Ovipositor / Generalissimo Northwest Tour 2009

It’s been about two months since this tour happened. I suppose that’s more than ample time to digest, brain-dump, edit, reform, re-edit, reconsider and re-re-edit the experience in writing. We haven’t played together since, but we’re getting together next week to blow off the cobwebs, so I figured it was now or never. And at this point, fuck it, I just want to get it out of my head and out into the world…

What follows is a collection of thoughts, observations and anecdotes from the Ovipositor / Generalissimo Fall 2009 Northwest tour, which landed at venues in Chico, California; Portland, Oregon; and Bellingham & Seattle, Washington between September 30 and October 3, 2009.

Ovipositor is Colin Frangos (guitar/vocals), Mark Pino (drums/vocals) and Max Sidman (bass).

Generalissimo is General Zikovich (guitar/lead vocals), General Little (guitar/vocals), General Meyer (Guitar/vocals), General Brubaker (bass/vocals), and General Iannacito (drums).

Ovipositor Rocktober ’09 Tour, Part 1: Chico, CA

The venue, LaSalle’s, is the kind of vaunted Chico college establishment that typically caters more to dance club DJ night and jam band / nu-metal / top-40 type acts (a.k.a. money-makers), which Ovipositor and tour mates Generalissimo are definitely not. Because of the four-band bill, each band was allotted a half-hour set, with strict 15-minute between-set times. Cool. It meant a 20-minute set for us. And 15-minutes is damn near an eternity for us to break down and load off stage. We’re efficient like that.

It was a disparate collection of bands:

Ana Lucia, apparently relatively new on the local Chico scene, I can only describe as occupying the space somewhere between Dave Matthews Band and Nirvana. Take from that statement what you will. They displayed a good degree of technical proficiency offset drastically by an annoying stage presence (typical rock faces and cliched moves) and music that I found blandly repulsive. To make things worse, the house sound was dialed in so the vocals were way above everything else, to ear-jarring levels. It was a rough 30 minutes, which I spent on the back patio catching up with an old friend.

I think Generalissimo treated this show as more of a practice / warmup, but they killed it nonetheless, in front of a crowd that was largely indifferent to their music and their schtick, both of which I really enjoy. It’s always unfortunate when a conceptually and musically interesting band with the chops to back it up is deemed unworthy of interest simply because of unfamiliarity. There were a few folks who genuinely seemed to enjoy them and “get it” but the general sense of apathy that permeated the club’s atmosphere during first three bands was most noticeable during the Generals’ set. Shame.

We played third, I butchered the shit out of an older Ovipositor song that I’d recently learned, and obviously hadn’t practiced enough before we hit the road (I thought I knew it…guess not). Otherwise it was a tight, short set that I didn’t deign to record…which I sort of now regret. But fuck it. Like the Generals, we looked at the Chico show as a warm up, and I wasn’t really interested in capturing it for posterity. I was told by several people that the sound in the room was good, but the sound on stage sucked, a muddy mash of searing, toneless guitar fuzz and muffled, wooly bass, and the only thing coming through the monitors were vocals and kick drum. Frankly, with stage sound like that, I’d rather go without a monitor feed.

Cold Blue Mountain was the headlining act, it was their EP release party. I generally like the kind of music they play — I’m a fan of Isis, Pelican, et al…that super big, wide swooping flavor-of-the-month instru-metal. Problem is, CBM hasn’t really developed their own sound or found their own niche, so in the end their music lacked dynamic and kinda came off as just in the style of those other bands. I took the free EP, though, and I do like it. They sounded pretty good live, and most of the people in attendance were definitely feeling it, more so than the rest of us, so…shows you what I know.

We managed to snag a comped room at the Holiday Inn thanks to a sympathetic old friend at a local weekly magazine that had some trade on the books. Regardless of the playing situation, a clean bed and hot shower are always a nice way to start off a tour.

