Thursday, February 11, 2010

"The Funny Thing About Regret Is..."

I've seen the Butthole Surfers live twice, now. Once, when they opened for Nirvana on New Years Eve '93 going on '94; and again last October, when they shared a bill with the Melvins. The more recent show was part of a reunion tour, and to be honest, left me a little cold. They played most of the songs you would expect, and pretty much note for note. All told, it was a decent performance from a band I've been listening to for twenty years. So why didn't I have fun? Several reasons. Firstly, the venue was divided into terraces, and unless you were one of the first couple hundred people to get there, you couldn't get within 25 feet of the stage. Yawn. And, secondly, they played that shit straight as can be, and Gibby spent most of his between song banter complaining about the shitty venue. Well, sorry Gibby, if you weren't booked at a better club, but it's not the audiences fault. To be fair, ten years will grow you up, and turn down the punker antics. Oh, and they looped the theme from The Price Is Right and played it full volume for at least twenty minutes before they went on stage, which ruined every one's buzz. Maybe that was the point. You see, I first read about the Surfers in the seminal book on early DIY/Indie culture, Our Band Could Be Your Life, and I was like, "holy snappers, these cats are cuhrazy!" They took acid everyday, and fingerbanged girls on stage, then set the drum cymbals on fire, etc. So, when I saw them play in '93, I felt prepared. I wasn't. That was and is the craziest show I've seen, and one of the best. Yeah, it was at the Oakland Coliseum, a huge sports arena, but that just meant they could fit more freaks in the building. The Surfers pulled out the usual antics I mentioned before, while standing in front of three projection screens playing different images, sometimes over one another. Gibby sang through the bullhorn, the music was incredibly loud and mostly unintelligible, and the fans were the weirdest people my thirteen year old eyes had ever set upon. There was a cluster of girls wearing black leotards, doing some kind of interpretive dance. A guy in a wheel chair rocking out, then producing and consuming a strip of blotter acid, at least five hits long. Pot smoke thick as maple syrup filled the air. Anyways, if you get the chance, catch them while their still alive and kicking, but don't expect the legend to hold true. And, in the meantime, enjoy this classic album from 1987. Noise rock at its finest, if you ask me. Oh, wait, back then they were calling it "Pigfuck."

Satan! Satan! Satan!

7 comments:

hans said...

I got to see them in '93 also. they played with The Flaming Lips and Stone Temple Pilots. I got to see everything you described plus, with the show being outdoors, Gibby shooting blanks with a 12 gauge into the air and 20 foot flames behind them all with blinding strobe lights. Epic experience.

Ezra said...

Except "Our band could be your life" came out in like, 2002. Which makes your whole story about seeing them in '93 sound very suspect.

Ezra said...

Unless I'm completely misunderstanding this post?

RyGar said...

No, what you caught there was a continuity error of sorts. I didn't read the book until a couple years ago. I did however see them in '93. They opened for Niravana. Bobcat Goldthwait was the MC. Chokebore played first. (The supposedly live Nirvana concert that was broadcast on MTV that night was actually previously recorded.) At that time, I had heard them, and heard of their antics. I just wanted to make sure I mentioned the book in the post, because its a great book, and it really details all of their exploits. Nice fact-checking, though.

Ezra said...

Cool, I never got to see them. Didn't mean to be a dick, something just seemed outta wack. Thanks for the clearing that up, and the cool blog.
It wasn't really fact checking, since I think we're probably all around the same age. By the time Azzerad's book came out it was all ancient history anyway.

RyGar said...

No worries. I'm glad you like the spot. I guess I just assumed that book had been out forever, because like you said, it was all ancient history. I was trying to remember where it was that I had of the Butthole Surfers after your comment, but I'm kind of drawing a blank. At that time, I was mostly influenced by my older sisters and Thrasher Magazine, as far as seeking out new bands. My local skateshop had a ramp, and the older dudes would play some good shit, too, during after hours sessions. Anyways, thanks for dropping by, and for commenting.

howardx said...

i dropped that "regret" quote on my dad once, he got all pissed for some reason...