The Residents and Eskimo; Zappa Nite at the Rickshaw; GWAR; Cat Ashbee photography show; Mr. Chi Pig; and some other things to know about

Mr. Chi Pig by Cat Ashbee, not to be reused without permission

What follows is a three-part preview of things happening, involving the Residents (in town January 2026, but buy your tickets here), Zappa Nite (tonight at the Rickshaw), and Cat Ashbee's photo show (free, but event details here; it starts at 6, so you have plenty of time to do that and make the Rickshaw). 

1. The Residents Return to Vancouver with Eskimo

The Residents are returning to Vancouver, you know this, right? I do not actually know who will be doing what this time, in fact (because how the hell do you tour Eskimo?); but one of their known collaborators, who continues involvement with recordings, will not be here. I'm going to interview him anyway! He is the guy in the picture below who is not me or Bob Hanham; I hope he will still talk Doctor Dark with me, where he is in fact credited (but not as a musician). I hope I am allowed to say this (the veil of secrecy and obfuscation must be thick indeed if you don't know if you're allowed to say who is not going to be here). Photo by Graham X. Peat. 

Photo by Graham X. Peat

But I'll be talking to him anyway, because I have an excuse and I want to hear about other projects he's been in. He's got stories. See if you can spot that guy in this photo! 

Or this one:

I don't have a photo of him playing bass with FEAR, but he did, briefly, and is even on a 7", if I recall correctly, much to the chagrin of Flea, who was also in FEAR briefly, but did not get on a record. There's a story there. He told it to Bob and I, but he didn't want me to record it when he was last in town, wanted to do a proper interview. So I'm going to do one! 

Note: my saying he will not be here is not a clever way of telling you he really will be here. He won't be here! (Unless I am being lied to, but I don't think I am). Leave your Doc at the Radar Station that you wanted to get signed at home. That's what I'll be doing! 

Of course, the Residents may have even cooler collaborators involved for the Eskimo tour, except I have no idea who that might be, or if even a band is planned. The album Eskimo is one of the strangest records out there, weird soundscapy stuff with muffled chants and things like walrus cries. Will they have a walrus onstage? I doubt that too, but maybe there will be someone in a walrus costume? I do not know, but how do you stage "The Walrus Hunt" with no walrus? 

I would hasten to say, however, that people who are bristling with offense at their use of the word "Eskimo" need to be aware that the album is a complicated affair, and one that requires some sense of humour and critical reflection. It is actually a project I spoke to Hardy Fox about, who is now publicly acknowledged as having been a member of the Residents. I was lucky enough to speak to him on a past tour, and did talk Eskimo with him. 

Excerpt: 

ALLAN: In terms of projects where they built their own instruments – Eskimo is one, right?

HARDY: Yeah, but Eskimo has got an awful lot of lying in it. They claim that they play with frozen fish, and they didn’t do that.

ALLAN: But they do have some invented instruments on that? Can you give me an example?

HARDY: They have some specially tuned, sort of marimba-type instruments that they built for the tuning that they were using for that album, only because they needed those notes. They’re actually wooden, a wooden instrument, but they claimed that they’re played on bones. They’re not played on bones. You know how it is with mythology – you gotta say what sounds pretty interesting, where the reality is pretty boring.

ALLAN: Were there ever any Inuit reactions to Eskimo?

HARDY: There was – we got very positive reactions, even totally acknowledging that the term “Eskimo” is somewhat insulting… The people that we heard from – I mean, there may have been people who were insulted, but the Inuit people that we heard from loved it, because they really understood that it was totally fictional. It’s an invention of the fantasy concept and the romance of being an Eskimo, not of being an Inuit, because Inuit life isn’t like that at all. Inuit life is much more boring than that, as far as we were able to tell, when research was being done about Inuit – it’s not the most exciting world to live in.

ALLAN: Was there ever any attempt to mount a show of Eskimo up there?

HARDY: No. There’s never been a show of Eskimo. There was work on one – a show was designed, but it was designed for an opera stage. It was a big production – it was an opera, basically. It was for a festival in Germany decades ago, and basically it didn’t get funding, so it never happened. 

 

I'll be talking to a representative of the Cryptic Corporation about that too. More to come! 

2. Zappa Nite at the Rickshaw (tonight!) 

I talked with Blair Fisher of Zappostrophe' about the word "Eskimo", which you see in the Straight piece, but also asked about the Residents' upcoming show. With Zappostrophe' omitting the word "Eskimo" from "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," what did he make of the Residents' touring Eskimo? 

