Tag Archives: berkeley

May 3, 2016 · 11:20 am

JetLag RocknRoll: The Video Travel Guide Series

I’ve been so wrapped up in multiple projects that I forgot to update this blog with JetLag RocknRoll’s latest incarnation! Years ago I attempted to produce online travel guides with wanderlustful rocknroll aficionados in mind but writing each listing was incredibly time consuming and a bit too ambitious for just one person. Last year, C suggested we make it a video form instead and ask local bands about their favorite spots in the places they call home. Well, the first episode is now live! It spotlights the San Francisco East Bay and features Shannon & the Clams, Tina Lucchesi of the Trashwomen, and Jesse Townley of Blatz. You can watch the video above and get more details about the businesses, places, and bands covered here.

Other destinations in the works include San Francisco, Tokyo, and Chicago. Check back here or jetlagrnr.com for new episodes!

Wish You Were Hear: Uncool Fest 2016, Day 2

SWMRS at Uncool Fest, Day 2 | 924 Gilman Street

In the early ’90s, when I was between the ages of 17 and 21, you could find me most weekends at 924 Gilman Street, an all-ages, non-profit, volunteer-run club in Berkeley that’s perhaps best known as the stomping ground of bands such as Green Day, Rancid, and AFI. It didn’t really matter who was playing—there was always at least one band on the five-band bill that turned out to be worth seeing. Sometimes a show even garnered national attention (e.g., the Insaints’ X-rated antics, the time Jello Biafra was assaulted by crusty punks).

My trips to Gilman grew increasingly infrequent with each passing year, even after Pyramid Brewery opened across the street and offered an alternative to Gilman’s functional but dank restrooms, sugar-laden snacks, questionable couches, and floor seating. (Pyramid closed last year.) I can’t remember the last time I watched all the bands…until last weekend’s two-day Uncool Fest.

So C and I are making a rock ‘n’ roll travel video series, the first of which focuses on the East Bay, and needed Gilman footage for it. Since I pretty much don’t know any of the local bands playing there these days, I was pleased to recognize a couple playing the second day: headliners SWMRS and opener Jakob Danger. Mind-bogglingly, both bands have the distinction of featuring the sons of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. How crazy is that?

Even crazier was the number of parents pressed up against the walls at the back of the room, no doubt wishing there was somewhere to sit or get a snack. Or maybe I’m just projecting.

But I digress. I arrived shortly before (who I thought would be) Jakob Danger kicked off the show and joined the gaggle of girls parked at the front of the stage. They were dedicated SWMRS fans, judging by their branded shirts and phone cases. Was this similar to what it feels like to attend a Justin Bieber concert? I’m sure I’ll never know.

In any case, the first band turned out to be Berkeley’s Mom Jeans. Jakob Danger had been moved to a middle slot, which is how I ended up staying for all six bands. Although, honestly, what would I have done between the first and last bands—shop for groceries at Whole Foods down the block?

All the bands, including San Francisco’s Dinosaurs and SoCal’s Melted and No Parents, were awesome and compelled sweaty, fervent pit action. The No Stagediving sign went unheeded. A giant dinosaur balloon bounced around the room during Dinosaurs’ set.

Throughout the night, the heaving crush of adolescent energy around the stage transported me back to my first few years at Gilman. In addition, I was headbutted in the face at one point and kicked in the head by a wayward foot at another, adding a corporeal element to my nostalgia. No wonder I didn’t take many photos back then! I was too busy thrashing around and surviving flying bodies and limbs to fiddle with a film camera. Oh well. I’ve since learned how to multitask a little better. Here’s a glimpse of the action, as well as my KALX playlist from 20 years ago.

