El Buzzard || Flying Off With The Scraps || Hidden Rock'n'Roll p. 9

 
I had been contemplating why I wanted to write about El Buzzard since the inception of Lofi San Jose.  They have always been on the short list of 408 bands that I wanted to document.  I couldn't  really put my finger on it.  I only saw them once, about 8 years ago.  They opened for someone at the Blank Club; but they were the main attraction.  Then I found out that Josh Santaga was throwing himself a 40th birthday party and his two former bands, Curbside and El Buzzard were going to play.  I was stoked. Beyond stoked.  I wanted to re-evaluate El Buzzard in a new perspective.  Last night they played and they kicked some major ass.  What a treat to see them again.

check out that drum kit!

A few months back I started to write this piece.  I began to re-evaluate why I was writing this post.  El Buzzard must be explored deeper.  Why does this band resonate in my consciousness?  I only saw them once.  Why?  I must dig deeper.  Upon digging deeper into the thoughts concepts and perspectives of El Buzzard I found their simply, yet informative website.  A place where you can download all of their music for free.  I did just that and then placed it on heavy rotation in my Ipod.  The low fidelity music was great.  A chanting tribal blast of adrenaline.  Gringa is a must, however they all have some hits and some misses.  The misses basically fall into the category of background static, however the hits are a true onslaught of tone.  And what better way to see & feel the tone than in a live performance.  They are a POWERFUL band.  Big and bad.  That is what rang the truest in my memories and was re-awakened again last night.  They came out of the gates like a seasoned band who just wrapped up a 50 date tour, not one that has been sitting idle for the last 5 years.  What a true joy to see them.  I captured a video, but it doesn't do the live show justice.  It just allows a glimpse into what El Buzzard is/was.  My advice, if you see that they are playing go out and check the live show.  I'll be there!


Let me wrap up this post with an evaluation of the whole show last night.  It was Josh's birthday bash, so in regards to that he brought Curbside out of retirement as well as a band called 4Banger.  Both bands had not played in a while either but they sounded great.  Curbside has a lively frontman in Sean Bjordahl, and really got the crowd going.  They were before my time moving to the southbay, however it seemed like the veteran crowd really really dug the noise.  Shawn Packer was filling in on Bass and their drummer was a sheer join to see live.  You wanna talk about a live, snappy, quick punk drum sound....this dude was the backbone in Curbside.  Truly amazing that he still has the tightness after 20 years.   Here are a couple of videos of the other players.  All and all a really good night!

  4Banger

CURBSIDE

Diarrhea Planet / Jeff the Brotherhood || The Blank Club || Oct. 16, 2012

Ah, to feel young again.  Any time that I am blessed with the strength to rally on a Tuesday night, I am stoked.  Especially when the real treat is a couple of hot bands from Nashville, TN making their way through San Jose winning over fans one orchestrated note at a time.  This is a simple description of what was bestowed upon my eardrums on last Tuesday.

Diarrhea Planet are an onslaught of guitars.  A true orchestra in every sense of the word.  A rhythmic based band built on simplistic tunes that show their true colors in a live performance setting.  Yes, there is noodling.  But is done well and doesn't take center stage.  Whenever you get 28 strings all up on one stage...that could equal a lot of "ego" strapped around 5 dudes necks.  In other words, upon first appearance you go, "this could either be really good or really bad".  It was awesome.  They have worked through their material for the live show and come across textured and full of energy.  No wanking here.  Plus, you can tell that they truly love playing together.  It really shows that they are up there to have fun.  They blistered through a 45 minute set winnings over the locals.  I told myself there was no way I could buy a shirt that says, "Diarrhea Planet".  But song by song they won me over and adding money to their commission on the sales job they laid forth.  Good job Lads!

Next up was the headliner, Jeff the Brotherhood.  These guys have been getting a lot of attention lately in the underground music world.  And rightly so.  They have worked hard at their craft.  Youtube them.  It shows in their live performances that they have played together for a long time.  Hell, they are brothers by birth.  Tuesday night they came out guns a blazin' with stage theatrics and a whole routine.  My only complaint would be they seemed to run out of steam for a midweek non-premium city show.  It is a lot of hard work touring around the countryside trying to spread the word of your own creative forces.  And being a two man outfit (minimized by the fact that the guitar only has 3 strings on it) you don't get much support from the outside world when needed.  Comparing it to DP, one guy can have an off night and nobody in the crowd may notice.  In JTB, if one guy has an off night, the set is fucked.  Well, maybe that is a little strong, because they still were a treat to see live.  And they finished really strong.  However, compared to DP, who had the energy of a mid-level manager

after a two-week Hawaiian vacation, it'd seemed that JTB went a little flat about half way through.  Flat or not, thank you both bands for making your way through San Jose.  Music fans around here really appreciate it.  And you can tell it is working.  My favorite line of the night from JTB, "Hey is that one guy who was the only person in the audience the last time we played here in the crowd tonight?"  The joint will be full next time, JTB.

