the Squareheads - June 13, 2008

THE SQUAREHEADS @ the Graffiti Gallery in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Condominium, Born Bad, the Sweet Nothings - May 3, 2008

Minneapolis is still a punk mecca. The only thing is that most punks don't go to shows... ever? There is a great scene developing though. It's small but yielding great bands like QUESTION, THE AGENDA and now CONDOMINIUM. Winnipeg was fortunate enough to have CONDOMINIUM come up and play UNDER PRESSURE's US tour sendoff show on May 3rd at Ragpickers. Ragpickers, along with the Rocker (both located in Winnipeg's historic Exchange District) has to be my favorite all-ages venue. That's kind of a redundant statement to make because a good all-ages show will always win over any bar show in my book. Anyhow, the bands were great and I hope this Winnipeg/Minneapolis exchange will continue.


THE SWEET NOTHINGS @ Ragpickers in Winnipeg, Canada


BORN BAD


CONDOMINIUM

the Insaniacs - April 18, 2008

The Royal Albert threw a joint party celebrating the INSANIACS 10th anniversary/one-night reunion, as well as Royal Albert mainstay Maladin's 10th year of terrorizing Winnipeg.

For a reunion performance, I thought the INSANIACS exceeded expectations and were in fine form, and it was a nice touch having original bassist Karla come on stage to play a few of the band's older songs. Johnny Nuclear is one of Winnipeg punk's great frontmen and apparently has a new band almost ready to go. The crowd was lively but not as retarded as I had anticipated.

The opening bands aren't my thing at all. QUAGMIRE have a loyal and rowdy following and scored points for covering TURBONEGRO but to me they don't come across as confrontational or as rocking as they seem to aspire to be. Maybe requesting that their singer stab me during their next set will do the trick.

KRAWTCH ROCKET features Winnipeg punk rock veterans and play the most god-awful cliche-diseased cock rock I have been subjected to in a long time. Fuck was that insufferable. Their singer Norm used to front mid-80's hardcore band THE UNWANTED and has resurrected the band recently with a new lineup. They're totally worth checking out. How someone could be involved in both of these opposed bands is anybody's guess.

THE AFTERLIFE opened the show and were the worst band I've seen since my youth. I don't even know what they are. Generic bar punk/rock with 4+ minute torture sessions of complete bullshit deprived of any songwriting. Their drummer wore a TYPE-O-NEGATIVE shirt and would randomly have outbursts of prolonged double-kick rolls. The singer/guitarist was apparently in Winnipeg's old punk band, DISCHARGE. (I haven't heard them; for all I know they might be just as bad.) I read this in a copy of Stylus that I found laying around in the Albert lobby, where I retreated to distance myself from the "music". The writer introduced the band with something to the effect of "Do you know when you go to see a band and they throw 15-minutes of improvisation at you... and it totally blows you away?" The band went on to describe themselves in the article as having MC5 and STOOGES influences. Fuck off you assholes.


THE INSANIACS @ the Royal Albert in Winnipeg, Canada















The rest of Jason Penner's photographs from this show can be viewed here.

Radio State for Monday, April 21, 2008

with DJs Terrible & Fuck You

"Exploring punk, hardcore, rock, psychedelic, jazz and beyond. Mondays, bi-weekly on 101.5 UMFM Winnipeg."

Here are DJ Terrible's sets for the first hour of tonight's show. DJ Fuck You has the 2nd hour.

