Live show reporting, Town Crier to the www masses.

Randall

11th hour stubble
I went in Portland. The tempos were slow, the sound was muddy, the songs sounded pedestrian. I was very skeptical of the choice to have Mark Arm sing. They played ‘Swing For The Crime’ first which had me excited and he actually sounded really good on that, but on the faster numbers that followed his growl didn’t quite work. When they did ‘Memories Are Made of This’ Neisha turned to me and said “They’ve gone full Cihili Peppers.” The crowd was understandably tepid, other than one guy in a TSOL jacket that was extremely enthusiastic. I really wanted to love it but it left us both bummed and bored so we left after five songs. Matters weren’t helped by the fact that where I was standing smelled like a combination of farts and flea shampoo (I blame TSOL jacket guy for that). To wrap up the show more succinctly….

Dodge

I feel validated.

WaxFiend'77

I'm genuinely curious what the process is for choosing a fill in singer in these kinds of situations. I have to think that in cases like the Saints, the main concern is not matching the original vocal style as closely as possible. This is kinda confusing to me- personally I would so much rather see an unknown singer doing a great Chris Bailey impression than a famous musician who sounds nothing like him. As someone who was born decades after the heydays of most of my favorite bands, I have such complicated feelings about reunion shows. It's incredible to have a chance to see some of my musical heroes do their thing, and I've had a lot of great experiences with that (Iggy, Devo and Gang of Four all come to mind). When it's not the performance you were hoping for though, it can be really disheartening.

WaxFiend'77

WaxFiend'77 Just looked up Arm's bio-apparently he sang for an MC5 incarnation too?? Did he just get put on some list and now he's the person they call when they need a singer for fill in the blank punk reunion tour?

Randall

WaxFiend'77
Yeah Mark Arm was a truly puzzling pick. My thought has been it was done with the idea that it would create more buzz/ widen the audience but it's not like Mark Arm is a household name so who knows. Chris Bailey is without a doubt irreplaceable, but I will say Mark Arm was not the worst part of the whole affair. I also don't want to be harsh. The Saints are one of my favorite bands of all time and it's nice to see them get their due, but I think this should have been left at a few reunion shows on their home turf. I've seen people post that were very happy with it so good for them. It just didn't work for me.
As far as age goes I saw Martin Rev a year ago. He was 76 at the time and his set was harsh and absolutely banging. He is still pushing the envelope and left me absolutely floored. Most importantly he didn't look like he was there for a check and in the moments that really threw the crowd for a loop you could see a smirk on his face. Mad scientist vibes abound! Age is just a number man!!!

Sukebe_GG

WaxFiend'77 That MC3-DTK tour featured a bunch of different singers including Handsome Dick Manitoba, Lisa Kekaula (Bellrays) and others - I saw them with Evan Dando - who sucks large donkey dongs- and Mark Arm, who was a great relief after Dildo...
I didn't see them but I was skeptical of Mark Arm as his vocal stylings don't seem to really fit. Saints mega-fan Falling James was quite pleased...Kuepper himself would have been fine on vocals but I imagine he felt it would burn him out pretty quick.

Kuepper is doing a concurrent mini-tour with Jim White

Al Dorado

Mitch C. I did not go the first night but did for night #2. I liked Mark Arm filling in, he was faithful to the material and did not try to make it "the Mark Arm show". Appreciated that. Yeah, the band didn't explode but I didn't expect that. Not sure how old Arm is but the other guys are 70ish (not the horn players of course). The crowd did tend to run older. Fun, happy I went. Now if they come back doing the same thing in two years I'll likely pass. Been there done that ya know.

WaxFiend'77

Sukebe_GG Hahaha ok gotcha. Thanks for the intel! I guess this is all a good reminder that the art I love doesn't "belong" to me. As snobbish as I might feel about a staple of the Seattle grunge scene filling the shoes of one of my favorite singers, it's also making a lot of people happy. I'm trying to be better about not shitting on people for doing something they enjoy just because it's not to my taste (a work in progress). I think the real stinger for me here is that Chris Bailey's dead.

Mark Smith

Made the trip up to Philly last week to catch a couple Astute Palate gigs. Worth the trip from NC and then some. Really hope another LP happens.

11th hour stubble

Thanks for the generous reportage. Would see that white/kuepper show if it came through too. I agree that Chris Bailey is irreplaceable and a reunion is sort of doomed from the start in that regard. It's often more rewarding to see legacy act members charge forward with new iterations and less nostalgic trips, but there is something sweet about a reunion too if the context is right. When I was a kid I saw Dead Kennedys without Jello (in retrospect the vocals are far from the best part of that band but...) that sort of set the stage for reunion expectations. Probably my favorite show of this ilk I saw was ESG 10ish years ago. The songs just seemed to lend themselves to this reinterpretation without any corruption of spirit.

this line of thinking could be good issue 2 fodder for Miranda or someone willing to pick up the mantle.