Mom Jeans

Dinosaurs

Melted

Jakob Danger

No Parents

SWMRS

* = feature play
$ = request

2/16/96: FRIDAY 12:30-3pm

* PUBLIC DISTURBANCE – S&M
* THE HUMPERS – Apocalypse Girl
ZERO BOYS – Johnny Better Get
THE CONTROLLERS – Do the Uganda
* BIORITMO – Asia Minor

* THE VANDALS – Wannabe Manor
*$ VOODOO GLOWSKULLS – Thrift Shop Junkie
* THE CADAVERS – Bad Kid
S.H.A.K.E. – Invasion of the Gamma Men
* GAMMA MEN – Police Car

NANCY SINATRA – Sugar Town
* FIFI & THE MACH III – Heaven Only Knows
THE SAINTS – Lipstick on Your Collar
STAN GETZ – Girl from Ipanema
THE POMPOMS – Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

COMMANDER CODY & HIS LOST PLANET AIRMEN – Hot Rod Lincoln
* CIGAR STORE INDIANS – Hot Rod Concerto
BILLY THE KID EMERSON – Move Baby Move
$ ELVIN BISHOP – Beer Drinking Woman
SCREAMIN’ JAY HAWKINS – I Am the Cool

TROTSKY ICEPICK/VENA CAVA – I’m Stranded
* BOUNCING SOULS – All of This & Nothing
* AFI – Advance in Modern Technology
* THE MOTARDS – Johnny Tremaine
* THE SWINGIN’ UTTERS – The Dirty Sea

THE BUSINESS – Get Out While You Can
THE LURKERS – Wolf at the Door
$ X-RAY SPEX – Oh Bondage Up Yours!
$ LINK WRAY & THE RAY MEN – Rumble
* JOHNNY LYON – Bark Like a Dog

THE TAMMYS – Egyptian Shumba
DAVID SEVILLE – Witchdoctor
THE NAILS – 88 Lines about 44 Women
THE ANGELS – My Boyfriend’s Back
$ SANDIE SHAW – How Can You Tell

THE ADVERTS – Safety in Numbers
THE CLASH – Jail Guitar Doors
SHAM 69 – Tell Us the Truth

$ NAKED RAYGUN – Gear
* VAST MAJORITY – I Wanna Be a Number
* JACK O’ FIRE – Run Run Run
$ THE MAKERS – Dos & Don’ts of Lying

* LOUIS ARMSTRONG – Black & Blue
BILLIE HOLIDAY – Travelin’ Light
* THE TIKITONES – Rusty Nail
* THE BOMBORAS – Slinky

DAVID BOWIE – Heroes

Fuzz, OBN III’s & Bad Vibes at 1-2-3-4 Go! Records

Fuzz, March 1, 2013 | Canon 5D Mark 3, 24mm, 1/100, f2.8, ISO 8000

Ty Segall, Charlie Mootheart, and Roland Cosio’s latest effort Fuzz channels early-era Black Sabbath punctuated with epic drum solos and a tornado of flying hair. Fuzz played a sold-out show at the Knockout a few weeks ago with Austin’s OBN III’s but I caught both of them the next night at 1-2-3-4 Go! Records. Bad Vibes opened the intimate show with a foreshadowing of the exuberant hair tossing to come; OBN III’s closed it out with a blistering garage punk set. (I was pretty sure I’d be partially impaled by a flying microphone stand. Miraculously, I walked away unscathed.)

Fuzz hits the Stork Club in Oakland this Wednesday (March 27) with Puerto Rico’s Los Vigilantes and Las Ardillas, both of which feature members of Davila 666. Here are some photos from the 1-2-3-4 Go! show, plus two GIFs (my first ever! Click on them to go to larger versions). Oh, and, of course, the rest of my KALX playlists from March 1994.

Bad Vibes | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/80, f4, ISO 10000

Bad Vibes | Canon 5D Mark 3, 23mm, 1/125, f4, ISO 10000

Fuzz

Fuzz | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/5, f6.3, ISO 400

Fuzz | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/5, f6.3, ISO 400

Fuzz

OBN III’s | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/5, f6.3, ISO 500

OBN III’s | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/5, f6.3, ISO 500

OBN III’s | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/5, f6.3, ISO 500

OBN III’s | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/5, f6.3, ISO 500

OBN III’s | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/5, f6.3, ISO 640

OBN III’s | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/6, f5.6, ISO 500

