Performance of the year by Karmahitlist in Bakersfield - By N.L. Belardes
Great performances. How do you define such historic moments? Like when I saw Bono break up a fight between a stage diver and roadies at the LA Sports Arena in 1985. I think I remember that incident more than the music itself. Sometimes it’s about the band behind the music. You don’t forget a great musical performance where a band performs flawlessly… But then perfection can be boring when it’s exactly what you expected.
For me, live performance means entertainment. And I think people forget that. The entertaining and spontaneous aspect of live rock is only glimpsed now and then anymore. After all, it’s mostly about music to the people. But I want music and a show…
Let’s reach further. Sometimes the greatness in a performance lies in spontaneity as bands get fueled by bursts of seemingly hidden energy, like when Korn hung a BPD officer in effigy in 1996 at Bakersfield’s Casa Royale. How can I forget how that act alone fueled the crowd? Sometimes greatness lies in a simple phrase or two that drives an entire performance and resurfaces for a lifetime; like when Courtney Love in her little silver angel wings made a grungy remark to a Las Vegas crowd as she angrily played on, “You’re all here because you got comped free tickets not because you wanted to see me. F*** you all!” Oh that Courtney. She was so witchy. I loved it.
Sometimes it’s just about the rock star of the band being a performer. Everything has to have a selling point doesn’t it? Karmahitlist drummer Cesareo told me the other day, “A rock star is the last line of defense, the connection as you will between the music and the people.” That makes for an even better gimmick when the rock star is the frontman, don’t you think?
As for Saturday’s show at Stramler Park, Karmahitlist entered the stage charged up on a synthesis of great re-worked music from a powerful drummer, an incredible guitarist, a grooving new bass player and their rock star frontman, Seantastic. All formed a symbiosis of music meets stardom meets an afternoon outdoor crowd caught off guard in one of the most meaningful performances I have seen in years. The show was short. But its spontaneous drive will be forever billed as one of the greatest live performances I ever witnessed in Bakersfield.
Don’t get me wrong. I am consistently entertained by rock performances here at the Southern end of the San Joaquin Valley where this hydraulic society of crisscrossing waterways feeds the surrounding agri-lands. Bakersfield is probably the only city of its size that ever produced two world-leading musical crops in both country and rock music. Just add water and watch the music grow from the countryside and from Bakersfield’s very working class streets… Maybe Karmahitlist just simply fueled my need to witness adventuresome rock stars who aren’t afraid to spontaneously create unforgettable moments under the sun.
image provided by illpressed
Seantastic entered the stage a half-naked black-winged cherub symbolically reborn from Karmahitlist’s remixed musical sounds. Yes, the black angel wings were contrived. But so what? Rock and Roll needs gimmicks and Seantastic’s ability to tease himself with his blistery voice and rock star hard body whirling and twirling in pure ecstasy of the driving moment is as attractively entertaining as any rock star. Could anyone else look so stoic in such punk star make-up? This tall handsome ex-soldier with piercing eyes reached out to the crowd, singing, talking in a rap-like manner, never on the verge of screaming, but still belting out lyrics in angry songs lambasting Americana in a fiery vision of society and life…
Not far into the set Seantastic jumped up on one of the amps. He stood there for a moment, then did an enormous leap down to the stage. He then brought a kid onstage to let out some of everyone’s energy by having the kid smash a pink-stickered acoustic guitar. The boy leapt from the bass drum and snapped the neck in one swoop.
image provided by illpressed
The music in all of this? Jim ripped into his guitar riffs with untold energy, while Cesareo, fresh off a set with Rocky Nash, tore into the drums so hard he broke his snare. Beautiful! Such an imperfect moment, unscripted, even as Seantastic doused the crowd with water, there was a sense of honesty to it: that he indeed wanted to connect with people; and so did the rest of Karmahitlist through their richly woven music, through Seantastic’s wildly spinning body movements and onstage antics, through an honest connection between people and music.
