Boris And The Melvins At The Beachland Ballroom On September 14, 2023

     Here are pictures of the Twins Of Evil tour that I took at the Beachland Ballroom, in Cleveland, on September 14, 2023.  The lineup was Boris, the Melvins and Mr. Phylzzz.

Boris:

Melvins:

Mr. Phylzzz:

The Cazart Chronicles Podcast: Episode 18

Here's the Libsyn link to episode 18:  The Cazart Chronicles Podcast: Episode 18

All episodes can also be found streaming on most music services.

Thanks for listening.

Here's the playlist:

1.  The Ruts~Staring At The Rude Boys~Grin And Bear It

2.  GEL~Honed Blade~Only Constant

3.  Rollins Band~Fool~Weight

4.  Speed Plans~Can't Get Through~Statues Of God

5.  Iggy Pop~The Passenger~Live At The Royal Albert Hall

6.  Mirakler~Ecstatic Fields Of Love And Grace~How I Became The Devil

7.  True Widow~Creeper~Circumambulation

8.  Tabula Rasa~Dead Air~The Role Of Smith

9.  Blood Pressure~Recluse~Surrounded

10.  Failure~Daylight~Fantastic Planet

11.  Black Face~I Want To Kill You~Black Face

12.  Dinosaur Jr.~Garden~Sweep It Into Space

13.  Allan~Fist~About Five Seconds

14.  Emptier~Spin To Win~OMW

15.  Gun Club~Port Of Souls~Mother Berlin

16.  Stiff Prick~Borderline~Stiff Prick Demo

17.  Obliterations~Normalized Decline~Poison Everything

18.  The Velvet Underground~Black Angel's Death Song~The Velvet Underground & Nico

19.  Trace Remains~Radiate~Radiate

20.  Selene Vigil~Soul In Traction~Tough Dance

21.  Rowland S. Howard~Sleep Alone~Teenage Snuff Film

22.  Bad Religion~A Walk~The Gray Race

23.  Sunny Day Real Estate~In Circles~Diary

24.  Doomwatch~Iconoclast~A Symphony Of Decadence

25.  Moondog~Are You Really Down~Moondog

The Velvet Underground And Nico And Me And Way Too Many People

A while back the people at the Andy Warhol Museum that are charged with the task of combing through the massive pile of personal belongings the artist left behind unearthed a reel to reel audio tape.  This tape contained what is known as the Scepter Studios Sessions or the Norman Dolph Acetate by the Velvet Underground.

This session was recorded on April 25, 1966, prior to the recordings that were used for the The Velvet Underground and Nico album, also known as the banana record because of Warhol’s painting of a banana that was used for the cover art.  It was believed that the only remaining evidence of the Scepter Studios session were two acetates that were created in order to check levels and that was it.  Everyone involved believed that the tapes were either misplaced, destroyed or recorded over which happened with alarming frequency in the 1960s and 70s.

One of the acetates is known to have ended up in a private collection with the owner choosing not to disclose who they are.  The second acetate ended up on the auction block ten or so years ago.  The person who bought it made a decent needle drop recording of it and posted it online as a free download.  The recording was scratchy and riddled with pops and skips because acetates were only meant to be played once or twice in the studio before tape was rolled.  This recording ended up being pressed to vinyl and came out a few Record Store Days ago.  I have it on the shelf but never spent much time with it because of the quality issues.

That is why coming across the tape in Andy Warhol’s archive is such a major discovery.  It was thought that this session was lost to history with the exception of the aging and degraded acetates.

The archivists at the Warhol Museum did their due diligence once the tape was found and had it transferred to digital before the tape crumbled.  They then went to work on setting up an exhibit to show off their new discovery.

The exhibit included photos and films from the time of the recordings as well as every piece of information that is known about the session.  The original tape and any other noteworthy physical items were on display in the entryway before the exhibition space itself.  The walls were covered with black curtains and there were screens on either end of the space.

