Alien Boys: Sarinn and Erin interview, re: DOA, Dead Bob, and The Weight of It All

    All Alien Boys photos by Bob Hanham, not to be reused without permission

Okay, where to start? Let's start with Bob's photo, taken at the imperiled (?) Black Lab back before COVID: Sarinn (left) is the singer for Alien Boys and Erin (right) is the guitarist. Sarinn reflects a recent name change; it's the same singer as the last time I interviewed them. What I didn't clue into until just today was that Sarinn and Erin rhyme. 

Mostly I wanted to interact with Erin, here, the guitarist, because her previous band, the Rebel Spell, actually played the Commodore before, opening, alongside the Bronx, for Bad Religion (I mis-remembered that gig, thought it was Propagandhi!). This was the tour:  

Setting me straight that it wasn't Propagandhi, Erin  also explains that this will be the first time Alien Boys plays the Commodore as well. As for other history with the venue, she doesn't go to the Commodore very often, she says, but she's seen Patti Smith and L7 there (both shows I was at, too, one of which I wrote about), and LP, who I don't know at all. 

The rest follows Q&A style, including contributions via email with both Erin and Sarinn; but check out Alien Boys bandcamp and do not neglect them on Saturday; they're a vital, important, high energy band with a lot to say about life in Vancouver...  they also cook! 

Allan: Erin, can you recount your history around D.O.A.? I know the Rebel Spell opened for D.O.A. a year or so after Days of Rage (2005) at Richards on Richards, which is where I first saw you, also with the Furies...

 

Erin: Looks like the Rebel Spell opened a double show with them at the Rickshaw in 2013, a double show with them at Richard’s on Richards in 2007 and a show with them and the Excessives at the Brickyard in 2004! Holy shit. 

They’re an institution. I cited them as an influence in the ad I put out that Todd Serious responded to, that’s how I ended up meeting him and playing in the Rebel Spell.

Allan: Very cool. If I recall your early history with punk, you were seeing bands like Black Kronstadt on the island in the 1990s (?), and into more political punk...? Re; Dead Bob, were you seeing Nomeansno a bunch back then? Have you ever opened for them? They tend to the more personal than political, but "No Sex" is a pretty amazing gesture, politically -- Sarinn might dig this, actually: a non-binary anthem from 1982! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO0iDbZewyg&t=2s

Erin: Nomeansno was a huge influence for me growing up on the island. I didn’t see them live a lot 'cause I was too young to get into their shows! But I had their albums. As a teenager there was a youth center in Langford where I’d go to jam and make friends and learn how to be in a band. We jammed their songs badly. I’m excited about Dead Bob. Sarinn saw them play at The Pearl recently and raved about it [so did Allan!]. Nomeansno is a massive influence for them too, so it's definitely going to be one for the books.

Erin and Todd of the Rebel Spell by Jen Dodds

Allan: Coming to the new album, I'm curious if "Old Friends" is written about any particular case -- it feels like it could be about a lot of women's/ people's experience of the police. Why is it called "Old Friends?" (Are there other true-life stories on the album that inform the lyrics?).

Erin: "Old Friends" was written about a mix of things. Some lived, and some taken from Sarinn's time working with folks who had experienced horrific things when they were forced to hitchhike along the Highway of Tears. It's called "Old Friends" because a cop once said to Sarinn, “Booze and bad decisions - the oldest of friends” in relation to people who have gone missing after taking rides from strangers.

Allan: Does "Anecdote" relate to the opioid crisis? That's where the chorus of "I only care about me" brings me -- stepping over people who look and may be dead in doorways, which has become kind of a common feature of life in downtown Vancouver. Are the band members advocates for safe supply? I see references to the class warfare waged on addicts in Vancouver in a few places on the album. What's the way forward? (There are some lyrics that seem like the band is advocating for full-on legalization of all drugs). 

Sarinn: It is. This is a big theme for us (see "Lady Day vs. the State," "Shadow Puppets," "Dogs" [all on Alien Boys' album Night Danger]). As someone who has experienced the full effects of the war on drugs, it is critical to talk about these things in our music. People who are forced to access the poisoned supply of illicit drugs are at some of the most extreme intersections of identity. The full weight of colonial and patriarchal systems of oppression and violence work to Other, marginalize, and harm them. Politicians exploit this to their full advantage, claiming that people who use drugs are the threat - that they create violence and chaos in communities. Yet none of them want to adequately address the failing healthcare system, the inability for people to access mental health supports without cost, the housing crisis, the unaffordability of food, or take strong positions on appropriate taxation strategies for corporate enterprise. It is the ultimate act of distraction to weaponize stigma and inflate a false sense of superiority between those who have and those who do not. Over 42,000 people have died from opioid toxicity since January 2016 - and over 80% of those deaths have been in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. It is unconscionable to keep thinking that we have run out of options when we haven’t tried everything - this includes compassion club models and safer prescribed alternatives that have documented positive effects for those who access.

Allan: Is "Brood" about Sarinn becoming a parent, or am I completely misreading it? Is that the second band-member baby you've had a relationship with? (Are you "auntie Erin" to a few people, now? You do not yourself have kids, right? Is it something you've ever wanted? Does Sarinn's baby change anything for the band?

