800 Octane

Eric's Show Journal

1/9/10

Kelso, WA @ Kelso Theater Pub

Show Devils f/ The Enigma and Serana Rose, Toxic Zombie, Jim Strange

All I knew about this shows when it got booked is that it was with Toxic Zombie. Later when I went to check out the flyer you can imagine my surprise when I saw we were booked with a sideshow act featuring The Enigma and Serna Rose. The last time I saw The Enigma was during the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow but at a Lollapalooza which was before the band had even started. The venue was pretty nuts as it was a giant movie theater with a balcony. I caught the tail end of the first band and got to watch most of the Toxic Zombie set. In typical Longview fashion things just ran slower and slower as the night progressed and it was almost 11:30 by the time the Show Devils began to setup. Their sideshow was pretty interesting. Highlights included a condom being passed from nose to mouth and then mouth to nose, a drill going into a nose, sword swallowing, blindfolded chainsaw use and even a stomach pumping of sorts. Pretty crazy. We finally setup around 12:45 and literally had to endure 10 minutes of microphone troubleshooting. When you are on stage with no working microphones every minutes feels like five. We finally started at 1:00 on the dot. Did I mention this was an all ages show? Yeah, awesome. We played pretty well and despite the sound problems on such a wide stage it was actually pretty damn fun to play. We loaded out, a few of us took turns on “the party bus” and then we headed out. A serious thank you to anyone who hung out that late to watch the show.

11/13/09

Portland, OR @ Berbati's Pan

The Misfits, Embrace The Kill, Rum Rebellion

I don’t have too much to say other than that this was a damn fun show. The show started off a rollicking set by Rum Rebellion who were followed by the crust metal explosion of Embrace the Kill. We played third and I must confess it was very nice to play to a large room again. Every time we get to play a “big show” I know I always try a little harder to enjoy the moment because you don’t get many chances at it. Although we only had a tiny sliver of stage I think we played pretty well. The pit on the all ages side ebbed and flowed the whole set and the head bobbing from the bar side of the room reassured me that things were going well. No real mishaps and no real highlights, just what I thought was a pretty solid set. The Misfits were of course the main draw and the crowd ranged from the curious onlookers to the fanatical followers. I think it’s very safe to say The Misfits are our single biggest influence and therefore I have very mixed feelings on their set. On one hand, the sound wasn’t that great, the show and merch was crazy expensive, the vocals were fairly hit or miss, and let’s face it, the two most prominent members of the band are long gone. On the other hand, there is something satisfying about seeing those songs performed live no matter what the circumstances. Had I paid for the show I might be a little bummed, but we did have the unique position of being able to contribute to a show featuring a band we’ve loved for so long. Would I have preferred to see The Misfits back after Earth A.D. was released? Of course. Sometimes you have to take what you can get though, so all in all I’ll consider this show a success. Highlight of the night goes to Kevin, who pointed out that Jerry Only with his spike covered jacket bears a striking resemblance to Bowser. Thanks to Berbati’s, Double Tee and all our friends who came out despite the cold weather and numerous show options that evening!

10/23/09

Portland, OR @ Kelly's Olympian

48 Thrills, Muddy River Nightmare Band

I say this a lot, but it sure is nice to play show with bands you know. We’ve known most of MRNB since at least 1998 and met 48 Thrills back in early 2005. It’s always cool to play a show in these circumstances because there is very little pressure to try and impress. It’s even better to have a room full of people show up for it. It had admittedly been a long time since I had seen the MRNB (not to be confused with the OCKBB) and I was pleasantly surprised. Tonight was actually unusual for them because they had a new singer on hand. Surprisingly the choice was not another large “could be a biker, could be a contestant in a toughman contest” but a relatively small female singer who actually smiled from time to time. Don’t get me wrong though, she had a tough voice, sported the requisite denim vest and added a whole different energy to the band. I must admit I was impressed. It was very nice to see them again. Our set was very, very warm. Seriously all I can recall was looking down and seeing that my knees had sweated through my pants. Stage lights are cruel and unusual punishment in such a small venue. I often think this is how they keep french fries warm, why me? Isn’t it time for a “green”, low intensity breakthrough in stage lighting? Al Gore needs to get on that ASAP. Beyond the profuse sweating I think we did ok. 48 Thrills was up last and blasted through their barrage of instantly hummable tunes. Their CD sounds good, they sounded good and all in all it was a pretty great night. Thanks to all.

8/7/09

Bend, OR @ Players

The Cradle Robbers, Hands On Throat, Less Than Perfect, Relative

Originally tonight was supposed to be a bar show at Players. A few weeks back the promoter called and asked if we wanted to play an all ages show as well before the bar show. Thinking it would be an interesting challenge we agreed. The plan was to go to the show play, then pack up and head over to the other venue and play there as well. I started to get pretty nervous when a few weeks prior to the show I noticed the all ages lineup was 7 bands and cost 11 bucks. This violated show rules #1 and #2. The bar show was scheduled for 5 bands which violated show rule #3. We were stoked for a few of the bands (Kill The Kids + Hands On Throat) but no matter how you cut it that’s just a lot of music. As is often the case karma seemed to sort out this situation for us. Here’s the scoop. We left Portland at 5:30, hit up Del Taco, gassed up and hauled balls to Bend. About the time we reached Gresham the promoter called and said “there is barely anyone here, we’re thinking about just cancelling the show and sending everyone to Players”. Show rule violation #4. We pressed on and made up time over the mountain. About 20 minutes outside of Bend we hear from the promoter that they did in fact cancel the show and were sending everyone to the bar. Show violation #5. We arrived to the bar where we were greeting by a few friends along with a myriad of bands all unclear if they would be performing at the show. In fact, it turned out due to some mix up the venue didn’t know there would be any bands. Show violation #6. Initially they agreed to put 3 of us up, which rubbed a few of the out of town bands the wrong way, but later allowed 4 bands to play. The whole thing was a little sketchy and I think everyone got a different version of the same story. Our goal of two rad shows had be downgraded to one ok show. In fact it was pretty much a repeat of our last show in Bend only a few weeks ago with 3 of the bands being the same, which of course is show violation #7. That being said, despite all the nonsense the show was pretty fun. The Cradle Robbers were up first, and then Majority Lost who really sort of stole the show. They were on tour from LA, and despite getting shafted on the all ages show sounded pretty good. We wound up playing 3rd and I think I need to go on public record and apologize to Hands On Throat for this. Earlier in the evening we were told that we’d start around 1:00 am. Yeah, uhmmm, no. Dave basically said there is no way we’re starting at 1:00, since we had to drive back to Portland after the show (show violation #8). They wound up switching us with Hands On Throat, and I really must thank them for this. It does suck having your spot switched on you, and it sucks more being stuck last. We really do appreciate it because as is we got home after 5:00am. Our set was ok. Not many people, but I think we played pretty well. Hands on Throat were last and they sounded pretty great. I definitely wish more people had seen them. We wound up leaving about half way through their set (show violation #9) but they seemed to be rocking it. On the way out we got handed our payout which was $40. We really don’t do this for the money, but when you drive so far for a show and all you get paid is a half tank of gas it’s almost insulting (show violation #10). We are more than happy to play for free and we usually do, but 7 hours in the van with $3 per gallon gas to play for 30 minutes and $40 really kind of rubbed us all the wrong way tonight. Of course we heard two of the other bands didn’t get paid at all (show violation #11) so I guess I shouldn’t complain (violation #12). Hanging out in the van was fun, playing was fun, seeing our friends is always fun, but the rest it retrospect the rest of the evening really kind of sucked. Thanks to Hands On Throat, Stephanie, PJ and Kaylin.

8/1/09

Portland, OR @ Kelly's Olmpian

48 Thrills, The Anxieties

I wound up driving myself to the show tonight and managed to park a few blocks away the club. I had both of my guitars with me. I always feel like a douche carrying guitars through downtown because usually people who carry or play guitars downtown are, in fact, douches. I made it without incident past the usual assortment of homeless and street kids as well as the sea of uselessness gathering outside the Greek Cuisina without a look or comment. I turned to enter the club and a bigger guy with spiky hair, sandals and a flipped up collar asks “do you play both at those at once?” He removed the phone from his ear and confidently looked around as if expecting a high five from someone who thought that was funny. The high five never came. Why? Because I’m fairly certain it was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. It wasn’t quite sarcasm, it wasn’t really a joke but it really wasn’t a genuine question either. Keep in mind he felt compelled to pull the phone from his ear to ask this. I responded “no” because I genuinely had no idea how else to respond. This was about 8:45. Little did I know at 8:50 the dumbest question I’ve been asked would be trumped by the strangest question I’ve been asked. I was attempting to talk to Dave out front of the club when we were interrupted by this woman we appeared to be part school teacher, part gypsy and all sorts of crazy. She walked up, paused, and asked “am I too skinny to be a belly dancer?” She was dead serious. So much so that she asked. Dave responded with a joke about glittery clothing and castanets and we didn’t even get the slightest crack of a smile. The details regarding the rest of the conversation are long and tedious but it ended with Dave and I getting a lecture from this lady that we shouldn’t put the word Octane in the name of our band if we don’t know what it means. We had presented the proper dictionary definition but she wanted to know about “the essence of the word” and “what it really means”. She eventually strolled away. I quickly went in the club, vowing never to leave its cozy confines again. Although the attendance was a little lackluster, this show was a fresh of breath air. Well the air in Kelly’s is never exactly “fresh” but you know what I mean. When we were approached about the show they asked “what bands do you want to play with?” I responded “how about 48 Thrills and The Anxieties?” Done and done. Both write good songs, both are entertaining to watch and both are cool to spend an evening with. It turns out this was Glenn’s last shows with The Anxieties. We first met him forever and a day ago when he was playing bass for Compact 56 in Eugene. It was nice because most of the C56 dudes came out to the show, well, except for Adam who is apparently sheep farming in Australia or some nonsense. They played well and as always Glenn makes shredding on any instrument look way too easy. They did a Naked Raygun cover which pleased me very much. 48 Thrills was up next and were entertaining as always. I figured out what I like about them. They try just a little harder than many other bands. Not in a rock star sort of way, but in a sing it a little harder, play it a little better and challenge ourselves a little sort of way. It’s corny but I like to see that the band playing in front of me is working and not just phoning it in. We were up last and it was pretty good. We snuck in a few older songs that aren’t often played (Brand New Faces and Apology To You) and I thought we did alright. Nothing else real noteworthy happened. We just made a lot of noisy racket to our friends and friends of friends until late in the evening. All in all a very good night. Thanks to Nalin for setting up the show and all who stuck around.

