JUNE LIVE GIGS

TWO UPCOMING ISOTOPE SHOWS

Show Review: Brainoil: 1/14/12

I didn't do shit all day, barely left the house, and I had a big problem convincing myself to get out the door and go to Gilman, which is always a sort of social mindfuck for some reason. I had to get drunk by myself first, and this was actually such a chore that by the time I got to Gilman Street Thou was already closing things out with a Nirvana cover. Well I tried. The place was packed, and I didn't feel like lingering within, so I quickly got to Pic 'n' Pac and grabbed another beer to pound.

Then back inside for Brainoil. They rule. I stayed in the front row and 'eadbanged for the whole set, but is that some kind of a surprise? If you don't know how I feel about this band yet, there's a pretty thorough explanation HERE.

After Gilman I rode me bicycle all the way down to the Ruby Room (downtown Oakland!), which was actually quite fun. I haven't done a long Eastbay night hellride like that in a while. Got there by 1am, enough time to get some dranks in and comingle with comely punk coeds, who were swaying to the stylings of DJ Nipple.

Then we took a crew back to the A.T. house to party, on the way set a Christmas tree on fire, and killed a homeless guy too.

Deviated Instinct: 9/11/10

The pillow is hard. My eyes crack open, it’s dark in here. I’m in the van, fuck, the pillow was a pile of trash and tape cases in the back. I'm drunk. I’ve got a beer in my hand, there’s still some left. Drink… Good thing I didn’t spill it on myself. Passed out.. for how long? Waves of kids walking past the van windows, on their way into the club. Partying in the dark side streets.

////////FLASH ZONE\\\\\\\\

I heard the unmistakable low frequencies of Brainoil from down the road. I lept to my feet and got out there into the night, and into the building. Now everything was fine. Everything made sense. Headbanging to all the familiar riffs, mid-tempo sludge moshing Brainoilers. This is a familiar old feeling. One of the best. Apex of sludge.

I’m by no means a crust expert or connoisseur, but I was obviously going to stick around for Deviated Instinct. An old reunion band is always a good show or a good train wreck to witness, so why not? They’re from England, they are aged, and they even did a split with Swedish death metalers Grave back in the day. For a nostalgia act, I thought Deviated Instinct sounded pretty tight, they were energetic and having fun. The drummer was really the best of all of ‘em, pounding out the beats and not giving a fuck. Turned out a good night. Left wondering why is it that all Englishmen end up looking like some sort of stereotypical old Englishmen when they start getting older. Ponder that one one lad. Deep.

Still looking for the flier for this show. Know I have it somewheres...

Show Review: Filth: 6/4/2010

I was realy drunk and I wasted too much time hanging out and eating pizza before the show, so by the time I got there it was sold out. I drew on my wrist with a sharpie and smeared it into a illegible blur. Ten minutes later I showed this fabricated abstaction to the SAME door guy who denied my entrance and he let me in without a second glance. I was inside Gilman seeing Filth, just like in my wildest teenage dreams. The sound was shit (of course) but the band sounded pretty good. The point, mostly was to have this strange surreal experience. Later on, I stayed up until 6AM partying and doing drugs with some touring bands from Seattle.