Okay, you guys, take a deep breath. Noise Pop and Mission Mission are about to give you free tickets to the concert of the decade: !!!, Sugar & Gold and My First Earthquake at Mezzanine on Saturday, February 27, 2010.
Jerry Fuchs is one of my top three or five favorite drummers of all time, so when !!! got him I was pumped. Now that he’s dead, part of me wants to wonder whether the band’ll ever be as good without him, and the other part of me says, “Fuck off, self! !!! rules!” And I’m pretty sure I’m right. I can’t wait to see how much they still rule.
Sugar & Gold is a great band too. They make me want to dance just as much as !!!, plus they’re quite a bit less screamy, and thus all the more pleasant. Also, they’re from SF, not Sacramento, and maybe largely for that reason they’re a lot more physically attractive. And they have a new album coming out later this spring.
My First Earthquake has the advantage here of being led by our pal Rebecca Bortman, a force of rock ‘n’ roll nature if ever there was one. Pretty soon, you’ll have to pay Live Nation $35 plus service charges and parking fees to see Becky and MFE headline the Warfield or whatever, so best enter this here contest and see them for free at an intimate venue while you still can.
The only way this bill could be any better is if Scissor Sisters showed up last minute to play their as-yet unreleased new album in its entirety.
TO ENTER: Okay, if you submit a good Jerry story (or remembrance or whatever) you’ll probably win. Otherwise, good stories about any of the above bands will probably do you good. Winners will be decided based on merit or something by Mission Mission staff. Contest ends this Thursday at 6pm.
!!! photo by abzflickr; S&G photo by Rachel Weinstein; MFE photo by spencercrooks.
oh my god. jerry died falling down an elevator shaft. is that really true though?
jerry was my friend and that shitty story is most definitely true. worst story ever.
is this contest still on or did I miss out like an orgy on the Queen Mary? I really want to go to Noisepop 2010 and if it means saving the pigeons, I’ll gladly catch and release them to the wild blue yonder. Lemme know cause I’m getting antsy and I might have to start another terrible band in the meantime….
Have a great Valentines day and kiss carefully..
Scott
“Becky” of my first earthquake is such a great singer. I really connect with her talking and anti-tonal way of “singing”.
And their song “Cool in the cool way” is great, because they are talking about how they aren’t hipsters when they are the clear definition of hipsters in every fucking way. So it’s ironic. Just brilliant. Someone should write a graduate thesis on it.
You don’t have to enter.
As much as I wish my story about My First Earthquake started with “this one time, at band camp…” sadly it does not.
A girl can dream though, can’t she?
Last year I was reading an article about a band I love that is now based out of NYC, but has roots in Berkeley. A guy–Chad–who used to play with them in the bay area, according to the article, was now in a cool SF-based band called My First Earthquake. Hmmmm, I thought, I wonder what this band is all about?
<>
So I went to their website, and found the video for “Cool in the Cool Way,” and began to watch. Now, anyone who knows me knows that there’s not much I love more than making fun of hipsters–while, in the end, I probably am a hipster myself. So I found that the song was not only awesome, but it spoke to me–wow, I thought, this band is great! THEN I realized that I actually knew someone in the video–a friend of mine from years back, one of the first people I met after moving to the bay area. What are the chances, right? It was then that I knew: there had been too many signs for me to ignore them. I had to see what this band was all about in person.
Now, I am also a concert photographer, just breaking into the biz, and I have to say that after seeing MFE three times, they are my favorite band to photogaph. They are also some of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, seeing and shooting. Their stage performances are always fun, fresh and exciting, and other than the friendships I’ve begun to forge with Rebecca and Chad, the thing that means the most to me about interacting with them is how I know I can push my photography to the limits with them, be as creative as possible and see what cool things I can produce–and it will all be appreciated. I love these guys SO much!
So there you go–the story of how a seemingly unrelated news article led me to discover the best band in San Francisco, and how it has enriched my life and my art more than I ever could have predicted. Sadly my skillz don’t yet pay the billz, though, so seeing shows at Mezzanine are a little out of my budget right now, and hence why I am entering this contest. ^__^
I’ve been pimping MFE on my radio show at KZSU since I first heard Cool in the Cool Way, and I managed to bump Together In Our Holiday Sweaters into the top 10 for December by playing it maniacally during the holidays. But I still haven’t seen them live!
I was opening for !!! at a gig in Sacramento (DJing), and Jerry struck up a conversation… after seeing my DRUM MACHINE HAVE NO SOUL sticker on my flight case… I pointed out that it was next to a sticker with a picture of a Roland TR-808. ““I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man… The Jungian thing, sir”.
Whoa! What’d Jerry say to that!?
Heh, I DON’T REMEMBER! I do remember saying that, and drinking a lot, but I don’t remember to much else about the night! I don’t drink as much as I used to, and I will really enjoy the show this time!
I’m madly in love with every member of all the bands playing that night, so getting to attend that show would be a wet dream come true for me.
Come on, I’m biting my nails off! When are you announcing the ticket winner, Allan? My band will toss in a special bonus for the winner: A MFE t-shit!
Ope, we gave it to the guy with the Jerry story, as per the terms of the contest. (Plus he threw in a Full Metal Jacket reference for extremely good measure.) How about if the t-shirt is a runner-up prize? Who do you like?
Understandable. His Jerry story and ‘Nam ref waz solid. I have a Jerry story but it’s about my dad and I’m already attending the show.
I liked the guy who thought I have an “anti-tonal way of singing”. I want him to come to the show so I can show him that I can sing as sweet as a sappy songbird.
Cranky Est, come to the merch table to collect your free t-shit.
So this is just weird. I didn’t post that comment. What’s weirder is that I’m also in a band, with another Rebekah, my wife. I wonder if someone is confusing us? And put in my e-mail address to mess with me or something?
Anyway, best of luck to you Becky. Reading the post, I see your show was this weekend. I hope you rocked the house.