Rev. Horton Heat & Supersuckers || Always a hit || The Blank Club, SJ, CA July 18, 2012

Photo by Jeff Okubo

 I am not getting any younger.  With that age comes the dread of a bad nights sleep....especially mid-week.  Still, some things are worth rallying for on a week night.  One of those would be either of these two bands.  They got their shtick down tight and they are fun to see live.  It was my fifth time seeing the Supersuckers and my fourth time seeing the Rev.  Still, good as always and having fun rocking the crowd.  The last two times I saw the bands was at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz and the now defunct Voodoo Lounge in San Jose.  It was good to see them back in a much more intimate setting like the Blank Club.  I feel so lucky to see such good musicians so up close and personal.  Ah, all on a Wednesday Night.  Enjoy the videos.....

Shit's getting good || Dirty Pillows/Trashkannon || Caravan Series

Last Friday night at the Caravan was a real treat.  The two bands that played there really blew down the sweaty doors with raw power and energy.  It was real fun to watch.  My buddy Jeff wanted to help me celebrate a major victory.  What else better way to do it than ride down to the Caravan on a beautiful friday night in San Jose, Ca and wash down some cold, cold beverages and enjoy a true show....all for the low, low price of free.

Dirty Pillows opened up the set.  I saw these guys a few years back and I had been meaning to catch them again.  I loved their raw, energetic sound.  Still, you could tell that they were fresh out of the gates and needed some time to gel.  They have gelled.  They sounded very confident.  And in a two piece band the one thing that you cannot lack is confidence.  Unfortunately I only caught the last three or four tunes but they were all great.  Their closer "Happy Trails" was torn to bits by them two...with an incredble breakdown and the end.  It did exactly what you want a breakdown to down...leave the kids for wanting more.  I will definitely look forward to an entire set set time I see these guys.

Then Trashkannon comes on.  I thought I had seen them in the past, but if I did I must of been out of my head or something.  This group is a powerhouse of music and it is heading straight for the jugular.  The great thing is they were missing two players that night too.  Usually there is a different musician on bass and an additional guitarist.  For the night the rhythm section was held down by two members of the Whiskey Avengers. These guys are real musicians.  The powerhouse call and response vocals put on by the singer and bass player were great.  They busted out some great punk rock cracks like calling the dude in the front row with a long beard a Gillbillie.  But the main force was the package of music they brought with them.  They definitely had a packed Caravan, rocking and a rolling through their setlist that comprised of what I believe was some originals and some covers.  I happened to capture two covers.  One of the best is their
spoof of the Weezer tune "Beverly Hills" except with a home town twist changing the lyrics Naglee Park and all the shenanigans that go on in that part of town.  There is a great sampling of it down below in the video section along with a great rendition of the 4 Non Blondes song, "What's Up".
Most of all, I would place a high recommendation on paying money to see either local band.  They are really, really getting good.  Fun night!

Trashkannon sings "Nagalee Park"
Trashkannon sings "What's Up"
Dirty Pillows sing "Happy Trails"

Melvins vs. Unsane || The Blank Club -SJ, CA || April 11, 2012

One year in college I was working at the radio station and I was assigned to play a 3 hour rock block of the Melvins.  I relived that memory last night, except in technicolor.  Sonically their original sound blisters your soul.  It is good, articulate rock and roll with a middle finger directed straight toward the upper class.  All with such bad ass style that keeps people coming back again and again for more loud, destructive art.

