Show Reviews

Show Reviews:

there isnt much up here yet. but i go to a lot of shows so it shouldnt be too long before theres lots of stuff here to keep you bored. look out for reviews of subincision at 924 gilman, and probly some other stuff around the east bay and santa cruz areas.

PUNK PROM: PANSY DIVISION, THE PLUS ONES, DAVE HILL (A HYPNOTIST), THE BLOTTOS, IRON ASS at 924 Gilman St., Berkeley, CA 5-19-01

The decorations were great. way better than last year. iron ass opened up, and they wouldnt play their themesong. i think they changed members around or something, but they rocked. they played more straight-up punk rock music than i remember them playing when ive seen em before. they're rad. there was a good crowd and everyone seemed excited about the prom thing. the gilman people had a "prom photos" thing set up in the stoar, and the backdrop was a cardboard dumpster that you could stand in with your date. the pink streamers and the disco ball = good times. then the Blottos played. i cant really say much cause thats my band. we threw prunes and they got all stuck to the glitter and the floor and it was a mess. people threw em back at us, and i kept stepping in them. yuk. after the blottos was Dave Hill "the worlds greatest hypnotist". i was sitting at the merch table and wasnt paying attention the the whole hypnosis thing, but it still made me all relaxed and sleepy. i think it would have been way better to have another band on the show instead of a hypnotist. a lot of people seemed bored. then i left to go drink and i missed the plus ones. when i got back, pansy division was playing. they were so fucking rad. i think they were a really good band to headline the punk prom. they did a bunch of prom-theme covers: songs from prom scenes in movies. yay. i havent been to a show in a long time that ended before i was ready for it to be over. usually i just get kind of bored. but this show definitely ended too soon. can't wait till next year.

ANTI-FLAG, SWINGIN UTTERS, THE UNSEEN, (AND ONE OTHER BAND...) at Palookaville, Santa Cruz, CA 5-16-01

I missed the first band. i dont even know who it was. ugh. the first band i saw was the unseen. they played an awsome set, but the crowd didnt seem too into it. they were at least as good, if not better than, they were the last time i saw them play (at 924 Gilman), and that other time...with the casualties on the East Coast Attack tour a couple years ago. the drummer and the singer switched halfway through the set, which was cool. i wish there had been a pit, cause it would have been fun. really. it seemed like there was a super-strong magnet or something right at edge of the stage, in the middle, cause all the kids in the place that had massive amounts of metal studs etc. on them were all in one clump up there. um...i missed the next band too. im pretty sure it was the swingin utters, although it may have been One Man Army. not that it matters. i didnt see them. then anti flag played. they get worse every time i see them. the first time i saw em was at Gilman and i'd never heard of them. they rocked. ive since seen them about 4 or five times and it seems like they get less and less cool every time. dammit. they stopped the show twice. once because a girl up front was really drunk and was apparently passing out. they had security take her away from the front, but i dont know whether or not she got kicked out. then they did it again when some fuck tried to stagedive feet first. i mean, i hate it when people do that, i bitch about stagedivers all the time, but it kind of sucked that they kept stopping for stuff like that. they were like the punk show police. i think the unseen should have headlined this show. but i guess the people booking the tour know better than me 'cause there were a hell of a lot more people there to see anti flag than there were to see the unseen. i didnt get that drunk, and i didnt dance much. the pit was ok for anti-flag though. there was some guy who couldnt speak (i guess he was Deaf) out in front of the club trying to ask all the kids if he could videotape them. wierd. not perverted or nothin', just kinda unusual. santa cruz needs more small independent clubs to have all ages punk shows, and fewer bored cops in santa cruz. so hard to find good drinkin spots...

SWINGIN' UTTERS, CHOP TOPS,(SOME OTHER BAND), LOS VIGILANTES at Palookaville, Santa Cruz, CA 2-22-01

Los vigilantes play good punk rock with awsome bass solos and catchy choruses. fun. they sounded a little out of tune, but it was only their 2nd show, so you cant really blame em. they did a super fast cover of rancid's "maxwell murder", which blew away most of the crowd with the bass solos. then some awful band that sounded like a mix between tool and later stone temple pilots played. i dont even remember what they were called, but it doesnt matter cause nobody needs to know anything aobut this band. then the Chop Tops played. they were solid, fun, danceable rockabilly. thier singer also plays drums, while standing up, which looks kinda wierd, but doesnt affect the sound. they told all the guys in the room to give all the "ladies" a hand for showing up, unless they "were a bunch of homos" or something...whad you expect? i dunno. at least it wasnt a punk band saying it...anyway, the swingin utters played last. i should warn you that im kind of partial- i dont like shit like the swingin utters. too clean and serious. they dont seem to know how to make fun of themselves and take jokes. like if you yelled "get off the stage" at them, they probly tell you to get up there and fight, instead of realizing that its just part of punkrock to antagonize the band. hmmmm. i really wanted to leave. the pit was moving, a lot of big, jocky guys and a couple little, preppie girls...great combination. anyway, i thought most of this show was really lame and i didnt have much fun. one redeeming factor: the swingin utters ended their set with a cover of that song about eddie in the rocky horror picture show (the one they sing when theyre all at the dinner table eating him), and its like my favorite song in the whole movie... so thats it. i should probably add that the venue really sucks- its too big and too professional. the security is too tight. too clean or something. anyway, this show might have been better at a different club, and if it had been booked by someone who knows how to book a punk show.

