If you’re still dumb enough to be coming here, we’d like to suggest the following:

Flagstaff: the blog
and
STAY PUNK SHOWS

Here’s some video…

Zombie Religion on tour:

Here’s a show in Flagstaff:

Here’s an event coming up for ya bikers:

FlagSprints website…

oh, and for kicks, check out the MakeOut Bandettes:
make out bandettes

PART 1:

PART 2:

Tour de Fat is Cancelled for 2008
January 29th, 2008

Our friends at New Belgium Brewing have decided to cancel the Flagstaff Tour de Fat for 2008. Since this event represented almost 50% of FBO’s income, this is a tremendous financial hardship for FBO. We will immediately begin brainstorming for funding ideas, researching grants and planning events to help supplement our revenue to continue with our bicycle advocacy efforts in Northern Arizona. If you have funding ideas, or would like to help, please contact Melissa at melissa@flagstaffbiking.org. Below is an exert from the official notice from New Belgium Brewing Company explaining their decision:

To all the members and Directors of Flagstaff Biking Organization and Northern Arizona Pride Association;

It is with sincere regret that after 8 amazing years, we have decided not to bring the Tour de Fat back to Flagstaff in 2008. We never thought the day would come when our flagship show could cause such a ruckus… nor did we ever see the Tour de Fat growing into the behemoth that it has become. As more and more folks discover the TDF, sadly not all of them have come for the purpose of moving the bicycle to the forefront of transportation. Instead they have focused on pushing revelry to new heights.

As we saw in 2007, this has put all stakeholders in a potentially dangerous situation. While the core of our mission is to help, the risk of calamity has become more imminent. Since Wheeler Park is sadly no longer an option, we have lost the ability to host the show downtown. We have also lost the confidence of the City of Flagstaff to host an event that enhances the town as opposed to putting it at risk. These are the major factors in our decision not to return. Without a suitable venue, or necessary permitting, we are without promising options. Know that this course of action was not taken lightly by our crew, the Brewery, or our Distributor in AZ. The TDF is a loss all parties will miss.

Sincerely,

New Belgium Brewing and Team TDF (the now sad Clowns)

On to the obligitories: hope all is well on your side. Get excited. This page looks the same now- and whatever. Big things come in 2008. Lots of stuff rhymes with eight, so all sorts of stuff could happen. You could find a mate. It could happen to those who wait. To those who gain weight. To those irate souls looking for a state of grace. All I know is this year will be great. This’ll be the year when we finally smash the state. Wait- J/K. That would be lame.

The show last night was insane. That’s kind of a hyperbole.

This Runs on Blood: I missed em. Don’t break up right now, I’d be bummed I missed your last show.

RIFF: Still bummed I didn’t make the cut.

Decadere: Listen guys, patches are so 20th Century. Branding is important in the 21st Century, but you have to be careful how you do it. Was I inebriated or did they sound kind of like Portraits of Past?

Dracholich: Be honest, do you remember this point of the night? These dudes are champions.

Okay, adults, go see Babies play on January 12th. Go see Vision of a Dying World on Jan 18th. (If you want to play this show, holler at me ASAP). At that new bar. The one where the inside looks like it’s soaking in blood. Like in the Shining? Wow.

If you haven’t already, start a band. Have a show at your house. See how it goes. I’m gonna go take a bath.

Hungdover and grateful,

Bobby Carlson

Subject: Dear Flagstaff, someone stole my laptop.
Body: So you might’ve heard,

My computer got taken from Primo’s sometime between 2:30 and 3:00am Thursday nite/Friday morning. I left it in a silver metal briefcase with an “Emlord” stencil on the outside, leaning against the building. I was distracted, exhausted and the only thing i was high on was the Coming Out Day party i had just played at the Mogollon (which was beyond awesome, btw, thanx urrbody). I don’t know when they took it, before or after I left, but its gone. I’m not a trust fund kid, I bought this thing with my own money, and I could really care less if it weren’t so damaging to my work.

I’m offering a $500 reward, no questions asked.

It’s a 13″ white Macbook, with a crap-ton of music on it.

If you know anything or have heard even a smidgen about something that could sound remotely like it, please don’t hesitate to call me or write me here.

Please, and thank you.
-Emmett
(928)600-1269 cel
Feel free to repost if you care.

Click here for the Robothouse Calendar on Facebook Application

Here’s a couple more trivial things that I learned:

1. The kiddie bowl at the bike park is my favorite thing to skate.

2. Bands that are playing their last show should give me more than an hour’s notice to see it.

3. I’m way too old to be that super drunk guy at the show that acts like a total and complete idiot.

4. Bud Light & Clamato in one can. Wow. Better than Miller Chill.

Here’s a couple shows you might enjoy. I’m sure there are others.

Friday September 14th

Treasure Mammal &

Babies

@ New House

7pm-10pm. Bring cash.

_________________

Monday October 8th

Numbers (www.numbersmusic.com)

This Runs on Blood

Babies

@ 111 S SF Street

all ages $5 8pm

And here’s a random picture of Soft Shoulder taken by Mihio, used without permission and without reason.

Sorry bout the lack of updates.

• Did the GITEM gang task force stop the Orpheum from doing a rap show?
• Really Smoooooth music @ the MonteV coming this July?
• Are the Greenhouse Production boyz still butthurt about some punk houseshow bratz?
• Could there be any more ‘metalcore’ shows in Flagstaff?

All this and more… coming soon never!

Also: if you’ve got writing, info, etc you want on here, send it to Ray and he’ll hook it up. Submit your doody or this site will move as slowly as we do. Which is cool with me.

Also: if you’re interested, Ray and my band put a new vid up on our website. It’s got the same cheesy Imovie effecs this one does. Even more of them.

Summer’s goin good so far. I hope yours is too.

Oh, and here are some images from these shows:

• 400 Blows & Tricops
• Lightning Bolt

Thanks to Ray Walker and Jason Moore, for great webspace and great design, respectively, and for supporting all things Flagstaff. One Life to Live! WhiteSlavery.Org!

Arizona bicyclists only want to be treated equally, and that is what the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists (CAzB) is asking your help with. CAzB has been working with legislators to get a bill introduced that will add the offense of killing or seriously injuring a bicycle rider to the existing “serious physical injury or death by a moving violation” statute (ARS 28-672).

We have drafted a bill that would add significantly increased penalties for killing or seriously injuring a bicycle rider when they are being passed, are riding legally (in accordance with 28-812), taking a lane as provided in ARS 28-815 (A) 4. or riding in a bike lane or on a path.

Your help is needed to call, write or e-mail your legislators, to urge them to support making penalties for seriously injuring or killing bicycle riders the same as for motorists.
Ask them to support the bicycle legislation being introduced by Representive Robert Meza!
If you don’t know, or are not sure who your legislators are (one Senator and two Representatives per legislative district), you can find your legislators by going to the Legislature’s web site, and looking at: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MemberRoster.asp
If you are not sure which district you are in, go here for a map of statewide legislative districts. Hint: Most of Flagstaff is District 2 -Ray

You may also call (toll free): 1-800-352-8404 (House or Senate) to reach your legislator by phone (be sure to ask for your specific legislator when you call).

Please contact your legislator today, as time is of the essence!!!

This video features “LIVE” performances by (in order) Hawnay Troof, Red Dress Press, The Makai, Robothouse: LTD

-Ray

Oh, and here’s some photos from Winter Formal. Check out the video below as well…

Oh, this too: My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-fd672353e3f6f2e4bc433e8c2aaf5f4d}

ltd.robothouse.org

Matt & Kim: dance. synth. pop.

Soft Shoulder: dance. pop. gnarl.

Special Guests: *

Bring some money or offerings (that are beneficial if they put gas in the tank of their vehicle) for touring bands. Keep butterfly knives at home. No wait…

THE NEXT NIGHT:

The best bands from Phoenix and us.

Information about chilling in Tucson on the next night is forthcoming.

Oh, and for a good closing / unifying message:

Lets try to be a bit more posi, since we’re all in this together.

The review of the review is definitely the most personal thing I’ve written on Robothouse, the website. Hell, it’s the most personal thing I’ve written since Sid and Vicious days which is a title I haven’t even thought of in at least three years.

Jesus, this must have something to do with my birthday. Fuck. The review is the kind of drivel lessers write on their blogs. Of course, Ray pays me big bucks for this so whatever.

Neener Neener.

Nevertheless, this might explain why I went so gonzo last night. I just let a little too loose. Like Summer (Rachel Bilson) at her senior pirate prom on the OC. God. Man, apologies if I grabbed your butt. Jeremy was in all white, I remember that. And “Big Pimpin” and “Sweet Child of Mine” and some Rocky remix song. Talking to Sofa Gabe about Confederacy of Dunces and Cormac McCarthy in the back of the bar. That was cool.

Okay, so the Paul sucks. Most of the time. That first solo album is awesome though. And Ringo’s an underrated drummer. He doesn’t scream for attention, he just gets the job done. And how.

See. Only you care about that shit. No one else. Maybe your elitist friends. Okay, and maybe that girl that moved to New York that’s obsessed with the Beatles that you almost lived with but are super glad that you didn’t. But even you think she’s a little weird with the Beatles stuff. I mean there are better bands than the Beatles. The Stones, the Who, hell, ELO has some pretty great songs.

But you see what I’m saying right? You talk down to people with this shit. When they don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re mean. Or you get closed minded. People think that you don’t like them. Do you get that? Why do you write shit like this? What are you trying to prove?

That you’re better than Nicki Esqudero? Who cares? She’s a human being. And she’s got a gig with the Flag Live. Who cares how many times you’ve tried to write for them. You’ve got your own website. Okay, it’s Ray’s website, but you’ve got total access to it. I mean you put this on there. Right?

Don’t be so down on yourself. And don’t be so down on other people whether they like the Beatles or not. Other people are entitled to their opinions. There are other opinions besides yours. Like assholes, remember? Don’t be an asshole. Bad writing is okay. It’s going to be okay.