7/14/09

Longview, WA @ Thunderdome

The Secretions, The Bugs

We’ve wound up playing unintentional house shows in the past and it’s usually bad news. In this case it worked well for us. Very well. I’d dare say it was the most fun I’ve had playing in Longview since our Halloween show of Rise Again fame. The story is a bit fuzzy, but about a week ago we discovered that Reid’s Pit Stop wasn’t ready for our show so we put the word out that we were looking for a venue. Our main motivation was getting long time friends The Secretions and their tour mates The Bugs a show since both were far from home wanting to avoid a night off. A few hours later our friend Joel (former guitar player for BXF and the owner of the second 800 Octane tattoo ever) offered to put us up in his garage/bar/party pad known simply as “Thunderdome”. Mission accomplished. The show got off to a late start but wound up being pretty fantastic. The Bugs sounded solid and won me over with a song called “e-mail from a she-male”. There weren’t a ton of people for their set, but by the time The Secretions started people really started to roll in. We’ve seen them play many, many times and I gotta say they rocked the hell out of the garage. The guitar players jumped on tables, couches, the bar, people and anything else available to walk on, stand on or jump from. I never thought I’d see someone dislodge a mirror ball from a ceiling with their head, but only a band like The Secretions could accomplish this task. Unfortunately the night took a brief turn for the worse. As we started to load in and tune up I heard the phrase we had been dreading, “dude, the cops are outside”. Right on queue two cops came in with flashlights looking for the owner of the house. Initially we were pretty bummed that we drove up there, setup and wouldn’t get to play. However, it had been a fun night and the other bands got to play for people, which really was our main goal. We loitered around for a bit and debated unloading and then Joel decided the plan would be to wait 20 minutes and then we’d bust through a 20 min set. His thinking was that the cops would leave, we’d play and by the time they returned we’d be done. Looking back the logic was a bit flawed, but it sounded like a good idea at the time so that’s what we did. We closed up the doors, packed people in and played a quick, fast, loud and sweaty set. The thing that made it really cool is that we knew pretty much everyone in there. Most of the people have been coming to see us for years, so it was definitely a different vibe that usual, more like a kick ass party than a show. I don’t know what it was like for the people watching but for me it was amazing. Looking out seeing familiar faces crammed in singing along is still sticking with me a day later. If you were there you most likely saw a version of ‘Day Of The Dead’ with Justin on bass and Dave sans instrument. My favorite moment however, was being egged ino a version of ‘Astro Zombies’ with Danny Secretion and pretty much the whole room singing. I can’t even express what a good time I had playing. There was one small spoiler to the evening though. Literally half way through unloading the cops returned. Joel wound up getting a $250 ticket which pretty much sucks. If you see him around buy him a drink and thank him for taking one for the team. Many thanks to The Bugs, The Secretions and all the familiar faces who stuck around late. Sorry again Joel, we owe you one. Perhaps even 250 of them.

6/27/09

Roseburg, OR @ Riversdale Grange

Little Big Fest w/ American Me, His Name Shall Breathe, It Prevails, Sunsets And Skylines, Jacob Emery, The Gray Fox, Lust For The Loveless, Carrion Remains, Cowardice

We tried to play in Roseburg 2 years ago and we had to cancel due to the van breaking down. We tried last year as well, but had to cancel due to an unexpected trip out of the country for Dave. The third time was a charm as we actually made it to the show and even got to play. So was it worth the wait? Well … uhhh … errr … uhmmm … kind of. We showed up way late, which given our recent track record was no surprise. We were however, very surprised to find the show was running almost 90 minutes late. This was good because we weren’t rushed on stage but at the same time trying to take in 10 band bill is damn near impossible when people play too long or take too long to setup. I would dare say the people in the crowd just looked worn out. We caught the tail end of an acoustic set by someone who’s name I didn’t catch and most of It Prevails before we took the stage, or rather the floor. I think we played well but after seeing hours and hours of bands before us the energy level was definitely a little low for the remaining spectators. Of course, you could argue that people went nutty for the band before us and the band after us, so perhaps we weren’t that impressive after all? Either way it did feel good to play even if only a handful of people really appreciated it. Predictably there were some challenges, most notably the smell of burning plastic and smoke pouring out of the right PA main at the midway point of our set. We’ve wrecked some gear before but I’ve never seen a smoldering speaker before. I will say the experience is a whole lot cooler when it’s not your own stuff. The dead main did mean our last few songs only had half vocal volume but we muddled through it. American Me was up last and played a pretty bad ass mix of hardcore and got everyone moving. I will say I’ve spotted a new trend in the world of hardcore and its athletic shorts cut above the knees. I haven’t been to many hardcore shows as of late so this may be old news, but I think it’s safe to say there were so many white kneecaps bouncing up and down that it felt like we were watching the 1977 Celtics. Anyway, those guys seemed awfully cool, got the crowd moving and ended the show strong. Thanks to Erik for hooking up the show, the few familiar faces that had seen us before and to all the new bands who we met tonight.

6/12/09

Portland, OR @ The Coop

Destroy Nate Allen, Absent Minds, Bill Skins Fifth, We Play Quiet, The Seditionists

Go figure that the best Portland show we’ve had all year (well, except for that Guttermouth one) would be in someone’s living room. There was a lot of stuff to take in so I’ll keep it brief. The Seditionists were up first. Brash, snotty, fast, sloppy, low-fi punk rock. I would dare say quite enjoyed it. We Play Quiet was up second and featured a saw. Yep, saw as in “I bought this at Home Depot to cut things” kind of saw. I suppose you could cut fools with it too, but a blade is much better for that. The saw had a very strange almost theremin like sound to it. Interesting take on the genre for sure. Bill Skins Fifth was 3rd, but sadly I didn’t see much as we were catching up with Mayor. Not Dave, the Mayor of Tri-Cities, but the Mayor of Compact 56. We spoke afterwards and he seemed like a cool guy and that gets props here. Destroy Nate Allen was next and he/them was the reason we took the show. Nate used to book our Roseburg shows back in the day and was probably the coolest small town show promoter we’ve ever come across. Everything ran on schedule, pay was always fair, and many times you’d even get fed. Pretty amazing since I think he was in high school at the time. He’s played solo acoustic sets for quite some time and has written many good songs. His new incarnation, featuring his wife on vocals equated to quite possibly the feel good show of the year. Fun songs, easy singalongs, clever lyrics and a DIY spirit few can duplicate. It was Nate, his guitar, his wife and the both of them singing to one another, with a huddled in crowd, no microphones and a room full of smiles. Very cool. They are off for a 6 month tour (!) so we wish them the best. Our set was a blast to play. The room seemed loud, energetic and as the immortal Buster Pointdexter would say “hot, hot, hot”. Speaking of which, I never realized Buster was the singer for the New York Dolls until recently. I almost touched him once exiting a log flume ride many years ago at a Six Flags. Wow, this is a fascinating show review isn’t it? Didn’t I say it would be brief? Anyway, we had a fantastic time playing and I can’t thank everyone who came out to watch us play. Absent Minds was last and in keeping with the theme of the evening they too also had an unusual instrument, a cello. For a while it was inadvertently coming out distorted which sounded pretty awesome. They were pretty excellent. I wanted to watch more but I’m old and old people can die in hot weather so I spent the rest of the night outside in the cool air. Thanks to all who participated in the show. Extra big thanks to Nate and the folks who run the Coop!

6/5/09

Richland, WA @ Ray's Golden Lion

Neutralboy, Reviver, Stupid in Stereo

Right from the get go this show was looking pretty grim. Traffic was awful, there was an insane windstorm, gas was stupid expensive and when we arrived to the venue Stupid in Stereo was playing to literally about 5 standing people. This is definitely not what you want to see after a 4 hour drive. They played well and seemed quite a bit more polished that I recall seeing them before. Props to Ryan and the boys for that. Reviver took the stage and played to even fewer standing people. This was a shame because they have been on tour for 2 months and although the crowd response was pretty weak, I thought they sounded good. Neutralboy was up 3rd and I was stoked to see them due to what I had seen and heard about them online. We don’t meet too many bands that have been at it longer than us and are still doing it all themselves. Quite a few more people trickled into the venue. It’s a shame the place wasn’t more lively because they played well, sounded good and were a step above most bands I’ve seen. The comment of the evening came from their singer who was attempting to antagonize the mostly seated bar crowd and said the following: “I can’t wait until I get back to Seattle tomorrow so when my friends ask how was Richland, I can respond it sucked because everyone sat on their lazy asses.” The reverse psychology actually worked as the place seemed to wake up for the last 2 songs. We played last and thank god some people came out of the woodwork and decided to go a little crazy up front. I do think it was the first time we’ve seen the bar section outnumber the all ages section but it was cool nonetheless. I was also very glad to see people knew the new songs since we hadn’t played there since December of 2007. All in all it turned out to be a pretty great night. Thanks to Dustin, Ray’s and all the familiar faces and friends who made it out to the show!

4/24/09

Bend, OR @ Players

Hands On Throat, Last Stand, Kill The Kids

We don’t put this stuff on flyers or on the website, but we really needed this show to be good. Our last 3 shows were fine excuses to get out of the house but as a band, especially one that has been playing so long as us, they were completely dismal and totally depressing. All were plagued by equipment failures and worse still a complete and total lack of both of interest and attendance. They’ve been bad enough that I find myself thinking “why do I still do this?” Tonight’s show was why we still do this. I’d love to claim it was some huge packed affair with hundreds of people (like the surge in Bend shows circa 2001), but it was not. What it did have though a dozen or so folks up front absolutely losing their minds to our music. It’s been a while since we’ve seen and felt that and it was a welcome change. There were plenty of people in the place who probably didn’t give a shit about our set, but the few that stood up, sang along and cut loose really made the whole night worthwhile for all of us. We must have had 20 people says “yeah, I saw you guys back in 2001” or “my band used to play with you guys in 2002”. Most came up afterward with compliments and a few said we were just as good now as we were back then. To an outsider it probably wasn’t anything spectacular, but for us it was a minor redemption of sorts. As for the rest of the trip it was pretty good. Aside from Dustin’s breakdown on the way to van the trip was uneventful. Last Stand sounded good and Kill The Kids were great as usual. Hands On Throat were pretty excellent and really surprised us with their energy and unique sound. Good stuff. Many thanks to the folks at Players and to Marty for hooking up the show.

4/18/09

Portland, OR @ Dante's

Kleveland, Visqueen, Gods & Kings

It’s 12 hours later and I’m still not sure what to make of this show. It didn’t suck, but it definitely wasn’t great either. Some good points were the fact we were playing at Dante’s, Visqueen was amazing, Kleveland did in fact rock, doughnuts we’re consumed (maple bacon bar!) and by end of the night there were a lot of freaking people in the crowd. On the bad side, we played first and early to a bunch of seated folks, Justin’s guitar stopped producing sound and Dave was playing on borrowed gear which didn’t quite sound right. A surprising number of folks said they enjoyed it so I shouldn’t complain but these last two shows have just seemed “off” in almost every regard. The highlight of the evening was our new van. It’s actually the same van we’ve had since 1996 but after spending two hours removing mold from the inside and peeling back its protective layer of moss and mildew from the outside it looked and felt like a whole new ride. Anyway, thanks to Lisa and Dante’s for having us and also to the folks that arrived early to check us out.

