Show Journal 2007-11-17
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.
Show Journal 2007-11-03
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.
All your gnome are belong to us
We saw this story on the news yesterday and it fills our hearts with pride. Read it here.
So long Astoria, or rather so long to Astoria.
Sorry to anyone who ventured out to see us in Astoria show last night. The whole trip was doomed from the get go. The van crapped out in the morning so we tried to improvise by cramming gear into two cars. When you combine that with Dave’s delayed plane flight, Friday afternoon traffic and the worst GPS routing ever we wound up screwing ourselves badly. By the end of the night we were in 4 cars, all 4 of us driving alone and all of us dreadfully late. Justin and I were already an hour late when we made it to Clatskinie and when we found out Dave and Dustin were each anywhere from 1-2 hours behind us we just threw in the towel. Best case senario we would have kept everyone waiting for an hour, worst case they would have shut down the show without us ever getting to play. We chose to cut our losses and spare each of us (in 4 cars) the additional 2 hours there and back for a show we might or might not get to play. Easily the worst trip ever. Serious apologies to Level 2, Krush Klamath (especially since you were supposed to borrow our gear!!!), Piercing Truth and anyone who came out to see us. We hope to reschedule for Nov/Dec and are trying to figure out the logistics of a van relacement as this thing has cost us two shows this year. -Eric
A rad new poster that’s actually old
We were recently directed to these rad posters custom made for our 2005 show with The Misfits. All hail the Invisible Creature!
Walk Among Us, or Them actually
Portland Zombie Walk 2007. Dress up like a zombie, roam the streets and have some tasty, tasty brains. Find out more here. It sounds like pretty much the coolest thing ever.
Show Journal 2007-10-12
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
All your tube are belong to us
Here’s an interesting video we stumbled across on YouTube. Juggling? Check. Unicycling? Check. Devil Sticks? Check. Completely kick ass? Check!
Show Journal 2007-09-15
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.
Show Journal 2007-09-08
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 those who stuck around and I hope this doesn’t taint your recollection of our show!
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