Okay, wait, we have to start over. Let’s go through this word by word, poo by poo. The introductory paragraph, though not making me want to read further, is not god awful. Though I can’t help but want to make fun of Esqudero for downplaying Lennon and the Beatles to, “oh, I’ve heard of them,” it’s whatever.

The second paragraph, in which she points out that Lennon was British, though largely correct, because Lennon was British, also lived in New York, and besides all that, everyone knew who he was. The last sentence of the paragraph, “As a result, he was watched closely for being a possible conspirator against U.S. government,” is a bit of misnomer. He wasn’t watched because he was a protester. He was watched by everybody. If you saw him, you were like, “Hey, there’s John Lennon.” Well, he was monitored by the U.S. government, hence the title of the film, but Esqudero seems to suggest that Lennon being an objector to the Viet Nam war would necessitate his being scrutinized. Which of course is not as natural as Esqudero suggests, but rather the beginning of what the federal government now does as commonly as checking the stock market: violating the dude’s human rights.

So then we get to the paragraph introducing Yoko Ono, which I can’t help thinking, despite being infinitely more interesting than John Lennon, Esqudero had never heard of until her image popped up on the Harkins theater screen. (Hey, she’s in Scottsdale.)

So this is where it gets really good. “The film is pure documentary, but the film is artfully done.” As if to suggest that documentaries are dull, and not art. “…the transitions between scenes are interesting because the filmmakers use fades and montages throughout, making it stand apart from the average documentary.” In other words, “the filmmakers used standard editing techniques to make this film stand apart from the movies I was forced to watch in grade school. I’ve never seen a documentary, but they are boring. They better make this dinosaur relevant to my life or I’m going to get on the internet and copy and paste some shit and shine this one on.”

Am I reading too much into Esqudero’s prose?

The next paragraph is more of the same unbelievably obvious stuff about the Beatles music making up the soundtrack and why it adds to the film. Esqudero of course does not ask how much the music cost to put in the film or who had to be paid. That might’ve been sort of interesting.

“The film also touches on U.S political corruption…” Though I haven’t seen the film, this has to be largely what the film is about. “And the Black Panther movement, and the people interviewed are some of the biggest names from the time.” [“Or I assume so, as I have no idea who they are.”] “All this is very entertaining to watch [because if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t have been made into a movie] and it’s especially relevant today [duh], comparing it [‘it’ is referring to what? The movie?] to the Bush administration, the war in Iraq and musicians like Kanye West and Green Day.[people I’ve actually heard of] And you don’t have to be a baby boomer to appreciate its message. (I can’t help but notice that Gen-Y in the first sentence is capitalized, while Baby Boomer is not.)

Why would a “baby boomer” care about its message? They were there. They know what happened. Also, if it’s a documentary, the idea is that it doesn’t have a message. It has a subject and a bias. It creates a narrative from the footage. That’s it.

Of course this is really a jab at the Flag Live, rather than this one author.

And though it’s not very relevant, I think it’s great that Movies at the Mall in their last months are picking up these documentaries that Esqudero won’t see, like Who Killed the Electric Car and America: From Freedom to Fascism. It’s a good way to go out. Movies at the Mall, and this critique.

At any rate, pull out your sample ballots and read along. The fact is that some of this shit is confusing and maybe if we put our heads together, when we piss in the ocean (that’s a metaphor for voting) at least we piss in the right direction.

When it comes to the candidates, I don’t think you’re doing anyone a disservice if you just vote straight democrat. It’s very important that you vote against superintendent of public instruction Tom Horne. He’s the worst.

The Flagstaff Unified School District Questions: Okay, I don’t know. I’m gonna get some info and update this. I swear the rest of this is only slightly more informative.

Prop 100. A yes vote would deny bail to anyone charged with “a serious felony”. Though I’d like to see some sort of legislation that denies and grants freedom to those accused of murder and such, in some way that has nothing to do with whether the accused is rich or not, that’s not gonna happen and this proposition is simply the wrong way to go in my eyes. Nevermind the fact that “serious felony” is not defined. Robothouse says vote no.

Prop 101. I have no fucking clue.

Prop 102. This would deny “improper” immigrants awards in a civil court case. Whatever. I bet this shit passes. They can stick this one up their asses. Vote no.

Prop 103. What’s incredible about this one is I haven’t seen one inch of media coverage about this. This would make English the “official” language of Arizona. Genius. What would Jesus do? Jesus would weep. Again.

Prop 104. I guess this would allow the state of Arizona to go into (more) debt to provide for stuff like law enforcement and public safety. Uh, I dunno. Whatever.

Prop 105. All fuckin garbled language for what could be either super good conservation intentions or very dark eminent domain legislation. I’d really like someone in the know to ring in on this one.

Prop 106. This one seems rad. To be honest I don’t really care that much for conservation so a bunch of honkeys can enjoy “nature” but it seems like this’ll really fuck big developers in the ass and that’s what Robothouse is all about.

Prop 107. This shit is so unconstitutional it’s just sad. It’s really just a god awful state of affairs that we even have to vote no on this. This is one of those ones that if you don’t vote, you should feel like a homophobic fascist for letting this shit slide.

Prop 200. What a concept! If you vote you could win the lottery. Why not? There’s no poor or sick people in Arizona that could use that money. As far as I know, there is absolutely no poverty in Arizona, and we should just throw a million dollars away to some schmuck that’s done their civic duty.

Prop 201. Okay this would be a more effective ban on smoking than already exists. To me, I say, why not… On the other hand, the only time I take in second hand smoke is at poorly regulated house shows and this, unfortunately, would have no effect on that. I’m really not sure voting yes is really necessary. Except to stick it up Phillip Morris’ million dollar butt hole. It’s tempting.

Prop 202. Why anyone would vote no on raising the minimum wage in Arizona, at least five years since it should’ve been raised, is completely beyond me and my neandertal brain. And yes I spelled that word wrong on purpose.

Prop 203. Hey this’ll tax cigarettes more and put that money in primary education funds. Are you so addicted to death that you can’t help the children?

Prop 204. Hey, it’s hogwash. I seriously doubt this prop will have any effect whatsoever, but whatever, just vote yes. Oh wait, male dairy cows were put on earth by god for human consumption, they don’t have any right to move around. Fuck cows. And fuck a pig too. But not cops. Cops are rad.

Prop 205. Recipe for serious voter fraud or good natured attempt to increase voter turnout? I have no idea. This would eliminate polling places and you’d just send in your ballot by mail. This sounds all good, except it also eliminates the sample ballot, which I’m using right now to hopefully, spread the word, whether you agree with one word of what I’m saying, the idea is dialogue. Without the miniscule information included in the sample ballot all you’d have is those fucking ads.

Prop 206. Ah yes, the fake smoking ban. Paid for by Phillip Morris, this would repeal the ban on smoking in bars. If you like to smell like a dirty asshole after a serious bender, vote yes. Yes, sometimes you smell like a serious asshole after a bender anyway, but you know what I’m saying, right?

Prop 207. This sounds like a big clusterfuck. Eminent domain. The government can take your shit. All in all, this one sounds like a yes vote would be excellent for the victim of “the man” taking their house. Unless I hear otherwise, I’m voting yes.

Prop 300. This one is fantastic. If this one passes, you can only take adult education classes like ESL if you’re a United States citizen. I really like this one in tandem with the English-as-official-language proposition. “You have to speak English. No, you can’t take a class that teaches you English. Get out of my country, you ugly brown person.” These propositions are not racist at all. How come there’s no propositions that say, “If you voted for George Bush, you will be sent to Iraq ahead of everyone else, no matter how poor or stupid they are and regardless of your physical condition. You reap what you sow, motherfucker.” ?

Prop 301. Basically, this one fucks anyone arrested on a methamphetamine charge to their full punishment. No parole. Vote yes on this one if you support sheriff Joe and you’re a fascist and you think addicts are terrorists rather than members of your community that are sick individuals that need treatment and support.

Prop 302. This one would bump the salaries of state legislators from 24,000 to 36,000 dollars a year. Honestly, this sounds fair. Except they have to be fucking rich to run for office in the first place. Part of me says fuck em. Part of me wants to help the one guy that got elected because he wants WalMart out of his neighborhood.

So that’s it. In epilogue, I’d like to see those radio and TV ads attacking so and so continue on past November 7th. Like, “Hey, you know that guy that beat me by a goddamn landslide. Well, he sucks and I’m gonna pay for ads for the next two years and tell you why he sucks.” I think that’d be really fun.

Please Vote. You know the rich people will.

(Okay, so this is by no means a well researched editorial, but rather one person’s ill informed opinion about lines of dialogue that seem far too black and white/conservative for this typical show goer.)

Say you’re at a party. You go into a room where not only is coke use going on, but you’ve been invited to join in if you’d like. You say, “Hey, I’ve never done that shit before. I’ve heard negative things.”

Don’t be ashamed to say such things. You might think it sounds lame but it’s so much lamer to have to say, “Yeah, Um, I spent most of my late teens sucking dick for coke in West Hollywood. No thanks. Well, actually, yes I will have six lines. Thank you.”

So one of the friends you came with says, “It’s fun if you take it easy with it. It’s not for everybody.”

Your other friend interjects; he’s looked very uncomfortable since he’s come into the room and witnessed the goings on. He says, “Did you know that drug smugglers kidnap and kill white babies only to gut them, load them with coke and sew their faces shut to cross the border? Anyone that does coke is a loser and a baby killer. You all need to think about that. Later.”

There are some problems with this argument.

First of all, coke is ridiculously expensive and if someone is willing to share their stash, they’re neither losers nor is it believable that they’re conscious baby killers. Secondly, stories like these, and though it sounds ridiculous, I’ve heard them, are insane. There’s nothing more conspicuous than a dead baby. Trust me, I know.