4/8/09

Portland, OR @ Ash Street Saloon

No Secrets Between Sailors, Creepsville 666, The Burdens

Its odd how I’ve reached the point I can enjoy what by all means was a pretty terrible show. One of the bands cancelled, Dave’s bass couldn’t produce sound reliably for more than 5 seconds and outside of band members and their immediate friends there were less than 10 paid attendees. So the crazy thing was it was actually still a pretty good time. It’s always fun to play at the Ash Street because the sound system is great and Heather is the coolest booking person/sound person in town. The reason we took this show was to try and help support Creepsville 666. We’ve know at half of them from their former lives in the Billings, Montana band Coldsnap 9. It’s been many, many years since we’d seen them so it was cool to play the same place again after all this time. They sounded pretty great and it’s cool to see they can write good hooks in any style. Particular props for their unusual yet still totally rocking cover of Where Eagles Dare. I certainly wish more people were there to see them but that’s Wednesday night for you. It was also nice to finally say we’ve played with No Secrets Between Sailors again. We’ve had 1 degree of separation from them for the past few years so it was good to actually be at the same show again. They seemed to have a reasonably good time playing and on a low energy night like this it makes all the difference. Thanks to the proud few who stuck out the otherwise slow night. Apologies to Tizzle, well, just because.

3/4/09

Portland, OR @ Satyricon

Blitzkid, The Dicers, Steady Approach

Twelve years later and we’re still playing weeknights at the Satyricon. The neighborhood has been cleaned up a bit but the bathroom is still scary and the streets are still populated with crackheads. We were pretty stoked for this show because we hadn’t played an all ages show in forever and we were really intrigued to see Blitzkid. In order to play the show, we had to get to the show and as usual that was an adventure. Due to where we live it’s actually been a while since I’ve had to ride in the van. Having seen it up close for the first time in months, it’s disgusting. Dustin and I opened the door we might as well been opening a door directly into a sewer. It reeked of mold and mildew. Everything was damp to the touch. There were cans of half finished soda and even a half eaten deli sandwich covered in mold. Inexplicably there was a dog collar in there too. As soon as we started moving water poured in through the windows where the seals had rotted away. It deserves a good once over but I’m not sure where to find a hazmat suit. We got the show, unloaded and hung out for a bit. I wound up leaving in hopes of finding a clean restroom (mission accomplished!) but missed most of Steady Approach. It’s weird playing a show and not seeing, hearing or meeting any members of a band. The Dicers were up second and sounded good playing pretty gritty rockabilly stuff. Blitzkid was the main draw and played third. I wasn’t sure what to expect because on their web site they are covered in makeup, blood and playing what seemed to be large festivals in the US and Europe. I was having visions of fog machines, banners and over the top rock mayhem. Instead we got 3 pretty cool guys who played amazingly well and had a full set of solid songs. Their vocals were fantastic live and overall I was very impressed. We played last and nothing too noteworthy happened. We played T-Minus and Golden Road for the first time in a long time which was nice. People seemed pretty entertained and that works for me. Thanks to the Satyricon, Blitzkid and the folks who didn’t have anything else to do on a Wednesday.

1/24/09

Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater

Guttermouth, The Bullies

Wow, I had forgotten what it feels like to play in front of people. Our past few shows have been pretty good, but not a couple hundred people good. While we were setting up I was handed an interesting item. I was given a 2" button with our logo on it that we never produced. The guy who gave it to me said he saw it in a rockabilly shop in Hungary of all places. He swept it up and gave it to us which was way cool. I suppose the story could have been completely fabricated but why would anyone make that up? Better yet, why do Hungarians make buttons with our logo? Weird. The Bullies were up first and were entertaining as always. We played second and I think we did pretty well. There was a pit for most of the show which was very nice to see. What wasn't nice was the rowdy dude in the front who kept grabbing Dave's strings and pick and eventually smacked him in the mouth with the mic stand. The quote might not be precisely correct but Dave basically told him "if you hit me with that microphone one more time I'm going to kick you in your fucking face". I'm not sure what happened as I was concentrating on playing the songs correctly and not sucking, but the next thing I know Dave's foot is recoiling from his face and security guards are dragging him kicking towards the door. We finished solid and loaded out into the snow. Guttermouth was last and were really good. Different, but good. Mark is now the only original member and his new band is made up of people half his age. Although I had grown to like the other dudes in the band, these guys were were fast and energetic and brought a totally different energy level to the show. Beyond the lineup change it was typical Guttermouth goodness with sweat, spit, humor, harassment, insults and of course girls kissing. All in all an excellent show and probably one of the best times I've seen them. Big thank you to Mike Thrasher and crew, The Hawthrone Theater and all who attended.

11/7/08

Portland, OR @ Ash Street Saloon

CD Release Show for 'Requiem' w/ The Independents, Dream Killer, Wayne Gacy Trio

Weirdest show ever. There's a lot to cover so I need to go through this quickly. Dustin was arriving late and Justin was impaired due to knee surgery, so Dave, his wife and his wife's friend had to unload the van. Weird how two small women can unload the van faster than four dudes. The opening band was the Wayne Gacy Trio. They soundchecked with a cover of Ring Of Fire. Immediately afterwards someone wandered over to the merch table and asked when the next band started and displayed his dissatisfaction that a band played a one song set. Apparently he wasn't familiar with the idea of a soundcheck. Wow. I wandered over for my first Voodoo doughnut of the evening (one of two trips) and on the way back was accosted by a homeless man who informed me he wasn't homeless, but rather a professional standup comedian who works for tips. Uhmm, ok. His opening joke was as follows "What is the coldest part on the male body? The balls, because they are always two below." I was prepared to offer him a buck for that gem of a joke, but he kept talking and got sent away by the bar staff. You can tell the economy is tough because the life of a professional standup comedian sure is hard these days. Afterwards I came back inside the bar and sat with Jeremy and Jeff. We were soon joined by a drunken older man in a wheelchair who insisted on giving us hugs and raising his glass. After trying to decipher his drunken ramblings and watching him hug Jeff for a little too long, he accidentally spilled a full pint glass of beer onto Jeremy's lap so we quickly made an exit to the back of the club. The Wayne Gacy Trio (actually a quintet) started playing and sounded pretty good. Kind of catchy, kind of fun and the clown faced singer was a creepy twist. Nice to hear a "put the lotion on it's skin" reference in mid-set. About half way through their set people are starting to get a little rowdy. Lots of awkward dancing, some bumping, some grinding and then we notice a commotion on the floor. Sure enough Mr. Wheelchair is on the ground, taking his shirt off and unbuttoning his pants. Although we had noticed him in the wheelchair we hadn't noticed he was missing his legs just above the knees. So, to clarify, there was a legless man on the floor of the Ash Street causing a ruckus. One girl continued to dance with him (ie - grinding his head with her ass) while curious onlookers took pictures with camera phones. It was funny, sad and utterly bewildering all at the same time. Eventually a bouncer asked him to put his shirt on he "stood up" on his stumps, extended a middle finger and told him off. Within minutes he was back in his chair and being escorted out the door. Later we found out he accosted some of our friends insisting on hugs and asking for kisses on his neck. Needless to say it had been an interesting 30 minutes. WGT finished up and Dreamkiller went on. They were energetic, tight and fun to watch. I was pretty impressed. The only sad moment was when the drummer mentioned he had seen us when he was 14. Damn I'm old. I really wanted to tell them I enjoyed their set but never got a chance to, so their props will reside here in cyberspace. We were up third and were all a little ancy about Justin who had knee surgery a mere 3 days before. We put him on the side with the railing just in case but he held strong. We played a lot of new songs and it went well. I was stoked to see some people already knew a few of the words. Our set wasn't too eventful, except in the crowd where a biker gang, some sailors and a gypsy selling roses came in and had words with some of the people. There was also a guy who kept punching Dave in the leg for about half the set. I once saw someone try to light Dave's pants leg on fire at a show and Dave kicked him square in the back and dropped him to the floor. I'm surprised "the leg puncher" didn't receive such a treatment. Anyway, I was very happy with the show and the warm reception. The Independents were up last. They didn't play as long as I had hoped but were excellent as always

10/31/08

Seattle, WA @ The Funhouse

The Schmidtfits, Success!, Monster Crash, The Flanagan's Precept

Halloween. We have a long history of dressing up for Halloween. Zombies, skeletons, bloody priests and other bloody delights. This year we figured we'd throw everyone a curve ball and dress as the Blue Man Group. We all had solid black outfits, appropriate bald caps, spirit gum and gobs and gobs of blue makeup. We were stoked because it was 1) totally unexpected for us and 2) should be pretty amusing. On the ride up we meticulously trimmed our bald caps (except for Dave of course who has been prepared for this moment for a few years) and formulated a plan on how and when to complete the transformation upon arrival. We arrived to the club, walked in the door and guess what the drummer for the first band is dressed as? An f-ing blue man. Seriously. Our hearts sank. No bald caps, no blue makeup, no "blukkake" jokes and a waste of $50. The guy was nice enough but he single handedly sank our big plan and we chose to resort to plan B which was to predictably just douse ourselves in fake blood. I guess we could have gone through with it, but we didn't want to be those guys who were second on stage to be blue. The show itself was pretty solid. Aside from being a Halloween show it was also the wedding reception for our friends Jay and Jolene who were nice enough to invite us to play. Honestly we didn't see a whole lot of the first few bands as we had a congratulatory bombshell dropped on us by Kevin and Sam who revealed that their decision to dress as Bleeker and Juno had a special meaning behind it! Our long time friend and old drummer Bryan made it out as well as well as Chris, Al, Todd and a few others. Another highlight of the evening was playing "I'll give up a dollar if you stand in the bathroom for 30 seconds". Everyone failed. Some things at that club never change. We went on pretty late and after three months off it was nice to play again. Real nice. In fact I'd go so far as to say this was one of the best shows we've ever played in the past year or two. If you were in attendance you may or may not agree with that assessment but with all the drama of the last few months, including finishing up the CD artwork, production, van problems, the show cancellations, Justin's knee problems and the late nights of practice this show felt extra good for us. We opened with a cover of 'Halloween' and kept it to a full set of monster songs which we can now finally do. We thought we got everyone moving but were quickly shown up by The Schmidfits who treated everyone to a full set of Misfits covers plus a few extras. I was a little bummed they opened with 'Halloween' but they quickly redeemed themselves by played some of the faster Misfits songs off of Earth A.D. Very cool set. Anyway, if you need to be thanked for this evening pat yourself on the back. Congrats to Jay and Jolene as well as Kevin and Sam!

