My first exposure to the Jesus Lizard’s music was in May of 1999. At that time, they were one of the many bands I knew the name of but hadn’t gotten to yet. I was spending a few weeks out in Boulder, CO staying with my friend, John, who had recently moved out there.
It was my last night in town and we used the self-titled Jesus Lizard EP to go off as an alarm so we could get to the airport and I could catch my flight. I have been a fan since I first heard the opening to “Cold Water” and once I got home I started picking up every Jesus Lizard record I came across.
Fast forward to several months ago, John was back in the Pittsburgh area and plans were being hatched to go see the Jesus Lizard. We were both floored by the new record and couldn’t believe that Pittsburgh was a stop on the tour. The closest I had ever gotten to seeing the Jesus Lizard play was the last time they were at Metropol in the late 90s and I couldn’t make it to the show. John had seen them several times over the years and wasn’t going to pass on another opportunity.
Then John got sick. Our plans began changing to involve ADA seating for him at the venue which is one of the few things that Stage AE does well. Then our plans were scrapped altogether because his health was declining so rapidly. He ended up passing a week before the show and I’m still trying to figure out how to walk around with this new grief and loss.
After many attempts, this was only the second time that I was cleared to shoot a show at Stage AE. The place doesn’t make it easy to get approvals even when going through official channels. Which is why I found it weird that there were two guys taking pictures with their cellphones in the photo pit during the allotted three songs.
I was among a total of three photographers at the show and we would make space for each other and trade places so we could all get our coverage. The two cellphone dipshits weren’t paying attention to the rest of us and were pushing their way past everyone.
They were clearly exhibiting some dumb white dude behaviors. The other photographers and I would look at each other in amazement at these idiots. Here we were with actual cameras and lenses followed by going home to edit our work and here were these two chuckleheads taking pictures with their phones and posting them before they were back in their cars. I wish I was able to find out what outlets they were working for so I could never give them my attention again.
I never felt so obsolete in doing this thing and it made me want to chuck my camera into the river and be done with this experiment. Every time I feel it’s time to make another attempt to move beyond having a day job I run into something like this and can’t help but wonder what the point of any of this is.
As for Stage AE itself, not much has changed since the last time I was there for an indoor show which was for Bad Religion back in November of 2021. The place still sounds like a concrete shitbox and I’m sure both the Jesus Lizard and the opener, Spotlights, sounded better across the street. Absolutely nothing has been done to dampen the echo of the place and I don’t think anyone involved with the place cares about that.
The venue still gives off the vibe that they don’t give a shit about music and only use it as a vehicle to sell booze. If I was ever forced to say something positive about the place it would be that they at least have a rather pleasant hand soap in the restroom. In other words, if the place became a hole in the ground tomorrow, I would not be fazed.
Spotlights were recently in town for this year’s installment of Descendants Of Crom. I had to skip the two day festival this year due to scheduling issues so I was glad that I was finally able to catch up with Spotlights.
The band has a very stoner metal groove/riff oriented thing going on which is very much up my alley. The downside was that every now and then the vocals would cut out for some reason. They played through it and played a great set. I will be sure to make a point of checking out more of their music.
As I was taking pictures of Spotlights, I noticed a very strange thing about the height of the stage. The stage at Stage AE is so high that I found myself standing on my toes to shoot around the monitors at the front of the stage. I am not the tallest person but I’m also not the shortest person either and I just found that very odd for some reason. At least I didn’t have to crawl around on the floor to get my shots.
When I hear that an older band is getting back together with a new record and a tour I am always somewhat suspicious. Over the years, I have witnessed several bands do this for a cash grab with the results being less than desirable and they end up tarnishing their legacy. I fully understand that there is no rock ‘n’ roll retirement plan so I don’t begrudge a band going out to scoop up some nostalgia dollars from a willing fanbase with disposable income. If a band is able to go out and sell a bunch of t-shirts to a bunch of cop out suburbanites, then more power to them.
However, this was not the case with the Jesus Lizard. From the moment the band hit stage they were relentless in their attack. By the second song David Yow was out in the crowd, swimming on top of them. And just a reminder, David Yow is 64 years old. He’ll take your nostalgia dollars and land on your head while he’s doing it. The only sign that he may have been slowing down with age was that his pants stayed on for the duration of their set.
The band was so incredibly tight that they were able to easily overcome the awful sound inside the venue. I ran around to take my pictures, settled into a spot out of the way from the masses and witnessed the Jesus Lizard put on a clinic. I stopped wondering what it would have been like to see them in their “prime” because what I was seeing and hearing would have been difficult for a band half the age of the Jesus Lizard to match.
Later in the week following the show, I learned that Jeff Cherep’s band before Submachine, Doomwatch, played their last show opening for the Jesus Lizard. There is a very high likelihood that there is a flyer from that show in my basement since that is where Jeff’s archive of flyers and posters ended up. The entire week was filled with odd coincidences involving friends that are no longer here.
. . .
