by Ian Webster
Naked Lady Wrestlers
February
28, 2009, Annie's
Social Club.
The Naked Lady Wrestlers opened the show featuring the
fluid guitar virtuosity of Max Volume playing on his finely-crafted
home made electric guitar. Max later accompanied No Alternative on
bass, using another instrument of his own making. It was good to see
Johnny Genocide performing his classic punk set again. Finally,
Negative Trend performed their set, including two numbers featuring
Zach, Ricky WIlliam's son. of whom, no doubt we will hear more of in
the future. Among the audience were Michael Belfer, Paul Draper,
Meri
St. Mary, Alan Korn, Penelope Houston and V. Vale.
March 21, 2009, Bender's.
The Struts opened the evening with their high-energy rhythm and blues. Farah Ancell's vocals growled and rolled with the music, which featured some nice harmonica playing by "Harp." Following them came the Hi-Nobles, featuring Greg Ingraham (also of the Avengers) on guitar, Jeff Ject (also of the Pleasure Kills) on keyboard, Scotty (of Borstal Holiday) on vocals, Henry Austin (of Djellybeans) on bass, and Guy (of Glitter W. Zord) on drums. Greg's guitar work was tightly integrated into the band's pop-infused rhythm and blues, while Jeff displayed the showmanship that makes the Pleasure Kills' shows so entertaining. At this show, Danika Ingraham (Greg's daughter) mentioned that she would soon be performing an acoustic set at the International Cafe. Congratulations to Johnny Davis on being named "Craziest Bartender" by the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
March
28, 2009. Li Po
Lounge.
I caught the Capp Street Girls performing their 'Iggy and the
Stooges'-inspired
brand of rough-hewn hard rock.
Minus One
April
4m, 2009. Thee
Parkside.
5 Days Dirty opened the evening show with a roller coaster
ride of metal-thrash punctuated by relatively moderate interludes
which descended into more meta-thrash. Especially nice was the reggae
infused "I Will Survive" interlude. Next came Minus One
which played a rockin' set of old school punk. Dana Alberts did not
let a broken E-string slow him, down, but very ably improvised as he
played on. Frontside Five followed Minus One with what I think of as
classic mosh pit thrash, followed by Hightower, which played the type
of skate-metal-thrash that I remember from the On Broadway circa the mid-80s. There were some nice guitar riffs and lots of energy. In
attendance were Zack Farwell (Greyceon, Walken), Lizzard, and Alanna
Wiitala, among others.
Polkacide
April
11, 2008, Bottom of
The Hill.
Khi Darag opened the evening with their intriguing mix of
'klezmer meet Eastern un-Orthodox music. Following
them came
Kehoe Nation, which began their set with a dissonant number followed
by tunes that ranged from Southwestern-flavored to thrash, all
performed with virtuosity. Finally, San Francisco's own synth-polka
band, Polkacide, capped off the evening with the drinking, dancing
and revelry that typifies their shows. It was the first time that I
noticed Bill (formerly of The Witnesses) playing drums for them.
Among those attending the show were Eve Becker (Caroliner Rainbow,
formerly of Ugly Stick) and Lani Lithman (Girls with Guns).
Congratulations to Geno and his bride!
Throbbing Gristle
April
23, 2009, The Grand
Regency Ballroom.
Erika Anderson, a tall bobbed-blond was the
striking opening act, not only in stature, but in her strong,
evocative voice that was folky – not in a twangy way – but in its
accurate intonation, devoid
of the warbling vibrato that so many
affect.
Her
clear, ringing voice
gave way to oceans of feedback backed by driving drums, as if one had
been plunged into the pure power and turmoil of emotion that ranges
beyond that which can be conveyed by mere words. Her voice
re-emerged, Phoenix-like, from the feedback only to descend once
again into it, as if drowning in emotion. Her song ended not so much
with a bang but a note of resignation. The context of the feedback
took what is commonly the domain of testosterone-driven maleness and
made it feminine, and therefore her own.
Headliner, Throbbing
Gristle, was true to their philosophy that no song can ever be
performed twice in an identical manner and therefore should be
performed in an organic manner with the idiosyncrasies of each
performance accepted as integral to the song itself. Despite the
presence of laptops, which might disappoint analog purists, T.G.
retained their unique sound intact. By the close of the show it was
clear that San Francisco still loves T.G. even after a hiatus of
twenty-eight years.
April 25, 2009, El Rio.
King City opened with a set that ranged from hacienda horns to looney
tunes-type melodies that injected a mood of jazzy humor into the
crowd. 'Love Songs' then performed their set of thrash that was
infused with a Buzzcocks-type of energy. Finally Flipper closed with
a set that inspired some audience members to debate
which
hallucinogens go best with seafood.
Check
out --
The Mutants at the DeYoung
Museum on May 15
D.J. Lebowitz at the Hotel Utah on June 3
and the
Go Gone Girls at the Bottom of the Hill on June 20!
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