image provided by illpressed
Riot on the Streets, Why Adam and Uncle Sam all echoed across the park, near the old stomping grounds of the Blackboard. What would those ghosts have said as Seantastic not only commanded the stage during the day’s best performance, but then took adventure to another level by climbing to the top of the trailer lining the back of the stage. He stood on a black railing then hoisted himself up. Then while the music tore into the energetic crowd he danced on top of the trailer. It was a symbol of rock antics mostly lost these days to the idea of jamming and then selling T-shirts, jamming, and then the next band please. Please give me more adventure onstage, more great showmanship. Who will be the first band to hang the Lords of Bakersfield in effigy? Our angry local American-Central Valley culture needs to hang its myths, purify and solidify legends through rock angst. Why not? Korn might do it. What about Karmahitlist? Myndsick? Give Impulse? Throatshot? The Filthies? Who??
People are so critical of rock music as an artform these days they tend to forget that the multi-genres of rock have often been angry, often spontaneous forms of staged debauchery that connects with all of us. We connect to U2 stopping traffic. We connect to old videos of Nirvana smashing instruments. We connect to The Who’s outrageous stage violence. We connect to Mick Jagger’s triumphant angry gay swagger. The more daring? Well that only leads to more energy… and so when Seantastic defiantly spun and danced on top of the trailer and then made it back down in time to sing the chorus, I cheered for the lost days of rock music’s angry and defiant sense of entertainment. I cheered for the success of such an angry attention-getting move. I cheered in sheer enjoyment of this shared rock moment, even when the drum set caved in and Cesareo rescued and kissed the surviving borrowed snare drum; even when drumsticks went flying from the stage and back across it…
And the drama didn’t stop there. Remember the video for Where the Streets Have No Name, where LAPD pulled the plug on the U2-staged event in LA? Oh, it seemed close… On Saturday, just after the show, promoter Tim Gardea appeared to be lecturing Seantastic for pouncing on equipment. I wondered if Tim Gardea was ever about to pull the plug on Karmahitlist. Such drama. Such entertainment. Hell, maybe Tim was just asking the Karmahitlist frontman to lunch after the performance of the year. I doubt it. Mark it down in the annals of Bakersfield rock history, folks. This was an adventurous rock moment to remember.
For me, live performance means entertainment. And I think people forget that. The entertaining and spontaneous aspect of live rock is only glimpsed now and then anymore. After all, it’s mostly about music to the people. But I want music and a show…
Let’s reach further. Sometimes the greatness in a performance lies in spontaneity as bands get fueled by bursts of seemingly hidden energy, like when Korn hung a BPD officer in effigy in 1996 at Bakersfield’s Casa Royale. How can I forget how that act alone fueled the crowd? Sometimes greatness lies in a simple phrase or two that drives an entire performance and resurfaces for a lifetime; like when Courtney Love in her little silver angel wings made a grungy remark to a Las Vegas crowd as she angrily played on, “You’re all here because you got comped free tickets not because you wanted to see me. F*** you all!” Oh that Courtney. She was so witchy. I loved it.
Sometimes it’s just about the rock star of the band being a performer. Everything has to have a selling point doesn’t it? Karmahitlist drummer Cesareo told me the other day, “A rock star is the last line of defense, the connection as you will between the music and the people.” That makes for an even better gimmick when the rock star is the frontman, don’t you think?
As for Saturday’s show at Stramler Park, Karmahitlist entered the stage charged up on a synthesis of great re-worked music from a powerful drummer, an incredible guitarist, a grooving new bass player and their rock star frontman, Seantastic. All formed a symbiosis of music meets stardom meets an afternoon outdoor crowd caught off guard in one of the most meaningful performances I have seen in years. The show was short. But its spontaneous drive will be forever billed as one of the greatest live performances I ever witnessed in Bakersfield.