OBN III’s | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/5, f6.3, ISO 640

OBN III’s | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/5, f6.3, ISO 640

OBN III’s | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/6, f5.6, ISO 500

OBN III’s | Canon 5D Mark 3, 17mm, 1/5, f6.3, ISO 640

* = feature play
$ = request

3/11/94: FRIDAY 9:30am-12pm

* STATE OF ALERT – Stepping Stone Party
CHRIST ON PARADE – Teach Your Children Well
GENE PITNEY – Town without Pity
CONFLICT – American Woman
* PICASSO TRIGGER – Rub a Dub

CYPRESS HILL – Pigs
WEST SIDE STORY soundtrack – Gee, Officer Krupke
* SPINNANES – Rummy

* UNSANE – Road Trip
* CHAOS UK – Insane Youth
THE BODYSNATCHERS – Easy Life
* VOODOO GLOW SKULLS – You’re the Problem
EDITH PIAF – La Vie, L’amour

DICK DALE – Peter Gunn 1986
THE ADICTS – In the Background
* THE MAKERS – I’m Hurt
$ THINKING FELLERS UNION – Green-Eyed Lady
* ALL YOU CAN EAT – Food Fight

FITZ OF DEPRESSION – Red Shoes
TOY DOLLS – Olga…I Cannot
UTE LEMPER – Want to Buy Some Illusions
TOTAL CHAOS – Revolution Part 10

THE RAMONES – She’s a Sensation
* THE QUEERS – At the Mall
MANIC DEPRESSION – Rat Trap
HARRY CONNICK, JR. – It Had to Be You
SAM COOKE – Wonderful World

GANG GREEN – Skate to Hell
* SCREW 32 – Tools for the Job
THE MEATMEN – Turbo Rock
* JOHNNY PEEBUCKS & THE SWINGIN’ UTTERS – No Eager Men
* BEASTIE BOYS – Ode to…

FLAG OF DEMOCRACY – Meat Factory
* JAWBREAKER – Jinx Removing
* THE TOASTERS – Mr. Trouble
JESUS & MARY CHAIN – Ambition
$ THE DIDJITS – Mr. DNA

* FAITH – Confusion
JOY DIVISION – Ceremony
$ DEVO – Mongoloid
ECONOCHRIST – Uncontrollable Urge

TALULAH GOSH – Do You Remember
THE WEIRDOS – Weird World
JFA – Great Equalizer

3/18/94: FRIDAY 9:30am-12pm

* AGRESSION – Dear John Letter
DAYGLO ABORTIONS – Die Sinner Die
* SWINGIN’ NECKBREAKERS – Workin’ & Jerkin’
* THE MAKERS – I Just Might Crack
DORIS DAY – Come to Baby, Do!

AGENT 86 – Sak (I Hate Hackey Sak!)
* THE TARTS – All the Girls in the World
X-RAY SPEX – I Am a Cliche
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN soundtrack – Good Morning

* EVERREADY – Fairplay
JUKE – Wild Ride
FALSE PROPHETS – Functional
* THE RAINYARD – Hellbent Suicidal Over You, Baby

EAST BAY MUD – Flying to the Sky
*$ VOODOO GLOW SKULLS – Insubordination
* THE TOASTERS – Talk Is Cheap
* DANCEHALL CRASHERS – Go
DOOM – Relief Part 2

NINA SIMONE – Lonesome Cities
* JAWBREAKER – Jinx Removing
$ BLANKS 77 – We’re the Ones
THE JAM – Move on Up

PAXTON QUIGGLY – Life’s Too Short
* PICASSO TRIGGER – We’re Going Down
TRASH – Telecom South

ALFRED HITCHCOCK theme
INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE – Long Journey to Nowhere
* MOTORHONEY – Bad Guy Reaction
MIKE OLDFIELD – Tubular Bells
JOHNNY PEEBUCKS & THE SWINGIN’ UTTERS – Scared
SIR MIX-A-LOT – Buttermilk Biscuit
THE DESCENDENTS – I Like Food
ROLLING STONES – Lantern
LONE RANGER theme
SPIDERMAN theme
DEAD MILKMEN – I Hear Your Name
$ MURPHY’S LAW – Yahoo (Pancakes)
CRIMINAL DAMAGE – Criminal Crew
PERRY MASON theme
MANIA – Blood Money
SCOOBY DOO theme