Erin: Nah you got it right. It’s about Sarinn’s experience of pregnancy and birth. This is actually the third band member I’ve ever had who was pregnant. It’s not for me but I love kids and am leaning hard into being Auntie Erin.

Allan: Tell me about the cover art for The Weight of It All; it's a compelling image. Who is Mira? Did the band approach Mira with a concept, give directions as to specific things they wanted included, or was that an existing piece of work that you asked if you could use, or...? 

Erin: Mira does very, very cool art. When we approached Mira, we asked what images might be available to consider. The cover of The Weight of It All was one of those options. We were immediately drawn to the themes because of Sarinn’s lyrics. It’s perfect, and it really fit with the collage on the lyrics sheet inside the record.

Alex of Alien Boys by Bob Hanham

Allan: Do you have a favorite guitar part on the album? It seems like the guitars are a bit more dominant on this record, a bit more of a force to be reckoned with, but I don't know if you've done anything different there?

Erin: Hopefully we’re stronger as a band! Alex is coming into her own as a guitar player. I dragged her out of her comfort zone and got her playing the lead on "Anecdote."

Allan: Anything else to say about the Commodore gig or the other bands? (Any relationship with WAIT/ LESS? I've only seen them at Keithmas but they had a very in-your-face, almost sleazy sexuality to what they did, with the singer grabbing her crotch and just being quite overt. Very strong contrast to how Alien Boys present!).

 
Erin: I saw WAIT//LESS at Green Auto a few months ago, the whole show was killer, they rip and I’m stoked to see them again!

 
This show is our first show since our drummer Lindsay moved down under. We have a brand new drummer [Juan], who we’re throwing in the deep end. Wish us luck!

Cool to see that Alien Boys have their own Green Auto show happening the next week. If we can talk about the Green Auto gig, who are the other bands? (Alien Boys are headlining?).

Erin: We’re headlining. We’re playing with a band we met at a festival in Nelson last year that blew us away called Chairman. Highly recommended.

Digging for Treasure: Joe Keithley and Ford Pier on The Black Spot, DOA, and Dead Bob

Joe Keithley at the Victoria Event Centre, April 11th, by Bob Hanham

(All photos on this piece/ blog are the property of the photographers and should not be re-used without permission)

So I have interviewed Joe Keithley about DOA in time for the May 11th show, but Montecristo, the magazine I was doing it for, had an angle they were interested in, which did not allow me a lot of space to rave about the other bands on the bill on May 11th. It's a hell of a four-band bill that spans a huge range of punk energies, with a marked contrast between the two female-fronted openers. Gritty East Van political punks Alien Boys (non-binary or female, but no boys in the band, note -- they're named for a Wipers song, and feature Erin of the Rebel Spell) have a very different vibe from the crotch-grabbin' debauchery that Wait/Less manifested at Keithmas (the only time I've seen them; they performed their hearts out -- they kinda answered the question of how the New York Dolls would have presented as if David and Johnny had actually been female -- but somehow all I can remember vividly is Allie's crotchgrab!). The contrast should be really something. I don't really know my Wait/Less but you should spend some time on Alien Boys' new album before the show. 

Dead Bob, meanwhile -- who I've written about plenty on this very blog -- are, of course, the descendants of Nomeansno, with John Wright on drums; they're a spectacular live band, and feature some serious Vancouver talent (members of Rong, Invasives, Pigment Vehicle, and... is Ford Pier a member of himself? How does one include him on that list and maintain parallelism?). There's a generous helping of Nomeansno in their catalogue. I'm sure if you look on Youtube you'll find some cool footage... Hearing Colin MacRae of Pigment Vehicle do Rob's basslines on "Long Days" was really quite jaw-dropping. 

Colin MacRae with Dead Bob. Vancouver, Dec. 1st, 2023 by Bob Hanham

But the main point of interest is that, of course, if you go back in DOA's history to their 1995 album The Black Spot, you learn that both Ford Pier and John Wright (2/5ths of Dead Bob) actually are on a DOA album together! I never knew the backstory behind the title, and my best guess seemed wrong -- that it was somehow an unusually self-deprecating gesture on Joe's part, as in, "this album is the black spot in DOA's career," heh. Which I don't think it is, actually; I personally prefer Loggerheads, which came before it, but there are some very enjoyable songs on the album, like fellow-big-guy Brian Goble's observations about the size of the average male DOA fan, featuring an authentic Tommy Hanson count-off; Ford Pier's song "Order," with another Brian Goble lead vocal, and also a fun rock video (is that really John Wright on drums?). And there's even a cover of David Peel on it, or, maybe, an adaptation, retitled as "Marijuana Motherfucker," which is always a ton of fun live (and probably the album's high point? Been awhile since I've listened to it!). 

Anyhow, when I sat down with Joe Keithley for Montecristo, I asked him about The Black Spot. This is what he had to say (he gets things a bit wrong, in fact, where the origin of the spot comes from -- but we'll get to that!). Fittingly, I began this part of the conversation with a treasure metaphor... 

Allan: I don’t know where to dig, where the good stories are about The Black Spot?