7/31/08

Portland, OR @ Rock N Roll Pizza

Wednesday 13, Still Dead, Regiment 26

I had no idea what to expect the crowd tonight to be like. On one hand Wednesday 13 is a kind of punk-ish band with songs about zombies and b-movies. On the other hand they are ex-Murderdolls and their album is pretty metal. The answer was just about every type of music person. Goth, metalhead, punk, and just curious "regular" music fans were all in abundance. True to form we arrived annoyingly late and had to load straight up the 5 foot high stage. Ouch. Regiment 26 was up first and was super metal. We watched the headbanging and circle pits and knew we had our work cut out for us. Our solution was humor. We got on stage, sound checked and just before we started to play Dave says in his monster truck announcer voice "Do you all want to hear some crazy fucking metal?" Crowd: "Yeahhh!" Dave: "Ok, give us like 25 minutes and then they'll be another metal band later." Too funny. Our set seemed pretty solid. Not really our typical audience but no one seemed to dislike it too much. We played lots of new songs so again it was extra fun for us. Still Dead was up 3rd and played a very eclectic and energetic blend of metal and rock. Pretty good stuff and the guys we met seemed super cool. Wednesday 13 was the main event and I gotta admit they were pretty great live. Their sound was amazing, the songs were catchy and they even quoted Ric Flair within 5 minutes of starting their set. We were all seriously impressed. Thanks to Endeavor Productions and Rock N Roll Pizza for having us.

7/26/08

Portland, OR @ Kelly's Olympian

The Crawlers, Accidental Gun Death

Ok, so that was a fun show. Two killer bands, lots of friends and most importantly for me is we finally got to play a batch of new songs. Nine of them in fact. Man, it felt good to finally bust out some more new material. Playing old songs is fun, but playing these new songs that we're so stoked on is a feeling that's a bit hard to describe. Accidental Gun Death was pretty great tonight. It was their usual blend of amusing stage banter coupled with raw aggression delivered in 30-90 second bursts. I think their whole set took less than 15 minutes. The risk of on stage defecation added to the excitement, but thankfully there was none. As mentioned previously our set was pretty fun. It was hard to move around on such a small stage but it didn’t really matter too much. The Crawlers were up last. We had heard great things about them and the descriptions were dead on. They totally rocked. I only watched the first few songs from the main room, but listened to most of their set from the bar while catching up with some friends and holy smokes those dudes can rock it. Fast, aggressive, and just totally raw. I would gladly play with either of these two bands again. What else can I say? It was a good night. Thanks to Kelly's, AGD and The Crawlers.

6/20/08

Portland, OR @ Mt. Tabor Legacy

Altarboys, 3 Inch Max

Tonight's show was sort of a whirlwind. Since our van is still DOA Justin and I had to drive out to Dave's house to load up his truck. I don't know why but I always feel so amateur loading out of a pick up truck. Might as well be mom's station wagon. At some point on the trip Justin uttered what I found to be the funniest thing I've heard all week. The discussion leading up to this is a bit too long to describe, but at some point Justin said the following: "I think Pele died of cancer. Or did he got shot? Wait, was that Bob Marley? I don't know, I always get Pele and Bob Marley mixed up." I literally had to write that one down so I could remember to mention it here. Justin, I'm sorry. Everyone else, you're welcome. It took forever to get to the venue and when we arrived we were informed we were not only first but furthermore we were supposed to start 15 minutes ago. Oops. We setup fast and were playing within 15 minutes. Despite the quick turnaround the set was pretty fun. We tried a bunch of new songs for the first time ever, so if you were at the show consider yourself lucky to have seen 6 song debuts. It's always fun to play new stuff and they all went pretty well. 3 Inch Max was next and I gotta say they were pretty awesome. Very catchy, very tight and very loud. We were all impressed. Since Neversleep cancelled The Altarboys were up last and they through us all for a curve by playing acoustic. It was pretty stripped down and raw and for the most part pretty entertaining. It was a little strange because when I think of them, I imagine rock, but all in all given the laid back feel of the night it was pretty cool. Thanks to all who arrived early and were nice enough to stand up front.

6/7/08

Olympia, WA @ China Clipper

Stupid In Stereo, Sledgeback

We were pretty stoked for the show tonight as it was two bands we had played with before and liked as was taking place in a bar located in a town we like playing. Sounds like a good night, but our van had other plans for us this evening. We met up early (around 5:30) to run through some of the new songs. We were planning on playing mostly new songs which is always fun for us. We stopped in Longview for some Burger King and later decided to pull over in Chehalis to get some gas. We fueled up, got some junk food and when we tried to start the van we got nothing. When we turned the key all you'd hear is a loud click. We tried and tried with no avail. We called a mechanic friend for advice which didn't help. We tried to get a jump from someone which did absolutely no good either. We took off the engine cover and Dave managed to make a giant spark fly off of the starter which in retrospect was not a good move at a gas station. Ryan from Stupid In Stereo offered to come pick us up but there were a few logistical issues. Namely, how do we get back to Chehalis at 1 AM and where does the van (with all our gear) wind up? Accepting defeat, we called for a tow and managed to find someone who could haul us back to Dave's house. 90 minutes later they finally showed up. If you are watching a movie, 90 minutes isn't too long. If you are at a Shell station in Chehalis it's an eternity. They finally showed up with a small flat bed truck with a 2 person cab. That means two people had to ride in the van. Our van is big. In fact the truck towing us really wasn't too much bigger than we were. The driver opted to back us onto the truck bed, which thanks to our extended length meant the front of the van was facing backwards and almost hanging over the back edge of the truck. The front tires had to have been within a foot of the edge of the bed. One small slip or one loose chain meant the van and at least two of our band members would go plummeting to their demise on I-5. Additionally our van is taller than normal and heavier than normal which was going to make for one terrifying ride for whoever wound up in the cab. It was totally sketchy but I was sure the van wasn't really going to fall off. I was so sure in fact, that I was more than happy to take a seat in the cab with Dustin and let Justin and Dave ride in the back. They strapped into the driver seats facing backwards, driving 70 mph with the van one foot from sure death on any side of it. I think we made it about 60 seconds before the phone rang with Dave and Dave saying it was absolutely terrifying. Our driver found this amusing and kept chuckling every time we come to a rut in the road or a series of bumps. It was pretty funny but then I came to the realization that almost everyone and everything I care about was on that truck and we stopped encouraging the driver. Eventually we made it back in one piece. Overall the evening pretty much sucked. I got home at 2:00 AM and never even got to play a note. Fucking van. Many apologies to Sledgeback and Stupid In Stereo.

5/10/08

Portland, OR @ Mt. Tabor Legacy

Zombie Prom w/ Written In Ashes

So when we got asked to play the Zombie Prom many months ago we were imagining a small 50-100 person crowd with maybe half the people dressed up. What we got was so much more than we could have ever possibly expected. The Mt Tabor actually sold out and from what we heard had over 400 people in there and I would about 98% were in costume. Most of the costumes were actually good costumes which was amazing. I heard the phrase "brains" uttered so many times it jus became background noise after a while. As for the prom theme they really did everything right. Balloons and ribbons lined the hallways and main room, and off in the side bar they had a full "prom photo" booth setup with gravestones and trees. It really was pretty spectacular. Written In Ashes was the first band and for their set they played all covers. I must confess their selection of covers was damn near perfect. Simple Minds, The Eurythmics and even some Billy Idol for good measure. We were all impressed with their effort to learn so many covers. After their set there was more DJ's which climaxed with my personal highlight of the evening, the playing of Thriller. The song has been a bit overplayed in recent months with everything from that Korean prison video (look it up on youtube if you haven't seen it) to the appearance of the song in a Geico commercial. I will go on record to say seeing a room full of bloody zombies scream and cheer at the opening notes to the song actually made me cry a little bit. Perfect timing! After that song it was time for the costume contest which we used as our chance to get a fresh coat of blood. This was important because we had been skirting the fine between bum and undead all night. Blood = zombie. No blood = derelict. We got our introduction and tore through our set as fast as we could. Although it was fun to see so a wild looking crowd we had all sorts of problems on stage. The worst offender was Justin's guitar amp which squealed the entire show. Every pause, every break in the music and even while playing there was a constant squeal that was obnoxious even on stage. About half way through my amp started to go out and the volume dropped down from the normal deafening roar down to a half assed nearly jangly guitar tone. Not having any other option I played through and hoped the sound guy would adjust. It eventually came back but two half powered amps is not good. The Justin aerial show was also grounded tonight due to a sprained ankle he suffered yesterday. I suppose it was the one show where slow moving is acceptable, but we all missed his energy. Speaking of energy, Dustin was suffering as he had already played a set that night with another band in Longview, drove to Portland and played this one. He started off strong but by the end was barely hanging on. I know we could have done better, but all in all it still was ok and given the fact it was a zombie prom, no complaints here. We'd definitely like to thank Michelle for hanging out and to the organizers and all on the prom committee for having us!

4/26/08

Eugene, OR @ Irving Grange

Sam's wedding reception!

First off, congratulations to Sam on his marriage! For our gift we were asked to come play a set at the reception. We should have just mailed him a backup hard drive for his gift since he lost all of our 20 demo tracks last year but that's another story. Due to real world issues (i.e. - jobs) we had to split up on the drive down there. Justin and Dave took the van and arrived around 3:30, unloaded and got setup. Dustin and I arrived at 4:45, walked in and literally picked up a guitar and played. If you've never played in a band before, it's hard to appreciate this, but when you walk in and play you never really feel like you are at a show. Normally there is a ritual to the whole thing. You ride together, you load in, you meet other bands and sound person, you watch someone sound check, you hang out, you watch opening bands and eventually you get to play. For this one we walked in the door and were making noise within 5 minutes. It's always odd and really makes you respect bands who can play well anytime and anywhere. As for the set, it was uhmm, interesting. The people to square footage ratio was drastically in favor of the square footage. Thankfully we recognized and knew the bulk of people there. I don't really think we played very well. It felt like Dustin was dripped in molasses before starting as everything was dreadfully slow, especially having been in the studio recording some of the fastest songs we've eer written. Dave kept defaulting to "last band of the evening" banter between songs. My favorite was "thanks to everyone who stayed late". First off it's only 4:15 and second of all they were coming to the wedding anyway. Definitely not an earth shattering performance. Getting a hug from Sam at the end made it all worthwhile because we've known him and his bandmates for a long ass time. He told us many many, many years ago, "stay together so you can play my wedding" and it sort of became a joke over the years. Now we can finally break up. Highlight of the show? About two songs in the room was dreadfully dark and was only being illuminated by some christmas lights on the ceiling. I'm not really paying attention and all the sudden it get brighter. I look forward and everyone is laughing and clapping. I look back and there is a 4 foot tall cross positioned behind Dustin illuminating the room. Never thought I'd be able to say we were illuminated by the light of the lord while we played. After the show we went to Elmer's where Dave displayed his german pancake eating style. For those in the NW, go there order one and see if you can consume it in 4 bites. We dare you. Anyway, in all seriousness congratulations to Sam and we really are happy you made us a part of the wedding!