Mitch C.

11th hour stubble Miranda saw SF night #1 and I don't want to spoil her take, if she issues it. I already suggested she see as many reformed/rehashed legacy punk acts as possible before print time for Sniffy #2. She missed whatever version of The Zeros just played The Bay. Black Flag's coming in Jan'26. We should chip in and buy her a ticket.

Randall

Mitch C. I'm totally down for this idea!

Al Dorado

Mitch C. If you really want to set someone up, send them to the current incarnation of Angry Samoans. I bought tix thinking at least Metal Mike would perform. Guess what? He retired from performing. It was the original drummer and some guys. It was so bad. I wrote it up here but deleted it because I didn't want to shit all over them. But it was bad.

Sukebe_GG

Mitch C. I feel way more ambivalent about funneling money to Greg Ginn and ~~Mike Vallely~~ than I do about Mark Arm fronting the Saints...oh snap, BF now has a female vocalist!

https://www.vice.com/en/article/black-flag-just-unveiled-a-new-gen-z-lineup/

Mitch C.

Sukebe_GG Saw the Mike V. Black Flag. Had low expectations and am pleased to report that it was much, much worse than I imagined it would be. Left after 15min, walked home and blasted Damaged immediately to cleanse.

Al Dorado Glad I saw them a few times with MM then. Here's hoping he'll never retire from setting up his merch lemonade stand outside local shows.

My takeaway, I guess: younger me had a reflex toward preemptively shitting on or avoiding these classic punk reformation things. I still haven't really recovered from seeing (my then all-time favorite band) The Rezillos, for example. But now, old-ass me honestly does not give a fuck. If it's great, hey, bonus. It fit sucks, oh well, no dreams left to be dashed at this point. I'd go see Sham 69 with that Amyl lady singing as long as there's brew. I eagerly await Sex Pistols coming with that new singer guy that I've never even heard of. Bring it on, I'll be dead soon anyway.

Randall

Mitch C. haha. Did you go to The Saints?

Sukebe_GG

Mitch C. I'll be dead soon anyway.

I have to put on a good amount of cash for most reunions that come through Japan because hardly anyone comes to Hiroshima so I have easily passed on many recent one. However, for whatever reason, the Adolescents and Electric Frankenstein played here on a Tuesday night so I felt compelled to go. I do actually like EF (goodbye street cred here!) but saw them, checks calendar, 25 years ago. Sal was pissed about his sound the whole set and I might have been the only one there who knew them. The Adolescents first album and "Amoeba" were and are undeniable but I never bothered with anything by them or Tony after that really. Seeing Tony with a group of very tight professional punker musicians rip through those old songs was fun enough but barely moved me beyond head-nodding...It was great to chat with Tony and Jaime Pena (Chemical Dolls) who was playing with EF, but the real highlight was Tony sincerely shouting "Fabulous!" at a local opening band of young men prolly younger than his sons or daughters if he has any. I was also pleasantly surprised by them - non-HC punk bands are rare in Hiroshima. That band name tho!

Mitch C.

Randall Yeah, posted about above right before you.

Al Dorado

Sukebe_GG I too saw EF a few times 25 or so years ago. Stinky's Peep Show / Incredibly Strange Wrestling type shows in San Francisco. There are some bands from that scene/era that I still like quite a bit (thinking of The Humpers really).

edit: And the Hookers from Kentucky. That first album (Satan's Highway) is a ripper

Al Dorado

Saw Melt-Banana last night. Went on a whim and glad I went.

Coffin Pricks brought the 80s post-punk vibe. vox/gtr, gtr, bass, alto sax/percussion and a drum machine. Vocals were a bit David Byrne-ish but not in a cartoony way. Enjoyed this band quite a bit, wouldn't mind catching them again.

Deaf Club - Justin from The Locust and other folks. Post-hardcore with lots of gtr effects. Intense show. Not something I'd sit around listening to at home but it's a visceral live experience. Recommended.

Melt-Banana - First US tour in 10 years. Didn't play much of the more melodic / video game songs. Didn't matter. Had the crowd in a frenzy. I was really interested in Yasuko's electronics controller. Looked like 10 buttons/pads and a track wheel. She used it to trigger beats and synths. Was fun watching the band play off of each other's cues. Yasuko would do these hand gestures with the controller to signal beat and tempo changes. Highly recommended.

Al Dorado

Al Dorado The Melt-Banana MIDI controller mentioned above is a Numark Orbit strapped to her hand. Also, I saw Coffin Prick (no 's') from LA. Coffin Pricks was from Chicago, no idea if they're still around.

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