Joe: [Then-DOA drummer] Ken Jensen [AKA Kenny  Hanson] died in a housefire, tragically. John was going to produce the record, but obviously, we were stuck for a drummer, so John very magnanimously said, “Okay, I’ll drum on it.” And he’s a fabulous drummer, he’s great. But it’s a bit of a different feel than a lot of DOA drummers. He’s one of Canada’s best drummers, absolutely, just like Chuck and Dimwit were, but too, and Paddy the new guy is pretty good as well. [Chuckles] The new guy: ten years, that’s the new guy, for me…

But there are no real crazy stories with that. It came out on Virgin Canada, so this guy – I forget his name, but he’s this A&R guy and Laurie [Mercer, of DOA’s management company] hooked us into this deal: “Oh, the distribution will be fabulous,” like. And I know the record business. I’ve been on ten-twelve different labels, and most of the time, it stinks; it’s not better than what you had, right? I’ve done really well with Alternative Tentacles, they’re really square with me, and I’ve done really well with Sudden Death. And beyond that, there are about ten companies that I wish I’d never signed a deal with.

Allan: And Virgin was one of them?

Joe: They were okay… and Laurie was a good manager, so he thought it was right, so, whatever.

Allan: So why is it called The Black Spot?

Joe: Because we had too many people dying! Like, in the sailors’ world, in the old British navy, when they’re going around conquering the world, at that point, if somebody shook your hand, and they put a black spot on your hand, that meant that you were going to get it, and soon. It could be construed as a threat or a warning, in the nautical world. I think Ford conceived that title, because we had rotten luck with members. [Do read Ford's elaborations on this, below]

Allan: Had Dimwit died at that point?

Joe: Yeah, because when Ken died, the Vancouver Sun read, “DOA has lost two drummers recently.” And they were Dimwit and Ken. That came out in 1996, and I believe Dimwit died in 1994. And Jensen died in January 1995. I was just sitting down to watch the Superbowl, and I got a call from Tom [Holliston] of Nomeansno: “hey, fuck, you better get over here.” And the house was... [Joe gestures a conflagration, shaking his head]. It was horrible.

Allan: It’s kind of a really collective DOA album. DOA has become known to be YOU, with whoever you’re backed with, but on that album, Ford wrote a song [“Order;” he also co-wrote “You’re Paying for Your Body Now” with Jensen], Brian [Goble] wrote songs [“More,” “Big Guys Like DOA,” “Running Out of Time”]… were you pushing other people to the fore?

Joe: No, Wimpy had a pretty good record writing songs – him and Mike Normal and Gerry wrote the key songs for the Subhumans [try this one, by Goble]. And Brian and I grew up together, so he said, “If I’m going to come into the band, I want to have my input into the material. And that worked out. Obviously in the early days I wrote a lot of songs with Chuck [Biscuits], who is a great songwriter, and obviously a great drummer. So it’s kinda one of those things where it just sort of worked out that way. Ford, I didn’t [initially] think of as writing, but he came up for some good material for that album, so that was fine. It’s the funny thing about songwriting, I think at times, when other people sat in and wrote songs for DOA, I think a couple of points we got a little off-track from what DOA should sound like. I’m not saying they weren’t good songs, but when you think of the real classic DOA, it’s War on 45, Something Better Change, Hardcore 81 and some singles. And there was a real precise madness to the way those songs were carried out. And most of those songs I wrote, and probably a half-dozen I wrote with Chuck.

[End Joe Keithley outtake]

Hi, this is Allan again. What we discover here, now that I've done a bit of homework (and interviewed Ford Pier, below) is that Joe, like myself, has presumably never read (or watched the 1950 film adaptation of) Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Or else he has read it and assumed Robert Louis Stevenson was being more historically accurate than he was, because the "black spot" is a fiction Stevenson invented for the novel (sayeth Wikipedia, anyhow).  I guess I'm going to need to rectify my ignorance here, as my main association with Robert Newton is, in fact, Carol Reed's grim, potent, and moving 1947 noir Odd Man Out, but he's great in that, so...? 

But here we go: a Ford Pier mini-interview! 

Ford Pier by Bob Hanham, Vancouver, December 1, 2023

Allan: [Shares Joe's quotes, then asks:] So were you especially interested in nautical history? (I know that John Wright is a big Patrick O'Brian fan, you ever read him?). How did you encounter the concept of the black spot? (Is Joe interpreting it correctly?).

Ford: My recollection of the titling of The Black Spot is that we had a HUGE list of potential titles drawn up by the three of us [Joe, Ford, and Brian Goble, who were DOA at that point, since they no longer had a drummer]. We met at Laurie Mercer's office and read out to one another and rejected in turn, one by one. We whittled several pages down to a short list of maybe half a dozen, and went across the street to the Lamplighter to settle on one of them once and for all. While there, we talked about the last night of mixing the album, which had recently happened. Joe and Brian went home and I stayed with Brian Else all night as he finished, offering encouragement or correction as needed, but mostly watching Treasure Island on TV in the lounge. We talked about Treasure Island and what a great movie it was and praised Robert Newton's performance and recited our favourite parts, which eventually led us to "The Black Spot." "Hahaha! We should call the album The Black Spot!" I cried. Hearty laughter. Then, though, we got to talking about how it sounded sort of cool, and how it had the meaning of telling someone "You're in trouble," or "This is serious now," or "You're being served notice," and we thought, "Yeah, this sort of resonates with songs on there like 'It'll Kill Ya Later' and 'Running Out Of Time,'" and before we knew it, we had decided the record would be called The Black Spot and drank a toast to it. Brian expressed interest in being photographed in pirate regalia and maybe having a stuffed parrot on his shoulder and Joe said "No way." It's one of my favourite memories from my time in the band.