Buzz and Dale may be the founders however it is definitely a sum of the parts.  These are not the Melvins I was introduced to almost 20 years ago.  They have evolved into a hard-rocking machine that draws from everyone in the band.  A prime example of that is the utilization of all their voices, building dynamics through a song...let alone their "Stripes Inspired" chants.  The addition of another drummer hits you harder across the face, and let's just face it....it is completely showing off.  Two mo' fo' bad ass drummers that played a long night last night, filling in for the opening band Unsane, due to their drummer having a hip injury.  Go figure that this too was a hard hitting set.  I had heard of these guys back in the 90s, but some bands just never got a good listen during those pre-internet days.  I was really glad to experience them the way the need to be experienced; live and in person.  So heavy and hard but with the beautiful juxtaposition of sweet Fender Tone!  Yes, you heard me right.  The guitarist rocked a Tele (which looked pretty damn stock) hard into what appeared to be a late 60s Fender Dual Showman.  A true workhorse of an amp and this guy gave it a good run for it's money.  They had an interesting touch of blues too.  Definitely the most over-the-top, hard-rocking blues I have ever seem.  Anybody who busts out a metal slide and harmonica loves the blues.  And it was very apparent last night.  A really unique sound. I don't know what else to say about Unsane, except- 1) I need to do a little more research on the and 2) Go see them Live!

Both bands cannot really be truly captured and appreciated recorded.  Why?  Because what they do cannot be spliced together inside a computer or on analog tape and then spit out.  They do their work on their instruments and in front of a crowd.  And that is why I keep coming out to see it.

Still, I must include a sampling of this onslaught at the Blank Club last night:

Sometimes it is just hard to Rally || February 3, 2012 || Caravan Series

Friday night can be tough.  Especially as you age, which is inevitable in all of us.  Weeks drag, winter nights are dark and cold...listen to me?  I am bitching and I live in California.  Shit, I think it was in the 70s here yesterday.  After work I had 20 minutes on the couch with feet up in the air listening to tunes.  I was ready to roll.

I also find it hard to bitch with the Caravan being a less than ten minute car ride doorstep to doorstep.  Still, it is so much easier for one to sit on the couch and plug into god knows what electronic gadget, than get your ass off the couch and go out.  So, along with myself, I applaud all you people who went out on Friday night.  I applaud you all the more for making it down to the Caravan and listening to the music of The Pinks, Bibles & Hand Grenades and Them Slack Jawed Sons of Bitches.  I apologize for some who had to wait in line and missed some of the set.  Especially on a Friday night.  Warm days always help.  Rainy nights tend to hinder.  Either way, hopefully you can all make it down some other night to join in on the fun of live original musicians that tend to be local day-job yokels.  Here is a little taste of last night:

Nels Cline is God!!! || Wilco || January 28, 2012

Jeff, I kid. But seriously, has anyone seen this dude live? I have a little crush on the mind blowing work of the sideman for Jeff Tweedy's pet project of the last twenty years, Wilco.  I have seen Clapton, I have seen Frusciante and I have seen Van Halen...this guy tops the bill in overall playing tonality and attitude.  The only person that I can think that may come close to getting tones from his amp may be Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo. Another Repeater (Definition of a Repeater: Guitarists and bands that I have no problem seeing over and over again).

It's funny because because the night was summed up by just another wonderful evening cruising through downtown San Jose on bikes with some good friends. I had an idea that I wanted to write a review of Wilco's first performance in the Bay Area.  My biggest concern was to either do it on my regular Blog or this one that is specific to that "underground" scene in San Jose.  My answer became apparent as I walked into the San Jose Civic Auditorium and saw nicely framed pictures of live performances there by many of my idols; Buddy Holly, The Beach Boys, Jeff Beck, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds....the list just goes on.  This place is a unique  San Jose shrine and should be worshiped as such.  Well, last night surely didn't disappoint by the legend of Wilco.  This band had been on my list of "must sees before I die" since my daughter was born.  I missed their last bay area appearance with Jeff & Steve at The Mountain Winery.  They described their experience as like one from another world.  And these boys have seen some live music in their past.  I had to go. Little did I know that they were going to play 10 minutes from my doorstep, on a Saturday Night and at a legendary auditorium that I had been waiting to visit for the first time.

The opening act was beyond proficient.  One would figure that would be as natural as soft skin on a newborn with the expertise musicianship in Wilco.  These boys ain't gonna be no hacks!  White Denim caught ya.  I have seen a lot of mediocre openers and I am for some lame reason I am always on precaution about it.  They had a jazzy little Pat Metheny thing going on and then the main dude would explode into a Ted Nugent raged solo.  Pretty cool.  My only real critique of them is that the bass tone needed to be a little fuller.  I blame it on his Rickenbacker 4001.  Those things rate high on extremely cool looking, however unless you are going for the Lemmy in Motorhead sound (which is a thing of beauty), don't bring it to a chili cook off.

