Show Journal 2005-11-11
North Bend rocked our world last night. After a few so-so shows in a row it was nice to have ‘a little kick ass’ in our world again. We had never been to North Bend/Coos Bay before and it had the following: a big venue, nice staff, pretty good sound, real good lights, a good promoter and most importantly a large crowd that completely embraced a band they had probably never heard of. I’m hoping the positive reaction was because we played well, but I suspect everyone was amped up enough on their own that Justin could have held a microphone to his ass and someone would have started a pit. Well I guess any one of us could have been holding the mic to their asses, but Justin would be the one most likely to actually do it. Unfortunately because of some traffic in Portland we missed Core 13 and about half of Vern’s set. The ones we did meet from those bands seemed cool enough and that goes a long way with us. We loaded up and played about 15 minutes after arriving. I was still shaking from the cold since Justin somehow managed to mess up the van window. How you ask? I have no idea. He rolled it down and then announced that it wouldn’t roll back up. Dave eventually fixed it but we had to drive 4 of the 5 hours with the front window down which led to near hypothermia in myself and Dustin who we sitting in the back seat. Thankfully the show was awesome. People tried to sing along with every song they could figure out and had a pit going for most of the show. I couldn’t have asked for anything better so thanks to everyone who listened to us with an open mind and enjoyed themselves. I didn’t see too much of Words Fall Short since we were meeting so many people but they sounded pretty damn tough. Lunaractive was the band of the night and they tore the place a new one. They had everyone singing and moving the entire set which was pretty impressive because that was a lot of people to keep moving. I’m admittedly a little jealous since they have their stuff together so well and a relatively young age. Props to them for sure. Also, I’ve got to say they are definitely one of the nicest bands we’ve ever run across. It’s refreshing to see a younger band with so many fans that doesn’t have an ego about themselves. I know we were grateful of the large crowd and it seems they were too. All in all a good night. Well until the Jalapeno Potato Chips and the toxic fluids of Rockstar soda met in my stomach somewhere between Eugene and Wilsonville, but that’s another story. Thanks so much to everyone at the Port Events Center, Ethan and Lunaractive, and the other bands who we met and didn’t meet, and extra thanks to Patrick for putting on one of the smoothest running shows we’ve played all year.
Show Review
“800 Octane’s first trip to the Wow Hall, Eugene’s main All Ages venue, in over two years was long overdue. I have seen several shows at the Wow Hall over the past few years, as well as several 800 Octane performances – yet never have I seen a crowd respond quite like this. The band came a short 100 miles from Portland to the Willamette Valley college town to play in front of approximately one hundred screaming fans. Several songs from the bands breakout album “The Return” were shouted along with by members of the Eugene faithful, and a few true fans even sang along to new tracks off of the bands most recent album, “Rise Again.” After two albums with the same drummer, Jim decided it was time to move on from 800 Octane, which opened the door for Dustin. This was my first time experiencing the new rhythm sounds and I was very impressed by the technical advances that the band has taken by adding Dustin on drums. As usual, 800 Octane was right on and thrived off of the crowd’s enthusiasm. Dave’s vocals were right on, as were the guitar stylings of Eric and Justin. After 11 years and 427 shows, they’ve done more than most punk bands can say for themselves by not only surviving for this long, but also improving as time goes on. Keep rocking!” (Crave Magazine / Alex Cook)
Show Journal 2005-10-29
364 days later and I once again find myself standing in the cold as Dave throws large handfuls of fake blood at my face. Justin looks on making obscene jokes about unspoken Japanese sexual practices. It’s about 45 degrees out. The blood is sticky, it tastes bad, it’s in my eyes and it’s starting to run down my shirt. I start to look back at my life and wonder exactly which choices have led me to this moment. Maybe I should have listened to my guidance counselor? Maybe I should have tried harder in school? Inexplicably the words “pour some on my head” come out of my mouth and in saying this I confirm that sitting at home discussing politics isn’t anywhere in my immediate future. Doing the kids homework? No thanks. Dressing up as a bloody skeleton and making people cover their ears? Now you’re talking. We kind of took a chance this year playing some place new for Halloween. You never know what to expect with a new town and a new crowd for a show. There was a crowd though and that’s a step up from the last two shows. Aside from a very small handful of people (PJ, Stephanie, Reid and the LAHF guys) I don’t think anyone had heard us, or had any idea what to expect from our set. When we walked up ready to play you could just see the “what the hell is this” expressions. People seemed to respond ok and despite the lengthy show times most everyone stayed awake and alert for the evening which we are thankful for. It’s also worth noting that Larry and His Flash rocked it hard this evening and it’s unfortunate we had to wait two hours until our set. Our set was pretty cool. Nothing earth shattering but definitely better than average. Thanks to Reid, Ang, The Meat Market, Larry And His Flask and the other bands.