Allan: Cool, but speaking of black spots and such, are you superstitious?

Ford: I try not to walk under ladders or toast with water and I've been waiting for Mercury retrograde to end before buying a new computer.

Allan: You co-wrote with Ken Jensen, if I recall? What's your history with him? Who wrote what on "You're Paying for Your Body Now?" Do you have any fondest memories of Ken?

Ford: I met Ken when he was traveling as a roadie with NoMeansNo in the '80's. He was a beloved fixture of the community of friends I eventually attached myself to when I moved to Vancouver and we went all the same places and hung around the same people. I remember when I did the cover for the Hansons' Gross Misconduct album, which is a spoof of the cover for the Ramones' Road To Ruin, featuring a cartoon of the four of them encircled by a chrome ring, Ken had a look at it and noticed the ring which frames the four Hansons with all the dents and patches on it and said, "It's like they dragged the one out of storage that they had used for the Ramones record!" which is exactly what I had been thinking when I was drawing it. Nobody else caught that or saw that. Ken and I had a lot of little things like that and I was looking forward to getting to spend more time with him and know him better, but he died before we got to do any real touring together. We watched a number of CFL games together, I recall, which wasn't something either of us usually did!

"Paying For Your Body" was Ken's music and had been demo'd as an instrumental before he died. We thought one of us should slap some lyrics on it so we could include some of his music on The Black Spot, and mine won the day.

Last time Vancouver saw you with Dead Bob, we heard you on keyboards, guitar, and trombone. Have you added any instruments this time? Want to give any hints at special things in store?

Ford: People who were at the last show will hear some things they didn't last time! 'Nuff said.

Allan: Is "Maybe It Came at the Wrong Time" in the set? Who is bragging about what in the first verse?

Ford: Part of the point of that song, which is not 100% successful, I wouldn't say, is that the vignettes are in medias res. We don't know what exactly we're seeing and we don't know whether it's important or not, and we'll never know what we weren't doing while we were paying attention to it.

Allan: You jump around every bit as much these days as you did in the "Order" video, but surely it is not as easy to do now?

Ford: Well, I'm not 24 anymore. That is true. I'm also no longer 140lbs soaking wet. Bodily submission to the music's power definitely involves more care than it used to.

Allan: How many Dead Bob shows have there been now? Any favourite moments stand out? Any amusing gaffes? (What is your favourite Nomeansno cover you've done?)

Ford: I've lost track, although we have adopted a helpful business of announcing the number of the show we're doing and attesting that we will never do another one with that number, so I'll be reminded. Thirty? Hopefully, we will continue this practice for many hundreds more. Every night is a new adventure with amusing gaffes and favourite moments both.

I have favourite NoMeansNo covers we haven't done: I would like us to do "Living In Detente," "SPJP," "Look Here Come The Wormies," and "Bruce's Diary."

Allan: Ha! "Wormies," love it!

Tickets to see DOA with Dead Bob, Wait/Less and Alien Boys are STILL AVAILABLE. This should not be! They are a mere $41.75. You should buy one. NOTE: this is the best all-round lineup of DOA I have ever seen. I mean, yes, I saw them with Rampage, but the drummer was the Great Baldini, who was wrong for them -- DOA needs precise and fast, but he was way heavy. Floor Tom Jones was a better drummer, but he was playing with that bassist whose name I can't even remember -- Dan something? Yaremko? Who was a fine bassist but had a tenth of Rampage's charisma. I did see them once with Brian and Ford, maybe, at the SFU pub, but I don't even remember that gig. But Mike and Paddy are GREAT, fast, tight, and RIGHT for DOA; I've seen them twice and heartily recommend the experience. There! 

Idle thoughts on IDLES: Vancouver, May 3rd, PNE Forum

All photos of IDLES by Allan MacInnis, not to be reused without permission.

It's interesting that people don't talk about class much these days. 

I mean, sure, East Van political punk bands like Alien Boys do. You'd expect that. But for the most part, at least in the circles I travel, everyone seems more concerned with decolonization, indigenization, gender politics and race. All of which are important and worthy, as well, but looking at the impacts of being born poor, or working class, with the limited opportunities and lowered horizons that implies, is not really seemingly an area of great public concern, maybe because the people who are conducting the conversations around those other issues generally aren't from lower-or-working class backgrounds? Is defending the underprivileged from those other demographics a way of safeguarding your own privilege in terms of class position? Or are people from a working class background -- associated with reactionary attitudes and conservative politics -- somehow regarded as suspect, potential enemies? 

