Dear Friends,
Last year on this date, I mentioned that it had been 12 years since we did the guerilla assault wedding in Laguna Beach for Justin and Jana. It’s hard to believe that day was so long ago. I have zero regrets about marrying them or being part of their day, but I wish Rhondi and I would have been in a better place at the time. I was such a turd then.
I hope I’m not a turd anymore, though. At least not on purpose. I might get a little turd-ish here and there, but I know where I am at and what I want and need so much better than I did then. That’s enough of that.
I certainly miss Jana, though.
In a better version of this world, I would have spent some quality time with her this past weekend. She would have been right there for at least one of the shows and it would have been amazing to see her beautiful, smiling face. That version of reality is so lucky.
*****
Where do I start? Here is the blow by blow of the weekend:
We got a late start getting out of Phoenix on Friday. Dave and I joked about it feeling like we needed to make a few loops around town to get the momentum to break ourselves away. It started out with the rental place not having a van for us, so we had to scramble.
Luckily, Phoenix Van Rental had a van for us and it was cheaper than the one we had previously reserved, so Freeze was up a couple hundo and we hadn’t even left town yet. Then we collected the guys and realized that our cheaper van had an issue with the key. It didn’t want to turn the van on.
This was easily solved. The rental place had given us a bad copy of the real key and once that was exchanged, we were on our way.
Not exactly.
We forgot a few things, so we had to make another small loop around town and ended up only a few hours behind schedule. As one might imagine, getting into LA during rush hour was lovely. We finally made it to Boyle Heights to where my excellent friends, Tony and Meg, have a practice room by 7pm LA time.
What an impressive place Eastside Rehearsal is! I love it and I’m bummed we didn’t get to do a quick run through of the set with Bill Close, OG Freeze great, there since he was able to join us for the show that night at the Moroccan Lounge. It was nice to just chill for a bit and walk around the neighborhood. Dave bought Clif and I a delicious cup of coffee in a little Mexican bakery and it got us headed in the right direction.
When we got to the Moroccan Lounge, I thought we were fucked. Outside, the place seemed deader than a door nail. Inside told a different story. There was a show going on inside that was packed and the sound system was great.
When that show ended, there was a line for our show around the block and we were all feeling pretty good. It was great to have Bill on stage with us and the place was packed. We tore through our set pretty damn well and people were stoked on it. I was stoked on it, too.
I got to see Meg and Tony, as well as my internet pal, Ilka and her husband, Markus. Meg and Tony and I go back a long way and it’s been awesome to have their support all these years. It was also nice to meet Ilka in person. We did a lot of work together in the Slope days and have kept in contact since then. She and Markus are good people and I hope to see them again.
We played first that night to accommodate us old dudes so it was fun to get to wander around the club and see the other bands. LA treated us really well. It was also great to get to hang with Bill and his awesome wife, Mary. Of the nine shows, I think, maybe ten I have done with the band, Bill has played over half of them.
He’s such a great dude and a great guitar player that, at least for me, it makes the experience of being in this band so much better. Nothing against DB and Brandon at all because I love playing with them, too, but it is a real treat to play with Bill. Mary’s the best, too. She’s a fellow teacher so we got to spend some time in the cool LA air commiserating about our jobs.
It’s a truly awesome thing how music brings people together. Everyone I have mentioned so far is part of my life because of music. I don’t throw the word “Blessed” around very often, but this weekend made me feel it big time.
We got out of Little Tokyo no worse for the wear and had a great time. DB’s buddy, Pat, was gracious enough to put us up the first night so we skedaddled over to Garden Grove where he lives around the point where I was running on fumes. After a quick stop at Del Taco, which was the only place open in Pat’s hood, we made it to his comfy couch and slammed down a few tacos and burritos before passing out.
If I am being honest, it was not the best sleep. Pat, who is also a truly wonderful dude, was getting his drink on with one of his bandmates who came over after I had drifted off. They were laughing and yelling out on Pat’s porch til the sun came up. I thought it was Pat and DB and was worried that DB was going to be out of commission for our Saturday night show.
I was wrong, which was great, but running on fumes was the actionable phrase for Saturday. We hung out in Garden Grove til about 4, talking with Pat and laughing a lot. We made a side trip to the Walmart for a few supplies (Excedrin and sharpies) and got a late breakfast at a place where the food did not look like it did on their yelp page. It wasn’t’ bad, but it wasn’t that good, either.
We headed for San Pedro around 4:30PM and got there about an hour later. It is so cool driving over those bridges and seeing all the shipping stuff. I love that town, and the Sardine is a great venue. Our peeps started rolling in and everyone started setting up the sticker drop.
It was so good to see Mark, Mo, and Matt, and meet my new friend, Chris. They were so stoked on the sticker drop that it made my heart smile. James and Esther got there shortly after, and the ball got rolling. I forgot how tired I was for a few hours and the show went off really well.
I got to meet my buddy Becky’s husband. Don is from Maine and a hilarious dude. We had a lot to talk about. I can see why she married him, and it was great to be around them for a while (although they didn’t stay for the show!!! Haha). Justin and Jeff were there, too, as was my other Justin and his lovely date, Joy.