Show Journal 2005-10-28
Tonight wasn’t exactly the raging Halloween extravaganza we were expecting, but when you have four priest costumes, free food, a big screen Atari, and you only have to drive two miles to get to the show it can’t be that bad. Lots of people showed up throughout the night with some great costumes but by the time we started playing they ran for the doors. You would think at least the folks from Team Zissou would have had some earplugs in their kits? We took the remaining crowd of 50 to about 10 in a matter of minutes. In retrospect our new song ‘Destroy Tokyo!’ might not have been the best opening choice for the unsuspecting ears of the PSU crowd. Just for the record it should be noted that it is damn hard to rock in priest attire. The fabric doesn’t breathe and acts like an oven. No wonder priests can’t keep their robes on, because I can tell you first hand that the shit gets hot. It also makes moving quickly a problem because you can really bend at the knees. I felt like a penguin waddling around on the stage only without the nice tuxedo. Thanks to Papa Ike and the Trainwrecks, KPSU, Alex for the show hookup and very special thanks to Dorothy for bending over to fill out the costume paperwork.
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Looks like we’ve got two Halloween shows this year, both in venues we’ve never played before. The first weill be in Portland at PSU. There has been promises of a haunted house, several movie projectors, lots of good music, a beer garden and even a live recording by KPSU. The second show is going to be in Madras. Apparently Bend wasn’t bookable for the 29th, so grab some friends and plan a quick road trip. Should be a good one since it’s cheap and a totally DIY affair. Hope to see some of you there! Oh yeah … costumes are strongly encouraged at both events.
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Halloween shows are finally in the works! Hello Madras, are you ready to rock?
Show Journal 2005-10-13
Wow, what a weak show. Given the solid lineup I was expecting more than, oh, twenty people. Nope. The high water mark was about 18 people watching at one time and it sure as hell wasn’t for us. The Illegal Guardians were interesting. The singer was very, very, very young and far cooler than anyone reading this was at that age. Why? Two words. Shiny jacket. Also we discovered that the “1,2 Freddy’s coming for you” song is particularly creepy when sung by an actual kid. The Manholes were up second. I really wanted to like them but I actually had to leave the room during their set. Their drummer Colin is one of the coolest guys on Earth and the main reason we took the show. He does more to promote music than anyone you’ve ever met in Portland. Anyway, after waiting ten minutes between bands they ended up asking us to borrow a guitar amp, a power cord, two guitar cables and Dave’s bass … none of which had even been hinted at until they were on stage. It’s a little rude but they seemed like nice enough guys so we obliged. Then over my shoulder I hear “it’s 800 Octane and Smegma’s fault no one is here”. What the fuck? Then I hear it again. Are you serious? You’re complaining about us while you’re borrowing our stuff? Fuck you. Then the asshole says it once more while he’s looking at me. Hey I’m sorry the show sucked, but you can eat my ass since it’s your show too. (Sorry Colin, we know you tried.) After an indeterminable period of wailing and sucking Wednesday Night Heroes finally took the stage and totally stole the show, which was pretty easy because the bar was so fucking low by that point. Super energetic punk kind of like Dropkick Murphys meets The Unseen. Very cool. We were all impressed and a pit even broke out. This was more impressive since the singers fly was “open for business”. Our set was ok. It’s never easy to rock for a dozen people and I’m not sure we did. We did play the revamped version of ‘T-Minus’ for the first time ever which I guess was ok. Smegma was last and was very, uhmmm, interesting. I can definitely see why they are the reigning lords of all that is experimental in music. It was kind of like improvisational jazz for punks. It was nice to see Mike Lastra up there as he recorded our Kelvis and Get In The Van albums. Thanks to Colin for setting up the show, and Jason and Tizzle for sticking it out.