Then again, there are human mules as well as a thousand other human rights issues when it comes to producing and transporting cocaine. It’s impossible to describe the situation without simplifying it to problematic terms, but I will anyway. See, there’s these poor Latin American countries, with both the tyrannical government and their socialist enemies funding support for their causes with the illegal cocaine trade. Americans are big buyers. Like most of the items you buy and consume, profits skyrocket because of producer greed and consumer ignorance. The war on drugs with its deformed cousin, the war on terrorism, only make the game’s stakes exponentially higher. You know this already. You’ve seen the movie.

If it weren’t for the product’s illegality, it would simply be like most of the products you buy: a result of American imperialism and “Western” control of the market. Coffee, for example. Bananas. Oil. Anything that’s imported into this country is not done so by some American business diplomat saying, “Hi, we’d like to use your very valuable land to grow this cool stuff, which you will not be able to afford, as well as hire out your people as a labor force that we will pay far below a living wage. Sounds awesome, right? Let’s make a deal!”

Rather, these conditions are maintained by waving around the biggest gun barrel in the world. And I’m not talking about Colombia’s.

What I’m saying is that cocaine is what it is. Selling it and trading it is vicious business. There’s no doubt about this. I know because I watch the Wire. But the consumer of it is only as guilty as the consumer of coffee or gas, grapes, or ass. Black market capitalism works unbelievably similar to uh, “white” market capitalism.

I guess what I mean is: get educated before you go shooting your mouth off. By all means, be concerned. When cocaine becomes a prevalent fixture, the scene goes down. (Normally, I hate that word ‘scene’ but in this case, I just mean art and shit.) Believe that. If you think someone you know has a problem, do what you can to get him or her help. I just don’t know what good it does to shun them from our however-you-want-to-describe-it community. It just doesn’t seem to make sense to say that someone that supports some drug lord in some far off country trying to maintain a small army of soldiers is any worse than someone that supports a pharmaceutical company with not only a huge private army and support from the American government but ads on television telling me that I’m deficient in some way and need their product.

• repair used bikes
• share bike knowledge
• help organize
• teach a how-to class
• educate about automotive pollution
• teach us about different style bikes

LEARN:

• wheel repair
• hub greasing
• chain lubing
• correct bike height
• bike safety

ORGANIZE:

• fundraisers
• bike-ins
• bike-related events
• bike rides
• teach-ins
• critical mass
• bike parades
• bike art shows

FOCUS: We would like to share and extend our bike repair knowledge, free of charge, at a safe, altruistic and macho-free bicycle resource center for ALL people in Flagstaff. Our intent is to get more everyone on bikes. Furthermore, we want to network with other cycle-enthusiasts who care to branch our message all over and raise awareness to the importance of biking over driving, for health and political reasons.. and much more. Come interact with others who value the importance of free knowledge, recycled parts and bicycles.

Spokey the Bear says, “Only YOU can help prevent deflated tires…”

Contact:

For suggestions, assistance and questions, please contact:
email: bicykling@hotmail.com
phone: 928-699-5761

Bands? Creosote featuring Nick, Craig and Xotchle from New Frontiers. Greg, x-New Frontiers, Sam who plays guitar for NAU and Taryn, Southwest Regional Mafia champion for the 4th year running.
Aunti-Entity featuring Nyky founding member of the Fat Dog Alliance Support Group, Candice formerly of the experimental band M’Trailor, Myra From Maceys and Morning Glory and Kaelen (Dutchess’ Mom).

Ok, If you’re looking for the updates, check out the CALENDAR and if you wanna look at old flyers, chezck this out. Don’t worry, we’ll be getting more up in time… -Ray

Upcoming Upcomers:

Robothouse:

We’re First
November 10th @ Monte Vista w/ IceAge Cobra, JETOMI
December 8th @ Modified (tentavely titled: Reggae Meltdown Six) w/ Treasure Mammal, Soft Shoulder
December 9th @ Tucson House Shew w/ Treasure Mammal

Jetomi

October 28th @ Dracholich Halloween Extravaganza
November 7th @ Cottage w/ 400 Blows, Glass & Ashes, The Fucking Wrath (7-10 pm)

Creosote

October 20th @ Springhill House w/Warfair? and Smells Like Drunk (7-10pm)

Other Shows

November 6th @ Dutchess Manor Matt & Kim w/ (tentatively) Soft Shoulder (7-10) has been moved to DECEMBER 7th (all details but the date are the same). Don’t be confused.
October 21st @ Monte Vista Chief Beef
October 22nd @ Cottage Black Elk, Dracholich, Ashtarosh (Ash isn’t even in this band, isn’t that crazy?)

October 28th ZOMBIE PROM @ Mogollon

More info as it arrives and errors corrected regularly. Check Back!

And this Saturday I have to avoid an entire four or five square blocks by my house because they’re crawling with heavily intoxicated yuppie hippies, in costumes no less, fetishising bicycles to the extent of killing any coolness in the simple, muscle and gravity powered form of transport. Give me a drinking fest celebrating GOB’s Segway on Arrested Development and you might see me there. SUV’s are crammed up and down Park and Bonito all awaiting their city-sanctioned drunken driver. I know I’m not making any drinking buddies with my super on point analysis, and I like beer as much as the next yuppie hippie but c’mon. ‘New Belgium’? I know it’s the image of some mom and pop brewery that cares about shit, but c’mon, ‘New Belgium’ just sounds like imperialism. Maybe I’m full of shit. Maybe I’m just jealous of their sweet ass flyers. Maybe their Fat Tire beer just gives me the worst hangovers of all time. Maybe, I’m just like, “Hey man, how come I can only get super loaded in the park if some big beer company says I can, man?”

Moving on.

A source tells me that Zombeast and Hour of the Wolf got paid 20$ a piece for their packed show at 111 a couple weeks ago. The opening bands got paid nothing.

Everyone is amped for this dude: Corey Deickman is in BARR and will be touring with ‘the band,’ which includes Kevin Shea, of Storm and Stress and other bands that you go “whoa, that’s a sick drummer” when listening to the album, in February/March. Coming through Flagstaff, yes. Or, we hope so.

JETOMI is opening for Melvins and Big Business on November 25^th in Tucson at the Vaudeville. That’s sick.

Anomic Suicide, Landlord, and three other bands that haven’t played shows yet or have names are breaking up because all the members are addicted to ‘Magic: The Gathering,’ a card game invented in the 1990s for middle schoolers.

Movies at the Mall is closing its doors in December. Bummed.

A Baby Gecko/Soft Shoulder split 7” is under negotiation for release sometime in… Sometime.

That’s it. I think. Watch the movie with the microphone. Its funny. Expect more of those.

The understanding that will come though, before Ray or anyone else involved and omitted, gets on top of a building and thins out some of Flagstaff’s population yelling “Nicki Escudero fucking did this!” is that the One Eleven, or Wildman’s (pronounced WILL-DMINS), is just a building. Jim Mansene, the building’s owner is not some crook or douchebag. Well, maybe he is, but it’s nobody’s business. Mansene letting dumb kids or not letting them, use his property to make noise is just the same as any other property owner/landlord making that decision. Most, however unfortunately, would not let dumb kids into their property to do god knows what, like make art, or whatever.

When Ray called up last night, from the bar, and asked if I’d seen the article, I told them that I had, but hadn’t read it, as there was another article, about our new band and I was too amped about being the king of the week to care about the stupid One Eleven (Read it here. Let it go, already. I did however look at the photos. Which are awesome.

So I read it, and it was even more laughable than an article written by Nicki Escudero is expected to be. First of all, the guy doing the shows now, trying to “save the venue” is the real douchebag. He’s the guy paying the rent and whining about it being summer and there being no one in town to support his money making scheme. Effing ridiculous. The shows I’ve been to this summer, all summer, have been packed. Nevermind, everyone having the time of their lives. Fuck this guy.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to give up on the music community here in Flagstaff,” he says. What you need to give up on, meathead, is making $2000 a month off the Flagstaff music scene. Move to LA, dimwit.

The other incredibly funny moment of the article is when the promoter that followed after Ray’s Biblical exodus from the venue in question, Shan Dan Horan says, “I mean he’s definitely a business guy, you know?” about Jim Mansene. This is fantastic, and reflects somewhat poorly on Horan and makes him out to be a retarded eighth grader with a savant type affliction for stating the obvious. He’s a business owner, of course his concern is getting people into his business; this is not some dark lord oppressing you. He’s just a dude that doesn’t give a fuck about art. Hey, there’s another one. There’s another one. But it also reflects so well why Escudero’s writing provides us writerly types with such fodder for her effigy burning. Not only does she include this quote that all but smashes Horan’s credibility, but doesn’t even try to edit it into something that reflects some thought by the speaker, but rather the sound of a random spontaneous brainfart.

(For the record, Shan is neither an 8th grader nor a retard. What Bobby’s trying to say is that Nicki’s article is so poorly written, she pretty much makes him look bad. I know this is repeating the last paragraph, but I have a sneaking suspicion that an 8th grader and/or retard could browse over the said paragraph and misinterpret what it’s meaning truly is. -Ray)

Which is why Ray will calm down. Because no one cares. This is Nicki Escudero we’re talking about here. The young lady that seemingly everyone loves to hate. Hey, she fucking lives in Scottsdale. Writers might call her a hack. (Hey, takes one to know one.) Others might call her a bit superficial. Others, perhaps, might say that she’s a bad, lazy journalist. But who cares? The One Eleven might be doomed. Who gives a fuck? Ray does, because he (and alot of GOOD kids! -Ray) put a good eight months of his blood, sweat and semen making sure it was a tits art gallery and venue that sustained itself, which was on track had he not been railroaded by the fact that the guy that owns it couldn’t give two fucks. But for everyone else who just complained that it wasn’t as good as a house show, in an ideal world, will simply get off their asses and keep on keeping on. And Ray will calm down. The music will do that.