All the bands were great that night, too. Kamikaze Co-Pilot started it off and kicked ass with their thrashy, skate punk. I highly recommend them and hope they get some recordings out. Action Park from Long Island was also some excellent pop(ish) punk with great riffs and stage presence. They could all play their asses off, too.
Das Klown really impressed me, and those guys are super cool, too. The crowd was still pretty darn great by the time we played, and they supported us well. I think we gave them a great show. Second night of three and we were feeling our confidence rise.
It was cool to hang out with Todd, the owner of the Sardine, and a San Pedro music legend. He’s an excellent guy and a fabulous host. He was genuinely stoked on the Sticker Drop, too, which was the most important thing.
James and I were talking a lot about what to do next, so we shall see what happens. We always come up with cool stuff when we put our heads together. There will probably be radio and marionettes involved in some capacity.
After the show, we got some great food from the killer taco truck across the street, but they were out of grilled onions, so I will forever be bitter. Matt was kind enough to hook us up with the grub and we filled our bellies. That was a bad move on my part because I was driving and the hour plus drive to San Juan Capistrano seemed like it was about four hours.
I crashed hard when we got to Mark and Mo’s and slept the sleep of the dead after bonding a little bit with their dog, Zia. She’s so cute. I love her.
We had a really nice morning hanging with everybody and then headed out to San Diego. It was so nice to get that hour or so driving along the ocean. I love the Pacific. The Holding Company was our venue for the evening and it is right on the main drag in Ocean Beach about two minutes from the water.
We all got pretty charged up by the location and it was awesome to soak it up. The only drawback was that Mary and Bill didn’t join us for this show. Mark, Mo, Matt, and Chris came down, too, and so did my friend, Carrie from Casa and her husband, Todd. It was really cool to hang out with them for a while and catch up.
They also stayed for the whole show!
Das Klown played this one, too, and was excellent. I really like them. By the time we played, the crowd was not great (it never really was), but those that stayed were enthusiastic and we gave them a great show (as I humbly pat myself on the back). I am very proud of how it went.
We got on the road about 9PM and headed home. The trip back was pretty uneventful, and my hat is off to Kaz for getting us home with the last four-hour shift from midnight to 4AM. He killed it.
Whew. I’m tired.
*****
‘Stuck a pin in your backbone….”
Hit me at the right time and I will tell you that the above line is the best first line from the first song of a record ever. Eric Bachmann, the singer/guitarist of Archers of Loaf is one of my favorite lyricists and there weren’t many bands that pleased me as much as them in the mid-90s. They played a few great shows at Hollywood Alley (among others) and I did my best not to miss them when they came to town.
I listened to Icky Mettle all the time from about 1994 to 2010. After that, I started spending more time with some of the other records, but Icky Mettle is my favorite. “Web in Front” has those great opening lyrics, but there is not a single weak spot on the record. Archers of Loaf put the rock in Indie.
That’s probably what got me to love Archers of Loaf so much, actually. Icky Mettle is a full-on rocker. While the band has all the indie rock sounds and tricks and charm, they also weren’t afraid to fucking get after it, both live and on the records. Take a song like “Hate Paste,” for example. It’s got some really cool minor chord, indie rock stuff going on, but it also rocks nice and hard.
Then “Fat” comes on does the same thing but in a different way. Bachmann just always sounds so right there on the edge of beating someone’s ass. I love it. I met him a couple of years ago, briefly, as he is a friend of a friend, and he couldn’t be a nicer, more charming guy. I fully wanted to fan boy out, but I played it cool. Hope I get another chance to talk with him again.
“Learo, You’re a Hole” is another favorite of mine. Matt Gentling’s bass line is the treat here. It’s just driving the song. There is an energy that just flows from that bassline. These dudes had an angst and passion for what was going on in the music scene in those days that must’ve intimidated a bunch of the bands they played with over the years.
What a first record, too. These guys were on Alias, which was home to my friends, Trunk Federation, so it felt like there was a connection to them. Of course, it was totally imaginary other than Trunk Federation playing a few shows with them (at least one, for sure), but I like building those bridges in my mind. I guess I’m fortunate that I’ve been able to build at least a few of those into real ones.
Maybe someday I will build a real bridge with Archers of Loaf. I would love that. It would be a lot of fun to interview them. I just need to figure out the story to pitch. I’d love to ask them about the story behind “Toast.” I love the guitar riff on that one.
Where did that come from? Who figured it out? Tell me, damn it. On the record!!!
Clearly, I’m getting slap happy here. I keep getting lost in this record and forgetting that I am supposed to be writing superlatives about it.
“There’s something wrong with my toast.”
What does that mean? What was wrong with the toast? I’d have to ask that. I need to know. The song is sofa king good.
“Backwash” has that sorta backwards guitar part in the beginning. I love that it is so noisy and Bachmann’s voice sounds kinda snarly, too, or maybe a little bit snotty. The record is about over and yet, Archers of Loaf are still kicking ass and taking names. Such a great band.
“Slow Worm” finishes off the version I have. I bought it on CD first and it stayed in my CD player for a good long time until my ex discovered it and then she wanted to hear it all the time. It was a bit of a battle for Icky Mettle in those days. Great song, that “Slow Worm,” with its ‘weeping willow’ guitar sound. That’s the only way I can think of to describe the riff.
Weeping willow rock.
*****
See you tomorrow.
AI doesn't know me.
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