2015: THE RECAP

2015 was a little different from the past three years in that I did not do a huge month long tour in November, and to the delight of my mother, I was home for Thanksgiving! In fact, I did not do any long tours at all, though I was away for the entire month of August, which included two separate, smaller jaunts with two different bands. Even though I cut back on touring, I managed to hold the line pretty well on my "nights out" ratio with a hefty load of local shows and short mini tours.

To the best of my ability to keep track, and I must admit that my record keeping was exceptionally good this year, I attended 70 live shows in 2015 as an audience member, ten less than last year, and slipping further from my all time recorded high of 118 shows attended in 2011! I blame this decline in attendance to a more vigorous work schedule, a jaded perspective that comes from seeing almost every band I've ever wanted to see already, and not caring about going to see every little punk band that comes through, whether they're any good or not. (Most not.)



In a strange, first time coincidence, the amount of shows I performed was equal to the amount that I attended: 70! I did 70 gigs in 2015 behind the drums for four different bands, which is a slight step up from last year (62), but still down from the 103 gigs I performed in 2013, which is the highest on record. I have a feeling that 2006 was higher than that, but I'll have to do some research to prove it.

Accounting for nights when I attended two different shows in one night, or played two different gigs in one night/day, or played a show and then went to a different one after... that's 135 nights spent out at a gig, or about 37% of all nights spent in shitty rock venues. As you can see here, there's a continuation of the declining trend. Am I losing my vigor, or is there just nothing worth going out for? We'll see if the trend continues in 2016.

2015: 37%
2014: 38%
2013: 48.5%
2012: 46%
2011: 43%

THE FULL LIST OF GIGS ATTENDED AND PLAYED AFTER THE JUMP

 
 IN THE AUDIENCE:
1.9 Sub Creature: Heavy Metal Hell Hole
1.15 Dictators: Slim's
1.23 Mutant Supremacy: Golden Bull
1.28 Helms Alee: Hemlock
1.29 Castle: Golden Bull
1.30 Joy: Night Light
2.5 Earthless: Slim's
2.13 Pins Of Light: Hemlock
2.15 Crystal Logic: Hive
2.18 Cro-Mags: Parkside
2.20 Voivod: Metro
3.7 Steel Bearing Hand: Golden Bull
3.12 Mortuous: 12345Go!
3.16 Ritual Control:  Hemlock
3.19 Badr Vogu: Golden Bull
3.21 Floating Goat: Bender's
3.22 Church Of Disgust: Golden Bull
4.15 Wishbone Ash: Yoshi's
5.5 Weresquatch: Golden Bull
5.14 Samothrace: Metro
5.18 Sinister Haze: Golden Bull
6.2 Glitter Wizard: Rickshaw Stop
6.6 Serpents Of Dawn: Bender's
6.7 Ghoul: DNA Lounge
6.12 Bay Coyotes: Eli's
6.19 Mondo Drag: Golden Bull
6.24 Lesbian: Golden Bull
6.27 VHS: 1234Go!
6.30 Badr Vogu: Golden Bull
7.4 Gehenna: Shea's Tavern (Reno)
7.10 Christian Mistress: Elbo Room
7.11 Hornss: El Rio
7.14 False: Metro
7.18 Char-Man: Eli's
7.23 Rush: Shark Tank
9.4 Alaric: Golden Bull
9.5 Billy Joel: AT&T Park
9.15 Swordweilder: Golden Bull
9.17 Hot Lunch: Eagle Tavern
9.20 The Skull: Metro
9.21 No Statik: 1234Go!
9.26 Eel: Golden Bull
10.3 Negative Standards: 1234Go!
10.3 Toxic Holocaust: Metro
10.5 Hallucinator: Golden Bull
10.13 Badr Vogu: Golden Bull
10.16 Manilla Road: Thee Parkside
10.17 Neil Young: Greek Theater
10.18 Landmine Marathon: Golden Bull
10.19 Mudhoney: Starline
10.22 Subhumans: Thee Parkside
10.29 Bang: Mllk Bar
10.30 Danava: The Chapel
10.30 Brainoil: Elbo Room
10.31 "Discharge": Eli's
11.2 King Diamond: Warfield
11.5 Gehenna: Golden Bull
11.6 Crimson Scarlet: Buzzard
11.7 Walken: Bender's
11.13 Hot Lunch: Bottom Of The Hill
11.14: Pushy: Golden Bull
11.15 MGLA: Leo's
11.21 Yob: Metro
12.5 Carousel: Knockout
12.7 Bell Witch: Metro
12.13 Poison Idea: Gilamn
12.15 Graveyard: Fillmore
12.15 Cover Band: Boom Boom Room
12.18 Death Angel: Slim's
12.19 Nik Turner: Metro