And Nicki Escudero will continue to write about bands and things that I do not care about. The guy that wrote my band’s article (which you might want to read as an addendum that provides some good between-the-lines info to the One Eleven story) who wanted to remain somewhat anonymous, (but, hey, figure it out) was with Escudero when she started at NAU’s premiere waste of space rag, The Lumberjack. Everyone that loves to hate the great Escudero, blame this guy. Check it:

“Dear ***, Hi! I was just wondering if you could give me some advice. I applied to write for The Lumberjack because I have always loved to write, and I have had some experience writing and editing other newsletters. I wanted to write for Life becaue that is the section that I am most interested in, so when Ty assigned me there, I was really excited. I feel like the whole time I have been with the section I have just been a waste, taking up space and creating problems for you and Sarah. I really got the vibe that you never wanted me there, and now that I am with News, I was wondering if you could honestly tell me if you think I have any potential or if I should really just give up because being a writer is a waste of my time. Please be honest! I would so much more appreciate you honestly telling me that journalism isn’t something I should consider than you lying to me and telling me that I should give it a try. I know that you know my writing better than anyone, so I really trust you! Thank you so much! , Nicki P.S. If you would rather call me, my number is (*********); thank you!

Needless to say, ***’s response didn’t nip this one in the bud.

For more info: Last Stand at the 111?
Flag’s only underage music venue faces an uncertain future
By Nicki Escudero

Ok, now it’s Ray’s turn… what prompted Bobby’s post is very simple. It’s something we both agree on. The Flag Live is horrible. HORRIBLE. Take a look at the cover story.

Who wrote it? A girl who can’t “bring her grammer” correctly to a largely distributed publication, nor lives in this town anymore. She writes horrible articles. Who’s fault is it that they get to press? It’s not her fault, it’s ultimately the Flag Live’s fault.

Who took the photos? Well, Mihio did. He took them well over a year ago. The photos are also re-used. Now, I’m stoked that pictures of our bands and bands we hosted are so hot that the editors of the crappy rag re-use them, but c’mon. Plus, he no longer lives in town either. Who’s fault is it that there hasn’t been any photos of local shows, etc. It’s not Mihio’s as he is a champion and has an awesome family to take care of. The fault lies on The Flag Live’s head.

This next one goes out to Willed-Man’s. Some punk kids had no problem running an all ages venue for years with NO startup money, and not even one big ass local sponsor. You do have one thing on your side. You have a fucking lease. It’s your decision to sign a lease and not know how to run a rock venue. It was also your decision to talk shit to a local promoter who was pretty much handing over 3 months worth of free money to you (by the way of having shows already booked there.) It was also your decision to paint the place “crap ass” black and make it look something reminicent of what a stoner would do if he wanted to turn his basement into a strip club. Deal with it. Pony Up and be an “American Maaaaan!” I dealt with it when I got screwed my Mansene and his eviction notice. I moved on. I didn’t put it on any person or scene in this town like what seems to be going on in this crappy article.

Anyways, it isn’t him or me or any business owner that run this all ages scene. It’s the kids. The kids will do what they will. They will listen to horrible music, try to sneak in alcohol to legal venues. They’ll tear your heart out and make fun of it on myspace. They’ll associate theirselves with corporate area codes and put x’s on their hands, but not even know it’s origins. They’ll end up making you hate what you love, and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you take away their venues and what they love, they’ll recover and make better ones and love it more just to spite you. (Ok… I hope you’re laughing at that last paragraph, because I sure am. I mean, what’s a rant without some self-depreciating BS in it? What the paragraph really means is that the kids and bands that could have been helping you out with your venue had an incredibly awesome summer. I saw over 10 kickass houseshows over the past few months that pulled more people than the benefit @ Willed Man’s.)

Now that I think about, and have calmed down, I am VERY happy Nicki did not contact or quote me for tihs article. I’d end up looking like too much of an ass. Let’s face it, I do way to good of a job doing that on my own!

-Ray

PS: The Rumor hot off the presses is that someone got electrocuted at or right before the benefit show. Man, I hope none of those kids get electrocuted there! It sounds like a safety hazard…

PPS: Score one for Flag Live, as we DID notice that you put Phil Buckman on the only photo that wasn’t taken by Mihio. The picture of Phil was indeed taken by Mihio.

PPPS: The real reason why the title is so vulgar, aside from the fact that it’s funny and will create tons of gossip and drama is that I believe that the Flag Live will print about anything out there, so why not this? I will say that there are a number of writers that Bobby and I like, but they’re few and far between, which makes us appreciate em even more!

“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest–a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
- Einstein

Red Dress Press is practicing downstairs and it’s been threatening to rain all day. Yesterday, a hail storm started suddenly and ten minutes later the street in front of my house was a grand rapids.The weather, that’s a good place to start. Good, keep going. Okay, moving on: Kendrick house just had their last show recently (as can already seen on this website) and it was everything one would expect. There was a keg that lasted longer than it should have and there were extended sets by just about every band that played. Everyone kept talking about how it was sad. But it’s only sad if nothing else pops up. C’mon, this is Flagstaff. The rock goes on, man. The real heroes of the evening were Nick and Craig playing two sets in that sauna of a garage. Someone should’ve given these guys a medal. Throughout the night, the crowd maintained a homoerotic sweaty spiritual lunacy. That’s a big cheesy dungheap of phrase, but that’s the best I can do. That’s as accurate as I can put it. All I can say is that it was fuckin hot in there. It wouldn’t have been so gnarly if there weren’t weirdoes making it worse. During Creosote, there was a big guy in a Ramones shirt acting like he was 200 pounds lighter and half his size. During Erik Petersen, there was some girl doing interpretive dance in the back. That was odd, but not all that surprising. That’s just in the garage.The weird thing about Kendrick shows is it seemed like half the people there just seemed to think it was a party. Which is cool, but whenever I had to ask folks for money, when I put on a show there, they’d always look at me like I was some sparechanger. Whatever. I suppose I am, but if a sparechanger ever came up to me, sang a sweet ass song about how he doesn’t have his IWW card and his lack of luck, I’d probably give him a couple bucks. Even if he had a middle man. I mean c’mon. It’s 2006. Punk and hardcore shows have been 5 bucks since 1983. Everything else has inflated at least 100%. I’m going off on one hell of a tangent. It’s not the last.So the garage is pretty full, (hey, scope the snaps) and the kitchen is pretty full, and the area where the foosball table is, all pretty full of bodies. The living room is pretty full. Out front is very full. Don’t these people know they’re missing Adam Frumhoff?All in all, Kendrick shows always tended to rule hard and I hope this ‘last show’ thing is simply a well-engineered ruse to make the enthusiasm level break through the roof and up into the rafters. I did recently see the property listed for sale on such a website. $320, I think the asking price was, if you’ve got the money. Sold as is.Not that they’ve had the monopoly on loud sweaty fun. Pedro’s Casa now dubbed Transylvania, has shared the silly party vibe, but with a Girls Gone Wild Studio 54 Old School kind of thing going on with the cameras and lack of space and all that Sparks mystery in the bowl punch. Either Pedro’s neighbors all deal drugs, or there’s a tragic/comic beauty in what people say about the South Side. Anything goes. Whatever it is, I hope it lasts forever. Ray says rapid gentrification awaits. Reminds me of Cuba right now. (like here…)If one has the memory for it, you might remember Phil and Ash’s incredible set as some band whose name I can’t remember because it’s too long but has the word ‘zombies’ and ‘osirus’ in it. The band name might be too long for me to grab but their song “Urban Sprawl Pyramids” about the cancer of Anthem, Arizona has got to be the hit of the goddamn best summer ever. (Always go with the hyperbole. It’ll make the voice sound amped. Because that’s what’s trying to be conveyed.) Someone needs to bust out a four track, get it mastered and put out the hot single of the summer on seven inch vinyl. I’m serious.JEToMI, in the little graffiti room at Pete’s was triumphant and colossal and ear drum blood letting. Some reporters said they could hear the sonic thud at Conico. Not surprising. For a minute, there were those spreading rumors of break-up. Be damned. These dudes are just getting started. That band has really come together and evolved and developed in a really epic way.And it’s not like that’s all. Not at all. It’s been like at least two shows a week, pretty much all summer. How does one keep up? Jesus fucking Christ, did you see Mt. Gigantic at Cottage? Those kids can write some songs. I mean Ooga Booga was good, with their shtick, but for me Mt. Gigantic just tore the roof off. The closest I can come to describing it was maybe Deerhoof or something. (I don’t know if that conveys how mind-blowing they were or not, but whatever, sometimes hyperbole just falls short, and gets a bit old. I’m running out of sound descriptions. You know the quote: writing about music is like dancing about architecture, it doesn’t translate. Which is why, I guess, you should just go to the fuckin show.) Fantastic songwriting.And Atomic Skagicide finished the Monday evening. Singer Travis had taken to explaining the song content with little speeches in between the songs since the words just sound like “BRAWWWWR! GARRRF OOOFA OOFA” most of the time. The songs are sick, of course. Like deconstructed thirty second pastiches of the best moments of the thirty year history of hardcore music. And despite, Travis’ rather silly condemning of folks like myself telling you what’s cool, I’m gonna have to do it anyway. Anomic Suicide: too cool for school. And it wasn’t until their one song encore that the lemmings felt they had to run into everybody and be morons, which was great. Or actually not great, it was totally dumb; but what is great is the fact that Anomic Suicide are on tour right now. Crazy. And with a tape demo you should get your hands on when they get back. (Ideally, you’ll be able to order it from this very website, very soon. More info to come.) The demo is a bit too lo-fi for it’s own good, in this reviewers opinion, but of course the Dystopia fetishizing comes through loud and clear with anti-Christian samples before every song, except for one Bowie sample from “Changes” which would’ve made more sense if it was Bowie singing, “look at all the cavemen go,” which is what I think of every time I hear about bans on stem cell research or whatever else. Or whatever.So back to the show: I recall a fantastic moment when two guys in identical spiked leather jackets were arguing about some band represented by one of their numerous black patches. One did not like the band, and told the other kid that he had spit on them when he saw them, and the other liked them and was bummed that the other dude didn’t like them. I butted in, the pretentious ass that I am, and said, “You guys should fight.” They turned and looked at me, like they wanted to fight me, and I said, “You wouldn’t even have to do anything. You could just run into each other and see who got poked in the eye first.”Well, I thought it was funny, anyway.(Oh, yet another sidenote: If you ever don’t like my band, ((like that’s going to happen!)) it’s totally cool. Feel free to split, or if you’d like, if you’ve got something interesting to say, by all means, heckle, but please don’t expectorate on me. Despite my pacifist leanings, I might just take off my instrument and hit you with it for being such a tired cliché. As Mark Gonzales says, be an indivishule.)Moving on, (finally,) in breaking news: if you thought the desecration of the Peaks with piss water was bad, the landlords of 102 E Elm have decided to destroy the historic landmark that is Guy Ecklund’s house. It’s time to get active, people. Bulldozing is scheduled for October and it’s time to organize. We have to stop the death of the birthplace of all Ponies, On Seduction, Conversation and Can Opener songs. Write a Myspace bulletin, write your congressperson, and/or take direct action. Will a human barricade around the property work? I don’t know. But something must be done. If just a plaque denoting the site’s former significance. Gentrification, people. Sound’s like Ray is right. It’s the real deal.And on to other disappointments: Mika Miko got a flat tire and missed their show last Monday, resulting in me getting to bed on time but being thoroughly bummed for a bit. Well, at least until I saw Madeline on Thursday night at the Monte Vista Hotel. Mika Miko pulled up to my house at around 9:45, about fifteen minutes after everyone was sent home from Cottage House. I’d be more bummed but they’re not just some podunk band starving for a show. If you’re smart, you’ll just go see them in Tucson in a few months with the Gossip and Swan Island on September 26^th. Or maybe they’ll be back soon enough. By then they’ll probably be selling out the Orpheum. Seriously.As mentioned, Madeline at the Monte Vista was a fantastic time. Which is nothing short of a Twilight Zone type of a phrase. Even stranger, there’s been about one or two decent shows there every month all summer which is about one or two more than what usually goes on there. While all the management can do is complain about how the turnouts have been poor, I’m simply amazed at the amazingness of the amazingness there. I mean this is the Monte V, the lessest of all the bar evils in town, but still… I mean, did you see Parenthetical Girls? Not only were they fucking incredible, but there wasn’t even one dipshit in a goatee and backwards baseball cap with flame tattoos yelling “Fag!” over the rather odd arrangement and refreshingly unmasculine delivery. Double amazing. Perhaps, I’m overly misanthropic (or elitist, right?) I just never expect what I’m amped on to go over well with the mainstream type of drunk that’ll hit the Monte Vista Lounge. But whaddoo I know? Maybe music is the universalist of languages. Or maybe we’re witnessing a cultural shift in hegemony at this particular bar that hasn’t been seen since the early nineties. (Say what?) That’s bullshit of course, or it’s not, but the other shoe will certainly drop as it did in the mid-nineties and the Monte V will once again be wasteland, population zero. But hopefully not before The Liars Handshake do their drunken Pogues/Americana thing a couple more times, and I’m allowed a seriously huge tab, like Norm at Cheers, of which I’m not expected to pay back at all.Only in the Twilight Zone.God, so much more news/propaganda to spread. I haven’t even mentioned the Hive yet. Or Sisterpants. Or Josh Willliams. Or ragged on the Noise yet, (nevermind the Flagstaff DEAD.) Or all the buddies up and leaving town. (Fuck that shit.) So much to do. At any rate, keep your eye out. And stay out of the rain.
-Carlos the Dwarf 8/5/06

