The show was in the basement of 421 W. MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland on Wednesday, August 24th, 2005. \u00a0We rode bikes, it was about about twenty blocks from where I lived at 18th and Chestnut in West Oakland. \u00a0At the time the noise musician Steve Santamaria and the clothing designer Mary Meyer lived near Market on 41st Street a couple of blocks away. \u00a0I went to their place first. \u00a0We listened to records, Steve showed me some new gear. \u00a0We had some lentils. \u00a0Then we rode to the show.<\/p>\n
There were a lot of bikes locked up on the fences and poles outside. \u00a0You could see who was there, a lot of people were. \u00a0The medical pot industry in Oakland was exploding and everybody grew or knew someone who did and so everyone had great stuff. \u00a0We smoked Swisher Sweet cigars split open, emptied out and stuffed with gooey marijuana. The basement filled with a thick cloud of sweet smoke. \u00a0Strong smells\u00a0matched my rank BO because I showered weekly, never washed my hair, or my jeans. \u00a0I got rashes.<\/p>\n
Extreme Animals was a musical identity of PaperRad who were hot then, they had been in the Whitney Museum and that\u2019s what I wanted. \u00a0I didn\u2019t know anything. \u00a0It was the first time they had been to the west coast. \u00a0Maybe it was the last. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t much. \u00a0It was dark in the basement, there was a fog machine and a strobe light. \u00a0Two guys in the corner played laptops into a loud PA. \u00a0The room was less than 20 people, half full but enough to knock into someone once in a while. \u00a0The music was hyper 8-bit rave music. \u00a0It sounded like an Apple ][E on meth. \u00a0All the gear, costumes, and amps were covered in hand painted day-glo trip out patterns. \u00a0They had made a record in Czeckoslovakia. \u00a0There was obviously no money in any of it. \u00a0After 45 minutes of smoky foggy circuit bending pachinko music, the thing wrapped up. \u00a0It was early, still light out. \u00a0The light on MacArthur Boulevard was an interesting light gray with pink edges fading to orange. \u00a0The sun went down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The show was in the basement of 421 W. MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland on Wednesday, August 24th, 2005. \u00a0We rode bikes, it was about about twenty blocks from where I lived at 18th and Chestnut in West Oakland. \u00a0At the time the noise musician Steve Santamaria and the clothing designer Mary Meyer lived near Market … <\/p>\n