* BEASTIE BOYS – Transit Cop
BILLY & THE BOINGERS – U Stink but I Love You
* YOUTH BRIGADE – Punk Rock Mom
* GLAZED BABY – Under Nancy’s Boot

3/25/94: FRIDAY 9:30am-12pm

* SCHUND – Schund
* THE GAMMA MEN – Vegetables Is Murder
WRETCHED – Mai Arrendersi
* THE MAKERS – Like a Diamond
VERNONS GIRLS – Dat’s Love

THE MODELS – Bend Me, Shape Me
GOLDIE & THE GINGERBREADS – Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat
* SUCKDOLLS – You Say
THE ODD NUMBERS – Between the Two of Us
* THE JAM – Little Boy Soldiers

$ SISTER DOUBLE HAPPINESS – Holidays in Cambodia
THE DICKS – I Hope You Get Drafted
BONELESS ONES – I’m a Skater
* RUDIMENTARY PENI – Horrors in the Museum
JESUS CHRIST – Be Ashamed

* SCREW 32 – Tools for the Job
MUSIC MAN soundtrack – Ya Got Trouble/76 Trombones
MARILYN MONROE – I’m Gonna File a Claim
COCK SPARRER – Colonel Bogey
PARENT TRAP soundtrack – Let’s Get Together

* INSIDE OUT – Dead Children
* STATE OF ALERT – I Hate Kids
* HEPCAT – Bobbie & Joe
* DANCEHALL CRASHERS – Go
006 – Like What, Me Worry?

SANSHERS – Gonna Git That Man
$ TOY DOLLS – Griefsville
THE GO-GO’S – Head over Heels
WORD SALAD – Bloody Eye
NO COMMENT – Dead Stare for Life

* BATTALION OF SAINTS – Cops Are Out
* PICASSO TRIGGER – Valentine
THE DISRUPTERS – Die with Mother
* YOUTH BRIGADE – This Is a Life
* BEASTIE BOYS – Michelle’s Farm

KAY BELL & THE TUFFS – (Original) Surfer Stomp
$ THE DIDJITS – Who’s Ready to Get High
$ FANG – Drunk & Crazy
* GOVERNMENT ISSUE – Anarchy Is Dead
THE FREEZE – American Town

* HOOVER – Return
DISORDER – Rampton Song
EDITH PIAF – La Vie en Rose
* ARTIFICIAL PEACE – Outside Looking In

THE INSAINTS – Loser’s Club
THE GIRLS – My Baby
DIESEL QUEENS – Manson Family Feud
$ WHYTE BOOTS – Nightmare

February 1994: Davey Havok Is Not a Blockhead

Low fireman’s carry | Canon 60D, 50mm, 1/2500, f1.8, ISO 100

Even though February is only two or three days shorter than other months, its end never fails to catch me off guard! I had thought I’d spread out the posting of my old KALX playlists but that requires more planning than I’m prepared to handle right now. So here are my playlists from February 1994 in one gruesome, end-of-the-month glob. The first show had me tag-teaming with Jesse Luscious and it was a bit of a hot mess, but that’s what you’d expect pairing hardcore with easy listening.

Here’s also another Davey Havok essay (click for larger view; the first one appears here), written when he was 18. I wasn’t going to post one for a while but noticed that My Letter to the World #9 was published on February 23, 1994. It seemed fitting to include in this little musical time capsule. Enjoy!

