Until Ilya reminded me, I forgot that this weekend was Fuck Yeah Fest. For those of you who don’t know what I am referring to, there’s a music and comedy festival that happens right here in Echo Park. Of course, the fact that I completely failed to remember it was happening should clue you in to the quality of the performers scheduled to appear at any of the five neighborhood venues. I decided to walk over and join the festivities at 6:30 so I could buy my pass and catch the first band I wanted to see.
Upsilon Acrux @ The Echo
I heard about the Vista, CA band Upsilon Acrux from someone who touted their technical mastery and intricate prog-rock style. I found their record Last Pirates Of Upsilon, and from the first moments of “Numbquon” I was fascinated. Their set last evening was the brutal polyrhythmic mindfuck I imagined it would be. Two guitarists with flawless two-handed tapping techniques, a keyboardist running his Moog through a Roland Space Echo and an ferocious drummer. [listen to “Metal Tweek-Desert High/Days of Meth”]
Wooden Shjips @ The Rec Center
I know there was something I wanted to say about Wooden Ships, but I can’t remember it at this very moment. Oh, wait. Now I remember. Their keyboardist looked like the dug-up remains of Chris Penn.
Entrance @ The Rec Center
Lucky for us, Guy Blakeslee decided to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule of psilocybin and under-aged girls to drive down from Devendra’s place in the hills and regale us with his psychedelic blues show. He, Paz, and the drummer in the hat easily put on the best show of the night. Deep, heavy grooves and wild, Hendrix-infused guitar squealing highlighted the overdriven blues style which serves to make Prayer Of Death such a great record. Sometimes I wonder if he’ll return to the stripped-down Wandering Stranger sound, but then I see him with the full band and realize he’s much better suited for explosive lysergic jams than too-stoned-to-stand-up acoustic lopes. “We have albums, shirts, and American flags for sale. Only, our American flags have, ‘Real Americans resist fascism! Revolutionaries are the only true patriots!’ written on them. They cost twenty-five dollars, and I’ll use the money buy some ganja in honor of you.” Thanks, Guy! [listen to “Pretty Baby”]
Greg Ashley @ The Rec Center
Stripped down Greg Ashley is a lot different than hearing him with his Medicine Fuck Dream band. He put on a good show, but it didn’t have any of the psych atmosphere of his records. Instead, he sounded like your run-of-the-mill acoustic crooner singing pop songs. The melancholia was there, but none of the fuzzy, painkiller-euphoria of his studio efforts. I think he closed with a Gris Gris song, because it was up-tempo, and several people responded to it with claps and “woot”s. I’ve never listened to Gris Gris, but the song was nice. [listen to “Caroline and the Orange Tree”]
Comedy Show @ Taix
After Ashley finished, I walked over to Taix for the comedy show. It was densely packed when I arrived, and in the twenty or thirty minutes before the show began the room swelled even more. The show’s host was a Josh Fadem, who–along with his friend Matt Dwyer–Steve and I spent an afternoon joking around with at Downbeat a few months ago. For a comedian he’s a pretty funny guy, if you can believe it. He controlled the crowd well, asking people to pelt him with objects and get the boos out of their systems. The first comic was… I don’t remember his name. He began with an announcement that, “A bearded, horn-rimmed glasses wearing guy in a cowboy shirt is stealing a fixed-gear bike out front,” which received several laughs from those in attendance who did not fit that description. He then proceeded to joke about hipsters, Silverlake, music nerds, and irony. The girl standing across from me with the tattoos and the boyfriend wearing the fedora didn’t laugh once. The combination of a loud-mouthed joker and an audience filled with self-conscious hipsters ensured the nervous tension in the room was quite palpable. Bob Odenkirk stood up and compounded things by opening with, “Congratulations. You won. You were accepted to be in a new American Apparel ad. All of you.” He was brief, made a few jokes, and then disappeared, as did 90% of the crowd. Next up was Matt Dwyer, who dropped some one-liners, then spent the remainder of his time insulting a heckler. By now the room had pretty much emptied, and the few people that remained seemed to really enjoy the ribbing he gave the audience member. There were some funny lines in there, about “I don’t give a fuck who you know at Touch and Go or Matador,” or “I don’t work, I wake up late and get drunk with David Yow, what the fuck do you do, guy? Enjoy your nine-to-five and shitty pussy.” Good stuff. Hari Leigh was next. I saw her at the Tomorrow Show a few months back. Funny and cute. Her last little bit about our country getting dumber was quite poignant. More good stuff.
It was all good. I left when it ended. I’m not going back today, because I see no point in paying for another full-price pass just to watch Jay Reatard blow everyone away. I’m going to watch the Mets/Dodgers game somewhere.