Ovipositor Rocktober ’09 Tour, Part 2: Portland, OR

It’s a longer drive than I remembered from Chico to Portland, and when we arrived in the Emerald City I was actually happy to hear that Travelocity had screwed up our reservation at the Governor, a swanky downtown hotel that Colin had gotten us relatively cheap rates for. Instead of a single and a double, they booked us two singles. I like Mark just fine, but there’s no way I was going to risk having a Trains, Planes & Automobiles moment with our drummer (“THOSE AREN’T PILLOWS!”). After a minor amount of chatter from behind the front desk, we were told that Mark and I would be sharing a penthouse suite for our trouble (and a minor upgrade fee). Score.

A note about the rock ‘n’ roll-ness of staying in a place like the Governor: Under no circumstances should you assume that Ovipositor is balling like that. We have very few fans, we make honest but largely incongruous and often times uncomfortable rock music, and we never, ever turn a profit. That’s not why we do this. It’s artistic expression, it’s more for us than for you, and above all else, it’s fun. It just so happens that we all work for a living, and though none of us is a millionaire, we all do well enough to afford cheap deals on decent rooms through discount travel web sites when a couch or floor doesn’t avail itself to us on a tour stop. And when said discount travel site fucks up the reservation, we’re more than happy to reap the benefits of their apologies. I know, it’s not very rock ‘n’ roll, it definitely doesn’t go with the whole ethos of pulling off a week-long Northwest van tour…and I don’t care. I slept in a king sized bed that night, in front of a 60″ flat screen TV and a fireplace that turned on with a switch. All for a little more than the price of a basic double room on discount. If you have a problem reconciling that with any ill-perceived notions of indie rock credibility, you can bring it up to me in person, or otherwise go fuck yourself.

Ovipositor, “Theme From Ouch” Live at Kelly’s Olympian, Portland:

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The Portland show was right downtown, a few blocks from the hotel, at a bar called Kelly’s Olympian. Nice stage, a good sound system, and a friendly and capable sound guy. All of our gear was miked with a classic live setup (57s on the cabinets, I didn’t see what was on the drums), which is a level of on-stage professionalism we’re not necessarily used to, so that was nice. As soon as we arrived at the venue, loaded in and set up — we played first — I ran headlong into some amp troubles, which I ended up fixing by pulling one of the cabinets, the 2×10″, out of my setup, reducing my rig down to a lone 1×15 cabinet. Luckily, we’re not that loud of band, and since the speaker was mic’d and running though the house system, I think it all worked out okay.

The Portland show, despite my amp troubles, was a good time. I felt pretty good about the set we played, I think Colin was particularly on that night, and despite the fact that there were very few people there, it was still a good crowd, thanks largely to the supportive nature of the other bands on the bill — Generalissimo and Portland’s Cougar, which has since changed its name to East Wenatchee, Iowa — and a few boisterous friends who attended. The Generals nailed it as usual…in fact, I was consistently amazed through the tour at how tight they were night after night.

Cougar…er, uh, East Wenatchee, Iowa (seriously, don’t ask). A trio of grizzled and obviously seasoned vets making full-bore garage rock. I loved these guys because they played great, dirty, stripped down power trio music. Bonus: The drummer gave us a few 7″ records from his other band, Rapids, which is also really dope. (Double bonus: Colin and saw The Jesus Lizard a couple of weeks later in SF, and it turns out Cougar bass player Tom Glose is also the frontman in Black Elk, which was the opener on TJL’s recent West Coast jaunt.)

Cougar, Live at Kelly’s Olympian, Portland:

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After the show, we hit up Voodoo Doughnut, which is open until 4am, and got their famous bacon-maple bar, which definitely lived up to the hype, especially washed down by a tall can at 3am in the penthouse suite of a posh downtown hotel. We hit Fuller’s for breakfast the next morning, then Jackpot Records for a little fuel for the musical soul, and broke north for Bellingham.

Ovipositor Rocktober ’09 Tour, Part 3: Bellingham, WA

Bellingham was great from the minute we arrived. We received a warm welcome from our host, local impresario, independent record label legend and garage rock god Dave Crider. Mono Men, the Garage Shock festival, Estrus Records (Man…Or Astroman, Moonie Suzuki, Mono Men, etc.) — music fans have Crider to thank for a long run of great music and staunch support of independence both as an art form and a business model. And he’s a hell of a guy to boot, friendly, riotously funny and extensively accommodating. It was an honor to be his guest.