...Maybe that's why IDLES are so huge? They tap into and give potent expression to working class frustration in a way bands like the Sleaford Mods barely touch. There's a real class rage in their lyrics; at their most potent, a potent phrase can send a chill down your spine. Take a look at the lyrics to "I'm Scum." (Incidentally, council houses are a kind of subsidized housing for the poor in the UK; if you've seen the Michael Caine movie Harry Brown, the apartment buildings there, grim as they are, are council houses): 

I'm council house and violent
I'm laughing at the tyrants
I'm sleeping under sirens
Whilst wondering where the time went
I'm scum
I'm scum

I sing at fascists 'til my head comes off
I am Dennis Skinner's Molotov
I'm lefty, I'm soft
I'm minimum wage job
I am a mongrel dog
I'm just another cunt
I'm scum
I'm scum

This snowflake's an avalanche

Dirty rotten filthy scum

For a long long while I'm known as 

Dirty rotten filthy scum
For a long old while I'm known as scum
I'm scum

Spit in your percolator
I am procrastinator
I over-tip the waiter
Sarcastic amputator
'Cause I'm scum
I'm scum

I don't care about the next James Bond
He kills for country, queen and god
We don't need another murderous toff
I'm just wondering where the High Street's gone
'Cause I'm scum
I'm scum

This snowflake's an avalanche

Dirty rotten filthy scum
For a long long while I'm known as
Dirty rotten filthy scum

For a long old while I'm known as scum
For a long old while I'm known as scum
For a long old while I'm known as scum
For a long old while I'm known as scum

I only caught the first three minutes of this song on video, because I was standing somewhere security didn't want me, and two separate guards came up to me to shoo me away, at which point I felt I had best comply (it's funny, they were telling me I was a fire hazard, standing in the back row of the venue, but there were a good dozen of them up there; were they also fire hazards?). You do get a sense of just how huge the crowd for IDLES was from that clip, but what you miss is that shortly after the video cuts, singer Joe Talbot led the crowd in a chant of "fuck the King" that lasted a few minutes unto itself, with Talbot remarking to cheers and laughs afterwards, "Fuck me, you do NOT like the King!" 

It's funny to me that Talbot doesn't think IDLES is a punk band. I think IDLES is a punk band; maybe he just has a different idea of what that means? I actually think they're the most important punk band since probably the Clash. I've gone to a fair number of shows by bands associated with punk in one way or another but none that I've seen have drawn as huge, varied, or enthusiastic a crowd as we saw at the PNE Forum for IDLES, unless I go all the way back to seeing the Clash on the Out of Control tour back in 1984, which filled the Pacific Coliseum, next door. Joe Strummer would have loved a song like "Danny Nedelko." Lyrics: 

My blood brother is an immigrant
A beautiful immigrant
My blood brother's Freddie Mercury
A Nigerian mother of three
He's made of bones, he's made of blood
He's made of flesh, he's made of love
He's made of you, he's made of me
Unity

Fear leads to panic, panic leads to pain
Pain leads to anger, anger leads to hate
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Danny Nedelko

My best friend is an alien (I know him, and he is)
My best friend is a citizen
He's strong, he's earnest, he's innocent
My blood brother is Malala
A Polish butcher, he's Mo Farah
He's made of bones, he's made of blood
He's made of flesh, he's made of love
He's made of you, he's made of me
Unity

Fear leads to panic, panic leads to pain
Pain leads to anger, anger leads to hate
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Danny Nedelko

The D, the A, the N, the N, the Y
The N, the E, the D, the E, the L
The K, the O, the C, the O, the M
The M, the U, the N, the I, the T
The Y, the S, the O, the F, the U
The C, the K, the Y, the O and the U
And you, and you, and you
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Danny Nedelko
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Danny Nedelko

Great sentiments, here (I found myself contemplating how many points Vancouver's own best class-based punk band Bishops Green would score if they issued such a sentiment -- but maybe they have?).  Talbot paced the stage, belting out these songs tirelessly through one of the longest sets I've seen lately, 24 songs in all, with frequent between song acknowledgements of his struggles, his band, and his gratitude for where he is now. He also sent out love -- see the "Danny Nedelko" clip above -- to Palestine on more than one occasion. Meanwhile, roadies fed cable into the pit so one of the guitarists, I'm guessing Mark Bowen, could crowd-surf. I was very glad I got to see them -- but also very physically uncomfortable, my feet aching on the concrete floor and sweat dripping down my face from the sheer body heat generated by a crowd that size. I'm not practiced being in as big a crowd as this -- I prefer my music less popular -- and certainly not a crowd where moshing spread out quite as far back as it did. I've only recently started to hook into IDLES, but was determined to stick it out for at least "Never Fight a Man with a Perm" and "Danny Nedelko," which is exactly what I did, escaping to the tune of "Rottweiler;" I still only know a half-dozen of their songs, really, but it's enough to know they're phenomenal.  

There were a few contradictions that I couldn't quite fit my head around, mind you, from t-shirts selling for $55, which seems to be the new going rate for a band shirt, but not a great gesture of class warfare, unless it's warfare being waged from above.  I remember when the Rebel Spell used to sell CDs for five bucks, so that everyone could afford them, back when CDs were still a thing and the going rate at merch tables was $15 or $20. There was also, I saw, as I left the venue, a long row of stretch limousines along Renfrew. This is not the band's fault, of course, but still incongruous: were they there for some other event, or does anyone seriously come out of a concert like IDLES to catch a ride in a fucking limo?