Actually, I was not familiar with this album. I have had a quick listen to it an I find that there are no ‘lyrics’ per se - just distorted chanting and vocal effects. In other words, the word Eskimo is never spoken, it is only on the title. I confess I didn’t listen to the whole thing, but that is the impression I got from perusing each track. It is more of an abstract soundscape and is a very interesting concept - certainly one that I think was done in good faith and not intended to be in any way insulting to the Inuit.

Also I totally understand a band wanting to tour a 45 year old album and not change the name.

But between my interactions with Blair and the present piece of writing, I have learned that in fact the Residents, too, are drawing heat for their use of this word (which, contra Blair Fisher, was not a racial slur per se, but is imply objectionable because it was "a colonial name imposed by non-Indigenous people." Which is actually fair enough -- I would not refer to an Inuit or Yu'pik person with this word! But I also don't know that we need to strike it from the human vocabulary altogether). This also will be discussed with the representative of the Cryptic Corporation. 

Meantime, if you somehow do not know the Zappa album pictured above, this is absolutely the best place to start for a taster of what's going to happen tonight at the Rickshaw. There are LOTS of periods of Zappa, but by far the top three that any Zappa noob who likes creative rock should begin with are Apostrophe (my personal favourite), Over-Nite Sensation, and We're Only In It for the Money. If you want to get into the richer 70's fusion-y Zappa, I myself favour Hot Rats and Waka Jawaka, while I believe the Zappostrophe' people  have a thing for One Size Fits All. All of these are top-shelf Zappa and lacking some of darker (and more obnoxious) lyrical content of later Zappa, which Blair alludes to. 

The thing I found about Zappostrophe'; it really, really enriches your appreciation of Zappa to see his music played live. I am sure all three bands do this very, very well; tonight at the Rickshaw will be marvellous, I am sure, even for a Zappa noob. Event listing here. 

3. Cat Ashbee photography show! 

I interviewed Cat Ashbee, Vancouver photographer extraordinaire, about the art show opening tonight (and continuing tomorrow) at some length for the Straight; see here. But in fact there was lots I did not use! Here are some outtakes of some interest!

All photos in this section by Cat Ashbee, not to be reused without permission

ALLAN: Mr. Chi Pig's birthday was just a couple of days ago. Tell us your history with him? What were the high points of knowing him? How far back did your history with him go? Do you have a favourite photo of him? Did you ever find yourself on his bad side? You go back with a few other local musicians; who else has been particularly important to you on the Vancouver scene? 

CAT: Well that is the perfect question because you hit all the marks of my relationship with Chi Pig. He is literally the reason I got into live music photography. I was obsessed with SNFU growing up in a small town outside of Edmonton in the 90’s and would get my mom to drop me off in the big city to see them every time they played an all-ages show. As an adult I reached out on MySpace to the guitarist at the time, Ken Fleming, and asked if I could photograph an upcoming show. I had never photographed live music before that and it was the days of “no cameras” at every venue and camera phones were a new concept. That night I met and started the friendship with Chi. We were always like two kids giggling in the back seat of the car about terrible puns and dumb jokes. High points were when SNFU were playing a show because he was in his element and was his most jovial self. Getting me up on stage with him to hold the cowbell for Jon Card (RIP) while Chi changed the words from “She’s not on the menu” to “Cat is on the cowbell” was something my fifteen year old self would have never believed. Taking Vinnie Stigma of Agnostic Front to meet him was one of the best nights of my life. I was working with a record label that brought the New York Hardcore godfathers to Vancouver and I was asked to take the band out for dinner. We chose The Cambie because it was next to Pub340 where Chi Pig was celebrating his 50th birthday. Vinnie and Chi in a room together was insane. I am amazed they didn't rip open the fabric of existence that night with their banter.

CAT (CONTINUED): There were definitely low points with Chi as well. If he was having one of his bad days, he could be harsh. He kicked my car once and dented it for no real reason other than he was in a bad mood, but days like that were not too frequent. He could lash out like a spoiled child at times. Lowest point but for another reason was visiting him in the hospital as he was on his way out. I brought him a MAD magazine and some felt markers and watched all 80 pounds of him throw up in a garbage can in agony for an hour. Despite all his ongoing suffering, he could really shine for all his fans and friends.

My favorite photograph of him is the photo shoot we did for Skull Skates. The “Have You Seen Him” homage to the Bones Brigade skateboard video “The Search For Animal Chin”. I shot that on my birthday, the unfortunate December 26th, and the whole day was nothing but perfect. We were both in our best form and that day was sacred. You can imagine my thrill every time I see someone in that shirt with my photo on it, or looking at the skateboard deck that it’s printed on. Total career highlight for me as well, having a graphic on a Skull Skates deck!!

ALLAN: Do you have particular history with Andrea or Rot N. Hell? How many pieces will each of you have on display? Do you have a favourite of the images you've sent me, for each?