3/8/08

Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven

Chaospalooza w/ Agent Orange, MDC, Toe Tag, Dreadful Children, Embrace The Kill, CLR, The Blanx

Here we are at our third consecutive year of Chaospalooza. The first one we played was pretty fun. The second one was not as much fun as it was very long and somewhat poorly attended. This one was however was a total blast. I'm not sure how they got Agent Orange and MDC on the bill but we are pleasantly surprised when they announced their addition to the lineup. In total there were 12 acts and we arrived during the 3rd band. We might have gotten there earlier but we must have spent a good 20 minutes watching Dave park and re-park in the no parking zone. Frankly I'm just glad the van ran ok. By "ok", I mean it moves but with a broken turn signal, sketchy brakes and a new addition to the van's charm which is actual mold around the windows. Nice. We caught a song or two of the Blanx and before we knew it we were on stage. I'm glad it went quickly because we hadn't played a show in 3 months and I was feeling quite rusty and even a bit nervous. Not much of a reaction from the crowd but no real anger or hostility either. The biggest surprise of the evening was about two songs into our set when I looked over and saw our old drummer Bryan standing beside the stage. Bryan was in the band from our inception up until 1999 and recorded the first two albums with us. For about 60 seconds I was totally energized by seeing Bryan again and promptly got quite a bit more into the show. At about the two minute mark I became self conscious and realized I weigh about 20 more pounds than last time he saw me, I've got some gray hair, my guitar is going out of tune and worst off I'm having a hard time playing because we took three months off from shows. Man, I never thought seeing an old friend would cause so much pressure. Despite my mind games we finished off our set strong and loaded into the cold night. We caught a little bit of CLR (because they rock) and then headed off to a bar to catch up with Bryan, Kelvis, Sam and Chris. We reminisced for a bit and headed back over where they were finally 6 bands into the show. After a blistering set by Embrace The Kill, MDC took the stage. They were definitely not what I expected, but this is mainly to the fact that half the set was acoustic. The unplugged aspect was pretty cool though and I never thought I could so sincerely enjoy a song about chickens. Agent Orange was the reason we were stoked and they did not disappoint. We've been playing for 13 years. Those guys have been playing twice as long as us and were still energetic, tight as hell and totally entertaining. Most significantly I can finally say I saw "Bloodstains" performed live. After the show we headed back to Disgraceland and rocked some guitar hero until the wee hours of the morning. Pretty fun evening to say the least. Bri and Greg get honorable mentions but main thanks to the one and only Boss man.

12/15/07

Portland, OR @ Ash Street Saloon

The Secludes, Bitchin' Summer

So last night was the feel good show of the year. I kept hearing everyone call it the family reunion all night which seemed pretty accurate. I saw people I hadn't seen in years last night and I must admit it was pretty fun. The reason for the reunion was a show by The Secludes, who stopped playing back in 2003. I recall first meeting them outside of EJ's and were impressed because they had played with a bunch of really big bands like Strung Out and I think even Bad Religion. They were always a great live band and totally nice dudes so we were stoked when they asked if we'd play this show. We were up first and I think it was easily the most people we've ever played to at the Ash Street. I thought we played well but no one moved, no one really clapped and only a few people even registered a facial expression. No one left though and that is the ultimate sign you are sucking so I guess we were ok. Nothing too spectacular to report from our performance other than Dave's voice sounding like he had rinsed with some sort of battery acid. The Secludes were up second and I was stoked to see them again. The songs all came back to me as they started them and I can't even describe it other than to say it was such a good time. Adam is still an amazing drummer and I still wish I could play as well as Jason. It really was the feel good night of the year and whether we had played or not I would have enjoyed it. The last band of the night was Bitchin' Summer. As much as I love The Secludes I'm pretty sure Bitchin' Summer is my new favorite Portland band. They were amazing. I don't even really know how to describe them. They took some rock, some punk, some metal and merged it one amazingly energetic and enticing package. They were seriously awesome live and I will definitely check them out again. Thanks to Heather, Bitchin' Summer and super huge thanks to The Secludes for asking us to hang out and play this show.

12/14/07

Richland, WA @ Ray's Golden Lion

Dreadful Children, Cab, The Irts

Wow, what a long night. We started off on the wrong foot with Dave arriving an hour and a half late. Thankfully the van is running again, however the smell that has accumulated during the months of limited use was practically unbearable. At every stop handfuls of trash were extracted. Some loads were in bags and some just fell out on their own. Had a homeless person discovered the van they could had lived for a year off all the cans and bottles. Dustin and I played a five minute round of "find the duke" as we thought for sure there must be feces somewhere in the vehicle. No excrement to be found though. The worst offender was the McFlurry cap and spoon that was stuck to the floor. Another mixed blessing of being in the van was it's size. On the way to show the winds in the gorge were so strong I honestly thought the van would flip over. We got gas and food in The Dalles. I got a milkshake and corndog because I am disgusting. At this point it also started snowing which would come back to haunt us later. At some point during the drive we sat and listened to 'The Return'. It was kind of charming hearing it again and thinking back about the record and release of the album and songs. However the moment was short lived as by the 5th song we had decided that making fart noises was the best way to accent the music. It's hard to believe I am technically an adult when the most humorous part of my day was watching three of my friends make elementary school noises repeatedly. Sadly that flatulent accompaniment continued for well over 30 minutes. Due to Dave lateness we arrived at Ray's just after 10:00. We were annoyed because we were so late but the first band had just started. They were good for such a young band. The drummer couldn't have been out of middle school and was rocking a mohawk that would make Rancid envious. Cab was second and sounded pretty good. Dreadful Children was third and holy crap they rocked it. We had seem them once before but they killed it tonight. Serious props and admiration from our end. We were last and started at about 12:45 (remember this was an all ages show). The set was pretty good. Dustin and I liked it, Dave and Justin did not. Dave was just embarrassed because he forgot how to play Radio after practicing it weekly for nearly 8 years. Justin didn't like it because he preferred the fart noise version we had created in the van mere hours before. In all seriousness the show was a very good time. We left at 2 and made good time until we hit The Dalles. In the course of those few hours the snow had accumulated to a few inches and we had a mildly treacherous drive for about an hour. The last 15 minutes was a freakish downpour and finally by 5:45 we arrived at Justin's. Longest night ever. Thanks for Dustin and crew, Dreadful Children, Kiah and everyone who chose to stay up late with us!

12/7/07

Portland, OR @ Bitter End Pub

Drawback, The Royal Tees

Lots of surprises tonight. First was the start time and lineup. The web site said music at 11 and all we knew was that Drawback was the only other band playing. We show up to load in and there is already another band on stage setting up and ready to play. Waiting in the wings are The Royal Tees who are up second. So in a few minutes this went from a late two band bill to an early four band bill with one of our friend's band opening. After unloading Dave and I went to park the van. If you've been to NW Portland on a weekend you know this is pretty much impossible. We drove around so long and parked so far away that when we returned the first band was on their last song. Never even caught their name either. The Tees took forever and a day to get setup. Not because they are slow but because the first band took forever (I hear it was their first show ever?) but more significantly there was no sound person or microphones. Turns out the first band were the only ones who had mics and stands. Fortunately they were nice enough to let the other bands share their equipment. Had they said no, we were fully prepared to "fix the glitch" and just go home. The Tees played well (as they always do) and ironically the PA sounded great thanks to the knob turning skills of the first band. Drawback was up third and they were damn entertaining. Don't know if they'll care for this comparison but they reminded me of a more technical Lawrence Arms. Fun to watch for sure and I definitely wouldn't mind playing with them again. We started last (after midnight) and I guess it was ok. We played pretty well but there was lots of sitting. It's hard to rock for people planted into their chairs. Eventually some friends of Drawback got up and got sort of rowdy almost knocking out Dave's teeth at one point. Props to Jeff for checking out the show and forcing us to play 'Still The Same' for the first time in well over two years. We'd like to wish him luck in his move to Chi-town. Thanks to Drawback for hooking up the show, The Tees for being a pleasant surprise to our evening and the few friends that showed up and hung out.

11/23/07

Longview, WA @ Chinese Gardens

Dateless, The Peabodys

We arrived a little after 9 via pickup trick as the van is still dead. Watched the Peabodys, setup, played and were loaded out before 11. Dateless played last and the whole thing was wrapped up by midnight. I like late nights, but at the same time I also love a quick and timely show. The Peabodys were good and it amazingly was our first time seeing them despite having Dave's roommate on bass. Our set was pretty good. It got a little rowdy there for a bit and I felt like a fight was going to break for a song or two. Cooler heads prevailed and thankfully there was no such incident. Dave said it best when he proclaimed "I don't care if you fight or not, just don't do it in front of my teeth." My man gets enough microphones to the mouth when people are having a good time, an angry one would be far worse. It was all good and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Dateless was up third and despite listening from the back of the room they sounded pretty damn good. Kind of bubble gum pop punk, but a little too fast and a pretty raw. Very cool. Thanks to Eric and Jill for setting up the show. If you haven't checked out their zine yet (called 'Scene Not Herd') it's worth a look and listen.

11/17/07

Portland, OR @ Satyricon

The Royal Tees, Dying Days, Super Kung Fu Masters

Pretty cool reason for a show tonight. Our friend Brandi has a brother named Arthur who just got back from Iraq literally this morning. His gift? A show just for him. Needless to say we were more than stoked to play this one. Our van is still not functioning so we had to move what gear we could in a pickup truck and VW Golf. Nice. To make our load in worse part of it was over and across a stream of urination courtesy of some nasty crack head perched in a doorway. Despite all the constructions, condos and cleanup it's really amazing how little has changed for life on 6th avenue. Our first time at this venue back in 1997 we saw a pimp while loading in. Tonight, literally ten years later we see a woman pissing on the street. As for the show Super Kung Fu Masters were up first and I was stoked to finally see them after stumbling across their songs many moons ago on MySpace. Very energetic and very entertaining to watch. Dying Days was up next and sounded pretty solid. We'd really like to thank them for letting us borrow their guitar cabinets as ours wouldn't fit in our makeshift ride. We were up third and had a good time. Whenever Brady is at a show you know it's going to be good. There was a decent sized crowd there considering it was all local bands so we were pretty stoked with that as well. Better yet they all seemed entertained and happy to rock out and have some fun. Not a bad crowd reaction considering we hadn't practiced since Olympia. The Royal Tees were up fourth and we'd like to thank them for taking the late shift and playing last so that I could more easily make a plane flight. I think the slot was well suited for them though as all their friends were there standing up front cheering and singing. I'm not sure we could given the closing spot it's due justice, so all it all it went pretty well. Thanks again to Brandi, Arthur, Brady, Lucas, Bri, Shell-O and all at the Satyricon.