“I’m Not a Blockhead” by Davey Havok, My Letter to the World #9

* = feature play
$ = request

2/03/94: THURSDAY 6-9am (with Jesse Luscious)

EARTHA KITT – Just an Old-Fashioned Girl
MUDHONEY – Touch Me I’m Sick
L7 – Wargasm
THE NECROS – Take’em Up
RANCID – Idle Hands

* NO EMPATHY – Fried Sausages & Okra
NECRACEDIA – Potatoes & Pancakes
WARZONE – As One
THE BUSTERS – Drinking in the Pubs

* VOODOO GLOW SKULLS – Insubordination
CULTURE SHOCK – Colour
SKANKIN’ PICKLE – Fakin’ Jamaican
ASTRUD GILBERTO – Girl from Ipanema
SAM COOKE – You Send Me
STEVIE WONDER – My Cherie Amour

D.I. – Johnny’s Got a Problem
* THE RAMONES – Somebody to Love
* GUNS ‘N’ ROSES – Down on the Farm
* SINKHOLE – Come Sail Away

THE VIBRATORS – Amphetamine Blue
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE soundtrack – Speed
AGNOSTIC FRONT – United & Strong
CRISPIN GLOVER – Daddy Is So Mean
* UNSANE – Body Bomb
TILT – Dead Bum

* JAWBREAKER – Indictment
EATER – No Brains

* MR. T EXPERIENCE – Bridge to Tabithia
THE ADVERTS – Great British Mistake
$ HEAVENLY – P.U.N.K. Girl
BIKINI GIRL – Rebel Girl

* RHYTHM COLLISION – She Drives Me Crazy
* TONY BENNETT – He Loves & She Loves
GROVER – Near & Far
GAY PUREE soundtrack – Bubbles
LES ENDIMANCHES – Jardin Potager

* THE VINDICTIVES – Call Me Irresponsible
JUDY GARLAND – Come Rain or Shine
JULIE LONDON – Cry Me a River
WORLD OF SKIN – Cry Me a River

* MR. BLOBBY – Mr. Blobby
CULTURE CLUB – I’ll Tumble for You
$ JUKE – Kids Will Rock
WYNONA RIDERS – Kids in America
AFI – High School Football Hero

THE MISFITS – I Turned into a Martian
NAKED RAYGUN – Knock Me Down
* NEW BOMB TURKS – This Place Sucks
ZERO BOYS – Human Body
THE SUBHUMANS – Get Out of My Way

* TEEN IDLES – I Drink Milk
DISCHARGE – Nightmare Continues
* AVAIL – Upward Grind

2/18/94: FRIDAY 9:30am-12pm

THE SHATNERS – I Don’t Wanna Go Downtown
* SWINGIN’ NECKBREAKERS – Workin & Jerkin
TEENAGE JESUS & THE JERKS – My Eyes
COWBOY JUNKIES – Blue Moon Revisited
SAM COOKE – Blue Moon

* LEGENDARY LUNCH – Zero Sum
* TEEN IDLES – Too Young to Rock
NECRACEDIA – Suburban Death Machine
* THE RIP OFFS – Now I Know (It’s You)
JUDY JETSON – Surfin’ in Space

* PHILIP GLASS – Mad Rush

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS – Can’t Say Crap on the Radio
JOHNNY PEEBUCKS & THE SWINGIN’ UTTERS – L.O.V.E. I Hate You
* AMINIATURE – Featurist
$ ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT – Boychucker

SNFU- Seein’ Life thru the Bottom
* NEW BOMB TURKS – Grounded Ex-Patriot
* THE MEICES – Words

BEASTIE BOYS – Girls
PUBLIC ENEMY – 911 Is a Joke
NEWCLEUS – Jam on It
CYPRESS HILL – Pigs
$ DIGITAL UNDERGROUND – Underwater Rimes

* MR. T EXPERIENCE – Swallow Everything
GYPSY soundtrack – Together Wherever We Go
* TONY BENNETT – Steppin’ Out with My Baby
JESUS & MARY CHAIN – My Girl

THE PASTELS – Different Drum
* NO EMPATHY – Try Not to Hurt Anyone
TEENAGE HEAD – She Rips My Lips
* THE RAMONES – The Shape of Things to Come
* HELEN LOVE – Joey Ramoney