Me, I walked to the bus stop. I've been amply distracted by a writing project and by the Violent Femmes, these last couple of days, so whatever other memories I had hoped to retain are now scattered, but I'm going to get back to listening to IDLES presently. 

Hell of a band.

(Opening act Protomartyr)

Violent Femmes Commodore Review Second Night

Well, that was even more fun! (See my review of the first night here). 

Good news: I was able to shake aside some of myself and dance for the second night of the Violent Femmes two-gig stand in Vancouver. I did shoot a bit of vid, especially of "Never Tell," and tried to take a few good photos of Gordon Gano, who was slightly lacking from my documentation the previous night, filmed only from a distance... but it turns out the best photograph of the night is actually this one, of a girl receiving water squirts from security (I kinda preferred the IDLES guards' method of passing actual cups into the crowd, but this had a certain efficiency to it. Personally, with my weird swallowing mechanism, I am not prepared to avail myself of this experience): 

Femmes-wise, the band seemed to cook a bit more on Sunday, to make some more daring flourishes, musically. It might just be in my head, but Brian's maelstrom of a bass solo for "Never Tell" seemed longer and more forceful tonight. The mid-song, quasi-improvisatory cacophony in "Gimme the Car" seemed more cacophonous, more edgy. Gordon Gano's surprisingly funky guitar riffs on "To the Kill" seemed to go a little bit further. There seemed to be more barbeque-playing during "Black Girls" and I'm guessing if you took the evening's epics like "Confessions" and timed them from night to night, tonight's were a smidgen longer than the night before's. 

I mean, that's how it seemed, anyhow. I was thinking, as I swayed to "Confessions," that it is very nearly a blues song; it's certainly a kind of gateway drug, helping to widen the door for me to let lot of other music into my life in subsequent years. It helped translate the blues a bit for me into a language I spoke in ways the Stones or Zep or Aerosmith, in just replicating the blues, did not. I owe this song a bit of a debt, really. It holds up really, really well.

Got thinking that it also makes really great use of the pronoun "it." "It" is a word that can easily be taken for granted, but here the Femmes load choruses of the song with veritable commands, punctuated in some cases with flashing lights, to "hack hack hack it apart" and to "do do do do it" and to "pay pay pay it tonight," while at no point clearly indicating what "it" is, leaving it entirely to the emotions, lusts and intuitions of the listener. It's a revolutionary "it," a dangerous "it," a profoundly ADOLESCENT "it," but whatever else one might say about that "it," it is an interesting "it" to contemplate. I have surely never spent so much time musing on what an "it" could be in the context of any other song. 

And of course, these choruses got a lot of scream-alongs from tonight's audience, though we seemed less inclined to sing along than Saturday's crowd, whatever that means (there was not as much pogoing to "Jesus Walking on the Water," either).  

But anyhow, besides taking a few pictures and letting my mind wander about song meanings, I also just shut my brain down and danced, especially throughout "Add It Up," for example. When will the chance come again? 'I think a lot of us are still reeling from the COVID experience of two years with nearly no live music, and eager to make up for lost gigs, especially since we now know how fragile such experiences can be. 

But I can remember the year or so of my life where "Add It Up" was the most transgressive, nasty, horny little anthem in my record collection. Most horny anthems, at least of the sort teenagers in the suburbs were likely to be exposed to, are fucking awful (try KISS' "Lick It Up," say), but the fraught, acne-scarred, refreshingly direct angstiness of this song really does make it a classic, and even if it's been 40 years since it really spoke to me -- you can't beat hearing that song through the ears of a teenager -- it still connects, if I let it. It was, maybe, a bit better before the world realized, circa Reality Bites, that we weren't somehow special in our love for this song -- before we clued into how many of us it was speaking to, back when we imagined, as individual listeners, that it was only us that had a personal relationship to it. 

But there's no denying that it's a great song.  

A digression: have you seen Jennifer Lynch's film Surveillance, produced by her Dad, David? They make good use of "Add It Up." Hugh Dillon is involved in the scene and sings along to the song on a car radio, in the context of a great, twisted serial killer movie that gets far too little love and attention (it will also be very fun for Bill Pullman fans, who gives a performance on par with those in Lost Highway and, say, Bright Angel). Highly recommended, with a trigger warning for scenes of eroticized murder and deep perversity. It's kind of funny to contemplate "Add It Up" as Dad rock if you were listening to it when you actually were 14, but that's sort of what it becomes in this film! 

Anyhow, there was, definitely, an element of nostalgia for me on both nights, a chance to appreciate this music live that I did not have when I was 14 and living in the suburbs. I enjoyed revisiting the feelings I felt then, remembering how much I loved these two albums. I have no idea how much the members of this band enjoy social time together -- I saw no great sense of strained relationships, but also no great sense of non-musical rapport; but they are definitely on the same page when it comes to making sure their audience is having fun. 

 

I also realized something -- I had commented that Gordon Gano-wise, banjo > fiddle, but I neglected to mention that guitar> all else; there were some great solos on both nights, but it took seeing them a second time to really appreciate them.