Films of the band members that were shot by Andy Warhol were played on the screens in a loop along with the restored audio of the Scepter Studios session.  There were couches and chairs so people could sit and observe the films while taking in the music.  Strategically hung on the walls around the room, there were photos and more placards with information.

The room was kept intentionally dark because the focus of the exhibit was audio and people were meant to use their ears more than their eyes to experience it.  All in all, it was a very well put together way to display this bit of music and art history that the museum had discovered.

In order to avoid the crowds, I tried to go on a Tuesday afternoon after I had a dentist appointment but struck out.  The museum is closed on Tuesdays so I had to suck it up and go to a public tourist attraction on a Saturday.

I was there shortly after they unlocked the doors and already noticed a large amount of strollers and unsupervised children running about.  This did not bode well for me.

I took a faster than usual walk through the galleries to see what pieces may have been rotated in since the last time I was there.  I was trying my level best to get ahead of everyone and it felt like it was working for a brief moment.

I got to the floor with the Velvet Underground exhibit and took the time to read all of the displays and check out all of the items before entering the main area.  I entered the room knowing full well what I was about to hear but I still wasn’t ready for its impact and the way it was being presented.  I walked in to the sound of John Cale’s viola on “Black Angel’s Death Song” which was the sonic equivalent of walking into a wall. I almost teared up from the sound of it.  It was an overwhelming and effective way to present the music and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

The only other people in the room were an older woman that was sitting on one of the couches, watching the films and a museum employee.  I made a loop around the room to check out the photographs and to read the other information on the walls.  After that I took a seat at the opposite end of the room so as to not bother the woman that was there.

I was able to sit quietly and absorb the exhibit for about a song and a half before the rest of the masses showed up.  There was a swarm of rapidly aging/balding white men with beards, glasses, plaid button down shirts, beige cargo shorts and flip flops.  It was like an invasion of the hipster pod people.

They were all loud as hell and felt compelled to mansplain at the top of their lungs some little factoid about The Velvet Underground that they thought only they knew.  It was as if they were trying to explain why IPAs tasting like freshly squeezed dog urine is actually a sign of quality when it comes to shitty beer.

While they were busy running their mouths, they were letting their ill-behaved spawn run wild through the exhibit.  If you make the initial mistake of having children and then the follow up mistake of raising them free range, why do you need to make it everyone else’s problem?

It's a museum not a goddamn playground.  If you wanted to trundle about a museum for a few hours, you should have left your kids at home to play with the cutlery or in the car with the windows rolled up.

It was clearly an art exhibit where the art was meant to be experienced with the ears.  That means you should try shutting the fuck up for five minutes.  And by the way, that little tidbit of Velvet Underground information that you think is so special and only you know has been written about in books and articles for over the past fifty years in addition to being printed on the displays out in the hall and on the walls.

These were the same kind of dickheads that check out the guitar set ups of the bands they’re about to see as if they'd know what to do with any of the pedals.  And that’s if their wives would allow them to play guitar at home because it would make too much noise and wake the napping children or disturb the cookout or whatever the fuck suburban hipster douchebags do when they congregate in their spare time.

Needless to say, it was time to go before I ended up on the evening news.  “Angry middle-aged man physically removed from the Warhol Museum for putting dipshits in their place.  More at eleven.”  Although, probably not because of the local media's incessant need to report on lottery numbers and football and little else. There are reasons why I shouldn’t be allowed out in public and other people could possibly be the main one.

I made a quick exit and about a half an hour later I was in my living room with a fresh cup of coffee and The Velvet Underground And Nico playing at such a volume it probably caused structural damage to my house.

A Willard Without A Kurtz

For the first time in about four years, I have no band to work for.  As a very mission and objective driven person with a single minded focus, I am starting to feel unmoored and drifting.

I feel very much like Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now but minus the interpretive dancing to The Doors and the mirror punching.  Sitting at home and staring at the walls, waiting for a mission and knowing how slim the likelihood is that one will arrive.  Downtime has never been good for me.  That’s when the depression monster starts to rattle its cage and tries to get out.

