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A while ago I was hanging out with a band at Sideonedummy and we were shooting the shit, drinking some beers and telling stories. As the night ended the singer of the band said to me, “I wish you could come on the road with us, just to tell us more of your stories.” The next day I started thinking about what my friend said and I decided to take a few minutes and tape one of my stories. It sounded OK so the next day I taped another and did the same for about 2 weeks. The link you have here is 4 stories about “growing up” in Nor Cal.. Take a listen and if you like it pass it on to someone else you think that might dig it and ask them to do the same. For those of you with kids, do not listen with them! I have a potty mouth. Sorry!!
So this morning at 7a.m. my 5 year old son starts blowing on this"new" whistle he has at full volume. At first I was cool about it. "Hey buddy, lets not blow on the whistle right now. It is a little to early for that." Of course he doesn't stop and then proceeds to blow it louder and louder and then ends up trying to play a song on it. At first I was getting upset with him and then I realized I shouldn't be pissed at him I should be pissed at the moron that gave him this "nightmare noise maker thing". So I asked him with a smile, "Hey boss who gave you the whistle?" It took him all of about 2 seconds for him to tell me the name of the person who was making my head feel like someone had split it open with an axe. At that moment I went on-line and purchased three air horns. The kind of air horns you use to scare away bears when you camp. These things are frigging loud! The come with a set of "Headphones" you have to wear when using them. Guess who's kid is getting these as a gift from me for the holidays.
Enjoy your day and try to laugh really hard at least once today!
Just found this video of The Damned doing Smash it Up. So great! Dave Vanian is one of my all time favorite singers. The list goes Joey Ramone, Strummer and Dave Vanian. Who are yours? Do you care? If not, cool. Check out the Damned ruling!!!
I spoke to Mike today from The Riverboat Gamblers. Nicest guy in the world. His band is out with Rise Against and Rancid. He says all the shows so far have been great and people are getting in the shows early enough to check out them out. He also has a new job. He says he hangs out at the merch area all night after they play so he can meet all the people that see them play. If you run into him tell him I say "Hi". Mike also said the both Rise and Rancid are killing it each night. Speaking of Rancid. Did you see them on The Tonight Show last night. Pretty sick stuff. The played "Last One To Die" and delivered the goods. I also talked to Tobe from The Street Dogs who are on tour with Offspring. He called me from Canada and said the tour has been going well except for they had a blow out on their RV which set them back a few hundred bucks. Tobe also mentioned they are writing a new record and want to record it at the beginning of 2010. That is all I have for you today. Now check out Rancid ruling!
So the Warped Compilation for 2009 is out. This year Fat Mike and El Hefe are on the cover. The photo is pretty sick. Fat Mike had this to say about being on the cover:
"Hi everyone, here's what happened: some people at Side One Dummy records asked NOFX to be on the cover of the Warped Tour comp. We said "NO!" . Then they sent over some "Comp"-romising photos from our last trip to Japan that no one really needs to see. So we let them use a picture of me and Hefe for the cover. A week goes by and I get a call from them again. This time they want an unreleased song for the comp. I told them to go to hell. Then they sent over more photos. The next day NOFX went into the studio and recorded a new song for them. They liked it so much they only charged me $10,000 for the remainder of the photos. Thanks guys.You're the best! Fat Mike
Anti-Flag's seventh studio album "The People or The Gun" hit's record stores everywhere today! Selected independent retailers around the country will also be carrying an exclusive bonus EP with 3 exclusive unreleased tracks that you won't be able to get anywhere else. Anti-Flag will be headlining this summers Warped Tour, and will be appearing on the official 2009 Warped Tour Compilation CD (50 Bands 2 Disc) which is also out in stores today.
Growing up, I was a huge fan of Youth Brigade. I owned everything they put out: The 7 inch, the full-lengths and of course the blue print forSouthern California's punk scene of 1982, "Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In." It is safe to say that my crew of friends and I had become obsessed with the band. From the moment I heard the opening chords of "Boys in the Brigade" I was in! How could I not be? They were real brothers who were in a band together, traveling the world with a message of unity and each one of them was just as charismatic as the other. In my opinion, Youth Brigade isAmerica's version of Sham 69.
Living inSan Jose, I was lucky enough to see shows inSan Franciscoat the legendary club “The On Broadway.” In the early 80’s The On Broadway was home to Bay Area legends like Dead Kennedy’s, M.D.C., Code Of Honor, Bad Posture as well as so many other great bands. On top of the strong local talent that the Bay Area was turning out, The On Broadway also hosted every punk band that made their way toSan Francisco, including Youth Brigade. By 1984 I had seen Youth Brigade a few times and had even spoken to Mark Stern at a few shows. At that time they had a manager who had enlisted me to help promote their shows. The deal was simple. I would pass out about 200 flyers all aroundSan Josefor the show in SF, and in return I could get myself and four friends into the show.
So one night in 1984 when Youth Brigade played The On Broadway, me and my friends piled into a car and made the 40 minute journey north toSan Francisco. After three local openers Youth Brigade finally hit the stage and The On Broadway literally exploded. Every punker fromSacramentotoSanta Cruzhad made their way to this show. The place was packed with over 700 sweaty kids singing along to every word the came out of Shawn Stern’s mouth. “Modest Proposal,” “Fight to Unite” and “The Circle” were just some of the songs they played that night. With each song the pit only become more chaotic with kids dancing, stage diving and singing along together arm in arm.
I remember I was right up against the stage all night long. During the entire night this one 200 pound skinhead kept stage diving feet first. Needless to say, 200 pounds coming at you in a pair of red Dr Martins is a scary thing. Once is enough but this guy was into double digits on his “boots first” method of stage diving. We decided something needed to change. As Youth Brigade dropped into another song I saw the “boots first” stage diver coming our way. As he began to gain speed and make his way off the stage, me and four buddies pushed him over us and into the pit. What goes up must come down and he came down hard. I remember hearing the crowd cheer when he hit the floor.
Youth Brigade closed with “Sink With California” that night and as usual all of us ended up on stage singing with Shawn and Adam. The show was done and Youth Brigade had delivered another night of songs preaching unity, individualism and freedom. Covered in sweat, beer and whatever else was in the air that night we all began to head to the exit and make our way home. Suddenly my friend Reeps grabs me and pulled me to the back of the club.
“Dude, that guy who you launched over the crowd is out front now and is looking for you with about five other gnarly looking dudes.”
At that moment I think I pissed my pants but I couldn’t tell because I was still covered in sweat from the show. “We got to get you out of here,” Reeps said. As we stressed over our situation I noticed Mark Stern on stage putting away his drums. I quickly made my way over to him and explained our dilemma. I remember Mark laughed and said he saw what we had done and asked why we hadn’t done it earlier. As we talked more, Mark picked up on the fact I was pretty fuckin scared. A few months earlier something like this had happened and ended with a kid getting stabbed. “Don’t worry” Mark said as he packed up his drums “you can hang with us until we leave and then we can all walk out together.” I remember thanking him and being so blown away that he would actually make sure nothing went down. It could have been real easy for Mark to look the other way but he didn’t. As the night ended we all walked out together; me, my friend Reeps and Youth Brigade. For a brief moment in time, as we made our way through the wet cold streets ofSan Francisco, I felt like I was part of something special, I felt like I was in the Brigade.
