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Low, 1999 or so. This was a great record store in Waterbury CT, Brass City Records. The fellow who owned the shop really liked our records (maybe the only guy who used to buy them from us at the time without consignment). It was a dusty old kind of walk up, with a slight stage in one of the two small rooms in the place. We were very excited, as it was a free show, and we were big Low fans who were surprised at their even coming out to this area, never mind for free.

Our drummer had busted his leg a month before and we created a wonderfully inappropriate 30 minutes of off-kilter bizarre kraut rock homage music replete with old drum machines, too many synthesizers and even an old oscillator run through a space echo as an instrument. If I remember correctly, we even brought a traffic cone, just to ram home the point.

Perplexed, the packed floor just put up with it. So many hip lil girls and their hipper boyfriends (Yale was not too far up the highway...) subjected to this self indulgent tangent by some band that seemed to forget that the most of these kids could give two shits what we were up to. AT least they were polite, clapping for a reasonable amount of time with lil to no eye contact.

We sold no records that night, even though it was the biggest (or at least most densely packed) crowd we had ever played to. And our usual non-drummer-with-a-broke-foot material would have actually gone over very well.

Low are really nice guys though, and were kind enough to trade me one of our lil 10" for Long Division on vinyl.

The only band I was ever in, The Distances, played at the prodigal son in 1999 with Kash, when they were in town recording at Electrical. Brian Peterson called me and I was like sure I guess. It was a wednesday (bacon night), and like most of our shows, absolutely nobody came.

Kash were awesome and it was really lucky for me because I kept in touch with Paride, the guitarist. Since then I have put out 2 Kash records and two records for Paride's other band, Instrumental Quarter. All those guys are seriously the nicest and best people in the world.

They are coming back in October and I can't wait.

Edit: Kash and Instrumental Quarter are from Saluzzo, Italy (near Turin)

Now I'm pretty sure that my first one was with Chokebore, who were on Amphetamine Reptile Records at the time.

After the show, one of the Chokebore dudes said, "You guys were great. Have you sent your tape to AmRep?"

I said "No, just AmWay."

Of course we ended up never making a record.

Malignant Growth opened for The repellents in September of '82. That may not really count, though, as they were from Anderson, Indiana, only an hour or so away. The first national act we opened for was DOA about a month later. Those guys toured like vikings.

The first show I played with an out of town band was opening up for Albert Collins. Yup, the blues guitarist. The little old blues man playing keys asked me if he could borrow my amp, and proceeded to use it as his stool.

tmidgett wrote:Probably either DOA or Saccharine Trust in 1987 or thereabouts.

Then again, maybe the Meat Puppets, around the same time.

Wow, what was playing with Sac Trust like? They were one of my favorite bands way back when. Meat Puppets too.

The first burun gig ever was at a loft party with Juneau, Poem Rocket, and one other band I am forgetting. Maybe Hungry Ghosts? Meisha?

I had my first bout with the now-traditional show shits, as well as freaking out so completely that I yelled at my bassist, ran to the McDonald's across the street, wolfed down some fries, went to the bodega and boght two America's Best caffiene tallboys, shotgunned them, felt so queasy that I ran up the stairs and into the bathroom and puked. All in the course of 15 or 20 minutes.

The Juneau played and I calmed down a bit.

Juneau played a really great set, and even fried up bacon (BACON!) as part of their show. I didn't get any, but it was just as well. I developed a huge crush on their drummer, John Widger, and later that night tried unsuccessfully to get him to kiss me or something - I talked to him about his tattoos, fer chrissakes.

Our own set was me trying to channel Pete Kember (wraparound shades, sitting down) but somehow I don't think Sonic Boom ever wore a henley from his college crew team (what the hell was I thinking?)

I still get incredibly nervous before shows, even when it's not my own songs I am playing. I will take this moment to apologize to my bandmates, both past and future, for my irrational and bizarre behavior.

burun wrote:

tmidgett wrote:Probably either DOA or Saccharine Trust in 1987 or thereabouts.

Then again, maybe the Meat Puppets, around the same time.

Wow, what was playing with Sac Trust like? They were one of my favorite bands way back when.

I played a show with Saccharine Trust in 1985, and they were fucking scary. Blew Black Flag off the stage.

Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:I played a show with Saccharine Trust in 1985, and they were fucking scary. Blew Black Flag off the stage.

I never got to see them firsthand, and for that I am truly sorry. I saw some video a while back, but it seemed that no recordings could ever do the live experience justice.

burun wrote:

Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:I played a show with Saccharine Trust in 1985, and they were fucking scary. Blew Black Flag off the stage.

I never got to see them firsthand, and for that I am truly sorry. I saw some video a while back, but it seemed that no recordings could ever do the live experience justice.

That's how I feel about Queen.

A couple weeks ago, my band played a bar in the 'burbs. A wonderful country and blues chanteuse played just before we did. She was from the area, but her band (brothers) had just come up from Texas. They were all in their forties and fifties, and totally smoked the weak hip-hop act that preceded them.

Unfortunately, we had to follow them. With covers of "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate," "T.V. Eye," and "King of Sex" no less. Luckily, the audience was too drunk to hate us. "King of Sex" was particularly embarassing, but the Texans found it hilarious. Or they said they did. Oh well - it was what we had rehearsed. Red faces on us all.