Show Journal 2005-10-09
It’s official. I am finally burnt out on The Misfits. I’ve seen almost every member of the Misfits perform this week in some form or another. On Tuesday we went up to Seattle to see Dazing just to see them play a set of Misfits songs with Doyle on guitar. Tonight we played with the current lineup of The Misfits with Jerry on vocals and Robo on drums. After the show I scurried down the street to see Michale Graves (ex “new misfits” singer) perform with The Misfats (Portland’s own overweight Misfits tribute band). I figure I’ve heard at least 50 Misfits songs performed live this week. As I’m typing this I’m copying a lounge band performing Misfits songs onto an iPod. I have the Misfits box set, all the albums, covers of Misfits songs by bands I like, covers of Misfits songs by bands I don’t like and even our own recordings of Misfits songs. Dustin’s former band even did an EP of Misfits songs. I can play a whole helping of Misfits songs on guitar because those were the first ones I learned. There is a good chance on any given day someone in our band with wear an article of Misfits clothing. This entire week has consisted of Misfits discussion to almost everyone I’ve come in contact with. Old stuff vs new stuff. Danzig vs Jerry. Jerry vs Doyle. Graves vs Danzig. Who’s better live? Who’s more energetic? Who sold out? Who didn’t? You know what? I am officially burnt out. No one asked, but there it is. I’m done … at least for a while. Highlights from tonight? We got to take Robo for a ride in the van and he told us about touring in a van during the 80’s. It was very cool to hear a story (even a short one) straight from one of the legends. The other highlight? Plan R. Those guys killed it tonight. Seriously. Some attitude, some smarts, some speed, some sing-alongs and then some more attitude. It only took one chorus but Plan R is now one of my new favorite bands. Do check them out. Thanks to the Thrasher presents crew and the Hawthorne Theater folks as well.
Show Journal 2005-10-07
Sometimes it’s weird to think how long you’ve known people. After looking through the show listing we’ve known the guys from This Day’s End since 2001. If I recall correctly they couldn’t even drive when we first met them. Tonight was actually Sam’s last show with the band (after 7 years … you do the math) so we were flattered that they invited us to play. In typical 800 fashion we arrived late and missed most of Sam’s solo set and finished loading in right when A Mind Like Yours started. Holy ripping leads! There are days I wish I could play that stuff but then again I know there are days that everyone who comes within earshot of my guitar is thankful I can’t. Our set was pretty good. You’d think we’d know how to tune by now but apparently not. Played ‘Tina’ for the first time in a while and got vocal help during ‘Feeding Time’ from Chris, Sam and a few others. Very cool. This Day’s End totally stole the show though. I guess they didn’t really “steal it” since it was theirs to begin with, but then did own it and that’s a fact. Two covers were performed, the Refused and later Rise Against. Good thing I was the uber-chump wearing a Rise Against sweatshirt. Best moment of the evening was when Crozz dedicated a song called Decay to someone’s teeth. Looking around I’m pretty sure I was the only person laughing and sadly I couldn’t stop for the duration of the song. Hell, it’s still making me chuckle now as I type this almost 14 hours later. Anyway, we’re sorry to see Sam leaving, but glad to see This Day’s End carry on. Thanks to the Wow Hall, Derek, This Day’s End and of course the Eugene Punk Department for keeping tabs on us.
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Need some more incentive to go to the Misfits show this weekend? 1) Even though it’s Sunday the following day is a holiday so many of you can sleep in 2) Our friend Colin and his band Plan R are opening 3) Robo is going to be in the house. Seriously. Who can’t appreciate Robo on drums for the Misfits?
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