Black Flag - "Jealous Again"

Final Warning - "Out Of Sight Out Of Mind"
Poison Idea - "Pure Hate"
Personality Crisis - "Waiting"
Stretch Marks - "Sik Pleasure"

Neos - "They'll Destroy Themselves"
Deep Wound- "In My Room"
Urban Waste - "No Hope"

Septic Death - "Core Of Reality"
Siege - "Starvation"
United Mutation - "Take Your Pick"

Misfits - "Death Comes Ripping"
Crucifix - "No Limbs"
Negative Approach - "Hypocrite"
SS Decontrol - "Nothing Done"

Corrosion Of Conformity - "Broken Will"
Battalion Of Saints - "Holy Vision"
Husker Du - "Lifeline"
Scream - "Total Mash"

Articles Of Faith - "Buried Alive"
Bad Brains - "Fearless Vampire Killers"
Die Kreuzen - "Think For Me"

Dead Kennedys - "Drug Me"
Feederz - "L-O-V-E (Another Damp Thing)"
Flipper - "Nothing"
No Trend - "Killing Me"

Rudimentary Peni - "Blissful Myth"
NoMeansNo - "Pigs And Dogs"

Rip It Up Fest - April 12, 2008

Rip It Up fest... It ended up being the source of much confusion, controversy and messageboard entertainment the last few months. What was initially planned out to be a convergence of some of North America's finest short, fast and loud bands. There were a lot of misunderstandings and cancellations... What resulted was a single show that ended up being a lot of fun. The bands that ended up playing were (in order): MIND CONTROL, UNDER PRESSURE, BORN BAD, DR BENWAY (BC), THE AGENDA (MN) and THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT HEROES (AB).

Quick rundown: MIND CONTROL were new and played a competent set with a VOID cover (I think?!). UNDER PRESSURE started off okay but then blew some nasty chunks after Mike's amp stopped working. BORN BAD's set was ridiculous was it should have been. DR BENWAY played nondescript melodic crusty stuff and weren't something I could get into. THE AGENDA were sloppy, noisy and terrific. THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT HEROES played melodic sing-along punk really well but weren't my cup of tea at all. Their singer had a ridiculous amount of energy but his antics were kind of cheesy. Seem like really nice guys though and there were folks there who were into them.


Upon arriving at the venue (the Graffiti Gallery on Higgins) I immediately noticed some punks hanging out in an adjacent lot. We were entertained briefly by the junkyard of office equipment.






Da punx hanging outside the Graffiti Gallery.


Cam and I caught up with Tim and Charlie from Minneapolis punk band, THE AGENDA. Unfortunately, most of the out-of-town bands canceled their appearances at the fest but thankfully they were able to make it down.


BORN BAD @ the Graffiti Gallery in Winnipeg, Canada


When Matt (the soundguy) wasn't handling the levels and broken gear, he was nursing this bad boy. Shit...


THE AGENDA @ the Graffiti Gallery in Winnipeg, Canada






DEAD DOGS @ the Lipton house in Winnipeg, Canada

After the show James hooked me up with THE AGENDA's ride to an after show at the Lipton house. I'm glad I was clued in and ended up attending because it was a lot of fun. DEAD DOGS started playing as soon as Paul, Cam and myself got back from an organic munchies raid.


THE AGENDA @ the Lipton house in Winnipeg, Canada

MODERN PROBLEMS played after DEAD DOGS with an altered lineup. Not sure if it was temporary or permanent. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good shots of MODERN PROBLEMS. Steve was quite lively throughout the set and cannot fault him for not putting on a performance.


THE AGENDA were great at the fest but were even better the second time around. Singer Tim has a great explosive energy; you don't know what is going to happen next other than that it will probably end with him plowing into you. They kicked off their basement show performance with a cover of "Manimal" by THE GERMS and it was all uphill from there.





The rest of Jason Penner's photographs from these shows can be viewed here.

Under Pressure US Tour - Day 1 - July 25, 2007

Winnipeg, Manitoba...

Six months of planning. Always the last minute shake-up; shows falling through, logistics short-circuiting, my multitasking capabilities being overtaxed. It's that time again, and what better time than late July through to the end of August? I mean, I love temperate climates; why not bake myself in a tin can on wheels for a month? Sure, I recently bought my first house and found no limit to the delights of air-conditioning. Fuck that. I'll roast myself alive in a tin can on wheels and baste my flesh in the collective sweat of the band.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles; that's pretty much how Under Pressure converged on Minneapolis. I remember the movie being a lot more funny. Joe's parents drove the two of us down. Cam jogged across the border raising money for some sort of charity, then sucked cocks for rides. Dan had that ultralight that he had never got around to building. I forget what Mike did.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed meeting Joe's parents and visiting with them on the ride down. We made it to Fashionable Idiots headquarters (Andy and Eric's Minneapolis apartment) without incident. Cam was already there assembling records. It's kind of a miracle that both of our two new records, Come Clean and Black Bile, shipped on time.