11/3/07

Olympia, WA @ 4th Avenue

Man Alive

When we arrived at the 4th Ave our first thoughts were "ok, this is going to be the worst show we've ever played". We walked in and it was a sports bar. No cover charge, no flyers, ESPN on the televisions and the place was populated by a mix of jocks, thugs, skanky looking girls and some pool playing cowboys. We soon noticed the back room which did have a very large stage with a band playing. The sight of real stage was encouraging but the vibe was not. The band was ok, sort of an alternative/indie/rock thing, but the "crowd" consisted of 20-30 bored looking people sitting at tables drinking heavily. I don't mean to sound jaded but when we go to a show we expect other similar bands. These people had no idea what they were in for and from the looks of the patrons they would be not be enjoying their evening with 800 Octane. I had a quick meeting with Justin and confessed I was totally cool with turning around and just going home. He agreed. We went out to run our idea by the others but it was too late as they already met the promoter. He was well aware of what we sounded like and had actually requested us so we were finally a little encouraged. Additionally we met a couple that drove down from Seattle jut to see us. Game on. The promoter said we'd play second which was cool since the first band was just finishing their set. The third band was not stoked by this decision and one of them broke off into a cursing fit and started bitching at everyone for changing the order. I wanted to offer up a "we only play 30 minutes" explanation, but in the end decided I really didn't care that much. Let him be angry. They probably wouldn't like us anyway. We set up and tried our best to dodge the looks of the country and western fans a few steps away whose pool games we would soon interrupt. We're getting ready to start and an amazing thing happens, a steady stream of folks in black band shirts shows up and stands up front. This is good. People are standing and they might actually be there to see us. Amen. We started and thank god for the folks up front as they made the show amazing. They shouted, cheered, sang along and were a fricking riot to play to. There were only a dozen of them but we quickly forgot about everything else there and played what I even thought was a pretty badass set. In my head we could have been playing the Rose Garden. It's amazing how easy it is to forget your surroundings when you've got people that are genuinely entertained in front of you. We can't thank the group of folks that showed up enough. The last band (who was still irritated they were playing last) did admirably. I'm thankful we didn't have to follow them because as I predicted they were on stage for over an hour. They do get the prize for owning one of the oddest band vehicles ever which appeared to be an airport shuttle bus. Funniest moment was while we were loading up the truck (the van is still immobilized) when Dustin, who has a few drinks in him, gets accosted from across the parking lot by a girl who is inexplicably looking for a cheeseburger. Girl: "Do you have a cheeseburger?". Dustin – "Yeah I got a cheeseburger". Girl – "You have a cheeseburger?". Dustin – "Yeah I have your cheeseburger". The girl then turns to her friends and begins to walk away. Dustin proceeds to shout "Come get your meat baby". Quite possibly the strangest interaction I've heard in ages. Anyway, thanks to the manager and sound guy at the club as well as those who stood up front and had a good time with us.

10/12/07

Portland, OR @ Satyricon

TSOL, Mercy Killers, Plan R

Ok, now that was a good show. Good music? Check. Lots of friends? Check. Home made cookies delivered fresh? Booya. Plan R started off and started correctly with a blend of smart but snotty punk rock the way we wish could deliver it. It was definitely nice to see them back in action again. We were up second and our set was pretty solid. No real highlights to speak of, but no real lowlights either and with our limited practices schedule for the last month that’s a good thing. The Mercy Killers were up third and were very cool. They were best described as Rancid meets Alkaline Trio with a little bit of a crust edge to it. I dug them immensely. The reason for the crowd was TSOL and they did not disappoint. I will say I actually thought they sounded better last time we played with, but it was a whole different ball game seeing them in an all ages setting with such a diverse and rowdy crowd. Nice to see such a legendary band can still throw down live. Thanks to Thrasher, KB and the Satyricon staff, TSOL and those who came out early to see us and the other Portland natives. No thanks to the failing electrical system in the van

9/15/07

Chehalis, WA @ Matrix

Go Get The Scissors, Pirex, Something Orange

You know your night is going to start off wrong when your vehicle has no brake lights, no speedometer and no cruise control. We're not sure why but despite the lack of brake lights Dave seemed to insist on braking suddenly and often the entire way out of town. I am fairly sure this is the first time everyone was adamant about buckling up, attaching headrests and maintaining good posture while riding in the van as we were certain a truck would plow into us at any minute. There wasn't much traffic on the interstate so gauging our speed was tough. We thought we were going fast enough until we got passed by a late 70's model Plymouth with no muffler and rust holes big enough to put your hand through. First we thought we'd get pulled over for speeding but soon realized we were actually running the risk of getting stopped for impeding the flow of traffic. About half way there we realized the GPS could be set to display the current speed. Problem solved and a consistent speed was obtained. It should be noted that the GPS also contains the voice of Mr. T who barks out directions, calls you a "fool" and threatens to "jump out this tiny machine" if you go the wrong way. After a 25 minute stop at Jack In The Box we arrived at the show. Sadly we missed all of Something Orange so I have little to report on their set. Another small detail is that when I walked in there was literally all of about 8 people there. I actually went out and apologized as it really was looking pretty grim. GGTS set up and fortunately a few more people wandered in. They sounded great as usual, with stronger vocals and even better sing along parts. A cover by the man in black is always a plus too. Pirex was third and sounded pretty good as well. I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw make-up, blood and vampire teeth on the stage but was relieved to learn I would not be enduring a black metal band. We were up last and thankfully a few more people wandered in. Dave was in rare form tonight. My favorite comment was his observation that "you may think I'm an active guy but I'm actually much more comfortable at rest." At some point Justin inadvertently mentioned we missed the first band because we were waiting at Jack In The Box. That statement has made my Top 10 list of things never to say on stage. Say you were stuck in traffic, say you were in jail, say you were doing lines off a stripper's back, but never, under any circumstances, say you were late because you were waiting on chicken strips. Ironically the strangest moment of the evening also involved food. At some point between songs we were interrupted by an announcement from the sound guy who offered this query to the crowd … "did anyone order a turkey sandwich and forget to pick it up? We've got an extra one here." It pretty much rendered us speechless and I am quite sure in 13 years it's the first time we've heard that over the PA. The crowd sang along, moved around and made an otherwise tiny show pretty kick ass to play. The drive home only had one highlight, a small electrical fire in the speaker wire. Our van is seriously going to explode soon I just know it. Anyway, thanks to GGTS, the Matrix and all who traveled long and far and made the show fun for us.

9/8/07

Portland, OR @ Kelly's Olympian

MusicFestNW w/ Amadan, The Ones, Go Fever, Das Llamas, The Heavy Hearts

It's a day later and I'm still not sure what to think of our MusicFestNW show. Kelly's Olympian was a really cool place, the sound was good and all the staffers were very nice. All the bands on our showcase were really good as well, which is always a huge plus. Most of the bands leaned towards the indie rock side of things. By indie rock I mean good musicians, meaningful songs and generally hip looking people. In other words, pretty much nothing like us. They were all very good (especially the first band) but we stuck out like a sore thumb. As soon as we set up there we noticed a quick change in the attendance. I guess three large skulls on the amps is a turnoff for some people. Appearances or not I can't say I blame some people for bailing as our setup was a bit problematic. The band before us took a really long time to unload so we were already about fifteen minutes behind. We got up there, got tuned and began sound checking. Somewhere in there Justin's tuner decided that tonight was the night it was going to stop working (despite having worked 3 days prior) and that pretty much threw him into a panic. He hit things, slammed his guitar on the stage and cursed repeatedly. I kept thinking we were selected to play from hundreds of applications to represent the best of the NW and here we were standing around unable to even sound check properly. By 12:15 Justin was tuned, checked and we finally started with 'Radio'. Within the two minutes it takes to perform the song Justin was out of tune, I was out of tune, Dustin's kick pedal had come loose and Dave couldn't hear the monitors. I think the subsequent pause was longer than the song we had just played. The next song started off promising enough but afterwards it too was met by another pause of indeterminable length filled with guitar tuning and drum set adjusting. By about 12:30 we're three songs in and we've finally gotten our shit together and have started playing well. Only problem is we're supposed to be done in 10 minutes. We blasted through the songs as fast as we could and finally picked up some momentum. So how was the crowd? There were more people than we expected but they were all a good 20 feet back from the stage leaving a large and empty floor right in front of us. Somewhere in there the "dancing" began. In the beginning the "dancing" was limited to one rather preppy-ish looking guy with flip flops and a collared knit shirt head banging and air guitaring by himself in our previously established "no standing zone". There was a moment where I was honestly wondering if he was possibly retarded and that I would go to hell for making fun of him? I quickly deducted that he was just drunk. Eventually a few other people joined in up front and started moving around (including my neighbor of all people) and everyone seemed to be having a pretty good time. We finally looked and sounded like a real band. All good things must come to an end and during one of the last few songs one of the revelers fell down and twisted his knee. He laid there on the liquid covered floor of Kelly's for half a song while a circle of people formed around him. They moved him out and the "no standing zone" quickly returned to it's former size. It's only inhabitant was one drunken guy who kept slamming into bystanders and those at tables, trying to grab them and get them to move up front with him. Charming. And that was it. Twenty five minutes had passed and it ended just as awkwardly as it began. For the average observer I guess the show wasn't that bad overall but at a showcase like this I always hope a little more. If any of that stuff went down at a "normal" bar show (equipment failure, drunk guy dancing, retarded air guitarist, etc) I probably wouldn't have cared. Tonight it was all a little disappointing. Maybe my expectations are just too high for such an event? Anyway, we got off stage quickly and Amadan closed the night very nicely. We watched a few songs, then watched a few fights and finally went home for a long night of sleep. Thanks to tho

8/12/07

Portland, OR @ Michelle's Back Yard

Broadway Calls, New Found Glory Holes

We've played two free house shows in the past few weeks and I couldn't imagine having them being at any further opposite ends of the musical spectrum. One was a loud hot drunken mess in a dingy basement, while this one was outside near cute dogs, soft drinks, bowls of candy, a trampoline and a high ratio of straight edge folks. The reason for the season was Michelle's 24th birthday. We actually had a horrible surprise planned for her where we were going to dress up as clowns. Seriously. In fact we all spent quite a bit of time and money procuring appropriate clown attire over the past week. However after having to setup the gear, change band lineups on the fly and soak in how few people were in attendance we opted against it at the very last minute. We do apologize to the few who were in on the secret and attended the show in hopes of seeing that spectacle. The good news is, sometime, somewhere, someday we will put those shoes, oversized neckties and horns to good use when everyone least expects it. Broadway Calls opened the show and yes, they are still my favorite local band. Now that I have their CD in my possession and have learned many of the songs I like them even more. Every time they play it makes me want to quit because we'll never write hooks that good. I'm not sure we did as well but we did have one secret weapon up our sleeve, a whipped cream pie with Michelle's name all over it. Predictably she came up to sing Golden Road and when we got to "her part" Justin smacked her in the face with a cream pie. That wasn't some sort of sexual innuendo; it was literally a whipped cream pie. Within seconds it was picked up off the ground and applied to Dave's face, only with the less appealing addition of dirt and grass. Yuck. The New Found Glory Holes were up last. They could best be described as several guys who probably know better, playing pop punk songs and sung by a gang of people who knew not all, but many of the words. By all accounts it really was pretty terrible, but then again I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be. It did make me smile though and in all reality I think that was the goal. Happy b-day to Michelle and thanks to those who attended on a lazy Sunday.

