crawfest 2011

craw fest 2011 last weekend was an amazing success! serious rock, country, psychedelia, prog, ska, punk, garage, metal, grunge – so many genres collided into a massive two day party on a ranch in powell butte. $15, 13 bands, free camping, free beer and i got to thrash out, yell obscenities at the bands & have them revel in it. yeah, that was as good as a party gets. there was a pony espresso stand on site with the nicest lady running it, and a hot dog stand with many varieties (including a louisiana fire ball that i prolly shoulda done without). apparently the cops came on friday night, but i was passed out. and someone also apparently smashed an electric guitar in the campfire. day two, after i woke up in less than ideal circumstances, they pulled in an old ford tempo and people took turns smashing it with a sledgehammer and pick ax. smashed to hell by the end of the day, even the engine was pretty much in pieces thanks to brian ward. saturday night, some underage kids made off with a keg and a tap. ballsy, i'd say. 8 times out 10, they would’ve been caught and had their skulls shattered. and, of course, it wouldn’t have been a true party without me losing something, namely my keys. i woke up on sunday morning and couldn’t go anywhere. one of the hosts (hostess, to be technically correct i suppose) found them in a field that i am not sure i ever went to, though she said she had seen me over there. she also said i then passed out in a ball next to the fire. i believe it. don’t remember it, but i believe it. anyway, that was all the side attractions, the muzik wtf! ninjas with syringes and mrs. esterhouse were m.i.a., but otherwise you couldn't ask for much better.






day 1
blue babies
jake and his host ranch is the reason craw fest exists. in the blue babies, he plays guitar with his sister on drums. they started the music both days with a couple early afternoon sets. they played a new song called gypsy girl about a girl that suckered him for $50 on magazine subscriptions last week. i can relate, it happened to me the day before craw fest! maybe that has happened to you too? the last time I “bought” magazines from swindlers, my friends house got broken into a week later…watch out! there is no recorded version of that song, but it’ll go on my summer soundtrack once it does get recorded! and he sang a song about "getting shit from animals" twice and i already forgot the word for it. someone help me out here. they gave me a free tshirt too! a t-shirt with a donkey. but don't ask about the donkey. lol.


faithless saints
standard fare, good show as usual from these pdx punks. kind of strange seeing them play in the daylight, they are typically late niters. still waiting for their new cd. robert rios is so much of a perfectionist that i am not sure we’ll ever get to hear it, but as soon as we do i will try my hardest to get them to la grande!

the vacillators
i gotta be honest. i am not sure how i even got a pic of the vacillators. i don’t remember seeing them play at all. i wasn't drunk yet, so i dunno what happened. i get really torn up when this happens. especially with such a thrashing bunch as the camille led rockers from portland. i will surely be on the look out to see them again soon! at least i did end up with their stickers, so they are one of only two bands that were added to my car.

high desert hooligans
two girls and two boys that i prolly looked forward to more than anyone, and the hooligans did not disappoint. straight ahead, motorhead-style rock. but i was near the end of my capacity for handling the ferocity by the point they came on. i worked the graveyard shift the night before and then drove five hours to powell butte only to fritter a lot of time away in redmond as well at cascade lakes. with only a two hour nap, it was hard to keep up the energy late into the night. i’ll drink monster next time instead of the riverside red! if you ever see the hooligans touring around oregon, check them out! or if ever in redmond, go to their strip club. forget what it's called, but i am sure if you just stop and ask someone to point you to the high desert hooligan guuitarist's strip club, you'll get there.

the royal tees
sadly, i missed all of the royal tees for being passed out by the fire or somewhere. but the reports i heard is that they were loved by all. a ska band from everywhere, mostly portland, not to be missed next time!

matt borden and the mfb
i wish i hadn’t been so torn up by that point in the night. it was just too late after too long of a day. from what 20 minutes i managed to see before somehow getting to bed, he really ripped it up. i went there ready for his country, but country leaning more to the hank III side of things. will be sure to see him again.

day 2
necktie killer
another ska band, these guys are from redmond. pretty decent, a little off my tastes, but maybe that was cuz of the oregon ducks support that the git and bass players showed off. their “love song” about cigarettes was a crowd pleaser for sure. the night before they had just won “last band standing” in bend, so a few props should be given for them making the quick turn around to get out to powell butte for still more rockin.

open defiance
these guys may be more memorable cuz of the guy who parked next to me. he had jut spent 10 years in federal prison for crimes that you don’t wanna know about. even the things that he never got caught doing, you don’t wanna know about. this was his first chance to see open defiance in at least 10 years and he certainly got every minute of it, epecially the ace of spades cover. open defiance are solid veterans of the redmond scene, but the drummer just didn't get it done when it came to the car sledgehammering activity. sorry.

couch

this is really when saturday got started. somewhat of a revivalist, a throwback to pnw rock 20 years ago. straight head dropping grunge. three hillsboro lads do a good representation of what was. in fact, they represent as good as anyone back then did, kind of similar to tad maybe. what makes couch sweet is that they were fired up and having a good time. it was infectious on the people near the stage. a good time for all.

secnd best
their drummer destroyed most of the car in the car sledgehammering activity. and when he gets a lot of aggression out early, it is a secnd best show that can’t be topped. i’ve seen these guys 20 or 30 times, and this one was as good as any other. i will do what it takes to get them to la grande soon! they have a new cd being pressed as i type. be prepared, it will prolly be better than world communicators of worship even.

lowfront
these thugs and hoodlums are the godfathers of craw fest. they have appeared all four years and the fest was purportedly started to feature them. serious straight ahead garage rock from oregon city. a great treat to follow secnd best and couch. it doesn't get much better than to see three bands like this back to back to back. i would prolly go back next year just to see lowfront again.

spatia
after getting 3 rippin rock bands back to back to back, i was pretty wiped out. and maybe that helped to have a groovin prog rock, ala pink floyd, band to roll with. not sure how they pulled extended jams, cuz i was pretty well gone to be that into it, but they were still fun to watch and kick it with. awesome way to close out the festivities for sure.

next year? more crawfest? let's hope!