I believe that Weedstock 2001 was organized by Eric Hagen of Greenhouse Effect, but I may be wrong. Whoever put this event on is a bonafied genius though. Even if you didn`t see this show this fact should be obvious based solely on the killer line-up of kick-ass heavy rock bands which consisted of Operator Generator, Acid King, Gammera, Greenhouse Effect, Canyon Creep, Cold Mourning and El Buzzard.
Technically this was just a weeknight show but it felt much more like a 1 day festival. The Paradise Lounge fucking ruled with 2 stages on opposite sides the same room, a mezzanine/balcony area above the big stage, a nice sized bar in another room and an upstairs room with pool tables where yet more bands played. If the venue had been "strictly" non-smoking the two stage thing would have been a serious bitch for myself because there was absolutely zero set-up-wait-time in between sets. While the first band played on the small stage the second band was already setting up on the big stage and while that set was in full swing the next band was already getting set up on the small stage. The instant that one band stopped playing the whole crowd would turn around, walk a few steps to the other side of the room and the next band would already be playing. Cool shit! If I had had to go outside for cigarettes I would have missed a shitload of good music - as it were though, with lax security on the smoking front, I didn`t have to miss a beat. Although, due to excessive socializing I did manage to miss most of the first band on the small stage "El Buzzard". I did hear most of their set though and it sounded pretty darn cool - pretty typical stoner rock I`d have to say.
Up first on the big stage were Canyon Creep playing aggressive yet groovy southern style heavy rock. This show was actually their CD release party for their new CD "Hijack the World" (which features some slick-ass cover art by our Italian friends at Malleus). I`ve had a preview copy of Hijack the World for many months now but hadn`t really gotten to know it that well - but we rectified that situation by listening to it a few times on the way down from Portland in spacecakes` spacemobile. The CD rules and it`s got a lot of stellar riffs and a couple of really "stand-out" tracks that were even better live. I was gonna pick up a stack of their CDs for our All That`s Heavy Online Music Store. Unfortunately Canyon Creep wasn`t around for long after their set so I didn`t manage to catch up with them.
Canyon Creep
Live at The Paradise Lounge
June 28th, 2001
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At around this point in the evening Eric from Greenhouse Effect encouraged me to bring in my box of StonerRock.com T-shirts so that I could set up a merch table and sell them. He had asked me to bring them down with me because he had several friends that wanted to buy one. But this caused the same dilemmas that I always face every time I have the option to set up a merch table: "But I don`t want to sit there and sell shit all night - I want to watch the fucking bands man!!" - and: "If I`m selling shit then I would assume that I`m hijacking potential sales of the bands` own merch", who usually need the money more than I do. So I said fuck it! Handed the box of Tshirts to the guy that was running Greenhouse Effect`s merch table and asked him to give one shirt to any of this night`s band members that wanted one. Hehee.. It`s easy to become generous like that when you`re as lazy as I am, especially after a few beers have over-lubed the old decision making device. Of course by the end of the evening there were only 2 shirts left! A small and a double extra large, so I gave those away too. That`s why the store is "out of stock" on StonerRock.com T-shirts even though I just got a big shipment in recently (sorry about that to anyone who wanted to order one, I`m getting more made up soon!). Oh well - you only live once right? And I got to see every band so everything worked out A-OK!
Next up on the small stage was the Doom Metal outfit of the evening`s festivities: Cold Mourning. These dudes play on the "true doom" side of the stoner rock fence and seeing them live was a great experience for me since I`m quite familiar with their album "Lower than Low" (which is available for purchase in our All That`s Heavy Online Music Store). Very slow and very sludgy, yet somehow crisp and technical at the same time, with anguishedly screamed vocals over the top of heavy riffage backed up and held together nicely by a very talented drummer. Randolfio and spacecakes weren`t too fond of Cold Mourning`s set but I thought it was pretty damn cool.
Cold Mourning
Live at The Paradise Lounge
June 28th, 2001
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Bam! As soon as Cold Mourning finished up Greenhouse Effect pumped out the jams on the big stage. These guys had 3 guitarists that often played the same riff together while each guitar would singularly blaze off on a spacey tangent to return to the fray of the original riff. Three guitars may seem like overkill but it created a really neat effect and it was also exciting to watch. Mix some Clutch intensity with a heavy dose of spacey stoner rock and you`ll end up with Greenhouse Effect. I did manage to buy some Greenhouse Effect CDs from the band while I was there (which we listened to several times on the way back to Portland and thoroughly enjoyed) so head on over to the All That`s Heavy Online Music Store and pick up a copy of "Blast Shield Down" now. I think we might be the only ones who are selling it online at the moment and we`ve only got a few copies, so if want a copy don`t hesitate too long :)
Greenhouse Effect
Live at The Paradise Lounge
June 28th, 2001
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I think it was during Greenhouse Effect`s set that I spotted Scott Reeder (ex-Kyuss, ex-Obsessed, Unida, active StonerRock.com Community member) accross the room. I announced to Randolfio that he was here and that I was gonna go talk to him. Randolfio said something like "No man, I don`t think Scott is here" but I ignored him and went over to introduce myself.
El Danno: "Hey Scott, it`s cool that you made it out to the show! I`m Dan from StonerRock.com - nice to meet you finally!"
Scott: "Hey Dan! How come you`re down here, I thought you lived up in Portland?"
El Danno: "Just came down to check out the show man, I couldn`t miss a lineup like this man! What about you? You don`t live around here do you?"
Scott: "Yeah man!"
