FREAKIN' AT THE FREAKER'S BALL
by Ginger Coyote

 I am back from a fabulous trip to Baltimore, Maryland.... I stayed with the perfect hosts JIM LUCIO Aka DEFEKTO and JEREMY CRAWFORD who are simply the best people ever....I was able to meet all the cool people in Baltimore and able to  see people who I had not seen for well over 3 decades such as MAGGIE KINSELLA and got to meet her daughter HOLLI...

Tuesday was a travel day for me  and after the Airline lost one of my bags we did not dare stop by the Ottobar... so we went straight to Casa De Hampnett .....Wednesday was spent exploring Baltimore with JEREMY as JIM was on Jury Duty....In fact he spent the entire week in The Baltimore Courthouse.....  After the WHITE TRASH DEBUTANTES  rehearsal on Wednesday (It was our only rehearsal as a whole band)  we all went down to THE CLUB CHARLES to cool off.. I walked to the Club  with Ryan's band mate whom loved Early BLACK FLAG we spoke about DAZ CADENA, KEITH MORRIS and KIRA ..... JEREMY CRAWFORD manages the club and it rawks.. A great juke box with THE RAMONES, JOHNNY CASH, JASON DOVE, PASTY CLINE, THE KINKS and more on it... It is JOHN WATER'S favorite watering hole in Baltimore  along with all the other trendsetters in the scene..They have a great Restaurant next door called THE ZODIAC which is one of Baltimore's best.....After we closed the bar...  RYAN STERNER gave JIM  and I a ride back to the Hacienda... JEREMY had to literally close the club and did not get back until about 5AM....

On Thursday we went to ROCKET TO VENUS it is a trendy Bar Restaurant that caters to the "Rock Crowd' of  Baltimore.. The service was so so and it took awhile to get our food but we managed to have fun.. There were several fabulous photographs  mounted on the walls  courtesy of the Bay Area's own JIM JOCOY  from his book "WE'RE DESPERATE"...He had given them to RANDY DAVIS as a gift of appreciation for Randy helping him set up a showing in Baltimore...... So the Restaurant asked Randy to hang them on the walls to make the place even more hip... So when the Hostess commented about how great the pictures were-  I mentioned that my photo was also in the book and that JIM JOCOY was a dear friend... she got very excited.....  I called MICHAEL WRAY the first Winner Of  Fox Television's "Hell's Kitchen" for JASON GLOVER (He is a die hard fan of "Hell's Kitchen" ) to speak with MICHAEL but only his wife  LOLA WRAY was home so Jason chatted a bit with Lola...... I wanted to go to The SIDE BAR but everyone was tired.. Friday Night- I however did get a lift with FIONNUALA  DANGER to THE SIDE BAR and had a wild fun night...The Side Bar is kinda reminded me of ALFIE KULZICK's beloved Valencia Street Bar  in San Francisco THE CHATTER BOX  complete with a dressing room in the basement ..... The dark haired Woman who tended bar was great and made a hell of a  stiff drink... Saw THE RIPOVS and CHELSEA GRAVEYARD play and by that  time the Long Island Ice Tea's got me fucked up ...... Viva COURTNEY LOVE!   Wild Women Rule!

I would like to thank BRUCE DEUCE the drummer for CHELSEA GRAVEYARD getting to JIM and JEREMY'S pad safe...

Saturday the show started early so MAGGIE and HOLLI came over to the house to pick me up.. Yeah!!! the FREAKER'S BALL had started...  It was wonderful seeing CHESTER SIMPSON who came to see the show and he was as nice as ever......  CHESTER brought a whole bunch of his friends BRIAN, EVA, MARY, MARTY, LEAH and  TIM  so we  all had one a Hell of a  fun time...  I had seen CHESTER a couple times within the year in San Francisco at The Fab Mab Reunion last spring and in June at "Dirkfest" ... I enjoyed seeing the all the Teen Punk Bands and was most impressed by a young musician- that knew a good deal when he heard one.. DEFEKTO offered him  $$$$$ to wear a bib and sit in a play pen.. He also had a tip cup in the crib and made out like a bandit....  He had a great spirit and was able to act out the role he was playing "Baby Chrissy" ... He was a real find... but the always observant HOLLI  pointed out that the sign on the crib read "Baby Chissy" ....Nonetheless a STAR WAS BORN!!  PENNY "THE MONKEY GIRL" aka ALIX -TOBEY SOUTHWICK also wowed the crowd... PENNY gave Lil HOLLI  the 411 on all........A few of the fun Teen Punk Bands were THE RIPOUTS, THE MISSPOKEN,  and THE MEDIA PIGS.... They were all cool kids and they loved asking me questions about OPERATION IVY after they found out I knew JESSE, LINT and MATT........ CONLEY the lead singer from THE RIPOUTS was really sad after his set - because he had heard a friend was seriously hurt in an accident in the "Pit" at THE ALLEY a club  in Southern California....... Another real  find was "GRANDMA GROUPIE" who drank shots of JD with JOEY NAYLS and myself at the bar.  She had previously  broken a guitar on stage  with  COCO'S PALME which featured her Grand Daughter and  CARL a cutie from Sweden  with a blond Hawk and  a "hot" Pink Mini Skirt on - who won little HOLLI'S  heart with Maggie's blessings.... STEPTOE from CHELSEA GRAVEYARD and whom I knew vaguely from SF was fronted by The RIPOVS on a set of covers followed by THE RIPOVS who are straight ahead fun rock n roll...MIKEY the lead guitarist reminds me of a young STEVE MARRIOTT from HUMBLE PIE....THE LIVING WRECKS  played some rawkin' Old School Punk Rock . I  was most impressed by their fill in Bass Player JOEY NAYLS who was on loan from THE RETICENTS....  Both as a person and as a musician. He was a little older and a more seasoned player... we also shared alot of friends in common from NYC....  After our set-  While chatting with MASH from TYPE 53 I  met and spoke with KEVIN who played lead guitar for THE LIVING WRECKS  who ended up to be way cool and funny ..... AND WE DO LIKE THOSE BOY'S WHO WANNA HAVE FUN!!!  

