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Show Journal 2013-10-12
That was a lot of rock packed into one show. The Thorntown Tallboys were up first and played with some noisy rock and roll swagger. We were up second and man, it was sort of a mess. On the first verse of the first song, Dave breaks a bass string. Dave never breaks strings so we had to scrape the cobwebs off his spare bass that literally hasn’t seen the light of day in over a year. It only took two minutes but it felt like an hour. Perhaps more disappointing was that Justin was left to “entertain” the crowd. There is probably a correlation there. Then again, I wasn’t rushing up there to say anything. We started up again and three songs later we get to ‘Lost at Sea’ and I break the A string in the first verse. Fail. Trying to learn how to play a song of a different part of the guitar after so many years is a challenge, especially with an audience watching you suck. There is also a part in the song where it’s just me playing for 20 seconds and I was desperately trying to remember where on the fret board to play it. We muddled through it I swapped guitars and we moved on. To complete the holy trinity of frustration, during the last song, Justin broke a string as well. Eleven songs, three broken strings. Very unusual. Very annoying. Despite all that guitar nonsense the set was actually pretty good. Normally I write how people up front knew the words and sang along. Not the case tonight at all. We knew maybe 6 people in the crowd at best. The first few songs ended with chirping crickets, but by the end people seemed to dig it so that was a plus. The Spittin’ Cobras were up next and after 5 seconds it became obvious why we received such a tepid response. They were energetic, fast, gnarly rock with a touch of thrash metal. Motorhead meets AC/DC in a modern sounding package. They had the look, the gear, the moves and even the roadie. Very, very, very impressive set. Last up was The Independents. Sadly the influx of people that arrived for the Cobras bailed, the remaining folks were what I would call an intimate crowd. Predictably they won over everyone that remained and half way through their set they had a very, very stoked crowd watching them. All in all a very good night. Thanks to the Ash Street for having us. Best of luck to The Independents on the rest of their tour.
Show Journal 2013-10-11
Longview. Thursday. Bar show. Given the criteria, I was expecting about 10 people and to my surprise there was probably 30. This may sound like a bad night in the making, but given the tiny room and the fact that everyone knows each other it was not too bad of a night. I still maintain we have more history with people in Longview than in Portland. Unfortunately, we missed the first band perform because Justin can’t tell time. Thankfully, we did arrive in time to see the Independents play. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen them play and I always forget how good they are live. They can rock it live in just about any situation, which is impressive. Whenever we play with them I also can’t help but compare notes. We’re almost the same age (they started 1-2 years before us) and they have been full time touring musicians from the start. To say I’m jealous of them is an understatement. They aren’t selling out every town or playing on TV, but they get to play with tone of great bands, have very loyal fans all over the place, get to see the country and play music most nights. Invariably, I have that moment where I think, wow, what if we would have played our cards differently and gone full time? That dream is short lived though, because the answer is we would have imploded and given up years ago. The fact we’re all still friends and get to play music isn’t half bad. I’ve digressed. We played last, which was intimidating. We can keep up on energy, but how do you follow a band with a bubble machine? You don’t. You just hope people forget and don’t hold it against you for not providing some soothing ambiance. We did bust out a few oldies including Berserker, which hasn’t seen the light of day in many, many years. After the show we headed out to a 24 hour Jack in the Box, reveled in the artery hardening goodness of the Munchie Meal (seriously, “exploding chicken?”) and with the Independents following behind pressed on back to Dave’s compound. Small crowd, but a very fun night. Thanks to all of those who came out on a weeknight and stayed late!
Bloody Night, Bloody Knife
Totally stoked to play with our homies in the Independents in October. Flyer is up!
Friday the 13th radio plug
The guys from The Punk Rock Demonstration have been playing our music for several years now. We haven’t thanked them in quite some time, so here’s a plug. If you like your music free and streaming check ’em out at punkrockdemo.com. Clearly they have excellent taste in music.
Show Journal 2013-09-03
It’s been awhile since we’ve played a big show. Big venue. Big stage. Big sound system. Big headliner. No disrespect to the bars and dives we normally frequent, but this was a nice change. The best part about the evening was the fact I didn’t feel old at a show. For the past few years we’ve been more and more frequently the oldest people in the club. Tonight? Not the case at all. D.O.A. has been at it since 1978. For the mathematically un-inclined that’s 35 years. That’s older than two of our band members. It was great seeing people ranging from their 20’s to their 50’s getting rowdy at a show. The Clackamas Baby Killers were up first and I thought they were awesome. Very fast, super energetic and just on the edge of out of control. Circle pit during the opening band? Yes, please. Absent Minds played second and had a range of fun, catchy songs. More rowdiness ensued. It turns out we had played with them once before at a house show, however due to the tiny room I never actually knew what they looked like. We were up third. Pretty lively bunch of people up front, which was awesome to see. Nothing too unusual happened tonight, except for the performance of New Song #2, which came out of its 5 year hibernation. Highlight of the set? Dave taking a song request via phone and then denying that request publicly. Low point? Dustin starting Requiem at half speed for our second to last song. I only mention this detail because he was so ashamed of his actions. He should be. D.O.A. was up last and although I’d never seen them before I thought they were great. Everyone joked that if I played music for another 20 years I’d probably look like the singer. Black shirt, camo pants, red SG guitar, white hair and a slightly poor posture. I can see that. However, it would all be an illusion because he was a badass at guitar and I am not. In fact, it was kind of inspiring see a band of that generation rock it so hard. Most bands from the 80’s are phoning it in and these guys are still belting it out like it’s the most important thing in the world. I’m so stoked we got to play this show. Thanks to Thrasher Presents and the Hawthorne Theater!
Big show this weekend!
Just a reminder that we’re playing this Saturday night w/ D.O.A., Absent Minds and Clackamas Baby Killers. We’re playing third, just before D.O.A.. Be there or be square.
Opening slots can be awesome
Just confirmed we’re opening for D.O.A. in August. Stoked.
Show Journal 2013-06-07
1997 was the first time we played a show with Moral Crux. At the time we were a three piece, we barely knew anyone in Portland and hadn’t even written half the songs from ‘The Kelvis’ yet. I can remember several distinct thoughts from that show, including “I hope these people like us” and “Moral Crux is going to smoke us.” Tonight? Same concerns. We’ve only played Katie O’s once before and in my head it was dark and dingy dive bar with bad sound. This evening it was well lit, good sound and there even seemed to be an unusually positive vibe in the room tonight. The positivity may have been in my own head though, as I was elated not to be playing last again. Black Delaney was up first. I missed their set but Justin and Dustin said they were 1) from Eugene and 2) they both liked them. Brigadier was second and they were pretty solid. They had a very polished sound to them that made them immediately likable. We played third. The set seemed good. Not much movement, but not too many people running for the door either. No real surprises except that we did unearth the song ‘On My Side’ for the first time in many, many, many years. The set was short, fast and we were only subjected to one round of Dave’s “jokes”. We usually practice our songs. It may be time to practice his jokes. Moral Crux was the reason for the show and after all of these years they’ve still got it. I’m pretty sure the singer is part vampire as the dude never seems to age. He also looks as if he could be directly related to our past drummer Jim, but that’s another story. Their set was good. The songs were as catchy as ever as just as energetic as the first time we saw them. The cover of Sonic Reducer was pretty excellent as well. All in all a good night.
Show with Moral Crux – Attempt #2
After last years last minute cancellation with Moral Crux we’ve got another show booked with them in Portland. Time to party like it’s 1997 again!
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