El Danno: "Shit, I was sure you lived farther south - oh well, nice to meet you man - I gotta grab myself a beer, I`ll catch up with you a bit later".
While I was at the bar I was thinking "WOW! I just met Scott Reeder, that`s so cool that he came out to see the show! Cool shit!" and then I went on my merry way to see Gammera fucking tear up the small stage in phenomenal style. The other bands that played on the small stage usually had their bassist standing off the side of the stage in the shadows (because it was only big enough for two guitarists and the drums). But not Gammera, they upped the ante by placing their frontman (singer, guitarist) right in front of the 6 inch stage with him jammin` out for the whole set in the midst of the encroaching crowd. Gammera were the stars of this night. Their set was absolutely jawdroppingly awe-inspiring. I really felt like I was witnessing something very special. I likened the experience to what it must have felt like to see Buddy Holly`s first "amazing set". Not that Gammera sound anything like Buddy Holly, of course, their whole performance just had that "these guys are gonna be fucking huge!" feel to it and I felt like I was seeing a great band shortly before they hit the big-time. If that makes any sense at all? Either way, Gammera were the band of the night for all 3 of us! Don`t miss these guys if you get the chance to see them live. (Gammera`s "Smoke and Mirrors" CD is available for purchase in our All That`s Heavy Online Music Store)
Gammera
Live at The Paradise Lounge
June 28th, 2001
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Then BAM! It was Acid King letting loose on the big stage with their patented brand of stoner-sludge doom-rock. I`ve seen Acid King several times now and they never fail to put on a killer show - and Weedstock 2001 was no exception to the rule. I believe they actually played some new songs that aren`t on their albums so hopefully that means there is a new Acid King album in the works? For one of the new songs (unless I`m mistaken) Guy brought out this massive 8 string bass and played one of the fuzziest and heaviest bass lines I`ve ever heard. WOW!! (Several Acid King CDs are available for purchase in our All That`s Heavy Online Music Store)
Acid King
Live at The Paradise Lounge
June 28th, 2001
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Then, to our amazement, Gammera hit the small stage again and picked up their legendary performance exactly where they left off before Acid King. We didn`t realize that they were gonna play two sets and we were THRILLED that they came on again. I just can`t say enough about how awesome their performance was. For the next two days spacecakes, Randolfio and I would just look at each other and say "Gammera" and raise our shoulders in a display of confused bewilderment - IE: even days after we were still unable to believe the impact that Gammera`s set had on us. This, my friends, is what this scene is all about goddamnit!!!
When Gammera finished Operator Generator wasn`t quite set up yet so there was a bit of a delay (the first bandless delay of the entire evening!) and I caught up with Mitchell (vocalist for O:G) and did some vodka shots with him out of the cap from the bottle he had stashed in his pants pocket. Almost all of the bands in this scene are populated by friendly, sincere and down to earth people - but the guys in Operator Generator never cease to amaze me with just how friendly they can be. It`s awesome when you can hang out and shoot the shit with these guys without feeling like you`re some over-eager fan who`s imposing on their personal space. It`s obvious to me that these guys genuinely love what they`re doing!
It`s too bad that half the crowd split before O:G hit the stage - what the fuck? oh well, it`s your loss - Operator Generator kicked ass as per usual! Super fucking tight, super fucking spacey and super fucking heavy music that must be written by the Gods themselves. I can`t get enough of their album "Polar Fleet" (which is available for purchase in our All That`s Heavy Online Music Store) and if I`m not mistaken, I believe they played the album note-for-note and in the right track order - if not, I at least always felt like I knew what was coming! And with such complex songs that`s an accomplishment in itself. Love it!!
Operator Generator
Live at The Paradise Lounge
June 28th, 2001
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The show was now over. What a shame. What a downer!! Oh well.. After O:G finished up we hung around and shot the shit with the Gammera dudes and some of the guys from the other bands, and also Leif (who runs the Gammera and Nebula websites!). While we were chatting Scott Reader came over and was telling me that his band had just finished recording their new album and was about to head out on tour with Acid King up the west coast.. And I was like, "Huh? Unida is touring up the west coast with Acid King??!?! NO SHIT!??!?!) and he`s like "Unida?? Dude I`m not Scott, I`m Tim Moss, you know, from the Men of Porn?" and then in a shocking turn of events Scott Reader suddenly morphed into Tim Moss right in front of my mortified face. Trippy! I think my heart may have actually stopped for a few seconds, probably from pumping all of my blood into my totally embarrased face!! I apologized profusely for my idiocy and he took it in stride while explaining to me that it wasn`t the first time he had been mistaken for Scott. But that wasn`t much consolation to me, since I`ve seen the Men of Porn live and I`ve actually hung out with Tim at shows in both San Francisco and Portland more than once! FUCK! I`ve never felt like such a heel before in my life! Well, maybe once or twice (or a hundred) times, but it still sucked..
Anyways. We had the option to head out to Greenhouse Effect`s studio to hang, or to Operator Generator`s pad to hang but Greenhouse Effect lived quite a ways out of town and O:G didn`t have any booze at their place (hehee) so we headed back to the hotel room instead (where we had beer! and it was after 3am buy this time mind you) and watched the hookers and drug dealers "taking care of business" 3 stories down below our hotel room window. Our hotel was right in the heart of the "Tenderloin District" so this was our enterntainment while in the hotel room - the T.V. didn`t get turned on once! On the way back to Portland we took 2 days and cruised up the 101 on a coastal redwood forest sight seeing trip. The first night we found this awesome spot on a cliff that overlooked the ocean and we watched the sun set while drinking beers and smoking out - awesome!!
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