7/28/07

Portland, OR @ The Crypt

Krush Klamath, Embrace The Kill

It's been a while since we've gotten to play a good basement show. Our recent Portland shows have ranged from "sort of ok" all the way to "totally underwhelming" so when Krush Klamath asked us to play their basement we were all over it. Everyone there was totally cool and although we didn't know too many people we all seemed to know the same people. All night was a perpetual game of two degrees of separation. Before the show we headed over to Dial A Pizza. Let's just say I was correct to be skeptical of any place offering two pizzas for $9.99. Should have been dial a toilet for the next half hour. Embrace The Kill (aka - most of Valid Effort) opened the show playing a handful of good songs. Krush Klamath was the main attraction and I was totally impressed. Their songs were catchy but totally rocking too. In fact I should point out all of those dudes were totally cool too. All I knew was their song called 'Can't Skate' from the Crash Assailant comp and I really enjoyed seeing them play in person. We played last and it was a blast. It was incredibly hot by the time we went on, people were sloppy drunk, the floor had about a quarter inch of beer on it and we were playing on borrowed gear. I swear I lost about 5 pounds from sweat alone. Totally fun evening. Thanks to Krush Klamath for setting everything up and letting us use your gear!

7/13/07

Richland, WA @ Ray's Golden Lion

Mayhem '88, Stupid In Stereo

Now that was a damn fun show. Sadly Mourningstar couldn't make it due to a tour cancellation. You know, come to think of it at our last show in Richland the touring band we were going to play with cancelled too. In fact both shows were on a Friday the 13th. Weird. Although Mourningstar was absent Stupid In Stereo filled in which was cool because we knew their singer from a previous band in Pullman. Nice to see them play finally. I don't have much else to say about the show other than that it was a total blast to play. Kind of a small turnout compared to some past shows, but I think we played well and that's something. Thanks to all at Atomic, the other bands and those who stayed until 1:00 in the morning to see us play!

6/9/07

Portland, OR @ Mt. Tabor Legacy

Coffin Cruisers Hearse Rally w/ Sado-Nation, Antiworld, Hot Rod Carl, Hotrod Hooligans

The show tonight started off with a hearse rally. What's a hearse rally you ask? It was a gathering of the Coffin Cruisers club of Portland and despite the rain they brought out about 13 hearses of varying age and styles. I didn't see it until a few had dispersed but pretty cool to see darkening up the otherwise hippie-ish part of town. The show was cool. Missed the first band but Hot Rod Carl was pretty damn good. Antiworld was up third and I thought they sounded a little more rocking than normal. They are quite possibly some of the nicest people we know and we don't get to play with them enough. Our set was uneventful and that's a good thing. Pretty solid, no major mistakes, all good as the kids used to say. Sado-Nation was last and really caught all of us off guard. They started in 1982 and completely and totally rock. Seriously the guitar player was amazing and despite being several years older than us (and we're old) I think they had just as much energy as we did on stage, quite possibly more. Very impressive and I'd like to see them again for sure. Thanks to all who attended and to Mt Tabor and Antiworld get getting us on the show!

5/18/07

Longview, WA @ Reid's Pit Stop

Jackmove, Dead Fucking Serious, One Way Mule

Ok, now that was a pretty fun show. I would even dare say it reminded me of the "good old days" of Longview shows. Lots of kids just there to see some decent live music which was a welcome change from the dwindling attendance over the past few years. I guess if you have Broadway Calls in your hometown why would you bother seeing anyone else? I wouldn't. Anyway, solid lineup, solid crowd, solid show. Bowels? Not so much. One way mule was not what I expected. They had a very diverse sound and lots or refreshingly original guitar parts and sounds that went from radio friendly rock to metal to punk. Pretty cool stuff. It was great to finally see Dead Fucking Serious play featuring Sam and Chris from EPD/This Day's End. The song were definitely abrasive enough to be worthy of containing the f-bomb in their band name. It was an awful lot of hostility from a frontman short one testicle. Maybe that explains it? Our set was fun. Justin went through broken strings on both guitars and couldn't work his strap for at least one whole song but what else is new? All in all we had a very fun time playing. Jackmove was up last and killed it like always. I always forget how incredibly bad ass they are until I see them again. They are kind of like Zeke but a little catchier. Very cool night so thanks to the usual suspects who always show us a good time in Longview.

4/28/07

Salem, OR @ The Ike Box

Accidental Gun Death, The Crawlers, The Casketeers

Shows in Salem are always pretty fun and tonight was one of the best ones yet. Unfortunately The Crawlers cancelled which was a bummer since everyone has been saying they are great. Rather than starting later the venue had everyone start early which was a bit odd. Speaking of the venue, the Ike Box is awesome. It was hard to put a finger on what was unique about it but it turns out the building used to be a funeral home. The upstairs décor is pretty creepy looking and the owner said the original equipment is still down in the basement. Next time we'll have to get a tour. Anyway, we got there at 7:15, loaded in and Accidental Gun Death had started by 7:30. I know I'm getting old because I now get excited by shows that end early. Anyway, AGD was awesome as usual and have always been one of the most entertaining and rocking bands I've ever seen. We played second and it was pretty good. People moved and we were left a bag of Swedish Fish on stage so I can't complain. Nothing too memorable other than Dave announced 'Lost At Sea' was about pirates and sea men. Say it fast and you'll see why it was just a little wrong. The Casketeers were last and it was probably the best I've seen them play yet. They have a pretty good following and Salem and it's cool to see them get the props they deserve. Thanks for all who helped put on the show and those who attended.

4/27/07

Olympia, WA @ Black Lake Grange Hall

The Royal Tees, The Ballroom Bastards, Think I Am

We had heard tonight's venue was off the beaten path and that was no lie. Only Roseburg and possibly McMinnville comes close for the prize of "least accessible Grange Hall". As usual we arrived late and unfortunately managed to miss the two opening bands. For those in the opening bands, we apologize for missing your sets. We did catch one GGTS song performed by 2/3 of the band which is a plus, because whenever we think about Olympia we think about those guys. Although we were late, our trip up did have one mentionable moment. Actually two. Somewhere around Centralia we got flashed by girls in a passing car. To quote the great poet Sir Mix-A-Lot, "38 D's will make a man skid". I can now confirm that statement is in fact true. Sure it took a little prompting from Justin (who offered the subtle suggestion of raising his shirt) but in the end it was well worth the effort. Speaking of huge boobs, we did catch the entire set of The Royal Tees who did a damn fine job of rocking the small crowd. We were up last and highlights included a request and delivery of Pimp Ray, Dave calling things "gay" into the microphone, the crack in the stage that could have swallowed our singer's leg and someone's rancid body odor that 3/4 of our band assumed was Dave. Thanks to Kevin for setting up the show the Tees for just being the Tees.

4/14/07

Portland, OR @ Mt. Tabor Legacy

Eat Your Heart Out, The Casketeers

I was a little nervous about this show. We loved everything about Sabala's and were a little skeptical when we heard they got bought by someone else and changed the name. Needless to say we were very relieved to open the doors and find the place was largely unchanged keeping the same décor, sound system and overall dirty rock bar vibe. Plus, they still have the coolest wall paintings and decorations of any bar in town and that goes a long way for me. Sadly, The Independents had cancelled so we pushed back the start time and kept it a three band bill. The Casketeers were up first and sounded pretty darn good. I'd actually go so far as to say that was the best I've heard them play. Very cool stuff and I find the stand up bass with spider webs hypnotic to watch. Eat Your Heart Out was second and in keeping with the theme they sounded pretty amazing too. I've always liked them but they really seemed to up the rock factor tonight and sounded really, really good. They played so well in fact that I was a little scared to follow them. Thankfully, our set went well. No real problems to report and everything fell nicely into place which was a welcome change from the previous night's struggles. Funniest part for us was Dave's special set list he made up for Justin which included a person's face (presumably Justin's) with the words "bla bla bla" and a big circle with a slash through it. This was a well needed reminder for Justin to focus on playing and avoid his well meaning but often indecipherable rambling into the microphone. Anyway, thanks for the Caketeers, EYHO, Dawning and the Mt Tabor as those who stayed up late to support some local bands.

4/13/07

Richland, WA @ Ray's Golden Lion

Schoolyard Heroes, Better Off Naked

Usually we like Friday the 13th shows. After this one, I'm not so sure. First are foremost we found out that The Independents cancelled due to a family emergency. Total bummer as that's the reason we wanted to play the show and we were looking forward to a weekend of shows with them. The trip up was also riddled with headaches and bad luck. We knew we'd be getting a late start out of town but we didn't know the brake rotor on the van would be stuck to the wheel rendering it completely and totally unable to move. With five hours to show time, we scrambled around and wound up cramming all our gear into Justin's car and Angela's car which are both Honda Elements. If you aren't familiar them they are part SUV and part little rolling boxes. At one point Dave wondered aloud if the two vehicles would assemble into a large Voltron like creature? Sadly, it did not. These cars are handy for carrying things, but are not so handy for feeling like a band on a trip as we had to split up into pairs. We hauled ass up to Richland stopping at what turned out to be the dirtiest Wendy's on Earth. Trash on the tables, squirted condiments on the counters, mashed fries on the floor, oh man it was bad. The bathroom was even worse as the toilet had still fresh vomit and dried feces on it with a puddle of urine in the front. Wow, talk about losing your appetite. We moved on and quickly as we good only taking our drinks and a case of hepatitis with us. Shows at Ray's start at 10 and we arrived at 9:55. We parked as far away as we could from the door to minimize our visibility with our two yuppie rides. This led for a long walk with the gear but it was worth it. The Elements were shameful to unload from. Better Off Naked was first and sounded good. We only got to see a few songs, but they seemed solid. They played a short set and before we could catch our breath we were on stage by 10:30. Our set was affected by the curse of Friday the 13th too. Although it was passable, I gotta be honest it wasn't our best effort. Kids moved and sang and that's always appreciated. I did think for a while the tides would turn on us though when Justin started to ask if anyone saw the Cubs game. Someone yells "fuck sports" and he continues on with "no, really did anyone get the score." Wow. Amazingly this display of microphone rambling was actually surpassed during our last song when he thanked the opening band, the staff and all the people who showed up. I attempted to gesture the words "thank the other band." Somehow this was misinterpreted as "Eric needs a rubber band" which he mentioned out loud. Soon people in the crowd start to try and locate a rubber band. He never did thank Schoolyard Heroes and I never got my rubber band either. Sadly, the unprofessionalism didn't stop there. Dave announced this was our last song only to have Dustin interrupt us all and start insisting we play a few more. My man had absolutely no idea another band was playing after us. Granted they were standing by the stage with all their equipment and had brought in most of the crowd and he was none the wiser. Again I blame the 13th. Anyway, our set was passable … but barely. Schoolyard Heroes played last and they were very, very good. The guitar player was damn near amazing and it further solidified our amateur hour performance. We took off around 1:00 and of course had to split up again thanks to driving two cars. At the first turn out of town we got split up at a red light. I'm not sure exactly what happened to them but Dustin and Justin wound up getting lost and turned around so many times they wound up about 30 miles behind us. Needless to say both of them were quite irritated because nothing sucks as bad as leaving for a 3.5 hour drive and turning it into a 4 hour one. The drive home really did suck. Lots of really hard rain, plenty of puddles, and people driving with their high beams on. We eventually got home and I slept like I've never slept before. I'm not sure if Friday the 13th was to blame but it sure is a good explanation.

