Damon Wood

My good friend Eric Din and I did a thing. It is worth your time, especially with headphones.

https://ericdin.bandcamp.com/track/im-so-terribly-stoned-feat-damon-wood

Engine 88 will play at Albany’s Ivy Room, Saturday Oct. 21 2017. Also on the bill is sooperpunk band California, which includes Adam Pfahler (Jawbreaker), Jason White (Pinhead Gunpowder, Green Day) and Dustin Clark (Soophie Nun Squad).

Get tickets for this insanity now.

We’ll be opening the Sunday show, September 17, 2017. We hit at noon, Chicago time. Blink and you’ll miss it. Also, a live webcast is planned, details forthcoming. Our first show in almost exactly 11 years.

PS. No webcast. But the festival was kind enough to livecast Drowning. Thanks Riot Fest!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mun1-rvqNyw

Well this is a surprise. Still not sure how, but audio has been surfaced. Board mix? Probably.

This is from a show we played at the grand Fillmore SF with Van Gogh’s Daughter and Jojo on July 12, 1996.

Full set after the jump…

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Evidence has been revealed that proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Engine 88 actually existed and made noise. I don’t know the poster of these videos, but I am thankful to them because, aside from the very crunchy-sounding video of the 2006 reunion show, I had been completely unaware of any motion-picture leftovers of good ol’ Engine. Here’s a link to the playlist. 6 songs, embedded below.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXNHzzuThKfTS0ttYAXZRlBE0ArZaNtED

The songs include Pelican, Funny Car, Istanbul, Mangoes, Ballerina and GTO. Istanbul and Ballerina’s presence is interesting because this is right before the release of Clean Your Room… we’d apparently already moved on to our next set of songs before we’d even given the first round a proper tour.

Good stuff.

ZZ Topless got a nice mention in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Pink section last weekend, in a feature about local tribute bands. Thanks to Cat People for the tip.

Catching up on things, I was contacted by local comic, commentator and podcaster Nato Green for an interview about the good old Thrash Funk scene. We conducted the interview at Au Cocquelet, the most appropriate place for a discussion about the origins of the Smoking Section.

Nato Green’s podcast can be found here.

For my own records, a retroactive list of shows from this Fall. Makes this slow Winter seem less idle.

• October 4: ZZ Topless, Starry Plough, Berkeley, with Cat People and Physical Graffiti
• October 5: ZZ Topless at Oaktoberfest in Oakland’s Dimond District
• October 11: Curtis Bumpy at Jupiter, Berkeley
• October 20: Curtis Bumpy at Bernal Heights Fiesta on the Hill, San Francisco
• October 26: Curtis Bumpy at Sonoma Raceway, private function
• November 17: A Secret Rose, Craneway Pavilion in Richmond

Also, on 11/8 I had the honor of sitting in with Will Bernard and his Motherbug reunion at Jupiter. Which was great fun and also pretty funny, because the Motherbug rhythm section was Keith McArthur and Jan Jackson, along with Josh Jones and a keyboardist whose name currently escapes me (sorry, he was great). Also present were Scott Jensen and David Agretelis. And Jerry Kennedy. And Omega Rae. Basically, Curtis Bumpy. For a few songs it was a bit like Will was sitting in at his own gig. Of course, Will melted faces in due fashion. Special thanks to Len Patterson for letting me use his rig.

Will Bernard and MotherBumpy

A few weekends ago I had what I’d have to call a peak experience. I wanted to share and try to do it some justice although, as the recorded version of this event will probably pale in comparison to the actual performance, my notes will only paint a small part of the picture. But I’ll do my best.

Earlier this year a friend gave me a tip that a local organization, Other Minds, was soliciting applicants for an ambitious musical piece to be performed at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond this fall. The event would be the West Coast premiere of a composition by Rhys Chatham, the third time the work has been performed world-wide. Chatham is a well-known minimalist composer who has mixed it up with members of the musical intelligentsia ranging from Glenn Gould to Terry Riley to the Ramones. The piece – called A Secret Rose – is written to be played by 100 electric guitar players. (more…)

Usually summer is a slow time for a part-timer such as myself. Strangely, I seem to be semi-busy with gigs this summer so far. Catching up:

• ZZ Topless hit Pine St. Bar & Grill on June 22, benefiting the Tri-Valley Roller Derby Girl Association. That was a hoot.
• Curtis Bumpy played in Corte Madera at Minke Park’s Piccolo Pavilion on July 14 as part of the summer concert series there.
• Thursday night, July 18, ZZ Topless will play with the Blackout Cowboys at Peri’s in Fairfax.
• Friday night, July 19, Curtis Bumpy hits the Jupiter stage once again for good vibes and greasy grooves.
• Saturday August 24, ZZ Topless brings the noise to 50 Mason in San Francisco.
• Saturday August 31, ZZ Topless will break much sweat for the Vacaville Art, Wine & Brew Festival at 12:30.