Then Wilco came out.  They started slow then built about every song into a towering crescendo.  They are the best at writing hot, catchy hooks. Then they develop a complete and total wall of wonderful tones around those hooks.  Usually lighting them on fire with an incredibly insane solo from Nels Cline like this one here:


As Steve noted about Nels, "He was like a mad professor over there."  But he was quick to follow up with how good the entire band is at making the entire entire band sound so good.  It is definitely a sum of the parts.

I can go on and on telling you what songs I thought were brilliant and what not.  When I write one of these I always try to add a little video.  Last night I had the perfect seat (Thanks Koobs!) to sit there and document so much of the evening all the while not get in the way.  I sat next to this dude who, like me, was a "first timer" on the Wilco train.  I'll bet he'll be seeing them again too by the way he was getting into the performance.  At one time I said "look out at the crowd", everyone was just grooving along to a Wilco song.

Here's a heavy amount of Wilco footage to quench a hearty thirst.  There will be more posted on at my youtube account if you are in need of even more.  And I apologize to others who are yet to see them on this tour.  I would wait on the video, or maybe just watch one or two to get yourself amped up for the show ;-)




To make it align up in the Lofi San Jose category, we did end up going on down to visit Rachel at The Caravan.  We did see a performance of a band that name slips me at this time, but I did catch a little video of one of their songs.  Not bad, though their setlist started getting weak halfway through.  Probably just another new band in downtown San Jose.


The night began at a beer festival at the Women's Club and a cocktail at Original Joe's.  Peeked at Wilco. It ended with a nice ride on down to the local Jack in the Box by the college, which was loaded with characters that time of night, for a little late night, sobering snack.  Koobs was so proud to have ordered the  jumbaco all the while the dude behind the counter didn't even flinch.  Brilliant marketing, Jack!


"They are the best American band we got!" -Steve Laflen on Wilco

Inspiring...|| 74 yr. Dick Dale rocking The Blank Club || January 6, 2012

There was nothing more I needed Friday night than to roll into The Blank Club and hear the legendary Dick Dale blast through his setlist with his son, Jimmy Dale on Drums and Sammy Bolle from Agent Orange & Slacktone.  It was a thing of beauty and the exact therapy my little brain needed.  My good friend and artistic sage, Joe Izzo, succumbed to his long battle with cancer the day before.  Seeing a man who himself has been battling cancer for the last 3 years of his life get up on stage and totally and completely rock it (like no other 74 year old I know could ) was very inspirational.  And I believe it was an inspiration that was felt throughout the packed crowd that night.  It is good to see a sold out show at The Blank Club.  It is even better when the artist is deep into his golden years.

60s Dick Dale

The show was phenomenal.  Me and my buddies (thanks guys for dragging me off the couch) sidewinded right up to the front side of the stage and enjoyed a man who was truly in his element. Heck, he has been doing this the majority of his time on earth and I am sure he will be doing it even more where he is going.  It was great seeing Jimmy rocking it out on drums and really expanding as a musician too.  A while back he was playing guitar with his father and really learning the ropes.  Dick Dale is known for being a task master to his band.  Never a set list and always keeps the band guessing.  I saw Jimmy look over at Sammy several times and give a big sigh of relief while wiping his brow after nailing the untold direction that his father was heading into; a true jam.  It was brilliant. 
But I noticed something else in Jimmy's eyes.  This twenty year old kid was enjoying the moment.  He knows that these live performances with his father are a gift and that they will not go on forever.  He is seizing the opportunity that is in front of him and making the most of it.  Truly inspirational.

It was an energetic show and the crowd ate up every last moment of it.  They did not wander home after catching half the set.  Even the ones who were mostly grey on the head were still front and center watching history unfold in front of their eyes.  Life has only one direction; death.  We are all going to be there some day.  The only thing we can do until we find ourselves knocking on the gates is enjoy ourselves.  The men on the stage that night were doing just that.  To quote Dick Dale up on stage that night, "a while back I had tubes coming out of me, doctors opening me up and radiation shooting through my body...but I'm still here."  And if you are reading this, so are you...

To sum up the performance, the last thing Dick screamed into the mic while closing out his set is...

"You people are my medicine.  Thank you!"