1. Architecture in Helsinki- Do the Whirlwind
2. Newcleus- Auto-Man/Fabolous- Youngn (Emynd + Bo Bliz blend)
3. Neneh Cherry- Buffalo Stance
4. Fleetwood Mac- Everywhere (Paul Devro re-edit)
5. Eightball + MJG- Ridin High
6. ?-Mr. Postman
7. Madonna- Hung Up (Diplo remix)
8. Uffie- Hot Chick
9. ?- Mamasay Mamasa Mamacusa
10. JJ Fad- Way Out
11. Low Deep- Get Set
12. ESG- Dance
13. Freak Nasty- Da Dip
14. N.W.A.- Sumthin 2 Dance 2
15. M.I.A.- Bucky Done Gun (Emtronik refix)
16. Rick Ross- Hustlin
17. Digital Mystikz + Loefah- Da Wrath
18. Wiley + Dizzee Rascal- Bounce
19. Emtronik- Leroux St. Megamix
20. Break for applause
21. IHYWYP- Stuff (Emtronik remix)

We want a band that plays loud & hard every night.
That doesn’t care how many people are counted at the door. That would travel 1 million miles and ask for nothing but a cup of beer & a place to rest. They’d strike chords that cut like a knife. It would mean so much more than a t-shirt or ticket stub (fuck phx.) They would stop at nothing short of massacre. Everyone would leave with the memory that there was no place else in the world and this was where they always belonged. We could dance like no one was watching, with one fist in the air. Our ARENAS JUST BASEMENTS AND GARAGES ACROSS AN UNDERGROUND AMERICA. RIP KENDRICK.

Alliaceous and some other bands ripped up this show, but I got there late… check out some sweatty photos (yes, I finally got an image gallery I like working!):

Also, coming soon… photo galleries, more podcast content and much more!

Also, at the Kendrick house be some mooosic @ 7pm!
**the makai **bodhisattva **Creosote **Vox noxa

Remember bring $$ for the bands and come have a crazy good time. Bring friends. Bring fun. It’ll be great. :

THE CHERRY TEMPO
+ 1 or 2 others

show starts at 8
NO COVER
FREE
CRAZY
FUN
BURRITOS

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang directed by Shane BlackAlong with the Ice Harvest it seems that comedic crime drama is making vast improvements, and hopefully a comeback. I haven’t been this amped since Fletch. So, like the Chandler and Hammett novels it nods to constantly, this movie is about LA. Or it’s supposed to be. But the fact that it really isn’t, and the fact that the plot, like many of the novels it draws inspiration from, is so convoluted that one needs multiple viewings to get it all straight and it really doesn’t matter if you do only adds to the appeal of this film.Robert Downey Jr. is pitch perfect as the narrator of sorts, Harry Lockhart and Val Kilmer gets all the good lines as private detective Gay Perry. Yes, he’s gay, and yes, the jokes about him are offensive. And it’s one of those meta type movies that deconstruct themselves as they go along, and it’s well done, at least for nerds like me. Scream is an excellent and underrated example of this.As I said the plot is complicated but think of it as a Chinatown remake, perhaps, or even, and ode to Sunset Boulevard as referenced with the opening swimming pool shot. But I’m stretching, really, for the movie just seems to be a love note to a genre of film and fiction that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. Or something like that. It does have a rather sizable section in the local Bookman’s.The opening credits sequence is absolutely beautiful and worth viewing even if the movie sucked. However, it does not, and multiple film and lit references clutter every scene, or maybe they don’t, maybe it’s just accidental that this film resembles Hollywood’s history, as it is a film about Hollywood. I think. Or as I said, it’s really not.I’m confused too, actually. All I can say is that I loved this movie, but I’m also a huge fan of the genre this film pays homage to. If you liked the Limey, Snatch, LA Confidential, the aforementioned Ice Harvest, this might be your enchilada as well. The director wrote a lot of the Lethal Weapon series, and that should maybe be a not so hot selling point, but take the good dialogue between a suicidal burn out detective and a black old man straight laced detective and you’ve probably got a movie there somewhere. This is kind of like that, you might like it. Or you might hate it. It doesn’t try to appeal to everyone, which is another strong point, and of course, the female characters are all caricatures, but arguably, so are the men. If you’re looking for that kind of emotional depth, look elsewhere, however, if you’re looking for a great plot with a lot of sex and violence hooked onto it, this one’s a champion.So yeah, these reviews were rather ho-hom, I admit, but it’s hard to get into it, without spoilers, and without sounding like a pretentious film nerd. Which, I am. I’ll see if I can embrace that more next time. Ah, next time. I guess that’s up to whether or not Ray likes it.

Free coffee, bring your own cup.

The place is 311 N. Bonito St., right around the corner from Aubrey’s. We’re gonna try to start early hopefully 8am. More likely 9am.

Email me any questions, mihio_manus@yahoo.com

Here’s a short update:

JETOMI are going on tour. Again. Here’s the dates, obviously cut and pasted from… uh, that one website:

May 27 2006

8:00P

Argents House Flagstaff, AZ

Club 111 Flagstaff, AZ

The Joint Flagstaff, AZ

SLC Salt Lake CIty, UT

TotalFest V- Play missoula , MT

TotalFest V- Party missoula, MT

Nicks House Spokane, WA

Rendezvous Seattle, WA

ACME Portland, OR

The Comatorium Grants Pass, OR

Arcata Arcata, CA

OTown Oakland, CA

San Pedro San Pedro, CA

Kendrick House? Flagstaff, AZ

The apex of the above tour is TotalFest in Missoula. I’d get in big trouble if I posted the line up. Hmmm… maybe I should.

Meanface are sort of maybe going on tour? Here’s some dates if you’re in Flagstaff:

Meanface, Conifer, Suluca @ Cottage. $100 FLAGSTAFF, AZ (this show will be sick.)

Monte V with Awesome Cool Dudes Flagstaff, AZ (oh wait, so will this one.)

Speaking of sick shows, here’s a whole bunch.

cottage house w/ old haunts, skags flagstaff, AZ

applesauce tree house w/ by the end of tonight and rdp flg, AZ

36 chambers, tucson w/ red dress press, no bunny tucson, AZ

san pedro, ca TBA San Pedro, CA

LA @ the Smell Los Angeles, CA

sacto, red square w/ cozy sacramento, CA

portland, TBA portland, OR

TBA Washington olympia, WA

fantasia coffee house, bellingham w/ narrows bellingham, WA

TBA Washington seattle, WA

portland, TBA portland, OR

bakersfield GIGANTIC bakersfield, CA

las vegas las vegas, NV

casa de pedro w/ dan deacon flagstaff, AZ

Baby Gecko and Red Dress Press shows all. (Except the first one.) Yikes.

