5

TUESDAY

When my life occasionally turns into an episode of The Bickersons and I need to bolster my wavering faith in the institution of marriage, I don’t turn to the Promise Keepers day calendar that my mom tucked into my Christmas stocking. Instead, I seek the living inspiration of the couple who, along with drummer, Andrew Loomis, make up Dead Moon. Despite what has surely been hard rock living, Fred Cole has been married to his bassist, Toody Cole, for over 30 years. And by all outward appearances, the couple is still nauseatingly cute and lovable. But, as one might suspect, it hasn’t always been cupcakes and cuddles. Pens Fred (for his wife to sing) in “I Won’t Be the One”: “I’ll be here if you still want me/ I’ll be waiting in the shadows of the unlit side/ Where the lost souls are being set free.” Love may sometimes come in spurts, but if decades of touring can’t break up a marriage, then me and my ol’ lady should be able to weather our petty squabbles. Dead Moon plays with the 5.6.7.8.s and the Fever at 8:30 p.m. on the Black Cat’s mainstage, 1811 14th St. NW. $10. (202) 667-7960. (David Dunlap Jr.)