Fresno Famous

I've been on vacation for a couple weeks. This is not to say anyone should care about that fact, just an FYI as to why I've been absent (did you miss me?).

As a way of getting back into things, here are a couple gig reviews from some shows I had during the break.

Dorktown 4 Year Anniversary@Audie's Olympic, July 2

Once again Audie's solidified its place as my favorite rock club in town. I like seeing bands at Audie's (hadn't seen Elmo Marconi before). I like being a band at Audie's (doing AC/DC covers in this case). I like drinking $2 cans of beer (I prefer Olympia, but they ran out, so Pabst was fine). I like hanging out with my friends (The Fresnan) and supporting great causes at Audie's (Dorktown podcast). I stayed until last call, which is almost unheard of for me.

Also: Somehow Johnny Q managed to throw a free show and still pay the bands. People might want to check into that.

On our set: Playing AC/DC tunes at a bar (like a drinkin-man's bar) after midnight is a no-brainer, right? The songs are solid. All you have to do is not mess up. And we didn't. And we were rewarded with back-slaps all around. People ate it up. But the band only plays every two years or so, so if you missed it, (and you may have) this video will have to do.

A-plus.

Secretions/The Bugs@Starline, July 4

The guy who set up this show is a disabled vet and the Fourth of July kinda messes with him (this is what he told me). I'm guessing it's the fireworks (this he did not tell me). Anyway, a punk show on the 4th of July is how things should be in my mind.

We (It'll Grow Back) opened the show to a decent enough crowd and played our standard 10-song 20-minute set, plus a bonus song cause people wanted to hear it. No one crowded the stage or started moshing or any of that, though by the end of the show there was a nice little group of kids smashing into themselves right good. We got a good response from a bunch of youngins (no disrespect).

The Pricks were good, if not entirely my style. Hot Rod Carl (from Portland) played some acoustic-style rockabilly punk something, which I liked alot.

Giddy-Ups are solid. Probably the most solid punk-rock band in town. Of the punk-rock bands I've seen. They do their thing and they do it well.

The Bugs played punk-rock like I played in high school and I mean that is a good way. It was the music I was trying (and failing) to make it high school before we became a ska band. So the Bugs were LOUD and sang some songs about being (or not being) gay (I think).

Missed the Secretions because I am a lousy no-good for nothing who likes to sleep. Sorry.

A