Body Parts played a few shows and now are on big hiatus.

The Skags are graduating high school. Give em a high five.

Creosote rule.

Sisterpants played a few sweet weed drenched shows and have disappeared into the shadows once again. For the time being, anyway…

I’m still waiting for a Joe Myers show. Craig Brown to open.

I was going to do a big bit on Nicki Esquedero leaving town, but you know what, it’s not worth it.

I was also going to do a big bit about how sucky the new restaurant Karma is. It’s downtown, and it’s like a little piece of Scottsdale right in the heart of Flagstaff. It should be next to WalMart where it belongs.

Here’s something pretty random: I picked up Songs for Cassavetes at Bookman’s rather recently. It’s about 6 years old at this point. I picked up the soundtrack also randomly about a year ago, and it’s okay at best, but I’ve wanted to see the film since I had heard about it, when it was coming out. It’s essentially a film about a couple handfuls of bands and why they do what they do. The overall theme being the importance of all ages shows and how much more vital underground music is, (and I suppose you can define that for yourself) than music as commerce. The title comes from a few quotes by the original Cassavetes, (not his son, Nick) and how Americans have achieved material wealth but living human lives has eluded them and this culture dies (emotionally) at age 21. Well said on all accounts. Well, anyway, I liked the movie, it got me off my ass to write this silly column.

There’s a lot more to make asinine comments about, (like the new management of 111) but… whatever. Maybe you could do it.

Here’s a brief, minimalist breakdown of a few of this weekend’s events:

Cinco De Mayo

“Every Light Is a Bong Hit”

Secret Vulture

@ Casa De Pedro

I vaguely recall a salute to the pagan god, Marky Mark. Good vibrations were felt all around.

I also recall the strange lady going nuts over Josh, and then nuts in general. She lives across the street from me and yells at me sometimes. A good anti-crack advert if one was actually needed.

The orgy was a bit short. People got too excited.

As some of you know, 6/6/6 is this year, coming up in about a month and this 5/5/6 event was a fundraiser for the demons that need reimbursement for their reckoning next month. I’m happy to announce that $12 were raised, and we only need $8,564,987 for the supplies we need to provide as stated in their riders, and their guarantee. I call that success.

Later that evening,

Red Dress Press

@ the Hive

This was the kick off evening of another symposium on gender issues, relationship issues and how to make the Hive more inclusive.

As Red Dress Press set up, there was a movie playing on a very small television about feminist protest and one lady was walking around the big church, saying “oh, this movie is really good. Have you seen this movie? It’s really good.” I think we’ve all seen the movie. Look, I just want to rock.

Red Dress Press is awesome. Oh, you knew that already. Well, they didn’t disappoint. It was good.

Ray’s note: Some band that resembled the Les Payne Product in looks, but not in awesomeness played the MonteV. Oh, Rey Luv is back in town:

Hangover nursing until the next evening:

Seis de Mayo (it just doesn’t have that marketable ring, I know)

Daniel Francis Doyle

Tuxedo Killers

Sister Pants

This show was perhaps the most fun Cottage House show that there’s been.

Sister Pants proved yet again that weed and pop music rival loud music and a cold can in hand. Serious up and comers.

Tuxedo Killers took the Sam McPheeters growl of Wrangler Brutes and did some fun rock behind it and simply, as they say, “tore it down.” I’ve never been so impressed by Austin, Texas in my life. Except for when they reported that Best Fwends recently sold the first track they ever wrote for $18,000 to some British booze company for an ad. No joke.

Then Daniel Francis Doyle came on and did his impression of a four piece rock band from the summer of 1994. Amazing. As one guy said, “it’s like a one guy Hella.” It was something like that. All I can say is he came out of that sweet, weed smelling basement, really really sweaty.

And then some of us marched on to

Secret Life of Painters

Chief Beef

@ Monte Vista

My field reporter tells me that people got drunk and listened to loud music. Surprise, surprise.

Field Reporter: Yes, it is true:


Chief Beef was INCREDIBLE!

No time for hangover damage control it’s on to

KICKBALL

@ Mark Grace Field

The sports reporter has informed that the first serious injury of the season took place this last Sunday. A drunk underage child got hit by a train. It went like this: “Shit, he’s hurt, let’s get out of here!” Then everybody left. The child screaming, demanded to be taken by the hospital. The last guy there dropped him off.

Everybody but that kid went to:

Seven de Mayo

Jetomi

Craig Brown

Creosote

IceAge Cobra

@ Dirty Steve’s

Okay, Creosote effing rule. It’s like why I liked going to shows when I was seventeen. I don’t know if a band can do better than that. Amazing.

Ice Age Cobra is like why I liked going to shows in my early twenties. What else can I say? Oh, V-O-C-O-D-O-R! Sick!

I think I’ve seen about 90% of JETOMI’s local shows. This might’ve been their best. I’m pretty sure it was.

Craig Brown made me feel bad about myself. In a good way. No, it was a bad way. But it was good.

I had so much fun at this show that I forgot to pass out the flyers in my backpack. They look like this:

OLD HAUNTS (kill rock stars)

THE SKAGS (lil rock stars)

BABY GECKO (I can’t think of another rhyme. Maybe you can.)

Martes, Trienta De Mayo (Tuesday May 30th)

@ Casa De Cottage. Begins early evening, ends at 10pm. Bring $ for the talent.

So then, it was off to:

Evilsaurus Rex

IceAge Cobra

@ Monte Vista

My field reporter has just informed me that people got really drunk and had a good time. This just in: Julie is really crazy.

Rockasarus Rex I mean Evilsarus Rex and Ice Age Cobra Played. It was amazing, hands down, check it:

Drink 6-9 beers and/or 5 mixed drinks and then listen to 9-15 bands over one weekend before viewing this Ice Age Cobra video.

Then, Saturday May 6th has some fun stuff, including this show @ the Cottage House:
Tuxedo Killers features members of Awesome Cool Dudes!
Daniel Francis Doyle comes with microphone headset… and we all know what that means!
Sister Pants is historical Flagstaff decadence.
Come enjoy musical stylings this Saturday at the Cottage House. Look at the flyer, the dogs are awesome!

Then it’s off to the MonteV for this show:

Then, on Sunday May 7th @ Dirty Steve’s pad, the rock comes back around for a third and fourth time:

Red Dress Press

Body Parts

Doomsday 1999

Bodhisattva

and more bands @ the Joint!

Generally, I’m not so apt on getting so tore up drunk on a Monday, but what the hell, I’m all but done with school, and plus it’s May Day and if you’re not familiar, here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it: International Workers’ Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is the commemoration of the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago, and a celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. The 1 May date is used because in 1884 the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, inspired by labor’s 1872 success in Canada, demanded an eight-hour workday in the United States to come in effect as of May 1, 1886. This resulted in a general strike and the riot in Chicago of 1886, but eventually also in the official sanction of the eight-hour workday. The May Day Riots of 1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 occurred subsequently. In 1889, the first congress of the Second International called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago riot. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International’s second congress in 1891.

May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and anarchist groups. In some circles, bonfires are lit in commemoration of the Haymarket Riot usually right as the first day of May begins. [1] In the 20th century, May Day received the official endorsement of the Soviet Union; celebrations in communist countries during the Cold War era often consisted of large military parades and shows of common people in support of the government.

The Red Scare periods ended May Day as a mass holiday in the United States, a phenomenon which can be seen as somewhat ironic given that May Day originated in Chicago. Meanwhile, in countries other than the United States, resident working classes fought hard to make May Day an official governmentally-sanctioned holiday, efforts which eventually largely succeeded. For this reason, May Day in most of the world today is marked by huge street rallies of workers led by their trade unions and various large socialist and communist parties — a phenomenon not generally seen in the U.S. (which has a history of strong anti-communism).

In most countries other than the U.S., May Day is often referred to simply as “Labor Day” or “Worker day”.

The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand celebrate their Labor Day on different dates, which has to do with how the holiday originated in those countries; see also Loyalty Day and Law Day, U.S.A.

In other words, it’s a real goddamn holiday, not some Hallmark corporate bullshit. So I got some corporate beer and headed out with my sweatshop made, corporate mp3 player and arrived to the Kendrick show on time, this time, despite a short delay in front of the Joint, where I was informed there was another show going on at 10:30. May Day 2006, excellent.

There were a lot of people in the showspace already by the time I arrived and Red Dress Press was set up. Nice. Red Dress Press was a good idea for this show, as they added a bit of variety to the otherwise phallic/guitar-driven evening. Or, at least they sound a bit different than the other bands. Not that the other bands sound the same. Oh, never mind.

RDP’s set was pleasant. I enjoyed watching the bros get confused looks and not know what to do to the music. More on them in a bit. RDP switched it up a bit for the last song with their line-up, which really didn’t switch much at all and the crowd was nice and the space was about half full. Which is more than GWB’s approval rating.

Body Parts played next and they played their best set to date. This was largely due to the crowd’s response, but also because the band was tight, perhaps being fresh from recording, or perhaps because they had decent gear, or just because. They did a stellar cover of Screeching Weasel’s “I Wanna Be a Homosexual,” which was appropriate for the amount of big dudes lathering each other with their sweat during the set, and got me to roll up front like a big dummy with a freshly opened beer and get it all over everybody. May Day. More on the dudes in a bit.

Doomsday 1999 are from the Seattle, and are very similar to another Washington band: Big Business, at least in line-up, which is guitar with a big amp and drums. The difference is Doomsday 1999 has a frontman, and Doomsday is a little bit more metal, more Slayer than AC/DC. I discussed the function of the frontman during the set, and in the case of Doomsday, it’s just screaming to the riffs and talking about racist unicorns in between songs, but that’s really all you need. It gets the crowd worked up. He used the rafters the correct way, and really, what really got me to fall head over heals for this band, despite the overall stellar-ness, was the brief, utilitarian set. They played roughly fifteen to twenty minutes, and it was perfect. Please, bands, for god sakes, keep this in mind.