BEHIND THE DRUMS:
1.2 Isotope: Santa Rosa
1.3 Hazzard's Cure: Knockout
1.4 Isotope: World Rage Center
1.10 Wild Eyes:  Parkside
1.17 Isotope: World Rage Center
1.24 Hazzard's Cure: Benders
2.7 Isotope: Womansion
2.14 Owl: Benders
2.22 Isotope:  Night Light
2.28 Wild Eyes:  Benders
3.11 Wild Eyes: Night Light
4.17 Hazzard's Cure: 1st Church
4.18 Hazzard's Cure: Santa Barbara, CA
4.20 Hazzard's Cure: Scottsdale, AZ
4.21 Hazzard's Cure: El Paso, TX
4.23 Hazzard's Cure: Austin, TX
4.24 Hazzard's Cure: Dallas, TX
4.25 Hazzard's Cure: Houston, TX
4.27 Hazzard's Cure: New Orleans, LA
4.28 Hazzard's Cure: Fort Worth, TX
4.29 Hazzard's Cure: Albuquerque, NM
4.30 Hazzard's Cure: Tempe, AZ
5.1 Hazzard's Cure: San Diego, CA
5.2 Hazzard's Cure: Los Angeles, CA
5.6 Isotope: Thee Parkside
5.9 Owl: Thee Parkside
5.24 Hazzard's Cure: Thee Parkside
5.29 Isotope: Ashland, OR
5.30 Isotope: Portland, OR
5.31 Isotope: Eureka, CA
6.3 Isotope: Knockout
6.12 Isotope: Gilman
6.13 Isotope: World Rage Center
6.20 Isotope: Heavy Metal Hell Hole
6.20 Isotope: Bender's
6.26 Isotope: Metro
7.8 Isotope: Golden Bull
7.12 Hazzard's Cure: Golden Bull
7.25 Isotope: Night Light
7.30 Owl: San Jose, CA
7.31 Owl: Golden Bull
8.1 Owl: Nevada City, CA
8.2 Owl: Chico, CA
8.3 Owl: Ashland, OR
8.4 Owl: Corvallis, OR
8.5 Owl: Olympia, WA
8.6 Owl: Tacoma, WA
8.7 Owl: Seattle, WA
8.8 Owl: Portland, OR
8.12 Owl: Kalispell, MT
8.14 Isotope, Toronto, ON
8.15 Isptope: Montreal, QE
8.17 Isotope: Hartford, CT
8.18 Isotope: Albany, NY
8.19 Isotope: Cleveland, OH
8.20 Isotope: Pittsburgh, PA
8.21 Isotope: Pittsburgh, PA
8.23 Isotope: Richmond, VA
8.24 Isotope: Baltimore, MD
8.25 Isotope: New Brunswick, NJ
8.26 Isotope: Philadelphia, PA
8.27 Isotope: Brooklyn, NY
9.1 Hazzard's Cure: Knockout
10.6 Hazzard's Cure: Golden Bull
10.11 Isotope: Golden Bull
10.17 Hazzard's Cure: Clarion Alley
11.20 Isotope: Gilman
12.1 Hazzard's Cure Hemlock
12.5 Isotope: El Rio
12.11 Isotope: Merchant's

See you in 2016.

Lemmy Kilmister 1945-2015
We must continue his work.