Show Journal 1997-11-15
Things to know about playing in a record store … its usually too loud, its usually too small, its usually too hot, the sound is usually bad and generally not many people show up. Hmmmm – sounds like a typical show. No, actually record store shows usually end up being the most fun, because you never know what to expect. Thanks to Brent from Bomf for setting up the show and a big meteorological thanks to The Leeches for explaining El Nino to us and then managing to rock through the unseasonably warm indoor temperatures.
Show Journal 1997-10-24
Tonight we played at a roller skating rink with light up walls and a disco ball. The deal was 2 DJ’s and 2 bands. A weird idea with an equally weird vibe. There was a couple hundred kids there, but most were between the ages of 14-17. If that wasn’t strange enough, about half were there for the bands and half for the mtv puff daddy dance party mix. Anyway, despite the terrible dance music the show went fine. A lot of the kids really seemed to have fun so that kinda made the show for us (its not everyday you see a pit in a roller skating rink). Thrust wasn’t quite as fortunate … their set got cut after only 20 minutes. This was met by the cheers of ‘fuck you’ and ‘bullshit’ directed towards the owner. Anyway, 20 minutes was probably all it took to school most of these kids in the ways of real punk rock. After the show (and an encounter with Bend’s west side posse) we crashed as Thrust’s fly pimp palace. The thing is a shrine to music and skateboarding. We wasted the night away delving into deep discussion about everything from snowboarding at Bachelor to the physiological implications of the mother nut. If you are ever in Bend, keep an eye out for these guys … they will rock you.
Show Journal 1997-10-20
Playing with Moral Crux in Marty’s garage … what a cool show. According to Marty this was the best show ever to come to his place (too bad he missed half of it). It was kinda nice to see so many people come out in such a small town. I’m not quite sure what the deal was with the crowd and wrestling, but it sure was interesting. Anyway … the show — the show went good, we both got to play with no cops arriving until we both had finished. If you ever get a chance to see Moral Crux, go, because they are really good. They are on a bunch of comps including one on Lookout! records. By the way … their bass player is a Grade A bad ass. Anyway, the show was fun, but getting to hang out with guys was definitely the highlight of it all. They have been together since ’88 and had all kinds of tales to tell … people they pick on, driving their ambulance and watching people get sodomized my microphones. All in all a good evening.
Show Journal 1997-10-12
Not too much was happening at EJ’s tonight. I think the highlight of the evening was watching the Leeches play. They’ve gotten pretty darn good since we last played with them. If Jeff the bartender is reading this … WOO!
Show Journal 1997-09-28
Another fun Sunday night show at EJ’s. I wish every show was at EJ’s. I’ve gotta take a second to say how good Los Mex Pistols was. Their lead guitar player is bordering on god status. Tonight’s highlight actually revolved around the men’s bathroom. On the wall by the urinal someone had scribbled the “here I sit broken hearted” rhyme (which I’m not gonna finish) and under it someone had written “You shouldn’t be sitting here!” in huge letters. Well … OK … maybe its not that funny after all.
Show Journal 1997-09-26
Bend rules! Period. We had so much fun playing at the Evil Sister Saloon I can’t even begin to describe it. Thrust just plain old rocks …. on stage and off. They played your basic fast, skate punk music, but you can just tell they are having a fun time doing it. We had so much fun hanging out with those guys it was to bad we had to leave. Nigel did pretty well too – with a cameo on drums by Satan. Thanks Bend!
Show Journal 1997-09-16
Another prime time slot at the Satyricon … 1:00 on a Tuesday morning. No pimps spotted this time. Despite the not-so-prime time slot, we did get one unusual fringe benefit from this show …. free slot car races. Some places give the bands food and some give you free beer, but we got free slot car races … go figure.
Show Journal 1997-09-11
Another sold out night at the Stage 4. Hardly. Most of the other bands were really nice, and this was a plus because they were about the only people there besides employees of the club. I must give a special mention to Subincision who according to their T-shirt guy played “the worst show of their lives.” In fact at one point a friend of the band came out and began yelling “you suck!” I don’t think he meant it in good fun either. None the less, we enjoyed watching them roll around on the floor and smash the drum set. Another shot out to 5 Cent Refund for making an effort to promote the Portland music scene.
Show Journal 1997-08-28
We arrived at Suburbia to find a note on the door that said “no show tonight.” So we were kinda bummed that we drove all that way for nothing. We went out to find a pay phone, came back and we see another van parked with a group of people staring at the sign. If turns out they were the headlining band (called 7-X) and they had driven from the bay area in CA. Now that’s a long drive for a cancelled show. Apparently this was the second cancellation on their tour and it just had started a few days before. Anyway, to make a long story short, we called a bunch of places and eventually we managed to get them a show at another club downtown. They are playing again in Portland in a few days and hopefully we can catch up with them again. They were real nice and I hope the rest of their tour goes well. Also since I forgot, I wanted to thank them for the pizza.
Show Journal 1997-07-27
Our show was ok and we met a bunch of really cool people from all over the west coast, but all I’m gonna say is that I’m glad we didn’t get killed.
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