Don’t get me wrong. I am consistently entertained by rock performances here at the Southern end of the San Joaquin Valley where this hydraulic society of crisscrossing waterways feeds the surrounding agri-lands. Bakersfield is probably the only city of its size that ever produced two world-leading musical crops in both country and rock music. Just add water and watch the music grow from the countryside and from Bakersfield’s very working class streets… Maybe Karmahitlist just simply fueled my need to witness adventuresome rock stars who aren’t afraid to spontaneously create unforgettable moments under the sun.
image provided by illpressed
Seantastic entered the stage a half-naked black-winged cherub symbolically reborn from Karmahitlist’s remixed musical sounds. Yes, the black angel wings were contrived. But so what? Rock and Roll needs gimmicks and Seantastic’s ability to tease himself with his blistery voice and rock star hard body whirling and twirling in pure ecstasy of the driving moment is as attractively entertaining as any rock star. Could anyone else look so stoic in such punk star make-up? This tall handsome ex-soldier with piercing eyes reached out to the crowd, singing, talking in a rap-like manner, never on the verge of screaming, but still belting out lyrics in angry songs lambasting Americana in a fiery vision of society and life…
Not far into the set Seantastic jumped up on one of the amps. He stood there for a moment, then did an enormous leap down to the stage. He then brought a kid onstage to let out some of everyone’s energy by having the kid smash a pink-stickered acoustic guitar. The boy leapt from the bass drum and snapped the neck in one swoop.
image provided by illpressed
The music in all of this? Jim ripped into his guitar riffs with untold energy, while Cesareo, fresh off a set with Rocky Nash, tore into the drums so hard he broke his snare. Beautiful! Such an imperfect moment, unscripted, even as Seantastic doused the crowd with water, there was a sense of honesty to it: that he indeed wanted to connect with people; and so did the rest of Karmahitlist through their richly woven music, through Seantastic’s wildly spinning body movements and onstage antics, through an honest connection between people and music.
image provided by illpressed
Riot on the Streets, Why Adam and Uncle Sam all echoed across the park, near the old stomping grounds of the Blackboard. What would those ghosts have said as Seantastic not only commanded the stage during the day’s best performance, but then took adventure to another level by climbing to the top of the trailer lining the back of the stage. He stood on a black railing then hoisted himself up. Then while the music tore into the energetic crowd he danced on top of the trailer. It was a symbol of rock antics mostly lost these days to the idea of jamming and then selling T-shirts, jamming, and then the next band please. Please give me more adventure onstage, more great showmanship. Who will be the first band to hang the Lords of Bakersfield in effigy? Our angry local American-Central Valley culture needs to hang its myths, purify and solidify legends through rock angst. Why not? Korn might do it. What about Karmahitlist? Myndsick? Give Impulse? Throatshot? The Filthies? Who??
People are so critical of rock music as an artform these days they tend to forget that the multi-genres of rock have often been angry, often spontaneous forms of staged debauchery that connects with all of us. We connect to U2 stopping traffic. We connect to old videos of Nirvana smashing instruments. We connect to The Who’s outrageous stage violence. We connect to Mick Jagger’s triumphant angry gay swagger. The more daring? Well that only leads to more energy… and so when Seantastic defiantly spun and danced on top of the trailer and then made it back down in time to sing the chorus, I cheered for the lost days of rock music’s angry and defiant sense of entertainment. I cheered for the success of such an angry attention-getting move. I cheered in sheer enjoyment of this shared rock moment, even when the drum set caved in and Cesareo rescued and kissed the surviving borrowed snare drum; even when drumsticks went flying from the stage and back across it…
And the drama didn’t stop there. Remember the video for Where the Streets Have No Name, where LAPD pulled the plug on the U2-staged event in LA? Oh, it seemed close… On Saturday, just after the show, promoter Tim Gardea appeared to be lecturing Seantastic for pouncing on equipment. I wondered if Tim Gardea was ever about to pull the plug on Karmahitlist. Such drama. Such entertainment. Hell, maybe Tim was just asking the Karmahitlist frontman to lunch after the performance of the year. I doubt it. Mark it down in the annals of Bakersfield rock history, folks. This was an adventurous rock moment to remember.
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Monday, June 06, 2005.
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