ZERO BOYS – Dirty Alleys/Dirty Minds
* UNSANE – Body Bomb
EATER – No Brains
AFI – High School Football Hero
RANCID – Someone’s Gonna Die
TOY DOLLS – How Do You Deal with Neal

THE REZILLOS – I Like It
* RHYTHM COLLISION – She Drives Me Crazy
THE BUZZCOCKS – Love You More
THE VIBRATORS – Yeah Yeah Yeah
CULTURE SHOCK – Catchin’ Flies

BAD MANNERS – Teenager in Love
WEST SIDE STORY soundtrack – Tonight
* JAWBREAKER – Boxcar
STEEL POLE BATHTUB – Mercurocrome

2/22/94: TUESDAY 12am-3:30am (with Liesl S.)

$ MILES DAVIS – So What
WHAM! – I’m Your Man
MINOR THREAT – In My Eyes
* TEEN IDLES – Deadhead

$ WYNONA RIDERS – Kids in America
* THE FLIRTS – Jukebox
THE BUZZCOCKS – 16 Again
THE FASTBACKS – Love You More
FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS – Ever Fallen in Love
* RHYTHM COLLISION – She Drives Me Crazy

* INDIAN SUMMER – Orchard
EARTHA KITT – I Wanna Be Evil
THE SLITS – Shoplifting
$ CITIZEN FISH – Disposable Dream
* VOODOO GLOW SKULLS – Dirty Rats

$ TONI BASIL – Mickey
* THE PANDORAS – Hot Generation
* MOTORHONEY – Bad Guy Reaction
BEASTIE BOYS – Girls
* DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN – Wack MCs
TELEVISION’S GREATEST HITS – Mighty Mouse theme
$ DJ JAZZY JEFF & THE FRESH PRINCE – Girls Ain’t Nothing but Trouble

PUBLIC ENEMY – Contract on the World Love Jam
CYPRESS HILL – Insane in the Brain
DEAD MILKMEN – Tiny Town
GREASE soundtrack – Beauty School Dropout
THE VANDALS – Summer Lovin’

TALULAH GOSH – Break Your Face
SHOP ASSISTANTS – You Trip Me Up
JESUS & MARY CHAIN – My Girl
THE SUGARCUBES – Birthday (Jim & Will Xmas Day Mix)
GRIMPLE – All Grown Up

BIKINI KILL – Rebel Girl
CIRCLE JERKS – Coup d’Etat
DISCHARGE – Look at Tomorrow
* SCREW 32 – Tools for the Job
* NEW BOMB TURKS – American Soul Spiders

GBH – Freak
TOY DOLLS – Commercial Break
THE JAM – Boy about Town
PRINCE – U Got the Look
THE ADICTS – Just Like Me

* SILKWORM – No Revolution
THE ADVERTS – Bored Teenagers
$ POSTER CHILDREN – If You See Kay
* JAWBREAKER – Jinx Removing

2/25/94: FRIDAY 9:30am-12pm

SESAME STREET soundtrack – ABC Song
THE ADICTS – Distortion
* AMINIATURE – Featurist
* ACTION PAINTING – Mustard Gas
FRED ASTAIRE – Shall We Dance?
SHIRLEY BASSEY – Kiss Me Honey, Honey

* BLAH BLAH BLAH – Saddleback
* ROBIN CLARK – Daddy, Daddy Gotta Get a Phone
HARRY CONNICK, JR. – Recipe for Love
CRINGER – Pay to Play

DISCHARGE – Is This to Be
* DELIGHTFUL LITTLE NOTHINGS – Over Us
* DISAFFECT – Judge & Be Damned
EVILDEAD – Rise Above/Suicidal Tendencies Riff
EVERREADY – Never Walk Away

* FAITH – It’s Time
THE FLIRTS – Jukebox
* FUCKBOYZ – Prozac
JUDY GARLAND – By Myself
GAY PUREE soundtrack – Mewsette
$ THE GR’UPS – Oink
GORILLA BISCUITS – Cats & Dogs