CAT: I met Rot N Hell at a punk show and we immediately connected. I soon found out he was grasped in the GWAR tentacles as well and had made an art car that was GWAR themed. Punks and artists have probably seen him driving one of his head-turning art cars at some point. The heavily modified Honda in the D.O.A. video “I Live in a Car” is a Rot N Hell masterpiece. Seriously, go watch that video as Rot himself co-stars and gets chased around and ticket-slapped by Burnaby Councillor Joe Keithley, aka Joe Shithead, playing a police officer. While he won’t have an art car parked in the gallery for our “Broken Pieces” art show, he will have a multitude of his always-controversial punk political pieces. He can curate creepy objects into some stunning sculptures and his paintings and two dimensional work are real conversation starters. …or enders, depending on the company. In the 90’s Rot did a lot of poster art and a fanzine called GEE-ZUS and has some of his original pieces of this bit of history on display at our show. My favorite of his works is the recent series of political Wacky Packages pieces. Complete with sets of trading cards that will be available to buy. 

CAT (CONTINUED): 

He will have a lot of his sculptural pieces on display as well.

I met Andrea through Rot when she needed a professional portrait for an art gallery show. My partner, Joe, did the session and we went to see the gallery event. Being face to face with her work for the first time in a prestigious gallery, I knew I was in the presence of greatness. Andrea is a former tattoo artist and severely talented painter. I could call her oil paintings surrealist fantasy gore? It’s hard to describe and best seen in person. One of the catalysts for our Broken Pieces exhibit was to be able to show what we want and not what a gallery would choose. Her series that we are displaying is called “Gutted” and is all the right kinds of disturbing.

CAT (CONTINUED): Andrea pitched the idea for this show and I am beyond honored to share a wall in the legendary Parker Street Studios with two insanely talented artists and friends.

My pieces are some of my favorite photos that really lose their effect when viewed on a phone screen. They need to be seen large and have you spend some time with them. My chosen photographs tend to leave viewers with concerns for my asbestos exposure and up to date tetanus shots. It highlights my aforementioned obsession with decay, destruction, isolation, and abandoned and liminal spaces.

ALLAN: Is anything happening on the 24th in terms of musical performances? Anything else I should mention?

CAT: We decided to put the focus on the art and just have a playlist on a speaker. Hoping it accents the weekend of people out and about taking in shows and events elsewhere and becomes a stop in and hang out for friends and admirers of weird art. “Broken Pieces” fits nicely into the season for people to stop in for this FREE event and can be an addition to a Friday night outing to Fright Nights or a slasher movie or some live music. Or the following Saturday between hangover Caesars and a pumpkin patch.

The large pieces are for sale but we will have budget-friendly things as well. I am stocked with books and had my logo made into patches that will be available. We have prints of our work as well.

Here’s my elevator pitch: The famous Parker Street Gallery agreed to let three weirdos take over room #102 for a couple of days and fly our freak flags up the pole.

We will be there, to comfort the disturbed and make your skin crawl, Friday the 24th from 6-10pm and Saturday the 25th from noon to 4.

I dusted off my hundred year old tuxedo coat for this!

Cat with Bonesnapper of GWAR

CAT (CONTINUED): Here is a bonus story that I remembered as I was going through photos this weekend: One of my most memorable GWAR moments was back when Dave Broke was still alive and fronting the band (as Oderus Urungus, of course). It was one of the rare nights where security did not kick the photographers out of the pit after three songs, as is the industry standard, and I was allowed to shoot the full show. Back then there was not the coverage there is these days. The few photographers there that night left quickly to dry the fake blood, spew, and spray from their camera gear and escape the madness. If you haven’t seen a GWAR show, a big part of the performance is unloading tanks and tanks of pressurized dyed water into the crowd like a highly exaggerated bloodbath. Usually from the neck of a decapitated politician or public figure, or the arm stumps of a mutilated creature, or the massive phallic swinging shaft between the legs of Oderus, adorably named his Cuttlefish Of Cthulhu. 

CAT (CONTINUED): On that particular night, Dave (Oderus) kept looking down at me, chuckling at my enthusiasm and getting body drenched between taking photos with my dripping wet camera. He gestured at me as if to say “you can grab my cuttlefish if you want”, as it streamed like bloody piss into the fans. Instead of playing firefighter as I am sure he intended, I cradled it up lovingly and stuck it right into my mouth. That cold musty fluid flooded out both nostrils and my mouth as I staggered back laughing and coughing. I was sick for weeks after from a sinus infection. Worth it.

GWAR tickets for sale here. I'm sure Zappa would approve!

Blothar by Cat Ashbee, not to be reused without permission!