The funniest bit of stage business, meanwhile, was actually down to an error of Gano's. On Saturday, Gano had performed, by way of introducing "Hallowed Ground," a ritual of "flipping the record," complete by hand gestures, which he followed by briefly commenting on the strangeness of the way the song begins. Whereupon he recited the opening, spoken verse:

The prophet is a fool and the spiritual man is mad
For the multitude of thine iniquity
And the great hatred...

Incidentally, this is from Hosea 9:7, and there are apparently two thoughts as to what this means, discussed on this Biblical hermeneutics page, from which I quote: 

1. "Because you sin so much, and hate God, you think his prophets are foolish, that the men he has inspired are insane."
2. "In your sin and hatred of God, all your prophets are foolish, and the men who seem inspired are actually insane."

Regardless of which scriptural interpretation he intends, on the second night, Gano forgot to do the routine about flipping the record in the first set, which prefaced the reference to Hosea. Instead, rather bizarrely, he launched into the "spiritual man is mad" recitation just before before "Prove My  Love" (the first song on their debut's second side). Then he grinned -- "wrong song!" -- and explained that he was thinking about flipping the other record over. 

I hope you are following this; I am sure that even with Gano and Ritchie trying to explain his mistake, some people in the Sunday crowd were puzzled. Brian threw in something about the days when you could stack records, whereby side 1 of Hallowed Ground could in fact lead to side two of the self-titled debut, when the next record fell, but I'm not sure if that would help much to audience members under 40. Do kids today ever wonder why some double albums from the 1970s then have sides 1 and side 4 on opposite sides of the first record, and sides 2 and 3 on the second? It's because you could listen to a double album on the changer, sides 1-2-3-4, only changing the stack once; you listen to side 1, then the tone arm goes back and the second record falls, then when that finishes, you flip both over, to be dropped one at a time. Surely someone has examined some double albums of the past and wondered what the hell we were thinking. It was not very good for records, but it was the only way of listening to records without having to get up to change anything.     

Come to think of it, I may even have listened to the first two Violent Femmes records that way myself, back when -- I did have a stackable turntable, in my parents' old console TV setup, and I recall that was still using it that way through when I got into Double Nickels on the Dime, which came out the same year as Hallowed Ground.  I know for sure I stacked those Minutemen discs; I might easily have stacked my two Femmes records, as well.

I digress again. Anyhow, the band launched into side two of their debut, and the set continued without further kerfuffle. Come the encore, Brian Ritchie went a bit further in his Commodore Love on the second night, saying that it was the venue they have played most often of any in the world. Again, "Ugly" got omitted. It was still an amazing night. 

At one point, Gordon invited us to raise hands: "How many people were here last night, too?" Then he pointed into the pit: "I recognize you!"

He was not pointing at me, but you know what? I recognized the guy he was pointing at, too!

Thanks, Violent Femmes! Great nights, both of them! 

Violent Femmes Commodore review of the first night, plus Mary Nohl rabbithole

All photos, such as they are, by Allan MacInnis, not to be reused, etc

Well that was fun! (but a note for the Violent Femmes, in case you don't make it through all my blatherings, please don't skip "Ugly" tonight! I love that song!). 

I commented on social media about how, if you weren't up front for IDLES the other night, the PNE Forum -- a concrete and metal hangar, basically -- is a giant echo chamber (you can hear it more in this clip). I was weirdly reminded of this echo by the sound of a packed Commodore singing along to "Country Death Song," which opened the Violent Femmes' first set last night.

I have heard people sing along to many songs before -- the Pixies especially inspired some serious singing along when I saw one of their first reunion shows, also at the Commodore, some 20 years ago -- but I don't think I've ever heard singing along quite like this. Every lyric, full volume, all the way down the room, and not just for "Country Death Song;" it was the most echo-chambery space I have been in where it wasn't a matter of bad acoustics! 

For several songs, the Commodore was 100% human echo last night. You got used to it! 

But I didn't expect pogoing to "Jesus Walking on the Water." The sort of song you might expect rattlesnakes to get passed around to, not the sort of subject matter normally associated with mosh pits. (I mean this as a compliment, but it is just as well that no rattlesnakes manifested). I thought my feet were going to be safe from being stomped on. 

I might wear boots tonight. 

Seems like Gordon Gano is a better banjo player than he is a fiddler, but I don't know if I knew he played as many instruments as he does. Brian Ritchie, I knew, was a multi-instrumentalist, but I was still surprised when he broke out a conch. I think he did some marimba (xylophone?) stuff for "Gone Daddy Gone" but I was moving around the room and stuck behind a corner for that song and didn't get to see that -- I may have to re-position myself for it tonight. One of the touring musicians, with a beard like an Appalachian hipster, switched from whatever that was he was slapping (German carboard? See second photo, above) to electric bass to free up Ritchie, but he was as far to the right as I could see. 

Speaking of percussion, John Sparrow, if that was John Sparrow, was actually a ton of fun to watch and hear. I like Victor and am sad he's not in the band anymore, but I completely forgot about him after a couple songs. Is that an actual barbeque? Sparrow didn't use it much -- there was one song where it was absolutely essential but he mostly stuck to drums.   

Blaise Garza was almost invisible behind the Guinness-sized contrabass saxophone, when playing other instruments. I think he had a washboard, and was that an alto sax? He should come up front more -- rock concerts are no place to be self-effacing! 