THE HELLBILLIES – Bucket of Blood
HEAVENLY – Cool Guitar Boy
BILLIE HOLIDAY – I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love with Me
$ IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY – Girl with No Eyes

* INDIAN SUMMER – Orchard
* ILL REPUTE – Jamie Just
* JOHNNY PEEBUCKS & THE SWINGIN’ UTTERS – Petty Wage
* JAWBREAKER – Jinx Removing

$ JAZZBUTCHER – Grey Flannelette
$ KUKL – Assassin
* LEGENDARY LUNCH – Zero Sum
MOTORHEAD – Iron Fist
* MOTORHONEY – Bad Guy Reaction
MOTORCYCLE BOY – His Latest Flame

* NEW BOMB TURKS – American Soul Spiders
NAPALM DEATH – It’s a M.A.N.S. World
OPERATION IVY – I Got No
OLD SKULL – Let’s Go Kill That Man
* THE PANDORAS – I Want Him
THE QUEERS – Love Love Love

* RHYTHM COLLISION – Cheers
* RUDIMENTARY PENI – Dream City
THE SUBHUMANS (Canada) – Mobile Electric Chair
TELEVISION PERSONALITIES – Never Understand (Here We Go ’round the Mary Chain)
THE UNDEAD – I Don’t Wanna Go

VICE SQUAD – Humane
THE VANDALS – Master Race
STEVIE WONDER – My Cherie Amour
X-RAY SPEX – I Live Off You
YEASTIE GIRLS – FCC
ZERO BOYS – Amphetamine Addiction

3 Comments

Filed under music, nostalgia, playlist

Tagged as afi, berkeley, blaqk audio, college, davey havok, jawbreaker, kalx, my letter to the world, playlist, punk, radio, tiger lily, zine

February 22, 2013 · 4:44 pm

Davey Havok Was a Pinner Kid with a Round Hostess Twinkie belly

Tiger Lily & Davey Havok at Rancid, Total Chaos, Hellbillies, Parasites, and A.F.I. show (924 Gilman St., 5/14/94); photographer unknown

AFI/Blaqk Audio frontman Davey Havok is set to release his debut novel Pop Kids on April 2. According to the website, it’s about a 17-year-old guy who’s a “pop-culture-obsessed, pseudo-vegetarian, atheist pyromaniac trapped within a rural northern Californian town.” Although I haven’t paid close attention to his various projects since the late 1990s, I’m pretty intrigued by this one.

I first met Dave shortly after the start of UC Berkeley’s fall 1993 semester. I’m not completely certain, but it may have been at a 924 Gilman St. show. He had a baby mohawk, a skateboard, and a crisp black leather jacket with the blue Germs circle neatly painted on the back of it. I was hyper, pushy, and in-your-face (not much has changed!); he was super-friendly with a ready smile. Somehow we became friends, yet I never called him Davey.

Davey Havok & Tiger Lily circa 1994; photographer unknown

Unfortunately, my memory’s pretty spotty and we weren’t the type to get into trouble so I don’t have any scandalous stories to share. We were just good kids in the East Bay punk scene. At that time, I lived on the top floor of a three-story house. Since cell phones hadn’t become commonplace yet, Dave would either have to yell up or throw rocks at my window if he wanted to visit. I’d help him put up and hand out flyers for AFI shows (his personable nature no doubt helped boost his fledgling band’s fanbase). I’d play his band’s singles fairly frequently on my KALX radio show (starting with this one). He’d school me on slang from his hometown, none of which I remember. He got his first tattoo (Gogo the Dodo, of all things) shortly after I got mine (topless Winnie the Pooh, no better). Ditto with the lip piercing.

Dave also wrote a series of personal essays for my zine My Letter to the World. All of them were about his troubles with girls—but not in the way you’d think. The first appeared in issue 7, published on October 29, 1993 (click for a larger view):

My Letter to the World #7

“Tongue-Tied” by Davey Havok, My Letter to the World #7

I’m sure Dave no longer writes with the voice of an almost-18-year-old, but it’d be a spectacular feat if he managed to channel it for Pop Kids, considering the protagonist is soon-to-be 18. I guess I’ll just have to pick up a copy and see if I catch a glimpse of that weak pinner kid with a round Hostess Twinkie belly. [2/28/13: I posted another of his essays here. 4/2/13: And another one.]