My first exposure to the Blood Brothers was when I heard the song “Set Fire To The Face On Fire” on a radio show hosted by Henry Rollins. I immediately started hunting down every sound the band ever recorded. I was hooked.
The only opportunity that I ever had to see them was on March 27, 2007 when they played at Mr. Smalls on the Young Machetes tour. I ended up skipping the show because it was during the time in my life when I would say that I was going to a loud, angry show just to get out of the house and then go sit somewhere quiet for a while and not be wrong for a few hours. Chances are I still have the unused ticket in my house somewhere.
Not long after, the band came to the conclusion to stop making music and go their separate ways when their label went under. I thought my chances of seeing the Blood Brothers had bottomed out.
Then earlier this year cryptic posts were being made on the social medias and I knew something was about to happen. A tour was more likely than a new record and I didn’t care which. I’d take whatever the Blood Brothers were giving. It turned out to be an anniversary reissue of their album Crimes and a tour to coincide with the reissue since all of the band members were available to hit the road.
When the tour was announced and there were no Pittsburgh or Cleveland dates listed, I immediately bought tickets for the Philadelphia show with the intent of figuring out logistics later. The idea was to try to repeat what I had done the previous year when I went to Philadelphia for the Botch reunion tour.
About a month or so before the show I was starting to lose my gumption and thought about bailing out since I was coming up empty for a photo pass. The thought of the five hour drive and the expense of a room for the night were making the trip a little less appealing if I wasn’t going to walk with pictures from the show. Add to that the fact that I am unable to play the role of spectator at this point, I really wasn’t looking forward to it. I threw a final hail mary for a pass to the band and got approved. Now that it was a work trip, a room was booked and I was on my way.
John was so excited when I told him that I was cleared to shoot the show. He was a massive fan of the Blood Brothers and on one of his last thrifting adventures he found a Blood Brothers live DVD for a dollar. Plans were being made for us to hang out and give it a watch when he got home from the hospital. Another set of plans that didn’t come to fruition because he ran out of time. There’s a lesson in there that I am desperately trying to learn.
The drive across Pennsylvania took two hours more than it should have due to severe rain the entire way. I thought I had driven in bad weather before but I had seen nothing like this. It was almost like driving through a tropical depression. There were high winds and ponding on the turnpike to go along with the multiple accidents caused by the weather. Traffic was down to 30mph and there was no visibility.
I had left town with the intent of getting to the room as close to check in time as I could but the weather got me to Philadelphia in time for rush hour traffic. No food and no nap for me. I had enough time to settle into the room and then walk to Union Transfer.
My usual anxiety over whether or not my pass was at the box office was put to ease when, lo and behold, it was there. My imposter syndrome will never allow me to get used to seeing my name on a list for a large event. Regardless of whether or not I’m any good at what I do, I don’t see myself as a serious photographer. It always feels like I’m out there winging it and when I have a pass waiting for me it always feels like I’m getting away with something.
Soul Glo opened the show and were great as always. This was the fourth time I’ve had the chance to see them and they keep getting better. And it was cool to see them play a set in their hometown. They did have the task of winning over an audience that may have been unfamiliar and indifferent but by the end of their set, Soul Glo had a decent portion of the crowd moving.
This show was about two weeks ago and I still have no idea how to describe what I saw when the Blood Brothers walked on stage. From listening to their records for the past twenty years, I was aware that the Blood Brothers brought a particular sort of mayhem that I have a great appreciation for but holy shit I was not ready for their live performance. From the opening of “Set Fire To The Face On Fire” until they walked off stage, they were relentless.
The five people in the Blood Brothers made such an orchestrated racket that I completely forgot about the ill-advised, and dangerous, pain in the ass drive across the PA turnpike. It was so worth it to cross them off the list of bands that I hadn’t seen.
Johnny Whitney, one of the co-singers in the band, spent more time out in the crowd than on the stage. After I got my three songs worth of pictures I ended up pinned in the corner by the stage left speaker stack because of the size of the crowd. I couldn’t see much but every now and then there would be this blur flying out over the top of the pit. I couldn’t help but laugh and feel bad for the security staff in front of the stage that had to wrangle him for most of the night.
When the lights came up I found myself standing there in shock by what I had witnessed. Much like the Jesus Lizard two nights prior, the Blood Brothers were incredibly tight. Even though they play a kind of music that feels like it’s teetering on the edge of falling apart, they were able to ride that line for their entire set. I am so glad that I didn’t bail out and stay home. It felt like I was dizzy on the walk back to the hotel. The Blood Brothers were an attack on the senses in the best way possible.
. . .
After some thought about what has transpired over the past few years, there was no way I was going to miss either the Jesus Lizard or the Blood Brothers. The weight of this recent bout of grief is almost too much to bear but I’m trying. Sometimes I can only manage to drag myself back and forth to day job and, for the most part, everything else has been cleared off of my schedule. The only things I’m really trying to get off the couch for are things that I know both Jeff and John would be incredibly pissed at me if I skipped them. I never wanted to let my friends down when they were here and I refuse to allow myself to start now that they’re gone.
