Show Journal 2002-02-13
Dude, who expected 300 people on a Wednesday? Certainly not me! Super cool show tonight. The Civies sounded cool with their fast Rancid-esque style. Nekromatix was really good too. There were a little more subdued than the other bands but their cool look and coffin bass more than made up for it. Tiger Army headlined and oh my word, Tiger Army rocked! The crowd went nuts for them and it was great to watch. Since their CD travels everywhere we do in the van we all knew the songs and were very impressed. Oh yeah, we played too. I would dare say I really like playing at the Meow Meow. All our shows there have been fantastic and this one was probably the best one yet. I think the funniest part of the evening was when someone snatched away our set list and scrawled their own personal favorites onto it. Very innovative way to hear your favorite songs. Big thanks to Mike Thrasher and crew, Tiger Army, Mocephus, the cookie girls, and of course the almighty SDS.
Album Review
Up-And-Coming Artists: 800 Octane. In 1994, four kids from Boone, NC got together to form a band called Hoss. 8 years, a 3000 mile move, a few demo tapes, 2 full-length CDs, countless compilations, 239 shows, 2 member changes, and a record deal later, they are still here, under the name 800 Octane. Dave, Eric, Jim, and Justin can’t be put it any one genre. The band successfully blends the sounds of alternative rock, punk, and pop-punk. Managing to be too catchy and slow for true punk enthusiasts but too aggressive for the pop-punk crowd, 800 Octane has a truly innovative and original combination of sounds. The Portland, Oregon band’s creative lyrics and fresh sound form the one-two punch that makes 800 Octane a must-hear. The band is currently in the studio, recording their third full-length CD, entitled
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News update
Show Journal 2002-01-26
Yet another great Bend show for the record books. Big crowd, cool bands and my ears are still ringing so things must have been good. It was nice to finally see Hydroponic play (since we missed them last time) and I thought they sounded great. Kaddisfly played well also and I’ve gotta say they are one of the nicest bands we’ve ever played with. Nothing else too exciting to report, just a really fun show. Thanks again to all our friends from Bend who came out to support us!
Show Journal 2002-01-18
A little over a year ago we were proudly shouting “Fuck the Paris Theater” to any and everyone who would listen. After tonight’s show I gotta say that my opinion is changing. Everything about tonight was really good. The sound was good, the staff was cool, the new sound guy was great, the lineup was good and most importantly the crowd was cool! This was our 8th show there and easily the most people I’ve ever seen in the Paris for a show of all local bands. The first two bands tonight were very energetic and pretty cool to watch. Spare Lead was good tonight as well and the crowd really seemed to dig them. The miniature drum contest was awesome! No Thanks To You was absolutely incredible tonight. I hadn’t seen them play in a while and they were amazing. They seemed so much heavier than I recall but still catchy at the same time. All members of 800 Octane were impressed. Even after four bands, there were still so many people at the Paris it would have been impossible for us not to have a good time. We played a bunch of new stuff and during mid set we played our Dramarama cover. Sadly I can count the number of people who knew it on one hand but it was still fun. Highlights of our set include Dave accidentally spitting on Justin, me playing bass at the end of Feeding Time when my guitar cord broke, and Dave unknowingly showering the sound guy and expensive PA equipment with bottled water! Thanks to all of our friends that showed up … too many to list … but you all know who you are! Thanks to NTTY for asking us to play and also thanks to The Paris for helping change our opinion about your club!
Show Journal 2002-01-16
Tonight we got to play live on the ‘Argy Bargy’ punk show on KPSU in Portland and damn it was a lot of fun! The most exciting part of this for me was that we got the rare opportunity to play the song ‘Radio’ on the radio. (What a sad world I live in when these are the moments which define my life.) Anyway, after that we played about 7 more songs, did a real short interview and then took some calls. The calls were in fact nothing more than a glorified opportunity to shout ‘whazzup’ over the radio airwaves at every caller and then to insult Justin in a public forum. At least we refrained from using the ‘F’ word like our irresponsible host! Thanks to Wookie for inviting us to play and thanks to all who tuned in on the web and in Portland!
Show Journal 2002-01-12
I’ll start off by saying, holy crap this show rocked. Ok, now to back track for a few moments. Last night we played in Helena so we had a bit of a drive to get to Richland today. It was wet, it was windy and the pass from Montana to Idaho was very, very snowy. We saw two cars spun out and listened to truckers on the CB talk about how crappy the roads were. By the time we got to Spokane (going 10 MPH over the snowy pass) the bad weather subsided and we ate at Dick’s hamburgers to celebrate. Ok, it wasn’t really a celebration, we just love Dick’s. You know what? That last sentence sounds awful. I’ll leave it as is but remember we want to clarify we love Dick’s Hamburger place … not anything else! We got to Richland really early and decided to go to a local movie theater to pass the time. Due to the poor selection we ended up seeing ‘How High’. It wasn’t that bad but as Justin said we have probably exceeded our yearly allowance of drug jokes. Ok, so back to my first statement … holy crap this show rocked! First off we saw lots of familiar faces from our last visits to Tri-Cities and always love to see people we know. Between that and the slightly renovated Atomic Records we knew this was going to be a good show and I can honestly say that this was probably one of the most fun sets we’ve ever played. There was a pit going from the second song until the end of our set and most of the people we could see from the stage we definitely into it. Guitars were broken, band members collided, Jim fell off his drums, drums were lit on fire, people sang, people cheered and pardon my French, but we had a fucking great time playing. Amazing. I don’t what else to say. We had a fantastic time playing and big thanks to Dustin for hooking it all up and another thanks to all the people who continually support us in Tri-Cities!