In an effort to push back against the restlessness that comes with all of my newly found free time I have started writing with more frequency.  Now granted, the majority of those words are not meant for human consumption by any stretch of the imagination.  It feels more like I’m trying to get the poison out while I’m writing but it also feels like I’m sharpening a blade.  There are points while I’m writing where I stop and laugh at myself and start thinking that maybe I should lighten up a bit.  And that’s when I exclaim “NO!!!” and keep digging deeper down the hole.  It might not be healthy to plumb that far into the depths of my broken brain but at least I’m aware of how tightly wound I am.

I am still trying to get to as many shows as I possibly can to take pictures and continue my bizarre efforts of documentation that only myself and about three other people seem to care about.  It does feel like something is missing when I’m only there with my camera.  That thing that is very wrong in my head because I see facing the logistical challenges of getting a band on stage as some sort of achievement is no longer being fed.  There is no longer that sense of camaraderie at the end of the night of a show well played while sitting in a Sheetz parking lot, rehydrating and licking our wounds with hours of road between us and home.

     I have found an upside in all of this and it's that I get to be more selective about the shows I drag my carcass to.  Now I can avoid certain bands, venues and groups of people because I don’t feel obligated to attend anymore and put up with the baggage that comes with them.

The one issue that I seem to be experiencing more and more these days is my inability to turn off parts of my brain and it’s becoming a larger problem than usual.  Having nowhere to point my nervous energy that would normally be aimed at making a show run efficiently is manifesting itself in other areas of my day to day.  My shitty office job really doesn’t need me acting like it’s a punk show for eight hours.  That’s the last thing that anyone needs.

Trying to occupy my every free moment with the various meaningless tasks that I get up to instead of trying to actually address my unaddressed trauma like a normal person would do has almost been helpful.  At least it’s been helpful by way of keeping myself busy and focussed on some sort of activity.  There are still times where I find myself doing pushups in my living room at 1:30 in the morning because I can’t sleep and my brain won’t shut the fuck up.

With music being the tie that bound us together, maintaining and keeping the friendships intact will be difficult for me.  I always shy away from any party type of atmosphere and most, if not all, social situations.  I’m good for about an hour but then the anxiety kicks in and it’s time to go.  It has nothing to do with the company kept, most of the time.  It has to do with my inability to deal with most interactions with people.  It all comes back to me being more comfortable with my solitude than other human beings.  If it weren’t for live music I would never leave the house.  When the music is over I immediately head to the exit.  And in this instance the music really is over.

There is still some Submachine business left to tend to but I’m not sure where I fit into those plans.  I would never want to overstep my bounds and serve more than an advisory role in the decision making process.  Even if I were asked, it wouldn’t feel right to me, like I didn’t earn it.  The mission is changing and it will be up to me to find a way to adapt to it as best I can.

The Cazart Chronicles Podcast: Episode 17

Here's the Libsyn link to episode 17:  The Cazart Chronicles Podcast: Episode 17

All episodes can also be found streaming on most music services.

Thanks for listening.

Here's the playlist:

