The Return of the Cobalt (?!) with Toy Tiger, First Attack, MUZL and Second Nature

Bugsy Faithfull of Toy Tiger in front of the Tommy Wilson wall

(all photos by me)

So that was an interesting night, even if it ended with an abrupt, unexpected twist. Which we will get to, but I encourage you to take the scenic route and read the whole thing, to not skip ahead to the end, because the end is really kind of an unfortunate aberration... the meat of this is where the real news is... 

First off: Toy Tiger is a terrific (explicitly antifascist) street punk band. I had not seen them before tonight. I interviewed singer Bugsy Faithfull here -- a last minute piece that probably didn't get that many people out, in fact, since the room was already half full by the time it got posted -- but which they amply deserved (and appreciated). They were down a drummer, who had unexpectedly gotten called into work, and had their rhythm guitarist filling in for him... but what I saw was terrific. Shot one video -- a song I think called "Crime," about how -- I can only paraphrase -- robbing a bank is a lesser crime than funding one. I would have stayed for the whole set, but... uh... something came up...

The thing that was really exciting, mind you, was how the Cobalt is being re-reconfigured as a punk bar, which Bugsy is taking an active role in (and mentions in that Straight piece). Having been one of the people who (MOSTLY) boycotted the place as a night club, in the 10 or so years that I didn't go to the venue, I kind of lost track of who the players were, so I cannot say if the place has been FULLY rehabilitated yet. I stayed away out of solidarity with wendythirteen, who was the original person who built that place up, whose ouster I found very upsetting, back, in, what, 2009? It's actually all to be seen in a film, No Fun City -- the ending was kind of documented, and is devastating. Probably the building is still owned by the same family (do they get litigious if they're called slumlords?). They own other buildings where gigs happen, and I never heard calls to boycott, say, the Astoria, which, last I checked, was also a Sahota property... tho' I think they were only PART of why the Cobalt became problematic, and they were problematic in general before wendy ever got the boot... 

Mind you, I did break my rule to see Pere Ubu at the Cobalt a few years ago - because I had a sneaking suspicion that I would never see them again (which proved founded: the singer for Pere Ubu, David Thomas, died this year, and they never made it back here. Was he pissed off that I called him a blue butterfly? Some photos from that show in the piece...). Then I went back because Betty thought that one of the people-who-was-problematic was no longer involved, and booked a birthday show there before realizing he was, in fact, still behind the scenes... and then I went back again for Agent Orange, but only because I'd been given a ticket (like, three trips since 2009 is not too too disloyal, is it? And I only paid for two!).

Sorry, wendy!  (There are a couple of old-Cobes loyalists who I think have never been back, period). 

Anyhow, I talked to one of the people behind the reconfiguration -- I didn't get his name -- but suggested they put up some art in honour of wendythirteen and what she did for that venue and the scene that flourished there. I sure hope they do something like that. Even without the distinctive "Vancouver's Hardcore Bar" postering, last night it felt very, very weirdly like the welcoming, wonderful punk dive that it used to be -- though it was minus the horrifying smells from the shitwater leaking from upstairs (the people who took over back when did, at least, fix that). And the bathroom seemed to have been completely remodeled and painted since I was last there. I am sure that it will be covered over in graffiti soon enough, but it was surreal  how presentable it was last night (if very, very lime). 

But even if the bathroom is still pretty bare, there is art all over the walls outside it, including a huge wall of Winston-Smith-esque punk posters done by a local graphic designer I do not know named Tommy Wilson, whose Instagram is here and full of striking, politically-charged images. There's also a Crass logo painted large in the inner corner of one wall, to the left of the door -- nice to see Crass is still getting love -- and a Trojan-themed SHARP logo in the other (see above). I didn't snap a picture of the big IWW signage but it's also very much in keeping with brimging the place back as a politically-aware punk haven. The bar itself -- like, the literal bar you walk up to and order drinks at -- is still the bar that wendy built; you almost expect to see Chi bussing tables. And the audience last night, moshing with great enthusiasm, was ALMOST identical in appearance and demeanour to the one who habituated the place in its glory days of yore, with one pleasant exception: there were a whole bunch of transfolks present, last night, including onstage, where the opening band, MUZL, made trans rights, bathroom policing, and so forth explicit in their lyrics and stage rap, with the singer wearing an "I Love My Girlfriend's Penis" t-shirt.  Transpeople just weren't that visible, back in the early 2000s. It's a new landscape; the times they are a-changing! 

MUZL, the openers -- the name is pronounced "Muzzle" -- rocked, in any event. I didn't ask the singer's pronouns, but she/ they got an enthusiastic circle pit going for a cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog," which preceded another dog-themed tune about "how it is fun to leave your newborn baby alone in a room with a poorly trained pitbull." I might have questions about that at some point? I think that song was called "Dog Fax." They also did another song called "Freak Bitch," which I shot video of, which I think was about transwomen being busted when they tried to use the ladies' room; it included an invitation in the lyrics for the people in the audience to show their penises, but the singer made it very clear from the stage that we were NOT TO DO THIS.

Those who were there will know someone in the audience said "Aww," in response to her saying this. That was me. I WAS KIDDING.  

Noelle Chaos was around, handing out pamphlets for Trooperfest next weekend, and also gave a big thumbs-up to MUZL, praising their community-mindedness and the bands their members have evolved from (which I do not know). They were very fun; I believe it was their first gig, but may there be many, many more...

Oh, and yeah, that last song was a cover of "Bad Reputation," by Joan Jett. Wish I'd recorded it. I did record "Freak Bitch," and wish I'd left the camera running a little bit past the singer dedicating the song to "all the trannies," to make the context a bit clearer...! (I don't think anyone took that word the wrong way... pretty sure it's not considered politically correct these days...!). 

The second band, Second Nature, got some enthusiastic moshing and played a very heavy set, but I was running around through most of it, trying to get records signed; they're a worthy band, but I didn't do them justice. How does that go: Socrates is a man, all men are mortal, therefore I am Socrates...? Something like that (I may be stealing that joke from somewhere but I forget). 

I shot "Might Get It," the last song in their set. I liked it, but the thing I liked best about Second Nature was their merch, which I did not buy, but did take a photograph of (I seriously have enough t-shirts). 

First Attack followed. I am unable to do justice to the differences between First Attack and Bishops Green, in sound -- I mean, obviously Greg is playing guitar, now, so there's that; the songs aren't maybe quite as "catchy," have less of that Cock Sparrer thing going than Greg Huff's last band, though they are very driving and tuneful and definitely recognizeable as one of his projects (I am still unclear what is going on with Bishops Green -- are they done for good? -- but may talk to Huff at some point, if I can). He was very friendly to the audience, commenting on how he never thought he'd be playing the Cobalt again. I enjoyed their set (though the first two songs had some, uh, fluctuations in the playing; by the time I shot "If You Say So," everything was completely on-track). They have a new 12" for sale, which they played most of. I don't think they covered any of Greg's other bands' songs, but really, they didn't need to... 

Mind you, my Jewish buddy was a bit taken aback by the barbed-wire borders on their t-shirt design, in unison with the quasi-Germanic font of the band name. We'll come back to him presently. He loved their set, and did by the record, but the combination of elements on the t-shirt maybe was a step too far towards Holocaust imagery? No t-shirts were purchased, in any case. He's a bit touchy about these things? 

There are other things I won't really go into -- from running into Rob Nuclear of the AK-747s, who lives down the street from the Cobalt (lucky guy) to two free video games in the lobby, including a Tetris with a glitchy joystick that adds, shall we say, a level of challenge to things. I'm not sure people realized the games were free, because almost no one was playing them. People wanting a taste of the room in its revitalized form should know that there's a pretty great sounding metal gig this Sunday (Virvum? Somethin' like that -- three northern European progressive/ technical death metal bands, plus one local band, courtesy of the Invisible Orange). 

I just really hope that whoever is running it now will do wendy justice in some way -- honour her contribution (I'd give her a full wall mural and kickbacks from that bar that she built, myself, but... that's me...).

Got a couple of good photos of First Attack...

Then it was time for Toy Tiger, and things went staggeringly wrong for exactly one person in the room, I think: my aforesaid Jewish friend, who had, shall we say, a very bad reaction to the first thing that Bugsy said from the stage: because Bugsy began, once soundcheck was done, with the chant, "From the river to the sea..." Which he repeated twice, loudly, gesturing to the audience. 

I assume everyone knows that the second half of the chant is, "Palestine will be free." I assume that not everyone knows that for many people, especially Jews, this chant reads as a call for the erasure of the state of Israel. But don't take my word for it, try the American Jewish Committee's, who say it "can be used to call for the elimination of the State of Israel and/or ethnic cleansing of Jews living there, to be replaced with Palestinian control over the entire territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea." It's a problematic slogan; even Norman Finkelstein, one of the most passionate Jewish critics of Israel, has suggested it not be used. 

Of course, MANY PEOPLE WHO USE THIS SLOGAN are not meaning to call for the destruction of Israel, any more than the people who say "No Justice No Peace," which Bugsy also said, necessarily mean that to rhyme with "fuck the police!" (or maybe they do?). But it is somewhat problematic that some of them do mean that.  Just because Zionists use the charge of anti-Semitism to stifle dissent does not mean tbat there isn't actual anti-Semitism out there. And I guess when maybe you're the only Jew in the room (Talesha was a the WISE), you might feel a bit... I dunno... uncomfortable?

So, yeah, my friend is sensitive, whattaya want me to say? Do I need to assert, here, that I disapprove of the state of Israel's actions in Gaza? Do I need to say that my Jewish friend also disapproves of their actions -- has in fact done more than I have (there's at least one petition calling for a ceasefire that he's signed; I've signed zero). And obviously an only potentially genocidal slogan is the lesser of two evils, compared to actually genocidal policies of Israel in Gaza. But that doesn't mean that everyone can rise above things in the heat of the moment. My friend said after thaf he felt he had been stabbed in the heart, which, yes, is a kind of extreme reaction, but, like, he had family members -- grandparents -- directly impacted by the Holocaust. Plus he is disturbed by the demonization of Israel in the west (to say nothing of the rise in actual hate crimes against Jews and a rise in anti-Semitism): he would say later, when cooling off down the street at Subway, words to the effect of, "Don't these people realize that in most Muslim countries, gays, lesbians and transsexuals would be regarded as criminals, even hanged? Israel is one of the only states in the region that would welcome them...!" 

Anyhow, I don't want to get too deep into this, and I sure don't mean this to take away from how great Toy Tiger is, but all things considered, maybe "From the river to the sea" isn't the best slogan for promoting the cause of Palestinian freedom? (There is also some rich discussion of it here). If the goal is to win friends and influence people, to reach hearts and minds and all that -- well, one Jew was driven from the venue by that chant, tonight, and one writer who would have rather stayed to see the rest of Toy Tiger's set ultimately felt obliged to go with him ("friend in crisis" and all; I was not walking out in protest, since personally I can step back from such moments, even if I think the slogan is unwise -- I did not feel stabbed, felt kinda even -- sorry -- entertained by the weird added wrinkle to the night... but, y'know, I can understand why Jews are touchy about that phrase...).

In fact, I end up feeling kinda bad for Bugsy in all this, because he seems like a truly great guy -- unworthy of any taint that this writing would bring. He wasn't intending to, like, traumatize anyone, right? (If he wants to comment on any of the above, I'll give him space here...).  

So I have to note all that, because it marked my early exit from the show, but it's great to have the Cobalt back (please be okay with this, wendy; the people who are trying to rebuild this space clearly have love and respect for what you built -- if it weren't for you, none of us would have been there, and the people who I talked to last night know that).  

Weirdly, of all the music that happened, I think I liked MUZL the best!