There's a warehouse in Oakland that used to book some of the
best all ages punk and hardcore shows, but what was even cooler
were the films and art shows that the tenants there managed to
squeeze into bills that featured bands such as MELT BANANA, TALK
IS POISON, and occasionally impromptu sets by warehouse neighbors
like compound residents DYSTOPIA. The tenants at the warehouse
were active in the scene to varying degrees. It could be music,
art, or Food Not Bombs, but the most important thing was that
they were active. Change is inevitable however, and in the case
of the warehouse it's been, so far, unfortunate. Many of the old
tenants had relocated long before there was any noticeable difference
in the way the warehouse ran it's business. The reason that there
weren't any obvious changes was mostly due to the efforts of the
two final remaining tenants from the warehouse's glory days. But
finally even they relocated to Portland. This final move left
the fate of the warehouse to a bunch of young, so called artists
who's activism in terms of the scene is questionable to say the
least.
Okay, now the problem I have with the warehouse these days has
to do with a couple of incidents that have taken place. One incident
occured when a friend of mine who used to live there in the warehouse
informed me that there were a number of bands who had been blacklisted
by the current tenants. I was interested in getting my friend's
band booked there, and when it seemed like it might never happen,
my friend broke the news of the blacklist to me. The reason my
friend's band was blacklisted, along with others, mostly had to
do with personality conflicts and or minor political incidents.
All of these bands were still being booked at mostly politically
correct all ages venues like Gilman, so it's not as if we are
talking about the MURDER JUNKIES here. Another incident occured
after a birthday party show for Marcus The Anarchist who is a
prominent member of the very scene active crew known as the Pyrate
Punx. It was after this show that the warehouse made it known
that they would no longer book punk shows. Since that show that
they have rarely booked anything of note (the one exception being
the TRAGEDY show) , and when they do book shows they tend to be
best described as geekambienttechnoemopopfolk crap. There isn't
very much local representation going on there any longer, unless
you count bands like THE PATTERN. THE PATTERN is Chrisser, owner
of Lookout! Records, new band. You know Chrisser, the guy who
turned the Lookout! catalog over to a Sony owned company for the
sake of holding on to the DONNAS. A decision that was made at
the expense of older recordings by landmark Lookout! bands like
BLATZ and FILTH, who have consequently relocated those recordings
to Oakland's Life Is Abuse Records. I can't imagine that any of
the Pyrate Punk acts, or my friend's band have done anything so
oblivious and scene compromising as that one single move. But
the main reason that I am writing about this in the Punk Movie
Nights column is that I truly believe in the power of art and
community. Art doesn't have to only be represented by music in
our scenes, but it can be - and is - found in zines, paintings,
and the media that's closest to my heart - FILM. The Oakland warehouse
tried to explore those possibilities by recognizing our scene's
diverse range of talents, even if it meant that sometimes things
had to be a little dangerous or unpredictable. I miss what that
warehouse was, and more importantly what it could have become.
At least now, when I start my own all ages space, I'll have a
partial recipe for how to put together a memorable show. Speaking
of which, we're almost late for Punk Movie Night!
BROKE
A film by Matt Goldman
BROKE reminded me of the type of film that would probably
blow away a majority of the field at something like the San Francisco
State Film Finals. The SFSU Film Finals feature the best that
the SFSU film department has to offer in any given year. BROKE
felt like a film school final project to me. From a technical
standpoint, BROKE would get an A+ all the way, but the
question that needs to be answered here in this column is whether
or not BROKE succeeds at something more than just being
worthy of a film degree.
Matt Goldman combines music video style editing and shot composition
with Seinfeld-esque moments of pointless rantings by mentally
disturbed characters, who struggle to justify philosophies born
of insecurities, and he does so in a short film that is arguably
a more significant spotlight for the photographer, rather than
the director. There is a particularly clever use of BROKE'S
bilingual cast members that can't go without mentioning, but these
characters are, like all the characters in BROKE, begging
to be further developed. BROKE is much too pretty and slick
to totally convey the desperation and ruthless nature that truly
being without cash can evoke. It does, in an occasionally entertaining
manner, manage to introduce moments of humorous irony, which taken
on their own do hint at the potential that a longer, more developed
sequel might yield.
(Smog Veil Records, 774 Mays #10, PMB 454, Las Vegas, NV 89451
- www.brokefilms.com)
MIDWEST REPRESENT
A Video Comp
A precentage of the proceeds from the sale of this tape will
go to a Chicago Food Not Bombs chapter. Keep this fact in mind
as you read the rest of this review. Okay, MIDWEST REPRESENT
can be pretty scary at times. It seems, and this observation comes
entirely from watching MIDWEST REPRESENT, that punks in
the midwest tend to dress either like HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH
or Guy Picciotto from RIGHTS OF SPRING (and some other band).
That has nothing to do with the music and the performances by
the bands on MIDWEST REPRESENT, which tend to range from
sadly mediocre to pretty damn great. The overall picture quality
here is good, but the sound can be sketchy from time to time,
and especially in the case of AMBITION MISSION, which was one
of the bands that I was really looking foward to checking out.
The video samples used in between bands tended to outshine many
of the bands they were supposed to be introducing. There are a
couple of cases where the bands are just so good that nothing
can take away from the power of their live segments.
KUNGFU RICK is amazing here as they ignite a Chicago basement,
and I believe them when they introduce songs with explanations
like, "This is the song that would burn the down the system."
Members leap headfirst into the audience even when it's pretty
apparent that there is a good chance they could end up face planting
on the basement's floor. I could have watched their entire set
from that evening rather than most of the bands that appear on
this comp. There is one exception however.
DILLINGER FOUR, along with KUNGFU RICK, are the band that really
legitimizes this video comp. St. Paddy is a killer show all by
himself, but D4 as a band continues to be one of the few great
bands to successfully follow in that CRIMPSHRINE style of punk
rock, and the truth of the matter is that they are even better
than most of their influences ever were. What stood out the most
for me was the energy exhibited by the small audience, and I do
believe that there was some actual dancing going on, which doesn't
often happen at any real punk show these days. Isn't it time we
were able to be comfortable around one another? Paddy sure is.
Other bands that appear on this comp are: MUSHUGANAS, LYNARD'S
INNARDS, OBLIVION, AMBITION MISSION, HOOK, OPERATION CLIFF CLAVIN,
VD, and LA MANTRA DE FHIQRIA. This video also comes with a zine
called SHAZZBUTT! #2.
($8 ppd c/o Mark Novotny, 5413 S. 6th Avenue, Countryside, IL
60525)
SHAZZBUTT! #2
(8 1/2 x 5 1/2 · Photocopied · 40 pages)
This zine comes with the video comp MIDWEST REPRESENT, because
it's editor is also the guy behind that video. SHAZZBUTT! is pretty
good, especially for a second issue, and editor Mark Novotny is
definitely drawing inspiration for his zine from the scene he
is a part of. In terms of content, SHAZZBUTT! is all over the
place. There are reviews, which I thought were especially good
considering some of the reviews I've read recently in other similarly
styled zines. There is a not so bad interview with KUNGFU RICK,
and a couple of really interesting pieces about the Trail Of Tears
and human rights. There is fluff, but not much. I found reason
here to keep an eye out for future issues.
($1 ppd-if you would like just the zine and not the video zine
combo- c/o Mark Novotny, 5413 S. 6th Avenue, Countryside, IL 60525)