Bodhisattva were the most anticipated band for the evening, at least for me. I guess if I have to tag them with a description, which I suppose I do, it would be brutal prog rock. If Jimi Hendrix was a white suburban dude that grew up listening to Converge and Fugazi, he’d be Justin Cory. The drummer, whose name I don’t know, is, if we’re going to continue this silly metaphor, which we are, is John Bonham and Cookie Monster. And that’s it. That’s the band. Ruling. May Day. I particularly enjoyed watching the bros try to dance to this band. They had no idea what to do. It was great.

And this is what I’m getting at:
Bros: Just dance. Please. Moshing, slam dancing, whatever, went out when it showed up on MTV in the mid 1990s. There’s this thing, it’s called dancing, and when everyone does it, it can get sweaty and intimate, which I think is the connection that you’re looking for. And more people can see the band. And less people get elbows in the ribs. Or pushed into pointy objects. Just chill, dudes. I know that it’s aggro music, but I wanna see the goddamn band, and if you really feel like you have to run in a circle like a Nazi, do it in the back, away from the band and crowd. Do it in the back, there’s a lot of room and pointy objects back there. Get the fuck away from me. I’m not asking you to leave. You’ve got every right to be there just like I do, but get the fuck away from me.

So, this night isn’t over. When Justin broke his second string right before the last song, I took it as an excuse to bolt and I put on my jacket and mp3 player, which isn’t really mine, it’s the old lady’s and she’d kill me if I lost or damaged it. I don’t think I did. I walked down to the Joint, and it was a strange thing seeing this other crowd. I’m not sure how to describe it. And there was kind of a crowd, which is odd for the Joint on a Monday, if you’ve ever walked by and there wasn’t poker. The crowd was a little bit older maybe, though I still, in most of my conversations noticed that I was indeed the oldest… or what was the difference? It’s hard to put a finger on, but these people missed the best bands of the night, for sure. Oh, these people are suckers.

The first band, and as a journalist here, I’m going to fail hard, but the first band from somewhere, had waaaaay too many members. There was the drummer, okay, he was keeping it together. A bass player, who was also excellent and should’ve been louder. There were two guitar players, and there probably should’ve been one. A trumpet player that spent half the time beating a pony keg with sticks, with an occasional bongo beat, no joke. Another bongo player that did absolutely nothing, who was off beat over half the time, but it didn’t matter because you couldn’t hear him anyway, and a keyboard/electric slide thing guy, that was way too loud. It was too much. The only reason I enjoyed them was the bartenders’ reaction, which was of utter dismay. They were bros too. So that was nice.

At this point, it’s very possible I would’ve gone home but it was May Day. Plus, I gave them my card and I needed to ring up ten bucks, so I stayed. For ten bucks I got two of those big PBRs and two Dos Equis Ambers. For ten bucks! Say what you will about the Joint, and it’s all true, but that’s a deal. Okay, and besides, the next band was the band I came to see. And I have no idea what they’re called, but the consensus is that it was their first show, and it was, in that regard, incredibly fantastic. It was jammy classic rock but on that Pavement indyrock tip, and don’t hate me for that one. The vocals were rather muddled and muttered, under-breath style and I hope it grows more confident. My other hope is that as they grow as a band and continue, the jammy-ness will be ixnayed, and they’ll just kill it with good songs. They’ve got the look down anyway.

When I saw the next band, whose name I gleaned as The Day Kennedy Was Shot, which is, like Fall of Troy, one of the worst band names ever. What do you do? Just pick a random historical/mythological event? How about May Day? Something with some meaning? Anyway, when I saw they were setting up with the same members as the first band, I bolted. I’m listening to the CDR right now and I can’t help but be glad I did. Pavement Floyd.Yikes. And I don’t know why I referenced Pavement twice. What can I say? They’ve been in the rotation. They’ve aged well.

Nevertheless, and this is the end here, but regardless of how good the band was, I’ve got to give a virtual pat on the back to Shan Dan for scrambling to get the shows still rolling. He’s a champion. There.

So here’s this:

If you weren’t sure it was Springtime, you can always tell by the amount of hippies milling around the front of Macy’s European Coffee Bistro, and this weekend there were a lot. If Fox News was there, they would’ve called it a riot.

Speaking of Macy’s, can someone please tell Tim Macy that his photos are embarrassing, if not insulting and trite? Am I being too harsh? Okay, if I am, then who likes them? They must be selling, because I saw he put more up. But, judging from the prices, I bet the people buying are the business owners that support putting fake snow on Snowbowl; in other words, the same folks that think they can obtain the level of peace depicted in Macy’s photos from ignoring and downplaying the beliefs and concerns of Native Americans and environmentalists over and over again. Maybe if people stopped posing for the damn things, then he’d just do high contrast landscapes and save us from the didactic sentiment, or at least stick to children. You can’t get bummed at pictures of children. Unless they’re naked, and selling clothing. Then you can be bummed.

And if we’re discussing art, what about Beaver Street Gallery? Stories about this guy have been circulating since he opened up shop back in the early aughts. The one time I went in there was for Andrew Hayes’ fabulous show way back when, and I mean, I’d like to complain more, but they had free wine and cheese, and well, you just can’t complain about that. I bet that guy’s all for fake snow.

But it turns out that all the stories I heard about this guy are due to folks like Tim Macy and their “good ol’ boy” mentality of “locals only, man.” Like Point Break.

Case in point: take the lovely, new Applesauce Tea House up the road, supporting the kids, having movie nights, doing shows, just being rad. They had a rough start, but once they got going, Tim Macy decided he’d have a “grand tea opening” at Macy’s where he introduced new lines of local teas, etc. Why does he feel the need to compete with local businesses that are not at a threat to his own, which despite this rather critical mental thread, is a Flagstaff institution?

To keep it going: rumor has it this guy owns three SUVs. That’s one way to make world peace happen.

Or, maybe by ditching the night time cleaning crew and making the night shift clean with no raise in pay.

Or, lovely Jane, whom you should remember from Universalia Jane, she used to clean his house, and she did so for a fair price. When he moved to a bigger house with more rooms, as anyone interested in saving the world with their religion should do, he wanted her to clean the entire house for the same price. She called bullshit and he balked for a few weeks before paying this lovely lady who occasionally wore leather pants, and loyally cleaned his house for over 2 years, a fair price. Nice.

Or, and this is a good one, and keep in mind, these are all completely unsubstantiated rumors. I’m just talkin shit here. But at any rate, Mr. Macy, Mr. World Peace, demanded his night bakers to make this certain bar, which requires an extra hour of time, which had nothing to do with weekly sales, which is usually how they determine what to bake, and somehow these bars were never on the shelf the next day. Turns out, Mr. Macy was feeding these bars to his birds.

It’s Flaaaaagstaff, maaaaaan! It’s for the birds!

Speaking of fascist art, don’t even get me started on Louis Buchetto. Where the hell is Joe Soren when you need him?

Enough of that, I’ve got enough people mad at me.

So, moving on to more positive stuff, if you haven’t seen, heard, or felt him, Josh Williams of various infamies, (now there’s an awkward phrase) is indeed back in town. (As pictured below.) If you haven’t been fondled yet, it’s just a matter of time. Though it looks as though he’s been selling himself rather short, only starting about fifteen new bands, and only six record labels this time. Now all we need is Joey Balls back in the food chain and we got one big homo mixer.

For those on a similar nostalgia trip, pick up the Mae Shi DVD, which features their 2004 tour in documentary form, and their Cottage basement show is featured, with IHYWYP and “I got My Picture In an Issue of Thrasher.” Various locals are highlighted. Phil is not. People are having too good of a time.

And the biggest news: Kickball for the season has been kicked off. Sunday, sunday, sunday. There’s no better way to ruin your Monday. Me, I don’t do Mondays. Nevertheless, I wasn’t there last week, at the kick off, but also, and you can ask anybody, I suck. Sucking continues this week, as I will be at Heritage Square reading my work. Maybe I should just read this.

Even bigger, breaking news: the NAU republicans were shut down rather mercilessly this week by various groups like ASWI, Concerned Citizens for Robothouse dot Org (CCFR.O.) and about 90% of the student population, as the concerned republicans whined about border reform. And you know what border I’m talking about. They sure weren’t talking about the Canadian one. I mean, those folks are mostly white, and not poor. The successful shut down was due to the outlining of a few simple facts for the swine to mull over, and blasting some of the worst Clash songs in that overrated band’s repertoire (“Rock the Casbah”) and not looking like shaved weasels. The simple facts being, well, simple. Like the one above about the Canadians, or perhaps the one about we all being poor immigrants once, (it’s at the base of the Statue of Liberty) except of course, those that we stole the land from in the first place, and maybe it’s not a fact, but the stickiness of calling a human being ‘illegal.’ Please, republifucks, tell me, how can a human being be illegal?

Okay, moving on.

In Phoenix news, because Flag just isn’t that big:

Very sad to report that Tempe Stinkweeds is closing. The Camelback storewill stay open, which is where I go, because it’s right next to the greatest skateshop ever, Cowtown, but nevertheless, it’s kind of like the scene in Old School… oh, nevermind. Anyways, here’s a few bands I saw at the Tempe location: Thrones, Peechees, Satisfact, Monorchid, June of 44, Sleepytime Trio, Ida, Low, etc, etc. Blog about that, weirdos. That was my Robothouse.

Speaking of Old School, Old School 2, is in pre-production and Will Farrell, Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn are indeed signed on. This rivals Snakes On A Plane, in excitement-level, and it hasn’t even begun filming yet.

In other movie news, Matt Dillon is going to play the infamous Henry Chinaski in Factotum, perhaps my favorite Bukowski novel. No doubt he’ll do a better job than Mickey Rourke, but yikes, look for the freak show this summer.