DAYGLO ABORTIONS, OPPRESSED LOGIC, DECRY at 924 Gilman st., Berkeley, CA, 11-5-00

i know other band(s) played but i cant remeber who they were. i was working cash box at the front door for the fist half of the show so i didnt get to see them anyway. Decry actually played while i was still working but they were so good i was rocking out even though i couldnt see em. they did an awsome cover of the Dead Boys' "sonic reducer". they sound kind of early-80's punk. good stuff. then oppressed logic played and didnt call anyone a faggot cause they would have gotten 86'd. a good set. that was the first time id seen them, and the first show they played since getting 86'd from the club last time. then the Dayglo Abortions played. i hadnt been a big fan of theirs before, but i really liked their set. there was a pretty good pit and people seemed to know a lot of the words. i was expecting a lot more people to be there, but it was a sunday show so the crowd was pretty average size. probably a couple hundred people. overall, this was one of the shows at gilman that ill probably remeber a year from now.

OPPRESSED LOGIC, PRESSURE POINT, THE REMNANTS, RESILIENCE, BLACK BOX at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, CA, 11-5-00

the first band i saw play was black box, who played in the lobby. i hate it when bands play there cause you can never see whats going on until you get right up front, then you get pushed into the band which is wierd unless youre friends with them. also the sound sucks. but they seemed to have good energy and got the belligerently drunk kids to dance. i think they played again between other bands. then Resilience played on the main stage. they were really good. i wanted to get their CD, but it turns out they havent recorded anything yet. they kinda reminded me of the Oozies and the Forgotten. lots of energy...they sounded like they meant what they were saying. like defiance. they got a good pit going. i really hope these guys dont sign onto epitaph and turn into another one of those bands i hate (bouncing souls, one man army, etc.) Then the Remnants played. Id seen em before and was surprised that so few people were inside watching them. theyre pretty good, pretty young. id like to play a show with these guys. the thing that got my attention, and maybe the the reason why everyone was outside, is that their entire bass drum head (the one that faces the audience) was completely covered with really dumb stickers of bands like the queers, limp, etc. I guess people saw that and left before the band even started playing. they dont sound like any of the stickers...
Pressure Point played next. they were good. i didnt go in the pit for their set cause there were a lot of big skinheads and i wasnt in the mood for another black eye, but it looked like fun. at one point in the set, this skinhead guy was pissed about something and came up and punched this girl who was in the pit on the back. a bunch of people grabbed him and held him back and the band stopped and said some cheesy shit about not fighting against each other, but fighting against other stuff. they were good, but im not sure if i would go out and buy thier stuff.
after pressure point, a lot of people left. oppressed logic was all pissed that they had to play last and they were calling everyone "faggots". i know they were just trying to be inflamatory and piss everyone off, but thats just a dumb thing to say. i mean, chances are that the reason youre even at a punk show to begin with is cause you got rejected everywhere else. its like your last hope, last chance, last resort, and imagine going there and getting rejected. not cause youre a poser or cause youre stupid, but for being fucking gay. thats fucking lame. there are a lot of things and groups of people that punks hate. you dont have to call us faggots to piss us off. nobody really danced or even stayed to watch oppressed logic, which is, i think, what they deserved. but they did play a good set. gotta give em that.

Strychnine, Toxic Narcotic, the Oozies, Scurvy Dogs, the Insurgent, Monster Squad at 924 Gilman St., Berkeley, CA, 11-17-00

