Monday, December 31, 2012

0 Mark Ostler's (Warning:Danger!) Favorite Shows of 2012


Favorite Shows of 2012:

1. Motley Crue and KISS - Saturday August 18th - White River Ampitheater

This show tops my list for many reasons.  First, it was amazing to see Mick Mars perform live. He has an advanced case of Ankylosing Spondilitus and continues to rock!  Amidst the pyrotechnics, go-go dancers and rollercoaster drum machine, there steps Mick Mars as if walking on a frozen lake.  His hands are not affected by the disease and he methodically and skillfully whales on his guitar.  Inspiring!

I'd never been much of a  KISS fan, until I saw them live; an all engrossing mutlimedia spectacle that has to been seen to be believed.  I also went to this show with a big group of friends and that's the only way to see Motley Crue and KISS, with your wildest, rockin'est, craziest friends around.

2.  Dead Milkmen - Friday May 11th - El Corazon

I never got to see Dead Milkmen live during their hey-day.  Until this year, they hadn't played a live show for 237 years, and I swore, "If Dead Milkmen ever play a show ever again, I will totally go!"  Seattle was one of 3 West Coast cities they played this summer and it rocked.  The crowd at El Corazon was super friendly and pumped to see this rare live performance.  In a very un-Seattle way, random strangers would talk about how great Dead Milkmen are and stuff.  Even though the band members are 348 years old, they play with youthful, sweat drenched energy.

3.  M.O.T.O. - Thursday July 12th - The Funhouse

M.O.T.O. began his West Coast Tour in Seattle, just days before my birthday!  The best present I got for my 36th birthday was to share a stage with M.O.T.O. at The Funhouse!  Those new to M.O.T.O., check out his album "Kill M.O.T.O." on Criminal IQ Records, pissed off crazy genius wrapped up in frustrated punk rock.

Next night, M.O.T.O. played in Portland with a M.O.T.O. cover band called M.O.F.O.  I almost drove down to see this spectacle.  How cool to see a cover band of one of your favorite bands, followed by the actual band themselves!

4.  Rat City Roller Girls 2012 Finals After Party featuring The Throttle Rockets Reunion - Saturday May 19th - The Funhouse

The Funhouse was packed with rowdy Roller Girls and jello shots were $2.  5 bands, Android Hero, Poop Attack!, Warning: Danger!, Rat City Ruckus, Oceans of Mars were slated to perform to an anxious audience.  Although a championship still eludes The Throttle Rockets, no other Roller Derby Team parties harder than The Throttle Rockets!

5.  Sandrider (record release), Lesbian, Brokaw - Thursday January 12th - The Comet

Just look at that line up!  You will never again see those three bands together in such a small venue, and the crowd knew it!  So much intensity on that stage.  Lesbian performed a once every 45 minute set... of one continual song.  Lights, smoke, rock and roll!


6.  Rat City Ruckus, Warning: Danger!, Time Against - Saturday September 22nd - Johnny B's (Medford, OR)

Hey touring bands!!  It's a long drive between Portland and San Francisco, so you gotta stop at Johnny B's in Medford (just north of the Oregon / California border).  The kids are hungry for the rock in that town!  It doesn't matter whose playing, there's an audience at Johnny B's.  Paired with a local band, it's a dangerous combination.  This show went all the way to closing time after a spontaneous jam session broke out with other local musicians.  Awesome!
 
7.  Los Headaches - Leap Year! Wednesday February 29th - The Funhouse

What better occasion to party than Leap Year!!   I went to this show to see Los Headaches, a band from Mexico, without even hearing a song.  You figure, with all the poverty in Mexico, a) it’s difficult to be in a band, b) its super difficult to get across the border to tour the US.  So when a band from Mexico makes it to Seattle, I had to go, sight unseen.  They were awesome!!  Super energetic, garage rock band.  Some dude in the mosh pit was acting a little over aggressive, and the drummer, leapt from the stage and told the guy to settle down.  Awesome!

8.  Deadkill (7” record release), Grenades - Thursday May 17th - Barboza

The opening of Barboza was delayed and the Stranger wrote a piece about that space being cursed, but on that Thursday no curses prevailed.  Gotta love shows where the frontman haphazardly jumps into a sparse crowd and the audience gels together and carries him around the club.  Awesome!

9.  The Funhouse Closing Night Party - Halloween 

The Funhouse, another victim fallen to Seattle's unrestricted condo craziness.  Everywhere you look, neat old buildings are being torn down and replaced with blocky building barf.  Although it was the last show ever, The Funhouse promised to go out with a bang, on Halloween!

Weeks before the show, emails were circulating asking for attendees not smash or steal or engage in any activities that might make it more difficult to reopen elsewhere.  The crowd was well behaved and at times happy, while a shadow of remorse prevailed for our departing club.
 
The Funhouse is one of these rare clubs where it's ok to fail.  Where do bands play, if they are just starting out and don’t have a draw yet? In Seattle, clubs often times won’t book you without promise of a draw, but The Funhouse is one of those rare clubs that will give you a chance.  R.I.P.  You will be sadly missed.

10.  All the bands worthy of this list.

 I’m so lucky to live in Seattle, where a phenomenal show can happen any night of the week and one of many clubs.  It’s hard to narrow it to 10, so this 10th slot I wanna credit to the awesome bands I saw this year that are worthy of making this list: The Mentors, Rabbits, Green River Thrillers, Hollow Points, Botherations, Last Gasp, A.T.M. (Always Taking Money), Torch Burner, Tight Lies, Medula Pinata, Kids on Fire, Spy Device, Conniption Fits, Rats in the Grass, Water Tower and many many more!


Show I'm Saddest I Missed:

Smooth Sailing, Grenades, Mico De Noche, Princess - Saturday June 2nd - The Comet

Look at that line up!  I knew it was gonna be a good show, I knew I should've gotten their earlier.  But when I arrived at 10:45ish, the bouncer told me the show was sold out!

I knew some of the guys in the bands and the booker, and thought about starfucking my way inside.  Instead, I humbly resigned to fate and walked back to my car and went home :(  life sucks...

Worst Show of the Year: NOFX - Tuesday January 24th - King Cat Theater

The anticipation of this show was awesome!  My super cool cousin and I had tickets well in advance and we kicked it around Belltown before the show.  

I knew something was wrong when somebody got hit by a car outside the venue.  After waiting in the rain, we finally got inside the way over soldout, overcrowded, fire trap of an old theater.  The room was stuffed with whiney white boy SoCal d-bags with their pot shirts and NOFX shoelaces and socks.  As a kid I liked NOFX alright, then NOFX took the stage and shattered my impressions.

Fat Mike, the lead singer is a dick!  He called out people in the audience, saying he didn't like the way they looked and asked them to go to the back of the room.  What a prick!  He threw shoes at stage divers and made racist jokes on stage (it's ok, right, cause there's a Jewish guy in the band??).  That dude is a true asshole!  I heard rumors of his antics backstage, but let's just say NOFX are shitbags!

Warning:Danger! released their 2nd album in 2011 called "The Safe and the Dead", since then they have released two music hilarious videos. W:D! starts off 2013 with a show at the Morgue in Georgetown on January 18th with Rat City Ruckus and others.

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