archive four

nov 27 friday, Swingin' Utters, Working Stiffs, Reducers at the Bottom of the Hill...

Free ticket! No outside wait! 2 free drinks, and about 35 friends from LA! The Reducers are boring. I smoked outside most of the time catching up on people's lives and stuff. This was definately the best Working Stiffs show I've seen since moving down here. They are snotty and funny. I realized about halfway through the show that I knew all the songs cause I've seen them so many times, a sort of pathetic bonus, since I haven't really liked them up til now. Swingin' Utters were OK, I don't really get into the whole rock and roll thing, but they were really good for what they do. I left after the first three songs, a decision I don't regret, but I could have stayed if the show wasn't so packed. Audiences scare me when they hit mob mentality.

Friday November 20th, Melt Banana and Human Therma at the Tip Top Inn...

Human Therma is boring jock-core. Melt Banana on the other hand is incredible! This was their last US show for a while, and maybe they'll be back again, but then again who knows? Saw Jackers and Scott Alcoholocaust there, and compared free bar drink stories for a while. Ran into Venezulean girl Molati in the pit, and got her to buy me a b-day drink for her birthday. Melt Banana played their cool song, "Ketchup Mess", and actually saw the whole show sell out! A first for the Tip Top! Finally got to see Marcus and Astreaha and got a few Pirate Punx pins for the old flight jacket, all in all a very good show!

Wednesday November 18th, Party Monster at the Roxie...

This is the underground film that document's Michael Alig's life in New York City's "rave scene". This film Rules! Lots of on screen nudity, sex, violence, Geraldo shows with club kids, blood, oh yea, did I mention drugs? See this movie. If I were Siskel and Ebert, I'd give it two thumbs up!

Saturday Nov 14th... Sake and Talk is Poison at 2295 Shattuck in Berkeley...

Laggers... I hate them! After waiting for nearly 2 hours, we finally headed off to Berkeley in our custom piece of shit car (thanks Rhoda) and got to the show nearly 2 hours late. Missed the opening bands yet again, but got to catch Talk is Poison, and I must say that each time I see these guys they blow my mind! It was like a sort of Humboldt reunion going on, and like the previous Gilman St. show every time I turned around I saw someone who I hadn't seen in at least a year. Talked to ex-roommate Dezi who informed me that she's moving to Portland next week, so another goodbye to a good friend and a good luck on her endeavors. Sake played and the whole audience was really into them as it was their final!!!, I must repeat FINAL! show.

Alani is going to the mideast to study music, Ro-Sean is chilling in Humboldt, but will probably get involved with some sort of punk supergroup I imagine. Mike is just off doing his own thing, but from His haircut I think he's going to trucking school or something. I didn't catch what Matt is doing in the future, but I suppose it'll be something domestic, cause I don't think he likes touring too much. This was indeed the end-of-an-era-show, Sake has been around for nearly 6 years, so it is a sad goodbye to one of the best bands I have ever gotten to know and watch grow on the west coast. To quote 27 devils joking, "So long, farewell, good luck, Fuck You!"

November 13th... Melt Banana, Spazz, and Human Therma at Gilman St. (missed Creeps on Candy and Medication Time cause of laggers and other folks who didn't show up on time).

Human Therma was OK, but I hear the same thing all the time, so I sat outside for most of their set. Spazz was phenomenal, I've been looking forward to seeing them for quite a while, and they lived up to all my expectations, sometime during their set I spoke with Jake of Filth fame, and he told me he was moving to Santa Fe (my old stomping ground). So Good luck to Jake and Shoshana down there, I'm sure I'll see them next time I visit down there. Spazz played all the songs I know and a few newer ones, and it was all great!

Melt Banana Is wonderful, all these Japanese bands just rock! I got the first CD, and listened to it all night at home later, and even made a tape of it for the nearly departed Georgia skater roommates. (back to Georgia, they just can't hack this city I guess. If you get a chance to see Melt Banana, see them at all costs. Jell-O Biafra even sang a song for them, and it was cool seeing him again, although he has gotten a big beer belly lately.

November 7th, Harem Scarum, The Third Sex, and Miami at the new Mission Records store near 20th street on Mission.

Didn't catch the first band, and didn't have much to say about the band after Miami, so here goes. Miami is good, I'm not too into the music, but the singer is really good and has lots of energy. She kept running into the middle of the audience and going crazy, which was a lot of fun, so I think it was pretty cool to see them. During the intermissions all the patrons would hang out in the record area, and I met a few people and knew a bunch more, so it was pretty community orientated.