High points for me were the longer epics where the band got to really push themselves out there: "Never Tell" and "Black Girls" in the first set (slightly embarrassed smile from Gano on the lyric about wanting to cuddle a faggot white boy; it looks like that song is still a lot of fun for them to play!) and "Confessions" in the second, especially. They're the sorts of song that this whole-album concert phenom is best for. I mean, you will hear "Blister in the Sun" at any given Violent Femmes show, I am guessing, but even though "Never Tell" is a chilling, powerful, clutch-your-guts kind of song, I'm guessing it is not high up there on Violent Femmes setlists (it doesn't even feature on their average setlist for 2023, though "Confessions" and "Black Girls" do). Great, GREAT to hear it, and I'm gonna hear it again.

Mind you, there are also songs that are less exciting on a whole album concert, like "I Know It's True But I'm Sorry to Say," which took the pogoing energy generated by "Jesus Walking by the Water" and dumped a bucket of cold milk on it, but that's the trade-off, I guess. That'un works better on album! 

The little guy on all their t-shirts -- the Hallowed Ground guy -- ended up really standing out in some of my photos. Both IDLES and the Femmes were asking $55 for a t-shirt (Billy points out that this is down to LiveNation and added fees), but they both earned that $55. Still,  I am glad I already have a Dead Bob shirt, at these prices! 

I wondered if I would buy that deluxe box set, but it was $210. You can get it from Amazon.ca with shipping for $140; it was $194.99 at Red Cat, but it sold out immediately. If it's still there at the end of the night tonight I might ask if they'll do price matching (but only if I can get it signed!). We must be a bit shrewd in these matters, but they prolly paid customs duties or such to bring it over here; would be a shame for it go unsold! 

I did buy a Hallowed Ground shirt, though. I would have loved to buy an actual crew shirt, they're a bit cooler than the one with the band name and logo, have a bigger image, but it was crew-and-band only. I actually have never read about the cover before tonight: it is not some primitive idol, but a sculpture by 20th century Milwaukee artist Mary Nohl. 

This discovery is both initially disappointing (I guess I wanted him to be some sort of ancient charm from an obscure South Seas island tribe, or something -- maybe a singularly dorky pre-contact fertility figure with an enormous penis, not pictured) and impressive (this Mary Nohl is someone I must educate myself on!). 

I wonder if the Femmes own this statue, or where it is. Do people make pilgrimages to see it? Is it in the punk rock museum? I love this dorky little guy. 

...and now I want to see his penis, if he has one. Victor DeLorenzo writes about visiting Nohl's art space here, describing her work as "farm-raised surrealism," and there is a photo of the Femmes with some of her other work, but not a full on of the little guy. What does the rest of him look like?

Her work doesn't have penises that I'm noticing. No sheela-na-gig stuff, either, but maybe photographers are just shy about that stuff? Sheela-na-giggery would be perfect for her work, fertility statues too. But maybe she wanted a family-friendly environment -- maybe the point wasn't faux neoprimitivism, but magic and delight? 

Pausing to Google "Mary Nohl Violent Femmes"... the space is called The Witch's House, I guess? It has a FB presence. Article to read here -- looks like her artspace is or was imperiled? -- but the photos aren't loading. Lots of Youtube content though. Obvious rabbithole. You couldn't do this in 1984, when Hallowed Ground came out. 

Back to the Femmes. I sure hope they do "Ugly" tonight. At one point, Brian Ritchie was dedicating a song to the people of the Commodore, explaining that last night was the thirteenth time they've played the room (tonight will be the fourteenth! Thanks, Ty, for correcting me). I thought it would be mildly hilarious if that song proved to be "Ugly," but no, it was "American Music." "Ugly" went unplayed! 

You could play "Ugly" three times in the time it took for "I Know it's True but I'm Sorry to Say" (I'm picking on that song a little. Sorry! It's fine, really). 

Weirdest thing about the night: even though Hallowed Ground is and will ever be my favourite Femmes album, the sheer enthusiasm of the majority of the crowd for the first album and songs like "Add It Up" -- which seemed to even reach the band, who got tighter and sharper and more playful themselves in the second set, with Gano breaking out his housecoat and letting his hair down and Ritchie smiling more often -- made it the more enjoyable set of the night. Like, that is a cooking second half. I had been mildly disappointed to see that Hallowed Ground, my preferred of the two albums, was relegated to the first set, but now I see the wisdom in it. 

$180 max, signed, that's my final offer! 

Note: Ticketmaster has released more tickets AT COST for tonight's show, for a mere $93. If you're feeling like you missed out, you can still do something about that! My feet were sore enough after the concrete floors at IDLES that I was contemplating bailing, giving a ticket to a friend, but... nah, I gotta see Brian on marimba (xylophone?), and maybe I'm never gonna get to see "Never Tell" again if I don't go tonight! Trust me, that song was amaaaazing... 

Post-script: I shot it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KsoxE1UOGg

 

My second night notes are here! I enjoyed the second night more than the first, but I had to get the first out of my system... by the way, if you want to read my interview with Brian Ritchie, from 2009, mostly talking about his OTHER musical interests, it is HERE. See them if you can, folks!