Further evolution of the Honeycomb Hideout

The Honeycomb Hideout is improving.

Well, the hardware/software aspects are, anyway. The environment hasn't become anymore homey.

But when one is engrossed in a project, the surroundings blur out and disappear.

Just like in this photo...

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Four Drummers

Last night I got to play percussion with 3 of the greatest drummers in Long Beach: Tim Bender*, Brandon Laws** and Chris Clawson***.

Bender has had the idea for an orchestrated 4-drummer project for a few years. One of the concepts was for it to be very division-of-labor; 4 cogs in the same machine, rather than 4 guys trying to dominate each other in chops or volume.

But last night was completely improvised, getting a feel for how we all can play together, the collective setup, etc.

I believe it was Chris who commented that it was probably the quietest jam session he ever had with multiple drummers involved. I agree with this, for in my experience, even with only 2 drummers, often dynamics quickly go out the window, and the whole thing turns cacophonous and unbearably loud.

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It went well enough for us all to agree to meet up again in a week.

Pretty cool for me, 'cos not only is it an honor to play alongside these guys, but it was nice just to play music with some other people. I haven't played since I retired from The Bolides, so I literally had to brush some cobwebs off a drum.
(Well, they are in a garage, so it doesn't take long for those to form, but...)

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* Project Shepherd, KNAC/DC, The Ringleaders, ex-Death By Stereo, ex-One Eye Open
** Forcefield On, Slippers, Mister Mister Miyagi
*** Telomere Repair, Look Daggers, The Year Zero, ex-Sexytime Explosion/Knives of the Eternal Disappointment

Progressive Nation Tour 2009

I went to the Progressive Nation Tour 2009 concert at The Greek Theater last week.

My camera still hasn't returned from being fixed, so I could only use my phone camera, which isn't worth much at a concert.

Here are some shots of the smoke clouds from our friendly neighborhood wildfires, as seen on the way to the show...

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...as well as a Masonic Temple with dilapidated brickwork...



First band: Scale the Summit. Progressive metal ripping young transplanted Houstonian lads with at least 2 extra strings on their guitars & bass. I enjoyed them enough to buy a shirt* & CD...



Unfortunately I have no pics of Bigelf. They rocked. They were underdogs, because they have a very retro 70's rocksound**, rather than being technical shredders like all the other bands. Most bands would sound sloppy next to the other bands on this bill. They did use real Mellotron 400, Hammond C3 & Minimoog.

Zappa Plays Zappa was awesome. Very impressed with and inspired by drummer Joe Travers...



And then there's Dream Theater. Part of me thinks they are total, over-the-top cheese, but I can't shake some strange fascination with them. I had to see them once before I die.

Here is a shot off the big screen, showing Jordan Rudess actually playing his iPhone onstage. Sonically, you would never know it wasn't a professional synth, or his Continuum fingerboard...


(Note: I later found the app he used. It's called Bebot, and you can click here to see a video of JR demonstrating it on YouTube.)

Besides getting onstage to play 1 song with each of the 1st 3 bands, Mike Portnoy called out all the other drummers one-by-one to jam with him side-by-side. This all seemed like support & comradery, but partly to prove that he's the big dog. The first 2 guys seemed nervous, but he couldn't pull a single g*dd*mn trick over on Joe Travers. That guy more than kept up with Mike, and was visibly smiling & laughing his way through. Tearing sh*t up!

Here's Portnoy getting ready to call out Steve Vai & Dweezil Zappa for an all out guitar shredonomitronathon...



Cheesiest keytar ever...
Looks like a Klingon weapon prop from Star Trek The Next Generation. Rudess used it for some psuedo-guitar shredding, ala Jan Hammer...



I enjoyed the whole show; sublime beauty & cheesewank alike.

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* Designed by Dan Mumford.
** Ala Black Sabbath, Kiss, The Beatles, Alice Cooper, '69 King Crimson

"I can feel your anger..."

".... It gives you focus, makes you stronger."

Toys

Now that I have a little boy and I find myself at toy stores more often, I'm noticing some pretty bad ass toys I would have gone ape for as a lad.

I know there are tons more great toys out there, and I'm not going to go into some exhaustive research tangent, documenting even 10% of what's available these days. But here are a few snaps of stuff that caught my eye the other day...