Harem Scarum was fantastic! The singer looked really familiar, but I forgot to ask her name, so I don't exactly know where I've met her before. Loud and angry, they had the crowd hopping and jumping around. A must see if you live in the SF area, or if they go on tour. I wasn't too into the third sex, until the last song, but they were OK, and at least they weren't too emo (bugs me!). Their last song made their whole set, so I'm glad they played.

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black at Slims Thursday October 29th.

Just got back from seeing The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, and I must admit they met all of my expectations, finely snotty rock and roll, a stage show that was totally seedy, and even met up from some of the punks from IRC's #gaypunk, who were totally cool. I got a piece of Kembra's stage set, part of the flower costume that she wore for one of the songs. A free poster, a sticker, and got to hear most of the songs off the first album, and a few of each from the following 4 albums. They had some fucked up looking go-go dancers who all did choreographed movements that were not very conventional, unlike the cradle of filth show I went to 2 weeks ago. They went above and beyond the call of duty, and put on a very fine performance. I will see them anytime, anyone want to give me a ticket to New Your City? Btw, check out their website, it has some really cool pictures, and lyrics to some of their best songs, including my favorite, "Halloween". www.karenblack.com

Oh and Clay people canceled, but that's just as well anyways.

Sunday October 18th, Picasso, the war years at the Legion of Honor...

I'm not exactly a Picasso fan, but his painting work really reminds me of the singer of Rudimentary Peni's artwork. I left with the distinct feeling that Picasso had a deep resentment of women. His paintings just don't do anything for me. His bronzes were amazing! the whole aspect to the bronze skull on display left me with a feeling of despair that is indescribable. Unfortunately the bulk of the display was really rather dull, especially for 12 bucks a pop. I'm glad I went, but I've seen much better displays in galleries in New Mexico by lesser known artists. I kept thinking that my friends do artwork just as good / if not better, and they are completely unknown! The Highlight was talking to the kids under ten and hearing their observations on the whole exhibit. Kids are brilliant! Hearing them say stuff totally profound was a plus. I saw many speechless parents today.

Wednesday October 14th, Cradle of Filth, Enthroned, Sadistic Intent (la), and Impaled at the Maritime Hall in SF...

Impaled was OK, nothing special, just tight and fast with some cheering, and a bit of heckling from the rather sparse audience (at that point). Sadistic Intent from LA was really good, I actually tried to see if the singer was a girl at first, then he tested the vocals and I realized he was a dude, hahaha. The Bassist was wearing these funny metal arm bracelet things that were really funny too. I kept thinking that this was what Motley Crue was trying to do way back when... Lots of songs with titles like "Darkness whatever" and stuff like that, good band, lots of hair slinging. The singer kept commenting on how SF metal heads must all be asleep, cause everyone was saving their energy for cradle of filth. Enthroned was Enthroned, fast, tight, cool keyboards. Same as always. Cradle of Filth was really funny. The girl selling their t-shirts (20-26 $) had huge tits, bigger than any of the silly go-go dancers they had on stage. They played songs off all their albums, the most notable were off "Dusk and her Embrace", and the new album which I have no clue on the title. I guess they are only playing four dates in the US, so if they come near you, go see them. And I have to ask, Why does the Maritime Hall, which usually has really crappy sound quality, sound good when metal bands play there?

Dystopia, Fleas and Lice, and Calloused at Mission Records Thursday October 8th... Saw the final part of the Calloused set and was pretty impressed, they have a descent following and everyone was pretty happy that they played. Marcus let me in for free which is a good thing as I am in pretty dire financial straights at the moment. I just had to watch the door a little. Met up with Ed, Sarah, and Mikey and got to drink a bunch of cheap whisky. Fleas and Lice is likewise very good, if they play, go see them. I vaguely remember seeing part of the Dystopia set, but I think at that moment I got a little too drunk off of coke and vodka and had to trek back to the homestead.

Babyland (record release, their coveted date at the Bottom of the Hill), Monday, Oct 4th with Magnum...

Babyland rules!A huge turnout for a Monday night too. The audience was pretty young, and a whole bunch of people who don't go to the Gilman shows were there too, so that was pretty cool. They played at least two songs off all the prior records, and a whole slew of stuff off their new CD "Outlive Your Enemies". The Bottom of the hill had doubts as to the band's popularity, but hopefully that was dispelled by the huge turnout. All the new songs are quite solid, and Some notable gems are Sophomore and Youth Choker (about capitalism and teenagers). Magnum has likewise gotten way better than the last time I saw them, with even more stage presence, and their synth-rap style is actually pretty good. I guess they were supposed to headline, but they gracefully let Babyland headline instead.