The BALTIMORE WHITE TRASH DEBUTANTES  (GINGER COYOTE,  DAN DORSEY, AARON MYERS, BOSON AU, RYAN STERNER and ELISE MAJORS ) then took the stage and won the crowd over...We cranked out-  a sets worth of  "Let's Party Pig's"  tunes ..... Not bad for only ONE real rehearsal as a full band...   For our last song we did a cover of JAYNE COUNTY'S   "IF YOU DON"T WANNA FUCK ME BABY....BABY FUCK OFF" with a few special guests-  MAGGIE KINSELLA, HOLLI,  MASH, BILLY  and various musicians  to make our finale a real blow out...Complete with a NAKED  BOY'S  on stage...  THE HEAD WOUNDS then took the stage next  sounding  very much like THE MELVINS... pretty explosive for only two people.... THEE SHITTENS were up next and sang songs all about shit.  I enjoyed the pretty dark haired singer in THEE SHITTENS who gave me the inside dope on the  Baltimore Scene.... THEE SHITTENS finished their set by pelting the crowd with  Cake making The Ottobar close down the show early....  WE ARE THE SEAHORSES  then came out heckling the audience and one of the members did a slow strip.... ... Eat Your Heart's Out THE THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER!!!!! What a way to finish a long show ......   I loved The Ottobar and was very impressed by the staff and the accommodations they gave the bands..... I enjoyed the dressing rooms and the clubs sound system.. ..and would like to thank MASH, FIONNUALA DANGER, CHRIS NEVER MIND THE BULLSHIT, JEREMY CRAWFORD, JIM "DEFEKTO" LUCIO, RANDY DAVIS,  BILLY who edits Toxic Flyer, HOLLI,  KEVIN  (The Living Wrecks), BRUCE DEUCE, CONLEY (The RipOuts) , MAGGIE KINSELLA, LIZ, THE RIPOUTS,  TOMMY,  JASON GLOVER, CHESTER SIMPSON, MARY, LEAH, MARTY, BRIAN, TIM, EVA, BABY CHRISSY, PENNY " The Monkey Girl" aka ALIX- TOBEY SOUTHWICK, JOEY NAYLS (The Living Wrecks),  GRANDMA GROUPIE, THE RIPOUTS, CHESTER SIMPSON's  cool supportive friends (LEAH, MATT, EVA, MARTY, MARY and TIM),  ZAK, THE OTTOBAR and THE STAFF, DEGREASER, CARMEN,  BOSON AU , AARON MYERS, DAN DORSEY, RYAN STERNER and ELISE MAJORS and the so many more for making the night so much fun....

The next day we met LIZ and TOMMY at a Breakfast Nook that drummer RYAN STERNER worked at for Brunch... LIZ and TOMMY were in town visiting from Las Vegas as they had moved to LV from Baltimore about a year ago.. Funny- but they knew almost everyone I knew in Vegas POIZEN IVY, RUCKUS, FELONY MELANIE, DIRK VERMIN, BOB, THE OBJEX,  MOSS@ THE DOUBLE DOWN , THE VERMIN,  JEN-O-CIDE, CHE and JOE ...the list went on... TOMMY had worked at The Hard Rock Cafe and LIZ was going to school and worked with a BURLESQUE DANCE TROOP that IVY had spun records with at THE BEAUTY BAR...RYAN mixed some extra  potent Bloody Mary's and the food was good so that made for a lazy Sunday night.....

On Monday my last night in town we went to a Japanese Restaurant where we had a cute boy whom was going to film making school as our waiter.. He was a real flirt and was told to not patronize so much with us.. I taught him how to say "Fuck You"  in Japanese only to discover the Asians at the Restaurant  were all Chinese... But they did do Japanese cuisine well......The Cutie Pie  Waiter was gonna meet us latter at THE CHARLES CLUB-  but I found out his work had  kept him until after 1:30 AM doing after hours work...  THE CHARLES CLUB was happening... JASON GLOVER, JESS (who worked at Lip Service with DREW BERNSTEIN and CHRISTINA CAREY), CARMEN, AARON MYERS, ALIX- TOBEY SOUTHWICK, RANDY DAVIS, ZAK and so many more made my last night in Baltimore memorable....   I knew I had a Super Shuttle coming to pick me up at 4AM so I could not celebrate that much... Of course I could not sleep when I got back to the house so I was ready for the shuttle ride by 3AM... Baltimore was hot and humid but alot of fun.. Sadly MISS EDITH MASSEY's Store is no longer... It is now an Ethiopian Boutique with no trace of the store's ROOTS!!!  There are alot of cool thrift shops in Baltimore and JIM and JEREMY know then all....... MINK STOLE had just been in town  doing a play but alas I missed her.. However HOT TUNA were in town during my stay but did not get to see JORMA KAUKONEN and JACK CASADY..... SOCIAL D and THE HANGMEN were in town playing the day I left.. I asked BILLY from TOXIC FLYER to send my best to them...  Thanks to all the above mentioned for making the trip so much  fun... A Special Thanks Again to  JIM LUCIO and JEREMY CRAWFORD........ And I can't forget JARVIS and CHEWY their Boston Terrier's and the Pretty Kitty who sheds..... YOU ALL RULE!!