So I survived the whole ordeal.

The millennium came and went without a glitch, and I was still standing, albeit a little wobbly, at the end of it all. Recovering from the headache and embarrassment of the evening past, in the days that followed, I waited for some kind of delayed fallout. I find myself, now, 13 days into the month, with mixed feelings, walking around, as though on borrowed time, and wondering what happened to the disaster I spent so much time bracing myself for.

Funny, but I can’t help feeling a little let down by the whole thing.

Lately though I find myself wondering about the hardcore religious enthusiasts and cult leaders of the world who, these days, must be the saddest victims of this anti-climactic cruel joke. With no landmark events to rant about in the near future, a strong chance that everyone will still be so burned out from all the hype to really care if 2001 is the official start to the new millennium, and their credibility gone, they have to be feeling pretty low. As it sets in that they wont be the ones handing out the kool-aid at the next big millennium bash while their followers wait for that big spaceship from god to beam them up, are they wandering around as aimlessly as the rest of us?

To those who waited at the Mount of Olives for second-coming of Jesus Christ as the clock struck midnite on Jan 1, perhaps it was just a simple matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Had they waited a week and a day later, at about the same time, they might have seen their man, or at least one that looks a lot like him.

Plug Spark Sanjay played their first show of the new year on Sat, Jan 8^th at Maxwell’s, to what was, a pretty packed room. PSS, a local Jersey 4 piece and mainstay on the Hoboken, NYC and New Brunswick scenes, is one of the best reasons clubs should support local artists. With a sound that’s unlike most bands playing around right now, creative songwriting and musicianship, and their first cd "Regular Pinto" available, they have been able to put together a substantial following and repeatedly fill these venues--and deservedly so.

Its always a montage of hair and noise when Plug Spark Sanjay takes the stage and Saturday was no different. Singer-guitarists Joe Centeno and John Fesken, along with drummer Tim Meyer, were joined by new bass player Mike Mixt tonight. The show started off with a voice over from Teddy, Jersey City neighborhood standby, which lead into the crashing "This Means War." The energy on the stage carried over to the crowd--heads bobbed up and down around the room and chants were sung, courtesy of some world-cup enthusiasts, in between songs. They played a mix of songs, with some more somber, slower numbers thrown in between the crunchy guitar driven rockers to keep the performance even and their audience intrigued. The guitar work from these guys is more even more effective in performance, and Mixt’s presence added a new energy to the group.

Although its difficult to define their sound (try a hybrid of Archers of Loaf, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and Built to Spill), the songs are so catchy and well-crafted, particularly "Hit it Now" and the radio-friendly "December" that I’d venture to say that Plug Spark Sanjay is one of the best Jersey bands playing around right now— and its not just because a certain band member bares a striking resemblance to Jesus.

The mistress.