I missed half of Monster Squad's set. The second half of it was ok. They're pretty much the same as all the other bands that try to copy the old british stuff and spike their hair up real big. they sounds ok, look pretty cool and put on an alright show, but it gets less and less exciting every time you see it so i guess thats why i wasnt really impressed. they just dont do anything original or have any exceptional kind of energy. it feels like theyre doing it cause they wanna be in a punk band and look cool and get chicks (which i guess is a noble cause) but doesnt make for an especially amazing show. The next band was The Insurgent. they, like monster squad, werent particularly original but they had a lot of energy. theyre on tour from, well, their mailing address is in Garden City, NY, and they werent on the original bill. they kind of reminded me of crimpshrine, cause in some parts they had two guys singing, and they had that kind of crazy energy reminicent of the late 90's east bay stuff. they had lyrics about society being bad and personal struggle. i like these guys. i bought their tour tape which was three bux to find out its only 4 songs and dubbed onto a dumpstered cassette thats got a bunch of jehovah's witness stuff after the music. but, whatever, i guess they need the cash for their tour. the next band was the Scurvy Dogs. Almost everyone i know that had seen em before said they were great, but i guess theyre just not my style. they played fast and loud, and said the lyrics like they meant it. and they have a cool name and a cool logo. ill give em credit for that. then the Oozies played. once again, not original, but i really like these guys. i even have their CD, which is wierd cause I hate all the other bands that are like em. their set was good, lots of energy, and got lots of people in the pit. i think the first fight of the night happened during the oozies set. well, maybe it was during the scurvy dogs. well, anyway, a bunch of kids tried to jump one guy in the boys bathroom. they all got taken outside, and i think the guys doing the jumping got kicked out of the show. after the oozies, it was Toxic Narcotic. they started out an awsome set, then some fucker tried to steal their keys. it turns out they (the band, toxic narcotic) had left their keys on the counter in the stoar like an hour and a half earlier, and someone tried to bring em up to them while they were playing. on the way to the stage, some kid that was pissed off cause somone hit him grabbed the keys and said he wouldnt give em up until whoever hit him admitted it. so the band was really pissed off and was bitching about the kid who "stole their keys". finally someone got the keys to the band. i think that kid started one or more fights after that. i also think there were more fights at gilman that night (5) than the rest of the year (2000) combined. hehehe. so toxic narcotic finished their set, played all the songs we love to sing (shout?) along with, and the pit was pretty good, even though like half the crowd had gone outside to either participate in or watch the fight(s). i liked seeing toxic narcotic live- i think they had a good attitude and it looked like they had a lot of fun being there, despite the thing with their keys. then strychnine played. the crowd was mostly gone. the people that were left danced around a little but there was no real pit. the set was ok...i think the song i though was really good was cover cause it didnt sound like the rest of the stuff they played. i cant honestly review this band cause i cant remember what i thought even though i know i stood there and watched almost the whole set. and im sure youre tired of reading this entirely-too-long show review anyway, so. end.

Citizen Fish, Time in Malta, Ding Dang, Cream Abdul Babar, Drag-Body at 924 Gilman St., Berkeley, CA, 11-25-00

all i have to say about this show is that Citizen Fish rocked and almost everyone was dancing, and that Ding Dang was country and played for way, way too long.

Spazz (last show), Total Fury (Japan), the Oath (NY), Iron Lung, Falling Over Drunk at 924 Gilman St., Berkeley, CA, 12-2-00

this was the biggest show ive ever seen at gilman. i think there were something like 650+ people that paid to get in, plus the bands, guests, and people working. There were like 10 people working security and the line went around the block at a few points during the night. no ins and outs. as usual, i missed the first half of the show cause i was off drinking, so i dont have anything to say about Iron Lung or Falling Over Drunk. I also didnt get to sleep at all the night before, and ended up taking a nap for about three hours before the show started so i was all spacey-feeling and wierd. The Oath, the first band i saw, kicked ass. I can't really say anything more specific cause i dont remember that much about what they sounded like, just that i really liked them. The pit was good and everyone was really excited to be there. But they were also kind of pissed that they couldnt go outside. it was really packed, even between bands. The next band i saw was (hey that was a palendrome...) Total Fury. theyre from Japan and i would totally suggest checking these guys out if you havent heard them yet. They rocked and the energy was good. Before they stated playing i asked some guy what they were like and he said "'81 style hardcore". (in case you were wondering). none of that lame fuckin tough-guy hardcore shit. it was rad. One thing i noticed during these guys' set is that there were more people on the sides of the stage taking pictures than there were actually in the pit. I guess it was like that before total fury played, and it definitely stayed like that until the end of the show. I dont understand people who would rather remember the night from a whole roll of film taken at the show, instead of remembering it from how much fun they had dancing, or whatever injuries they got from being in the pit. but i guess its just easy for me to say that cause i usually end up getting doubles of their photos. Then i went to go drink again (i had ins and outs cause i was a guest of a gilman worker, yay!) and missed part of Spazz' set. The part i saw was cool though. They played all the songs everyone wanted to hear, said goodbye to all their good friends and played a couple extra songs at the end. the pit was fun, but the security guards worked at keeping it small (stood at the back of the pit blocking people so it wouldnt get any bigger) for most of the set. then towards the end it turned into a giant circle pit which i havent seen at gilman in a long time. This was the kind of show where you run into people you havent seen in months or even years, and have excited screaming/drunken-hugging reunions. to the spazz fans, it was sad. to everyone, it was a fucking kickass show. i wont forget this one for a long time.