4/10/07

Portland, OR @ Satyricon

Zombeast, The Quintessentials, Eat Your Heart Out

Despite being a Tuesday and having one of the bands cancel this wound up being a pretty fun little show. Obviously not a ton of people were there but everyone seemed to be into and even moved around a little. Even if everyone secretly hated us, they at least put out the vibe they were enjoying it and that makes us play better. Speaking of which, I thought we played pretty damn well. Sixteen hours in the studio the prior weekend probably helped out. I must admit it was strangely liberating playing first at a show again. We get stuck headlining so often that you forget how nice it is to play early and then just sit back and watch. Usually we're watching the clock wondering what's taking everyone so long or whatever other problems or drama will unfold. The Quintessentials were up second and did admirably. I guess it was their first show as a Portland band so that was pretty cool. Zombeast was the reason we took this show and I gotta admit they were pretty cool. It's hard to avoid Misfits/Samhain/Danzig comparisons but if you can accept it they are a pretty good band. Sounds like it was their first tour which was hard to imagine since the recorded songs I heard were so good. Anyway, all in all a fun show. Thanks to Jeff and the Satyricon and all who attended early on a Tuesday night!

3/24/07

Longview, WA @ Chinese Gardens

Lung Invasion, Last Shot

In all of years playing Longview, this was actually the first time we've ever played a bar there. Unfortunately it was also the first time we booked a show where there was another show in town happening as well. If you aren't familiar with the area, the pool of people in Longview that goes to shows is pretty small. Take out the all ages group and you've cut out about half the crowd. Then split it in half again for the two shows and you get what we got which was about 20-30 people actually paying attention and wanting to see music. Don't get the wrong, there were quite a few people in the bar, but most were there to drink, eat Chinese food or watch the UFC night. I'm definitely not complaining though as everyone who stood up front seriously made it a blast. Rick, Cory, Brady, Joel, most of Lung Invasion and a few others we didn't recognize … I could have gladly played for that small group and been stoked. They were noisy and singing along and made the Chinese Gardens feel like Madison Square Gardens. We even saw Brady's zombie dance (acts 1 and 2) which is always a plus. We had a totally fun time. Lung Invasion played last and seemed right at home with the increasingly intoxicated crowd. Lights, guitar solos and metal … what more could you ask for? Thanks so much to Nick and Lung Invasion for the show hook up!

3/11/07

Eugene, OR @ Agate Hall

2nd Memorial Show for Hopper w/ Grounds For Assault, Jean Grey, Set To Fire

It's not often we get to play in the daylight hours. It's much warmer and you can actually drive to and from the show in daylight which is a plus. Unfortunately you can also clearly see when people are not impressed with your band which was the case today. The show was a memorial for our friend Hopper who passed away two years ago. A little sad reason for a show, but still a good vibe for everyone. We were late as hell as usual, no thanks to the daylight savings change which apparently was not advertised in the greater Longview metropolitan area as Dustin managed to not get that memo. We loaded in and went for some pizza which took about 30 minutes to find. We would up missed two of the bands we wanted to see which sucked. We did see one band whose name is escaping me and then we setup and tore through and 8 songs as fast as we could. I think we played well but when you want to see Grounds For Assault a band like us doesn't impress like it should. Speaking of which, those guys totally ruled the school (literally) and were totally entertaining as well. They definitely ended the show on a high note. Thanks to everyone who made it happen. No thanks to Justin and his two hours of garlic calzone belching.

3/9/07

Bend, OR @ Domino Room

The Roe, Easy Does It, Rental 58, After Hours

I think this was the smallest Bend show I've ever been too. It was still fun but it's been interesting to see how the turnout there has ebbed and flowed over the years. From 50 people with Thrust all the way up to 400 with Dead Even to the huge Misfits show and now down to 50 again. I'm fairly certain the Domino Room's price gouging has something to do with this. Last I heard it $650 to rent the room for the night. Nice people and a nice club, but it's no wonder local promoters have to charge an arm and a leg for local bands. Good news is the show was a blast … for what we saw of it. We missed all the openers including Aces Over Kings whom we've played with before. We did catch The Roe and they were entertaining to watch. Not often you see an arena sized show in a tiny club. Our set was highlight free but overall pretty fun. I sort of felt like we sucked at the last few Bend shows and this felt like redemption. Of course on the way out I heard two groups of people say this was the worst show they had seen in a long time. Hope they were talking about the show as a whole and not us. (Of course since they stuck it out we couldn't have been that bad.) Also on the way out some girl wanted to buy a CD and her male friend dragged her away from the merch table explaining that she shouldn't ever buy CD's because it's "the biggest scam there is". According to him, buying CD's is "a rip-off", musicians make "a ton of money" and you should "download your music for free" to fight the system. I don't necessarily oppose downloading of music, but holy shit, that was the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard. I bit my tongue but was about one comment away from explaining that we pack up our van that we bought on our own, drove 4 hours over the mountain with our own money, setup our gear, played our balls off, and are about to unload it and drive 4 more hours back home … for nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip. That $3 compilation you refuse to let your girlfriend buy (that we paid $2 for) is the only money we'll be making this evening. Jesus, what a douchebag. Next time in that situation I will stop to ask myself "what would Dave do?" The answer of course would be put him in a submission hold and throw him out the door head first. Note to self, play less Guitar Hero and more Fight Night. You know, just in case. Ok, I'm rambling. Thanks so much to everyone to stayed late as well as thanks to Dan and Bleeding Through productions for a very smoothly run show.

2/10/07

Portland, OR @ Tonic Lounge

Bomf! Reunion Show w/ us and Lopez

Talk about old school. Man, oh man, this show was a blast from the past and we ran into just about everyone we had ever seen or met in between 1997 and 1999. No they weren't there to see us, they were all here to see the Bomf! play their first show in about 8 years. For those who haven't been with us long, Bomf! is quite possibly Dave and my favorite Portland punk rock band on both a personal and musical level. They were one of the first bands we really hung out with. Lyle played in our band for a short while, I filled in for them on guitar for a few months and we've played with Brent and Scotty's other bands since many times. Needless to say we were stoked when we found out they were playing, even more so when they asked us to play. In fact we actually had a Seattle show booked this night and cancelled it to play. Even if we couldn't play we would have cancelled to attend. So how was it? Awesome. I walked in the door and saw people I literally hadn't seen in 6 or 7 years. Crazy. The show started off right with Lopez who are also just as entitled to their wayback credibility award as we are, possibly even a little more. The only word I can ever find to describe them is "gnarly". Super fast, abrasive, in your face hardcore/punk rock. They also get the prize for the funniest in between song commentary. As for us, our set was good. I'm not sure how it went over with the crowd but we enjoyed the hell out of it. One added bonus is that in all of our trips to the Tonic over the years it was the first time we've played to more than 30 people. Sadly, I am not exaggerating. Anyway, the reason for the season was Bomf! and although they all look older (and bigger) they can still lay it down live. Hearing the songs again was great and my face is still sort from the perpetual smile throughout the night. Definitely the most fun I've had at a show in a long time. Thanks so much for having us and feel free to look us up in another 8 years guys. Also, thanks to everyone from the old school who has kept up with us as well and gave us a warm reception.

2/9/07

Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven

Chaospalooza - Tons of Bands

You think you've been to a long show? Try enduring a 10 band lineup sometime. It's brutal. We missed 4 of them and it was quite possibly one of the longest shows I've ever sat through. The sheer lack of attendance after the 10:00 mark made it all the more challenging since the show ran until nearly 1:30 AM. We walked in around 8:00 and about 100 people were going nuts for CLR. There was maybe 20 or so watching us and by the time the last band played (thankfully not us) it was down to about 8 utterly exhausted looking people. We joked at one point we need to start carrying tumbleweed in our gear so we can roll it across the floor at such sparsely attended shows. So why would we even take this show? We felt like we owed Local Chaos a favor since they have gotten us a few good shows over the year. The one cool thing about tonight it that every band we saw was really good. Seriously. Really, really good bands all the way around. I think The Rebel Spell impressed me the most and Full Frontal Assault being a close second. The other strange thing about this evening was I think that we played really well. It was fast, tight and pretty angry sounding. I only wish there were more people in the room as it probably would have gone over better. It was long but all in all a pretty good night.

2/1/07

Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater

Only Crime, New Mexican Disaster Squad, The Bullies

I actually had a long show review typed up but after fouling up an upgrade to Windows Vista I managed to lose it during the restore process. Anyway, the quick version is that The Bullies were entertaining to watch. Our set was very fun but not earth-shattering by any means. New Mexican Disaster Squad was fast and good. Only Crime was utterly humbling and awesome to watch. Heavier than we all expected but they still had some terribly catchy moments as well. Seeing all those influential musicians in one band was cool. Thanks to the Hawthorne. No thanks to my computer.

1/27/07

Portland, OR @ Sabala's

The Royal Tees, Chesterfield, No Red Flags

If you asked me to sit down and make a list of all the things I don't want to do while enduring a migraine, playing a show now tops my list. Every step, shuffle and head movement was uncomfortable at best, downright painful at worst. The 100w amplifier right behind me didn't help matters. I just kept telling myself "25 minutes, I only gotta make it 25 minutes". Out of instinct I'd find myself forgetting about my ailment and go for the head band only to see stars each time. It's definitely easier when you pretend those stars are camera flashes from thousands of adoring fans, rather than jolts of discomfort given to oneself while trying to entertain a few dozen people in various states of intoxication. Thankfully all three other bands were very good (definitely a rare occurrence) and the turnout was better than we expected. Despite the headache, it was a pretty good night. Thanks to everyone who stayed up late to support four local bands.

1/19/07

Longview, WA @ Reid's Pit Stop

Much The Same, The Scurvies, Defect Defect

Slight bummer on the show tonight. Much The Same (aka - the band from Chicago on Nitro Records that we wanted to open for) got in a bad van accident two night ago and had to cancel this show and several others. They are all ok but we were a little bummed as we were excited to see them play. The show must go on and it did. As usual with trips to Longview we arrived inexcusably late and only caught a song or two of the first two bands. I got to see a little more of the Scurvies set who are also on tour but from Alaska. Talk about a drive. Damn. They were pretty cool guys and fun to watch. As for our set, it was pretty good. Since tonight wound up doubling as Brady's birthday party we let him write the setlist and he hit us with some old ones. Can't recall the last time we played 'Get In The Van' or 'Roads Less Traveled' at a show. Pretty fun to bust out some less frequently played material. Highlights included lots of stage diving, Justin's incoherent rambling and the mystery gasser who must have been situated near the front of the stage. Seriously, how can anyone smell worse that Reid's? Anyway, thanks so much to all who attended on short notice, thanks to Reid's and best of luck to Much The Same.