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These Animal Planet adventure sets are sweet! Check the giant deep sea angler.



...and these may not look like much, but they're about 22" tall. The elderly out there may remember the Godzilla toy that was part of the giant Shogun Warriors series; you know, the one with the fist that was spring loaded to launch as a projectile? Well these are bigger.

The Bolides: Help Find Stolen Equipment!

Here are a couple of things posted on The District Weekly website. First, a bulletin regarding equipment stolen from my bandmate in The Bolides...

Music Blog

HELP THE BOLIDES LOCATE MISSING EQUIPMENT!

by Bryan Gerhart
Wed. July 01

After a killer and possible final show at Alex’s Bar on the night of June 26 (which was this past Friday, for those that don’t like dealing with numbers), Long Beach garage-geeks The Bolides had a less-than-pleasant weekend. Turns out someone made off with two major pieces of singer/guitarist/synthesizerist(?) Dr. Mikro Fiche’s equipment.

Not cool! The next time you’re Craigslisting, at a pawn shop, or hanging in your shady friend’s garage, be on the lookout for the following:

- Roland KC500 Keyboard Combo Amplifier (looks like this)

- "Fender The Twin” With red knobs and a glow-in-the-dark painted meteor on the grill. The wooden tube protector on the back is broken off.

Just remember, stealing from a scientist is a Cardinal Sin. Stealing from a scientist who doubles as the singer and guitarist in a new-wave-garage band? Now that’s just mean.

Contact The Bolides at their Myspace or drop a note here if you have any information.

[Link to original article: http://thedistrictweekly.com/2009/daily/staff-infection/music-blog/help-the-bolides-locate-missing-equipment/ ]

Or let me know, and I'll pass the info to Mike.

Also, here is the farewell article on The Bolides that I linked to in an earlier post...

Features

CLONE COLOGNE

by Alex Roman
Wed. June 24

The Bolides: Goodbye, friends of science and technology (sort of)

PHOTO by DAVID THORNTON

Whether it was laughing hysterically at an impromptu mosh pit that broke out (in 2002!) or wondering how long it would take for their robot to break as people kicked it across the dance floor, each Bolides show was as good as the first time I saw them, when I became an instant fan because of their shared affinity for Jon Spencer and Devo. Now, after hundreds of shows, a record on Dionysius and countless hours of scientific experimentation, they are going away for a bit. The science and Long Beach music communities will mourn solemnly.

The District Weekly: The first time I saw the Bolides, I instantly thought of Jon Spencer and Devo—this kind of melding of old punk, garage rock and the new sounds that kind of naturally derived out of these two genres—is that close to the basic idea of the Bolides?
Dr. Mikro Fiche (guitar, synthesizers and vocals): Indeed, spot on! Early on (1996) I placed an ad in The Recycler—does that date this band or what?—looking to start collaborating and recording ideas. I listed that the project would be as if Pussy Galore evolved into the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in outer space.

How difficult has it been to separate your important scientific research from playing music?
Music definitely clears the head, so we can get back to discovering the perfect Clone Cologne or figuring out which came first, T&A or DNA.

So this isn’t necessarily goodbye, but where are you guys going?
The Bolides are going on an ‘extended sabbatical.’

What memories stick out over the years you guys spent together?
One of the craziest times I remember was when we played at Alex’s Bar and a local punk— whose name is pronounced the same as a recent former president—jumped on stage and called for a huddle. He proceeded to let the band know that he wanted to administer mushrooms to us, right away. I laughed; one of us considered taking him up on the offer.

Are you scared one of your old lab rats may come looking for you after you set them free?
No way! Those rats always left B > I > R <>

THE BOLIDES WITH FUNGUS MUNGUS AND THE SHROOMS, PROJECT SHEPHERD AND BLOB ALEX’S BAR | 2913 E ANAHEIM ST | LONG BEACH 90804 | 562.434.8292 | ALEXSBAR.COM | FRI | $8-10 | CALL FOR TIME

[Link to original article: http://thedistrictweekly.com/2009/print/music/music-features/clone-cologne/ ]

The Training Continues...

Throw Me the Whip!

Here's a 'piggy bank' I picked up for my fiancée...

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Spider-Man Water Slide

I saw this in the store and it cracked me up. Awesome.

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