i dont remember where we originally met nikki (curt). i guess it must have been at the mutiny but since ive seen him at numerous shows including one night he was the master of ceremonies at the lyons den and introduced us. hes a huge motley crue fan and a great guy and we got along great from the getgo. after our last show at the mutiny he told me he was now booking sundays there. he offered me a date and we immediatley took it. it was going to be a 3 band bill (never heard of the other 2 bands — ‘the worst’ and ‘hyper viper’)..but hyper viper canceled a couple weeks before hand. somewhere at that same time our friends the symptoms got on the bill. then ‘the worst’ dropped off and nikki gave me an opportunity to book a band. doesnt that sound like an ideal situation, getting to book bands yourself? it sucks: people dont call back, give you the run around, etc… anyways, i figured i would give it a try for like a half hour to see what i could whip up, then hand the reigns of power back to nikki. i called our friends the powerknobs (no answer) then squared off (couldnt do it), then gave up. so the show was relegated to a 2 band bill, which is fine with me.
this was the cd release party for our 6th album ‘get it RiGht, keep it RiGht’. we spent a long time in the studio and as always getting the final product into your hand takes plenty of time, money and patience. the money is the least of my problems. i dont like waiting. regardless, this show was a huge weight off my shoulders, i was glad to give the fucking things out and be reassured that it was actually done.
i got there right on time and loaded in. i had a special wardrobe set up for the gig. i have tons of shirts that i will only wear when i play because i dont want to wreck them from washing the shits 100 times. im real into vintage skateboard gear, especially vision street wear. i have some reissued shit but i was lucky enough to score a pair of brand new shoes from 1987 a while back for a real good price. my most wanted item was always the elusive VSW beret. i lost 2 auctions on ebay for em and i copped the 3rd. for a long time i thought they only came in black but this 3rd one that i won is the same pattern as the shoes. which is awesome, i just got the beret in the mail a few days before the gig.
i got pretty drunk the night before, and also to keep my edge i decided not to drink anything. the mutiny even has the rare 50/50 soda which is awesome so i was drinkin some of that. at some point hilger asked if i wanted to play pool. i gave an ambilivent response like ‘i guess’ or something. i couple dudes had been playing non stop the whole time i was there. i was sitting at the bar not paying attention and hilger hands me the cue and says ‘its your shot’. so i approached the table and was about to go and one of the dudes comes back and asks whats going on. i immediatley became concerned that hilger had racked up the balls and they were still in play on the table, a game in progress. i asked him and he said they were racked but no one had been playing for a while. this is a shady situation because a) no one racks the balls when they arent going to play anymore BUT b) if you want to play, go ahead. if not then let someone else. i didnt hardly want to play anyways so i just racked the balls back up again and apologized to the guy and handed him the cue. he kept on mumbling bullshit like ‘why did you do that?’. in retrospect he was probably drunk and i couldnt tell. i started thinking about how this was my cd release show and even tho hilger may have been at fault we gave the shit back and he should have just shut up and played the damn game. but he had to keep on with his remarks. so i started to raise my voice and told him to drop it and play the game. i told him not to get loud and tried to walk away. he got offended and said how he wasnt getting loud. i told him straight up that i am a star and he ought to respect it or check it. i told him it was my cd release party and the pool table was all his. again, he made some more comments but nothing abrasive, he was like an annoying drunk that keeps apologizing and you tell them to shut the fuck up. i guess i should ahve not gotten invovled in the first place. to make an analogy, think of this last season of the sopranos. tony and johnny sack are friends but tony b. kills some people and johnny gets pissed. so tony s. has 2 options: to fold to johnny sack in order to keep the peace, or just say ‘fuck you, i know tony b. was wrong but i dont give a fuck, and if you dont like it ill kill you and well go to war.’. option #2 is how i kind of wanted the season to end and how i thought it might. and thats kind of my philosphy, at some point you just fight for the sake of fighting even at the same time acknowleding you are wrong. well i walked away from the guy and he didnt say shit to me the rest of the night. later on he was talking to someone and i just walked up and handed him a cd. his mouth opened like he was going to say something but i think he was a little in shock and didnt know what to say.
well alot of people came out to support us, including 4/5 of the powerknobs, 2/3 of squaredoff, 2/4 of the sharky doyles. that shit is what a scene is all about, bands supporting bands in important shows, or any shows for that matter. i super appreciate all those guys coming out, its really awesome of them. this is the 4th time weve played the mutiny and we never had any PA problems before. even at the big horse which has an imfamously bad PA i had no problems. but not only was this PA cutting in and out, i couldnt hear myself and hilgers mic was way louder which caused me to overcompensate and blow out my voice real quick. im not one to blame shit on equipment but like i said, ive never had this problem at the mutiny before. it was very strange. we played our whole set then started taking requests and we got many , and played most. we were taking especially misfits requests as always and got some odd ones, including andy from the symptoms who kept yelling for ‘all hell breaks loose’. i ignored him at first cause we hadnt played that in a long time then eventually we just decided we could play it anyways and it came out perfect. andy came up and sang it and did a great job, especially great cause i was so tired of singing. we played a pretty mammoth set and afterwards i just let myself collapse cause i was mad tired. hilger also busted out a toolbox which he used to carry his cords and various junk then used it as a footstool for when he sang, being inspired by chevelle’s singer who does the same thing.