Folsom Street Fair, Sunday September 27th...

So the Folsom Street Fair was this past Sunday, and unfortunately it pretty much got rained out, so people weren't at their greatest. All the music ended early, and the majority of all the leather boys retreated to their night time haunts like The Stud, The Hole in the Wall Saloon, The Powerhouse, and The Eagle, but the booths were in full force, and nothing dissuades the tourist industry. Saw some girl get whipped for something like 20 minutes, and felt a little sorry for her. Lots of leather daddies, drag queens, transvestites, and lots of sadism. I personally thought there would be more perversion, but I did get quite an eyeful for my 2 bucks. All the liquor stores jacked their prices by about a dollar, and ran into the 1998 Drummer boy which was...interesting.

Friday September 25th, Peter & The Test Tube Babies and the Workin' Stiffs at the Cocadrie...

OK. I hate the Cocadrie with a passion, but I could not resist seeing the one band still around that was making records back in the seventies. The Working Stiffs were suprisingly good, fast and snotty, and had the all ages kids totally worked up for Peter & The Test Tube Babies. And they were much better than the last time I saw them. Peter and the Test Tube Babies Rocked, all their songs were sing alongs, and there were tons of older punks and skins there in a happy non-violent mood. They even played their most noted song last, banned from the pubs. to a huge rally of cheers and screams. The singer guy is a little fatter than the old press pics, and pictures on the albums, but that's what beer does to you. A very memorable show.

Wednesday, September 11th, John Zorn and Mike Patton's feedback etudes, and phono sanjo (Zorn featured Trey Spruance, John Schott, Chris Brown, Dave Slusser, Dave Lombardo, And William Winant) at Slim's...

So I get a call from work, and it's jenny from the east bay asking if I wanted a free ticket to see John Zorn at Slim's. Fuck yea! So My boss actually let me go early so I could catch the whole show, cool! And the fact that the next day was my b-day helped also. Mike Patton is the leader of Phono Sanjo, and it was interesting on how they had the stage set up. All these amps were lined up facing the audience with dangling mics in front of them. and they had some guy playing a huge cymbal, and someone somewhere mixing sound. Pretty cool, considering I'm not a huge Mike Patton fan. Feedback can be fun, and it's weird looking at the audience at noise shows too, saw some Mexican tranny there, who was pretty cool.

John Zorn was great, he set up the stage like a symphony. He was directing the band members with signs like "P" and "Repetition", and would point out to the individual band members and silently direct them in the style he wanted them to play. Lots of musicians were in attendance, but the show was unusually small because Nick Cave was playing two sold-out shows at the warfield.

Friday, September 11th, John Denver copilot (Sacramento), Eulogy (Sacramento), Lung BuTTer at Mission Records...

I loved John Denver Co-Pilot, asked one of the band guys if they have any recordings out, but was informed that they were in the process of having a new bassist, so no recordings as of yet, but seriously if they venture out of Sacramento, go see them, they have a weird take on music, and they use keyboards too, bonus! Lungbutter sucks. Why have they been around for so long and have done nothing new or exciting? There is such a lack of everything when it comes to Lungbutter. Even my ex-roommate's girlfriend was saying how they've been around forever, and they get off on annoying people by playing their badly rehashed garbage over and over. How sad. Eulogy more than made up for lungbutter's lack of musical intent. Kind of like a polished black metal band made up of teenagers. All their songs were epic. I'd buy their record in a heartbeat if it was released, even locally. The singer looked suspiciously like smith from BABYLAND, but wasn't... The bassist chick was incredible, and their drummer rocked too. Even the guitarist dude was great, and he sings like a girl, in a good way. See this band.

September 10th, The Candysnatchers and Nashville Pussy at Slim's...

The CandySnatchers suck. If they just teased their hair a little more, they could be a bad eighties glam rock band like poison. Nashville Pussy on the other hand just rocks. Picture a 7 foot tall slim blond dominatrix type breathing fire onto the audience right after her and the female guitarist just had a lesbian make-out scene while going dueling guitar solos. Fantastic, well worth the endless hype I had been hearing for over a year now. I expected to be disappointed, but was very surprised on the musical aptitude of this rock and roll band.