After testing my amp (which had miraculously cured itself) in Crider’s living room, we decompressed a bit from the drive, sampled a local beer — a “growler” of IPA from the local Boundary Bay Brewery — then repacked the van and headed downtown to the venue, where we loaded in, and set up (we playd first again).

This show was in a subterranean art space called Jinx, which was hosting a show as part of a local Friday night art walk, so it was free. Which meant we got paid with dinner coupons at the local taqueria, Casa De Pasa, and a cooler full of Pabst Blue Ribbon cans. All good. Free food and beer as is (almost) as good as money on tour.

I knew going into Bellingham that it’s a college town (home of Western Washington University), but I was still a little surprised at how college-y it really is. While we were at the Casa De Pasa, we were surrounded by all manner of hipster college kid types, from backwards baseball cap frat boys to crunchy hippie kids to urban-hip and tight-pant stereotypes. I expected none of them to be at our show, and they did not prove me wrong.

The Jinx Art Space “stage” is a no-frills alcove set back from a vast concrete underground art gallery space, with a basic PA system for vocals and nothing else in the way of house sound. All good. Colin, Mark and I have enough experience playing without much in the way of amplification beyond our own rigs, and I’d rather have a stripped down live operation than just listen to kick drum and vocals from a monitor drown out everything else. The sound in the space proved to be a little weird (the recordings are gonna take some extra work to sound right), but we didn’t care. It was a comfortable venue.

We played to a pretty thin crowd made up mostly of the few friends we had in attendance, some of the guys from the other two bands on the bill, and underage attendees who couldn’t drink in the parking lot with the majority of the folks at the show. I’m usually pretty surprised when people stick around at watch us play, to be honest. It’s not like were a household name, our music can be a bit of challenge, especially in the live setting, and we tend to start on time. On this particular evening, we were told that show started at 9, and because we played first, we started at like 9:02. We don’t mess around much on stage, we play tight sets (short sets, too, if we’re the opening act), we rarely talk much between songs, unless one of is tuning or adjusting something, and even then, there’s not a lot of witty repartee coming from the stage. The point is, when we play a show, and especially if we play first, if you blink you might miss us.

See more tour video from Colin: Nadir Novelties.

I think we played a fairly good good set in Bellingham, and even threw in a song we don’t do much live, an artsy little number from our latest record called “Chewy Wires” that seem to fit the artsy vibe of the venue. I like playing the song because the bass parts contain liberal use of double-stop chords, which not only lets me get my bass-nerd rocks off, but I it think sounds cool.

The Generals were on-point (yet again), playing a bit longer than they had the previous two nights, to a crowd that knew a bunch of their songs and were more than happy to sing along. Though Generalissimo plays a slightly off kilter and tight-as-a-drum brand of metal-flavored rock, they embrace the concept of brevity in songwriting and manage to incorporate a mixture of odd timing and big anthemic choruses that can get stuck in your head all too easily.

Bellingham was the first of two shows we played with Police Teeth, a four-piece — two guitars, bass and drums. They’re jeans-and-t-shirt rock guys (and Adam has a nifty haircut with a matching mustache) with a knack for driving rhythms, backed by relentless energy and a ton of skill. They played a long set to a hometown crowd who couldn’t get enough. I generally like my rock a little darker, heavier and less peppy, but there’s more than enough fuck-you in their music to give me what I need. Plus they’re super nice guys. At the beginning of their set, they passed the jar for us, which yielded a pretty good take. Like I said, nice guys.

Ovipositor Rocktober ’09 Tour, Part 4: Seattle, WA

We hung out in Belingham for most of the day after the show, since the trip from there to Seattle is only about 90 minutes and we wanted to spend some time with friends and exploring the town a bit. After digging through one of the most impressive and well-stocked antique spots I’ve ever been to, and wandering the downtown streets, Dave and Becky Crider met us at the Boundary Bay Brewery for lunch, where they introduced us to their friend and brewmaster Aaron Smith. We nabbed a table in the back of the brewery’s busy restaurant, and settled in for a bite to eat. On top of the round of beers we ordered, Aaron began bringing out a steady stream of the brewery’s special IPA, a 10% alcohol beast that was described as something that “must be respected.” After a few pulls off a goblet of it, it was easy to understand why. Powerful stuff. Between the hearty beers and great food at the Boundary Bay Brewery, even the cup of strong coffee I had after lunch couldn’t ward off the need for a nap, and I slept in the Criders’ living room late that afternoon, and on the van ride down to Seattle.