oh yeah before we played the symptoms did. they were awesome and have a new bass player. their old bass player todd was a strange fella. id say he has a minor case of split personalities. the first time i met him he was a prick, like going out of his way to be a prick. but there were other times where i chilled with him and andy and we got along really well. i guess hes not in the band for the same reason, although he lived with andy and they were obviously close friends, they got into some crazy fights where todd kind of attacked him and what not. all in all i think their new (tho technically old ) bassist brad is a better fit, a much more laid back type of dude and he plays the bass plenty well to keep up with andy. andy originally emailed hilger about getting on the bill for this show. he asked if they could play it (as if we were running the show?) and then added that if he didnt hear back from us he would ‘just call ed [the owner]’. this pissed me off. im sure that andy didnt mean it in the way i took it cause hes a pretty laid back type of person who would probably go out of his way to NOT step on someones toes but i took it as going over my head. i wrote him an email (which he never responded to and now i think he never got) saying that he should slow his roll before he pulls some shit like that. in the end i shouldnt have been so angry cause they were a great band to have played with on this special night. like anything else, i always liked them but in now seeing them for the 3rd time i was able to appreciate it alot more. they were really good and they have a very unique style mixing very straightfoward punk rock with some strange type of metal and other heavy riffing. they ruled.
also have to give an indepth shot out to ed. ive met ed everytime i played at the mutiny. he definately doesnt remember me nor do i expect him to, but not only does he greet you with friendliness and a handshake, but also a wide smile and he is just a really good natured person. when i first got there and was loading in, he was setting up the PA and checking it. ‘i cant get no satisfaction’ by the rolling stones was on the jukebox at the time and he started singing along thru the PA. then he handed me the mic and asked if it sounded ok. so i started singing it to and we were laughing and having a great time. he told the story of the stones coming on ed sullivan and getting banned and all that to me and andy and we were crackin up.
all in all, heres a short summary:
1)sunday shows suck cause people dont come out at all or leave real early cause of monday morning.
2)ed is one of the nicest club owners ive ever come across.
3)the symptoms are one of the best bands around.
4)the PA sucked which caused my voice to blow out like a speaker that you stabbed with a screwdriver
most importantly,
5)i had a blast
–satan165
Low Profile live at the Mutiny
Sunday June 20th
with the Symptoms
So we got offered this show while we were sitting at the bar after we played the Mutiny on May 1st by Kurt who works there. We like to call him Nikki and he is the dagobastard!!!! So thanks to him right off the bat for setting this show up. It seemed to take forever to get here.
Originally there were supposed to be 3 bands. Then 1 band cancelled and the Symptoms were added to the bill. Then that 3rd band cancelled so we tried to book someone else but just gave up and figured fuck it. 2 bands for the whole night. It worked out well.
I got to the club right around 9pm. I got some good parking right down the block. I loaded in and talked briefly with Ed and Nikki. Scott Herschler and Kelly were there way early. So thanks to them for taking the time to come out. Sorry we played so late and u didn’t get to see us. But I appreciate u making the effort.
The turnout for the evening wasn’t great. I didn’t expect it to be. Sundays aren’t the best night of the week to be playing a late show. But u know how Low Profile does it. We play the same whether there r 10 people watching or 100.
The Symptoms played first. They played a real good, solid set. I like these guys more and more each time I see them. And lets see, we’ve played with them 3 times now. And I’ve gone to see them 4 or 5 other times besides that. Great band all around. We have to play more shows with these guys.
So we played next. Before we played, we gave out a bunch of our free merch. I think Satan gave out a free CD to everyone that was inside the Mutiny. I was giving out tshirts and stickers left and right. I’m not sure what time we started but I’m guessing it was a lil after 11 or so. Our set was something like this:
Hot Mom
High Gravity
Ultraviolence
Hotboxed
Low Pro Pt 1
The Will to Kill
King of the Hill theme
Folsom Prison Blues (originally by Johnny Cash)
American Nightmare (originally by the Misfits)
Milwaukee
Radical New Idea
In the Zone
Excited to Die (requested by Joe)
30 Years (originally by PITS) with Jamie on drums and Rob on vocals
I Turned Into A Martian (originally by the Misfits) for Jamey
All Hell Breaks Loose (originally by the Misfits) for Andy (w/andy on vocals)
Mr. Pig (requested by bill knobs)
Grudge
We added a bunch of songs in there. Some were requests. Next time we do Martian, we need a bunch of people to come help sing that shit. I sing so damn bad on the backup whoa-oh-oh. I cringe at my own voice. Oh well.
It was a good, fun set for sure. My fingers are tore up. I slept pretty well last night and took a half day at work.
So thanks to Ed and Nikki, the Symptoms, Scott and Kelly, Aaron, Ross Bill and Andrew, Jamie and Frank, Hoser and Joe, and everone else who was there drinking to our noisy background music.
Another good show to add to the list. Next one is July 9th!!!!
-HILGER