It wasn't that much later that Dan and Mike arrived. We checked out the Fashionable Idiots tour van, sorted out our equipment, then slowly made our way down to the Cube house to officially kick off the tour. It was nice running into Steve Smiley and catching up. His band, Pandamonium, played first. I really enjoyed them; fast, ferocious female-fronted hardcore. They were followed by loose crusty-type band called Ganglion (featuring Jim from A.S.S--I really liked that band) and a hardcore band from Philadelphia called Lighten Up! I took photos of the bands but unfortunately I haven't developed the film yet so I'll have to come back and add them at some later date. Overall, an enjoyable evening in a small basement; the perfect setting for a loose, energetic Under Pressure set. I wish I could get down to Minneapolis more often these days, as I've fallen out of touch with some people I used to hang out with several times a year. Still, it was nice visiting with those who showed up.

I can't remember exactly when it was that we were listening to records at Andy's apartment. Someone threw on a DRY ROT 7". We were going to be playing several dates with them on this tour, and the southern California band had just recently played Minneapolis. When prompted on a verdict of their show, Andy told us that they were weird and that we'd either love them or hate them. He didn't seem entirely sure whether he was feeling the love. He also told us that he heard they were... Christians.

[insert knee-jerk reaction here]

What stance would UNDER PRESSURE take? Would we take action, maintain punk purity and fuck shit up? Would we confront them on thousands of years of mismanaged and squandered superpowers? Would we talk about them behind their backs and shun them from our tribe with long and awkward silences? Or would we become converts?

So I stumbled upon a little project. I was yammering to myself in the van and realized that I was honking. Honking is something that I can't really describe to you other than to say that it is something not unlike verbal diarrhea. To really know, you would need to have a conversation with me about it when I'm in the zone. Anyhow, I decided that I would immerse myself into this state of being and use this little-known and misunderstood tool to chisel out some poems; a mandate of one a day.

The tour has started. Touring is kind of like a new exercise or diet that you are forced to immerse yourself in with no reprieve. It's a daily regiment that yields results you will only realize a week or two down the road. Touring makes you dumber. It makes a lot of things really funny. It buries your grasp of time. It gives you a labido the size of the biggest dildo you've ever seen. It pulls you away from the confines of everyday life; it gives you a new perspective. It shows you just how big and incredible/shitty the world is. It lowers your standards. It raises your ambitions. It introduces you to some of the most awful/amazing people you could ever meet. Every time you step out of the van, you might wonder how much time has passed and if you will be setting yourself upon gas station attendants who are part of an advanced civilization of apes.

"Here's A Starter" from My Poetry Is Out Of Control by Jason Penner

Yeah, I've smelt the felch
Felonious decorated interior
Leaked all over my exterior
You roll over and say,
"Here's a starter."


Joe's parents drove the two of us down to Minneapolis. Two new 12" slabs of vinyl--Come Clean and Black Bile await our arrival.


The Fashionable Idiots tour van, later to be known (to me) as the Meatwave.


Cam assembling records at Andy and Eric's apartment.


Andy and Eric's cat. Handsome fella.


Mike being Mike.


Some asshole ripped the mirrors off the van while another band was on tour. I suppose this fix was better than not having any mirrors. We later found a spare mirror in the van. Turns out we didn't ever have to use it. Somehow, they stayed on throughout the entire tour.




Under Pressure has the traditional "look into the camera and smile with all of the naive optimism you can muster", which automatically sentences us to weeks of misfortune and agony.


Apparently, Joe's not with the program.

All of Jason's photographs from Under Pressure's 2007 US tour can ben found here.