Tuesday, June 28, 2005



Friday June 24th, 2005
BIRTHDAY DESTROYER III
BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR
DETROIT

LAUNDRYROOM SQUELCHERS
16 BITCH PILE UP
WORKBENCH
MAMMAL
MARK SOLOTROFF

BRITTLE FOUNDRIES
CHARLIE DRAHEIM

Happy fucking birthday Grey! Holy shit, what a party!! I am always pleased to make a trip up to Grey and Charlie’s spot. First of all, you need to find pictures of the birthday cake that the 16 Bitch Pile Up girls made – it was a total Black Dahlia crime scene treat. Charlie got the musical part of the night started with his gross shrouded-mini-system lo-fi mouth-harp jam, and it was appropriately uncomfortable, as always. For Brittle Foundries, David Reed veered away from the dense, heavy ambience of his Luasa Raelon performances to offer a more timely sinister creep set for the night. Whether it is L.R., Envenomist, or whatever, this boy knows his stuff and he delivers the goods. And don’t think that I didn’t notice that MC-202 in his set-up. Next up, I did my thing with a half-dozen microphones… really strange not having guys with synths behind me… kind of awkward… need to iron out some vocal-level kinks, etc… appreciation to Andorkappen and Prurient, as well as to Andi Sex Gang, Bauhaus, Clan of Xymox, Fields of the Nephilim, The Rose of Avalanche, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Sisters of Mercy, and Virgin Prunes. Many thanks to everyone for the enthusiastic crowd action and the very keen response. Birthday Boy Grey took a heavy blow to the side of his right eye that led to quite a magnificent golf ball bump. If I warmed people up, Mammal brought things to a boil. This was my first chance to see Gary play since his Camp Gay show on Halloween, and the crowds could not have been more dissimilar. Things were getting so hectic directly in front of his gear that Gary had to send some guy flying across the room in what was an amazing split-second break in his concentrated performance of sharp, rapidly pulsing electronics. The new Mammal 3” CD-R on Chondritic Sound is a must-have. Here is where I get to start making up for lost time after missing so much stuff at No Fun Fest. Workbench took up the power mantle and answered back with a different flavor of excellent dark, raw, pulsing electro-goo. Mike said that the Mammal tones inspired him to oscillate in that direction… all I know is that after that, I cannot wait to hear what he does on Sunday in Chicago. 16 Bitch Pile Up can obviously bake more than just bloody torso cakes, as they cooked up some deep, dark electronics that kicked in heavily just as whatever was in that keg started acting up. At this point, the crowd started getting even more intense, physically answering the deadly low to high shifts that 16BPU seemed to be generating. Laundry Room Squelchers seemed to have been reserving their energy with what was still a very strong Chicago show the night before, because their similar slow build up gave way to a totally intense crowd pile up that saw more bodies flung all over the place than I could keep track of. Something about their sets reminded me of heavy 1980’s industrial (noise), but with added bodies (their own, and the crowd’s) tumbling all over the place. The party went on and on… no need to elaborate too much. Saturday saw all Green Door crashers head to the Eastern Market for fresh fruit and vegetables, way-too-hot coffee for such a swelteringly hot day, fresh apple cider from a squeaky-voice Death in June cider-vendor, and fantastic, gigantic BBQ burgers. After touring folks finally made it out of Detroit, Charlie and I took a drive to Royal Oak, which has definitely changed for the worse since I used to go there in the 80s, and we stopped for Slurpees (I went with Fanta Banana, if you must know) during a flash rainstorm. A quick and easy ride back was just what the doctor ordered. I returned with a substantial box of amazing things (such as a hot 16BPU CD in a totally defiled bible!) to listen to, which I have been doing, and I will be in touch with everyone, ASAP, to say thanks… Once again, “happy birthday” and “mega-thanks” to Grey. July 3 should rule!!!