Show Journal 2000-03-25
Ok, here’s an unusual show report … nothing bad happened tonight. In fact the whole trip was oddly …. easy. For the first time in almost 6 months we didn’t have to pack the van in the rain. In just kept getting better from there. We got to the club on time, got good gas mileage on the way, had nice weather and Dave even remembered his cd player. The show was pretty cool and really big too. Rumor has it there were over 200 people through the course of the evening. It was cool seeing a bunch of old faces again (namely Dave and “the Count”) and we also got meet some new people which a nice change from the “I’m more punk than you” crowd we sometimes encounter. Dustin is still the coolest promoter on earth. Check this out … he gave every band considerably more than their guarantee of the door (which is unheard of), got us free drinks, cooked dinner for us after the show and even gave us a quiet place to sleep. Gotta mention the other bands … we already know that the Burning Cindy’s rocked, but JP5 stole the show. The fact they hosted a mullet contest in mid-set should say it all. As much as I try not to classify bands, I’ve always got a weak spot for girls with Flying V guitars, so I’m going to have to say that they rocked. Check them out sometime. Hopefully we can follow the trail of Dave’s broken hearts back to Richland some time soon.
Show Journal 2000-03-03
Well, it came and went, our last show with Lyle. I’m glad that his last show with us was a good one, because there is nothing worse than going out with a bad show. I’m kind of at a loss for words and don’t really know what to say about him leaving. I guess I just wish everything would have worked out better so he could have stayed in the band longer. There was nothing cooler than looking over and seeing him just pounding away on that guitar on stage. Unfortunately, when he leaves he’ll be taking our only shred on punk rock credibility with him. Oh well, we’ll all see him again on the 10 Stepping Jane’s reunion tour. As for the actual show, not too much too report. Peter Parker was pretty good, but I think playing to the wrong crowd. It goes without saying that Tenpin rocked. Thanks again Lyle.
Show Journal 2000-02-25
Thank god for Northern California. Our last show there was awesome and this one was even better. The place was packed, hot, loud and everyone just went nuts. Redding and Anderson have the best all ages crowds on Earth. You’ve got to respect a crowd that comes out to local shows, screams, dances, slams and tries to sing to a band as obscure as us. Totally cool show. The only down side to the trip was running out of gas on the way home. Dave swore that it ran off of good looks alone, but apparently he was mistaken.
Show Journal 2000-02-18
The first time we played at a strip club it was a novelty … this time was just kind of disturbing. I’m hope my days of playing here are numbered. Also, once again we didn’t get paid.
Show Journal 2000-02-14
So did anyone out there go to a show on Valentine’s day? Yeah, I didn’t think so. There was maybe 10 paying people at the show tonight. Pretty weak. Buddy Ravelle was pretty cool but they didn’t play long enough. The Burning Cindy’s were cool as usual so no surprise there. Our set was ok at best. It was really fun to play but probably a bit disappointing to watch. They did turn on the smoke machine during Kelvis (aka – the Melvis) which was pretty amusing. It was kind of weird not having Lyle there. It had been almost 6 months since we had played as a 3 piece so the whole thing was a little odd. Oh well, that’s life for you.
Show Journal 2000-02-05
“Girl you know I love it when you back that thing up.” Sorry, blame Kevin and Al for that one. Despite the echoes of Juvenile going through my mind we had a great show tonight. The Panama Redrum is a way cool bar with a sort of b-movie horror theme going on. Lots of people showed up and stuck around which really made this show lots of fun to play. The other thing that ruled about this show was that it was Warren’s birthday. Warren is the singer for Blackjack and he also owns the place. Since we are too cheap for gifts we learned and played three Blackjack songs for him. We invited him up to sing and he gladly took charge. My man has got the super rock moves down. The rest of the night went real well and everyone had lots of fun until Dave unleashed the moose cock joke. This was only eclipsed by the stupidity of the snail joke. Oh I almost forgot we were introduced to the crowd by Fucko the Clown. Yes, I am serious.
Show Journal 2000-01-08
Almost 3 years to the day after we all arrived in Portland, we have reached the high point of our career. We played at a strip club. Not just any club, but Union Jacks, the seedy looking place on Burnside in downtown Portland. I was the only one in the band who had never been to a strip club before and this was my big chance to go guilt free. Needless to say, the show was totally fun. The strippers sort of laid low for the first band, popping up on tables throughout the club every now and again. However, when Portrait of Poverty started their first song they were greeted by a naked girl doing a split about a foot in front of the singer. That guy played the entire song with the biggest grin I’ve ever seen. Our set went really well, but the strippers avoided us like the plague. I suppose it was too much rock for their cosmetically altered bodies to handle. Lyle and I had to carry the show girl torch and both got dollar bills put into our pants to prove it (which was good because we didn’t get paid even though about 80 people showed up). Since Naked Violence actually has a beat you can move to they got the full stripper ensemble during their set. Did I mention there is a pole right in the middle of the stage? That’s right … during one of Naked Violence’s songs they got an strip show from 5 feet above the drum set. Pretty wild evening.
Show Journal 2000-01-07
“Enough love songs, it’s time for some fucking metal.” That quote by Portrait of Poverty really set the tone for the whole evening. It was a total rock show tonight. It was really loud, a lot of people came out and every band sounded great. What else can I say … it was a good night.
Show Journal 1999-12-03
We were supposed to play in Bend tonight but that fell through. Then we were supposed to play in Longview but that fell through too. We were supposed to play in Redding the following night but that even fell through. Damn promoters. It’s a different story every time but it’s always the same result … you aren’t playing and you’re screwed. I’m done whining now. Miraculously, we ended up playing a show for Ollie’s Skateboards at some rented hall out in Beaverton. I have to admit even though it was totally last minute the show was fun. The wasn’t much of a crowd but they all seemed to dig our music. We finally got to meet and watch Watson One Shirt and Berzerk play which was a treat. There wasn’t too much else to report from the show so I’ll stop now.
Show Journal 1999-11-29
Tonight’s show sucked. I had been looking forward to this show for over two months. We had never played at the Crystal Ballroom before and we had told all of our friends to show up around 10:00. We get there and find out we are up first and have to start by 9:00 and be finished by 9:30. Uhhhh. This means another evening of playing to a handful of people. That was kind of a drag, but to make things worse when we were playing the sound on stage was really bad. Lyle was 15 feet away from me with a 100 watt amp and I couldn’t hear a note he was playing. The sound guy thought we were too loud. “Can you turn down some?” Christ I hate that. Like the 10 people there really care anyway? Jim had it the worst, I don’t think his monitors were even working. Just one frustration after another. A few people there said they really liked our music and had fun, so I probably shouldn’t bitch too much more. Between you and me though … what a let down. On a positive note, everyone at the club was very nice and helpful. Also, mad props to Last Regiment for the surprise drive/walk by.
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