Show Journal 2002-01-11
I’m really starting to like playing in Montana. Our first experience there in 1998 was less than flattering … only 4 people at the show and all of them were really, really drunk. Our last two shows however have been tons of fun to play so we were really looking forward to this one. We decided to leave on Thursday night and ended up driving all the way to Idaho and slept in a truck stop. Not too bad but it was damn cold in the van. I think it was 18 degrees outside? We had good weather the next day (no rain or snow) and the drive was really quite nice. Dave really wanted to stop and eat some Rocky Mountain Oysters along the way and was willing to do it for the bargain price of $5. We entertained the idea briefly but came to the conclusion that if he were to vomit bull testicles on stage we would never be welcome in Montana again. We skipped the ball eating and ended up getting to Helena very early. Once there we met up with Megan (who was putting on the show) and several of her friends. Everyone was totally cool and did a good job of making us feel at home. Before the show we went over to the Country Harvest for some dinner. Dave ordered Iced Tea and quickly spotted a small spider in the dish with his lemon. The waiter remarked that Dave must be a good marksman for spotting the small arachnid so quickly. Weird. I missed the Shrimpers but Jim said they were cool so we’ll go with his commentary. The Bricks had an old school punk influence and not surprisingly were pretty cool to watch. Finally the mighty Switch Two 47 took the stage and we were all very impressed. We’ve played with them twice before and they are the coolest guys in the world. The best moment of the night however (maybe even this year) was when Derik from Switch said “this song goes out to 800 Octane” and they proceeded to play a cover of Shaken!!! It was so awesome! As Justin said covering one of our songs is probably the most flattering compliment possible. Those guys rule. Next up was Coldsnap 9 who we played with in Livingston last summer and oh my god they rocked. Do yourself a favor and check them out now … you won’t be disappointed. I use this phrase all the time, but seriously …. they rock. Everyone was pretty stoked after seeing CS9 so it was easy to play to the already amped crowd. Only a few people knew any of our songs but everyone seemed to like the music. We played Astro Zombies again and just about damn near everyone who knew the words came up and sang. After the show we met one kid who really wanted a sweatshirt but only had a few bucks on him. We told him if you wanted it he would have to undress and then run back into the main room in front of all the people to get his prize. He did. Amazing. Unfortunately that just ups the ante for the next person who wants something free. Perhaps we should start traveling with a donkey? After the show we went back to the Country Harvest with the other bands for more food. After being frightened by a certain person’s knowledge of 2 Live Crew songs (we are protecting his identity for the people in Rochester) we went to Nina’s house where she was kind enough to let us stay the night. All in all we had a great time in Helena. Happy birthday to Megan and thanks to everyone who made us feel welcome. Special thanks to the guys in Switch Two 47 and Coldsnap 9!
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27 days left until we start recording again. The last album came out in 1999 so this one is long overdue. A few web site updates … we’ve added a few new pictures from 2001, and most notably we have turned the FAQ page into a place where you can ask us whatever the hell you want to. Does it bring back memories of What Would Justin Do? Since there isn’t much else news worthy happening we’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been supporting our band. We wouldn’t be anywhere without you so take a moment and thank yourself. Rock over London, Rock on Chicago, Arby’s
Show Journal 2001-12-28
Oh how Redding rocks. The drive down was surprisingly quick and easy. The VCR is a travelers best friend. We watched Deuce Bigalow on the ride down and shout the phrase “god dammit white boy” at every opportunity. We got to Redding really early and 3/4 of the band slept in the van to kill time. The show was pretty cool, the first two bands were fun to watch and Spent sounded better than ever with a new guitar player and added backup vocals. Our set was cool because we played lots of requests. We also had a new backup singer and a few dancers on stage at a couple of points during the show. Craig’s Brother was last and despite the lackluster crowd reaction they rocked pretty hard. Every song of theirs was solid and good. We were all impressed. Nothing else too exciting to report, it was just a fun show to play and a good time. The only downer from the show was not getting paid. 840 miles round trip and we didn’t get a dollar. Was it worth it? Absolutely! We’ll play to all our friends in Redding any day. After the show we braved the monsoon like weather conditions and drove all the way back to Portland.