By the time we left Bellingham en route to Seattle, I really felt the fatigue setting in. In my square, everyday life I get up around 5:30am on weekdays, I commute over the Bay Bridge and bust my ass in the internet mines, I have a 16-month-old daughter (which can be a full time job), I try to play as much music as I can, and I even try to get out into the night once in a while. All that’s tiring enough, but I have the luxury of falling back on the comfort of routine, my own bed, (mostly) healthy home cooked meals and some regularly scheduled downtime. Things are less predictable on the road. Downtime is generally spent cramped in a van, a comfy bed isn’t always to be had, and sleeping can be a dicey prospect; system-debilitating things like rivers of readily available and often free beer, crappy heavy food and gas-station snacks, all piled up on top of late nights and early mornings can make things rough. And we were only out for five days. I know, right…goddamn pussy.

The beauty of it all is that, if you haven’t reached the end of your rope or completely burned out your health, salvation can be found in a few beers, some good (or even not-so-good) food and the energy that comes with getting on stage and making some noise. It’s the recipe for a temporary rejuvenation that returns a fire to the belly and a glint to the eye. That’s what Slim’s Last Chance Chili Shack was — energetic salvation on the last stop of this short tour.

Slim’s, a lone neon beacon in the Southwest industrial Seattle night, is a punk rock bar and venue, and chili shack. Apparently, no one really lives in that part of town, but the brisket chili is absolutely amazing, and they serve what might just be the best french fries I’ve ever had. And the Pabst was on the house. The bar’s sound system was nice, almost too much system for the room, but that’s not something to complain about.

Police Teeth, Live at Slim’s, Seattle:

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The evening’s lineup was opposite from the night before — Police Teeth, Generalissimo, us, then Crider’s band, The DTs — and despite my secret desire to play first that night and just get it over with, I really enjoyed ramping up tsome energy level by watching Police Teeth and Generalissimo. Because of the four-band bill (and possibly because of wicked hangovers), they both played brief, really tight sets. Another night on tour for the Generals, killing it as usual, and Police Teeth actually moved their mics off the stage on to the floor to give themselves more room to rock-dance while kicking out the jams. I can generally go without exorbitant on-stage rock moves, but if the band can bring it musically, as Police Teeth most certainly can, I don’t mind the accompanying theater of spectacle.

Generalissimo, “Swarm” Live at Slim’s, Seattle:

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By the time we hit the stage, the crowd had grown to include more people than just other bands (another perk of not playing first), and I think things went pretty well for us. Mark was really on a burner that night, pushing the rhythm of just about every song except the opener (“When I Die”), which I don’t generally mind so much. It makes things interesting.

Ovipositor, “Navvy” (Pere Ubu) Live at Slim’s, Seattle:

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Colin had mentioned more than once throughout the trip that, because we were playing right before The DTs in Seattle, we had to really hit it right that night. I’m not sure if we did, but after watching The DTs, I fully understood what he was talking about. There’s not a single miss in the DTs’ repertoire, they might be the perfect rock ‘n’ roll band — one of the best guitarists I’ve ever known paired with the one of the best rhythm sections I’ve ever witnessed.

The DTs, Live at Slim’s, Seattle:

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We meandered back to Oakland over the next two days, getting back into California in one long stretch, and taking a break in lovely Weed, CA, where we got rooms at the Hi-Lo Motel for the night. I spent the evening eating pizza and drinking beer, then sitting in my room trying to reflect profoundly on the tour, but all I could come up with was that I had a lot of fun playing music in strange places in front of strange people for a week. And that’s pretty much what it’s all about, I guess.

Here are my photos from the trip…