's easy to stand up and let loose when everyone else around you is making an equal fool of themselves. The Drafthouse also seems to draw in those types of people with no inhibitions.

The night was rap-themed so we disappointingly missed out on a whole genre of songs that the child inside of me would have absolutely died to hear again (mostly the emerging pop scene defined by Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls.) But back then my friends and I also listened to the occasional rap song, testing our developing musical palettes, so I knew an overwhelming majority of the songs. And if not, the lyrics were provided so I could sing along anyway. The high points of the night included TLC's "No Scrubs," and my personal favorite, Jay Z's "Big Pimpin." They mostly covered the classic 90's fare though, with Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back,"Naughty by Nature's "O.P.P." and Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby," of course. Either way, the night was utterly enjoyable and I would have stayed well past midnight. The only unfortunate repercussion is that I've had "Blame it on the rain" in my head ever since.