More ‘Oh-Jesus Christ-Why?’ movies coming out this summer: Clerks II, Superman,

World Trade Center (I can’t make this up! And Oliver Stone is the director. And of course, it has Nicholas Cage. Only in America!)

What else? I don’t know, but I’m actually looking forward to Strangers With Candy (the movie!), Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (though, apparently there’s performances by U2. Fuck.) Nacho Libre (not really for the Jack Black or the Napoleon Dynamite connection, but because Mike White wrote it.) And An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s movie, and you probably think I’m joking, but Al Gore is the man. Ask Spike Jonze.

I think that’s it.

Also, to close this thing down: Yo, you should write for Robothouse. I can’t hang out all by myself. I’ll feel weird. Then it’s like my stupid blog or something and who wants that? Well, I’ll tell you: Nobody. So stop being a lazy no-good republican. It’s easy. Just talk to Ray. Who, as we all know, lives in Florida.

Oh yeah, in case you didn’t know, Josh is back in town. Yeah Whiskey.

Skags/Oroku/Creosote

@Kendrick House

Show Review

So I was a bit late, as I was mourning the death of D12’s Proof, or at least, looking on the internet to find out if he was indeed dead. I think that he is. I also found out, that morning, that my undergraduate advisor, Dr. Val Avery had also passed away. So I was also mourning her, if drinking a tall boy of Tecate and Myspacing out can be called that. She was a fantastic lady. Proof, was a fan of Jerry Garcia and was a fine rapper.

So I missed Creosote. They looked sweaty, so I imagine it was pretty good. Oroku was setting up when I arrived, and there’s a pretty good chance I’m misspelling that, but I don’t know what it means anyway, so there it is. They’re from Seattle. They did a relatively slow, throbbing thing with the minotaur vocals and a cello that added to the otherwise intentionally monotonous chugga pretty well. It was like an extended rock out in slow motion. Their fast parts got dready people moving, the ones that would later throw fire sticks around in the front yard. Oroku’s amps seemed to be frizzing out, and I wonder if their lack of volume was because of that, or to make the cello stand out more. But for a band that wore all black and had a logo with spikes and vines and whatnot, they didn’t seem all that loud to me.

The Skags however were pretty loud. They’ve really changed a lot over their illustrious, lucrative career, in all good ways, and this is from someone that liked where they were coming from in the first place. And it occurred to me, last night, that presently, they are Flagstaff’s most tenured band. Now, if they could just get a little older in a legal sense, and tour. They had one of those sets that every band has: a frustrating, tense hullabaloo, that just gets the drunk crowd more amped. Or at least Ash really liked it. (Completely unrelated: In some pictures, Ash’s father, looks exactly like Leonard Cohen.)

During the Skags set, I was informed that a jerkface from the apartment on Agassiz that beat the shit out of me on New Year’s was present at the show, and I should identify him and see if he was one of the dudes that, unprovoked, kicked my faggy head in. He proved not to be, and I’m really not sure what to say about it, other than those dudes suck big time and I’m not sure what type of blackball situation needs to take place, but perhaps one does. Of course, the dude claimed to know nothing about his roommates’ violent and anti-social behaviors, and I for one would love to believe him, but I’d also like to find the Republican-imitating ass that does and have him point the perpetrators out for me. And I really don’t want to see anyone, including him and his minions, beat up. I’d really just like to ask him why, on god’s earth, he enjoys hurting people and kicking them in the head. That’ll never happen, of course, but my guess is that it has to do with his mother and his confusing sexual emotions. There it is.

One more thing of note: The Kendrick House, at this point, is quite a phenomenon. It’s really nice. I’m not sure there’s another spot that’s so enjoyable to take in a near terminal amount of secondhand smoke and squander drinks. And the Kendrick folks are smart. They’ve got a logo, and it seems to get bigger on every flyer. If they’re still going in a year, the flyers will just say KENDRICK all big, with a date, and the band names will be like a little appendix in the corner. Sort of like a rave, like that. Except with far more dudes in all black clothing in various states of disrepair. And facial piercings. Those look like they hurt. And they’re not attractive. I should end my rant right there. There.

Oh, one last thing. Make sure to check Boddhisatva in a couple weeks. They rule, in a way-better-than-Hella sense. And I’m pretty sure I spelled their name wrong.

Natalie Espinosa from that band Bella in Phoenix had a radio show at KNAU and would play some OK stuff but nobody listened to it. Jim from Jimmy Eat World lived there for a while but all those people left the second they graduated/dropped out, whatever.

So I commuted. Flag to Phoenix and back in one night. 3 AM on the 17 isn’t fun but at least it’s not boring like 3 AM on the 95.

I bought all of my records (back when you actually bought physical products) at Stinkweeds and tried to make that consumerism coincide with seeing a show. Sometimes it worked out and other times – like when I drove to Phoenix to see Jessamine on a Saturday only to find out that the flier was wrong and they played on Friday- it didn’t.

Still, things got slowly better… I met more people who I went to more shows in Phoenix with and I heard rumors of goings on out in the woods and down at Fort Tuthill. There were some kids who had moved to town and were going to make Flag a mecca for rave culture instead of just a patchouli-stink capital and jam band stop over on the way to LA.

In the winter of 1996/1997 I took American Art History After 1945 and I met this dude called Chad Knapp. (Yes, the same guy who was in Hot Fought Cold and Hail the Sire Reign.) He wore a blue work jacket like every other hipster of the day so I could tell he was cool. We found out that we lived in the same apartment complex over by Brannen Community Center so he would drive me to class and we’d listen to his collection of old pop punk, proto-emo, etc. TSOL, Crimpshrine, Pinhead Circus. I can’t say I was ever into much of what he played but he was good company and would occasionally listen to things I liked too. We both complained about the lack of shows in town.

I met tons of people through Chad…Mihio, the Casebeers, everybody who stayed and has made Flagstaff livable for kids with a modicum of interest in things besides weed and the check coming from mom and dad back in Connecticutt.

This guy named Tony Rotolo (I know I’m spelling that totally wrong) that I knew through Chad and others started working at Gopher Sounds and somehow got lucky enough to con the dude that owned that place into letting him do the buying. He had good taste so after a while I didn’t have to drive to Phoenix to buy records anymore. I met Rey Cantil there in 1997 as well. Also, this guy named Jeff Meininger lived in Alpine Ridge with Tony so we’d go over there to drink and listen to records too. Things were chill. We crawled North of the tracks together to get wasted. Flag issued more liquor licenses per capita in 1997 than any other city in the country.

At some point, Chad and his roommate Christina decided that they were going to start promoting shows.
They contacted the guy that owned what was then Cabo Cantina. Ray Walker says there’s some Bikram Yoga center there now. Typical. They booked all sorts of stuff there as Dagger House Productions and with Chad working at Kinko’s we all stole tons of fliers with the “drop the copy key on the way to check out” hack and had some pretty big shows. Fishbone played, Jimmy Eat World did a couple times. This band Sunshine, T-Tauri, St. James Infirmary… There were a bunch. Mihio would show up and take pictures just like he does now.
That place went under. Chad still booked bands. Some of them played Fort Tuthill. I think Chad learned about that from the Casebeers who I met going to a Food Not Bombs cook out with this guy called Matt Musselwhite who I had classes with at the school of Comm. This was back when ShitBastard was a band not just a tee shirt (God I want one, by the by.) That house was tiny and located somewhere behind the Furniture Barn out by the tracks. The shows at Tuthill were totally illegal. They never paid for the power and almost never booked the pavillions they used. Completely punk rock, completely DIY.

One time I was at the OLD Creature Feature house (CREATURE FEATURE, before Young Prices of Darkness, etc. Misfits inspired band that played no Misfits covers. Lupine ruled, by the way.) not the one up on Leroux that became the Casebeers’ place, with Chad and a couple other people and Case showed up. He was belligerently wasted rolling up on a BMX bike and kept talking about dropping the DDP on me. He was really into WCW at the time, I guess. I was kind of intimidated. He was called Chauncey back then.

I met Bobby at this couple Josh and Christina’s house in Phoenix when I got back from an ill-advised Summer of living in and around NYC. He said he was thinking about coming up to NAU. After the Fall Semester 1997, he did. We met Ray through Chad Knasty. Ray was starting a pirate radio station and all of us who had any connection through music had shows on it. It was supposed to be organized but most of the time it just ended up being us wasted and saying fuck on the air and arguing about what to play. Still, it was revolutionary for the time. We tried to publicize shows with it but all of us were at least a little bit scared that the FCC would come shut us down. One and a half watts barely covered North Campus from Cowden Hall. Ray had the transmitter antenna taped to his window. Later it moved to Chad’s house (Dagger House) during the Summer of 1998. Eventually it got moved into Raymond Hall before it kind of fell by the wayside.

On Halloween in 1998 Ray played Atom and His Package’s version of “Mind’s Playin’ Tricks On Me” for 24 hours straight. Once, I did a show completely blasted on mushrooms and couldn’t figure out how to do anything. I wish I had a tape of that show.

There used to be shows at the Old Post Office. Bobby and Chad and I went to see X-Cutioners there, that was a big deal. Then it closed down and became an Aveda Concepts salon amongst other things in the interim.

Rey Cantil was the one-decked DJ in this band called the Shape Shifter. They were kind of Jam bandish but they were the ones to get everybody into the Joe’s Place back when Joe’s was on San Francisco and it was a bar for old men and serious drinkers only.
When I moved away to California, it wasn’t long before Chad and Christina left too. Bobby and Ray picked up the slack. There was a show at Adam Frumhoff’s old house up by Thorpe Park, I think Get Hustle played there. Then everyone moved to Robothouse in 2000-ish. Things had changed considerably by the next time I was in Flag in 2002.

Every time I go back it’s different. There was never really any elitism in the core players’ game. It was mostly just laziness that turned into motivation. We all got tired of driving to Phoenix twice a week for our entertainment so we tried to make it happen at home.