1.  The Damned~Melody Lee~Machine Gun Etiquette

2.  Hammered Hulls~Self Inflicted~Live At The Black Cat On 4/16/2023

3.  Mind Meld~The Blizzard~Mind Meld

4.  Shit Present~Anxious Type~Shit Present

5.  Iggy Pop~Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night~Free

6.  Sinead O'Connor~I Am Stretched On Your Grave~I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

7.  Truth Cult~Squeeze~Walk The Wheel

8.  Caustic Christ~Dead To The World~Can't Relate

9.  Beastie Boys~Lee Majors Come Again~Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

10.  The Chisel~Unlawful Execution~Retaliation

11.  Thin Lizzy~Jailbreak~Live At The BBC

12.  Heavy Discipline~What's The Point~Heavy Discipline

13.  DEVO~Gates Of Steel~Freedom Of Choice

14.  Thee Oh Sees~Funeral Solution~A Foul Form

15.  Flash Thunder~300 Wishes~Demonstration

16.  Bob Marley & The Wailers~War/No More Trouble~Babylon By Bus

17.  Medium Ugly~Forced To Stay Alive~Punk-O-Ramademodingdong

18.  The Panik~Modern Politics~It Won't Sell

19.  Melvins~Rebel Girl (ft. Teri Gender Bender)~Rebel Girl

20.  Elvis Costello~Deep Dark Truthful Mirror~Spike

21.  Patton Oswalt~The Best Comedy I've Ever Seen~Finest Hour

22.  Jon Spencer Blues Explosion~Ole Man Trouble~Mo' Width

23.  The Homeless Gospel Choir~Capitalismo~I Used To Be So Young

24.  Submachine~A Wreck~Sawed Off Shotglass

25.  Moondog~They Said We Were The Best~Moondog

Road Tripping On A School Night For Screaming Females

Editor's note: Sometimes life flares up and prevents the work from getting done.  This may seem dated but better late than never.

     After several years of listening to records by the Screaming Females, I was finally able to cross paths with the band to see them live.  In the past, countless scheduling conflicts had prevented me from being in the same room as them but I made sure to get myself to 123 Pleasant St, in Morgantown, on August 16, 2023.

     The Screaming Females put out consistently solid records, album after album, so I knew they would be good but I had no idea they'd be that good.  Holy shit.  The band's rhythm section was completely locked in and were able to hold it down so Marissa Paternoster could go out on a limb with her guitar playing.  At the end of every song I was stunned by what I was seeing.  Mind blown.  Face thoroughly melted.

     After running around and taking pictures, I ended up sitting on a cement block that was standing on edge next to the stage door and behind the speaker stack so I was able to hide from the masses and still have a great vantage point to watch the show.  It is rare that I get to see a band that is so dialed into what they're doing and as tight as the Screaming Females are that by the end of the night I was somehow a bigger a fan of the band than when I walked in.

     Of the hundreds of pictures that I took during their set, the one above is my favorite from the night.  I took it with my ancient iPhone and snapped it as soon as the camera opened up.  Sometimes being in the right place at the right time is more important than anything.

     All in all, it was another amazing night at 123 Pleasant St.  I have never had a bad time there.  The staff has always been cool and friendly and I get the honest sense that they are trying to build and maintain a scene there.

     They always throw a local opener on the bill and those bands are always surprisingly good.  This time around was no different.  The band was called Stupid Head and they had a fuzzed out garage thing going on.  It felt like they spent a lot of time listening to Ty Segall records and that's not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned.

     Lung was the touring opener and they played the kind of weirdo rock music that I've been finding solace in lately.  The band is from Cincinnati and consists of a drummer and an electric cello player.

     The signal from the cello was split into two separate amps and pedal boards which made quite the unholy racket.  The drummer from Lung had one of the more interesting kits that I've seen in a while.  It looked like it was made from pieces of those toddler habitrail tubes from an indoor playground place.  And since I didn't have to move it or put it in a van, I was an immediate fan of the drum kit's weirdness while equally perplexed over the logistics and practicality of the thing.

     After the show I made sure to partake in my usual post-show breakfast ritual in the nearest Sheetz parking lot.  That's something that I've done after every trip to 123 Pleasant St.  I was able to contemplate the show and fall further down the hole of my own thoughts over coffee and a sandwich before the hour drive back north.

     It was one of those nights that reinforced the reasons why I go to shows by myself to have these experiences and not to hang out with people.  It felt like another human being would have ruined the evening.

     As tired as I was the following day while I was rotting away at a desk, I'm glad I forced myself to take a road trip on a school night.  It was so worth it.  And honestly, fuck work.  If I show up disheveled and out of my mind that's their problem.

Samuel S.C. At The Government Center On August 26, 2023

     Here are pictures that I took at The Government Center on August 26, 2023.  The lineup was Samuel S.C., Continuals and Choice Words.

Samuel S.C.:

Continuals:

Choice Words: