LIST MANIA: Jerry's 10 Favorite Shows of 2010

Working class stiffness consumes me. Stagger here, stagger there, drop dead in exhaustion, reanimate, repeat. Adam Super Fan keeps me up to date with all the shows I miss on Facebook. TONS! However, I manage to strap on a helmet and lay siege to the world now and then.

Let's look back.

1. Red Fang live at Dante's; Portland, OR (3/12/10)

The first time I saw the mighty Red Fang live was on the first SRG road trip where we invaded Don "Chile" Ortega's pad. I staggered out of Dante's a beer/sweat drenched, smilin' mutt with an appetite for another cold, cold one. Nik and Matt found Voodoo and downed some of the most vile Froot Loop lookin' madness I've ever seen. Spelled the end for Matt. Ortega and I continued our wars against our respective livers. Screw those guys. The next morning, we smelled. I mean, really smelled. No one would sit next to us at the breakfast joint. Don't know how we made it home. When I walked into my pad, the Jedi stopped me in my tracks, forced me to the washer, and forced me to wash up. All this was done in a haze with a permagrin. This euphoric state is now known as a RED FANGOVER. Get one.

Special added bonus: Salvador opened. Killer band.

2. The Spits live at The Funhouse; Seattle, WA (9/4/10)

One of the craziest nights ever at The Funhouse was provided by The Spits. More beer flew. My knees got bashed repeatedly into the stage. People tried stage diving and failed. A dude yanked on my hoody, a futile attempt to steal my spot, and almost got a Wookie smash (thanks Palmer for stopping!). In the end, I accidentally formatted my camera losing all footage but the memory remains. Unbelievable.

Special bonus: Warning: Danger! opened.

3. Lozen live at The Greenhouse; Seattle, WA (06/10/10)

The first time I saw Lozen, I stood cramped in The Greenhouse, the humidity immediately ruined my beer. No matter, during "Precious Baby Squirrel", I had one of those moments that make you feel alive. Lozen locked me in and took me for a ride. Since then, I try not to miss any of their shows, but I remind you of my working class stiffness problem. Lozen rules!

Special Bonuses: Helms Alee (missed due to an emergency), Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, and Thrones.

4. NomeansNo live at Neumos; Seattle, WA (10/7/10)

Night of the Wookie! That's all that needs to be said. To recap, I unexpectedly got Friday off of work (actually I always had it off, but I seem to have a problem with stupidity) where both NomeansNo and Red Fang were playing. Who's the luckiest dude alive? ME! The NomeansNo show in Portland was great too, but they brought a bit more to the Seattle gig. These guys are legends!

5. Throne of Bone live in some cave; Seattle, WA (9/5/10)

Following the thrashing at the hands of The Spits, we ventured into some seedy joint for an after hours show with Throne of Bone. Immediately, as we staggered through the vacant lot, a decked out hipster hurled an insult our way. At least we thought it was an insult. My ears still blared from The Spits show. The door man acted like he didn't know what the hell we were talking about. We muttered, "Throne of Blood," his eyes widened and so did the door - we were in! Inside, we witnessed the greatness of Throne of Bone. During their set, a woman jumped onto the small stage, backed up, and with a full head of steam, sprinted toward the audience. She made a horrible error in judgment by choosing to jump straight into the unexpecting crowd, instead of up into their arms. This resulted in a Moses like parting of the sea - people moved the hell out of the way. The result, the young lady's momentum took her deep into the crowd and she landed head first by me. As I reached down to see if she was ok, the punch drunk girl found her legs, reeled a few feet and fell again where her friend helped her to the ladies room. Hope she was ok. At any rate, Throne of Bone finished off my ear drums and my head buzzed for a good week. What a show appropriately named BUMBER FUCK! Good times.

This was the night I erased all my footage. I'm a stupid shit.

6. Red Fang live at The Sunset; Seattle, WA (6/26/10)

The bliss of a Red Fangover. Rocked my ass off. Bit deep into my tongue and puked all over Market st. The guys dedicated a song to SRG and we only had to stumble back to SRG Headquarters, which is almost a stone's throw from The Sunset.

Bonus this night: Kinski, Virgin Islands, and moshing with Ben Shepherd.

7. Toxic Holocaust live at Satyricon; Portland, OR ( 9/11/10)

While everyone stood and watched Sleep at the shitty ass Roseland Theater, The Satyricon was ripped to shreds by Toxic Holocaust who seemed to channel Metallica circa 1983 and became one of my new favorite bands. Unbelievable performance and the best video I shot this year.

Don Chile Ortega's video:

8. The Gories live at Dantes; Portland, OR (9/10/11)

Never, ever, ever did I imagine I would have the chance to see the legendary Gories. It lived up to all expectations and I stood smiling the entire time.

9. Kylesa live at The Funhouse; Seattle, WA (12/3/10)

Mesmerizing, that's the only way I can describe the experience. It was everything I could have hoped for. An incredible live band!

Added bonuses: Lesbian and Book of Black Breath.

10. Grenades, Dog Shredder, Sandrider, and Smooth Sailing live at The Rendezvous; Seattle, WA (12/4/10)

Seeing one of these bands live would make the night worthwhile. Seeing two would be the best show in town. Three of these bands playing together would be mind blowing. Seeing all four makes me wonder, "What have I been smoking? This show should be #1!"

It was that good of a year folks!
Please excuse the gray intro on some of these vids. The files were a bit wonky.