13 Comments

Filed under music, nostalgia, observations

Tagged as afi, berkeley, blaqk audio, college, davey havok, gilman, kalx, my letter to the world, nostalgia, punk, zine

February 8, 2013 · 10:38 am

OFF! Bay Area 2012

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Canon 60D, 24mm, 1/80, f2.8, ISO 2500

Had I made any resolutions this year, one of them would’ve been to post photos I take in a timely fashion. As it currently stands, my usual turnaround time (Wild About You projects excluded) is six months, twelve months, sometimes never.

Case in point: OFF! is a supergroup featuring Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks), Steve McDonald (Redd Kross), Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes), and Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides). They essentially sound like early Black Flag/Circle Jerks—classic American punk. I saw them twice last May when they passed through the Bay Area, but it wasn’t until I heard they were playing San Francisco this Saturday that I realized I hadn’t done anything with the photos I’d shot. And then I thought, “What does it even matter? There were so many photographers there. No one’s gonna miss these.”

True, but my poor excuse for a memory very well might five, ten years down the line, assuming these blog things still exist. It’s only been nine months since OFF! nearly obliterated the stage at Slim’s and possibly violated a few fire codes in Amoeba Berkeley’s small performance space, but it might as well have been nine years ago.

Fortunately, looking at these photos helped me remember a couple of things:

I got two cameras into the Slim’s show, a Canon 60D and Olympus E-P2.
Spider Fever (with Mario on guitar and vocals) and Fidlar opened. I was excited to see Spider Fever, having enjoyed their HoZac single. I was impressed by Fidlar—I hadn’t yet heard of them but they were apparently popular enough for a large, enthusiastic crowd to come specifically for them and leave when they finished.
Keith Morris was a seasoned showman, followed closely by Steve and Dimitri. He really roused the audience, judging by the crush of flailing bodies behind me and the nonstop stage-diving mostly by heavy, middle-aged men. I was right against the stage but somehow managed to avoid most of the wayward fists, spikes, and boots. The older mohawked woman next to me wasn’t so lucky and took quite a beating. I seriously thought she had a broken nose after someone kicked her in the face in their eagerness to heave themselves into the pit. Ah, just like old times!

Incidentally, OFF! has cancelled their current West Coast tour, which is a bummer if you were planning to see them. Hopefully these will tide you over until they reschedule.

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Canon 60D, 24mm, 1/80, f2.8, ISO 2500

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Olympus PEN E-P2, 25mm, 1/250, f1.4, ISO 1000

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Olympus PEN E-P2, 25mm, 1/125, f1.4, ISO 1000

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Canon 60D, 24mm, 1/100, f2.8, ISO 2500

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Canon 60D, 24mm, 1/80, f2.8, ISO 2500

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Canon 60D, 24mm, 1/100, f2.8, ISO 2500

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Canon 60D, 24mm, 1/80, f2.8, ISO 2500

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Canon 60D, 24mm, 1/80, f2.8, ISO 2500

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Olympus PEN E-P2, 25mm, 1/125, f1.4, ISO 1000

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Olympus PEN E-P2, 25mm, 1/125, f1.4, ISO 1000

OFF!, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Olympus PEN E-P2, 25mm, 1/125, f1.4, ISO 1000

Spider Fever, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Canon 60D, 24mm, 1/40, f2.8, ISO 1250

Spider Fever, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Olympus PEN E-P2, 25mm, 1/125, f1.4, ISO 1000

Spider Fever, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Olympus PEN E-P2, 25mm, 1/125, f1.4, ISO 1250

Fidlar, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Olympus PEN E-P2, 25mm, 1/125, f1.4, ISO 1000

Fidlar, Slim’s (May 11, 2012) | Canon 60D, 24mm, 1/60, f2.8, ISO 1600