The 28s, the fog, and the return of Jesse Rivera - By N.L. Belardes
With High Fidelity on the TV (and a great book by Nick Hornby) and a search for Jesse Rivera of old illpressed about to commence, I could do no better than turn on the podcast gizmo and start another episode of Buck City before embarking into the fog. Matildakay.com arrived and handed me her car keys right away. “You’re driving in this fog,” she said. Why would I mind? I talked for a bit into the microphone for the podcast, but then quickly headed out the door to find Mr. Rivera, who was rumored to make an appearance exactly where we were headed.
On the lookout for The 28s...
Oh yes, Jesse had been missing from the Bakersfield music scene for some time. His website had been down, and folks just plain wanted to know where he had gone. Of course I helped fire him up with my 2005 best bands in Bakersfield when he accused me of snubbing Stereotactic from the awards.
I had only seen Stereotactic perform once and I told Jesse I didn’t like their packaging even though I loved their CD. Besides, that meant Jesse or anyone else could do their own awards and do Stereotactic the justice they may have deserved. I should have at least put them in the nominees category. He’s right about that. Sorry guys. Gramercy Riff too… but then, I can’t make everyone happy and it’s not like I had a big awards ceremony with ten-thousand-dollar checks. If anything, Stereotactic should have been up for band of the year with all the touring around they do. They really are a great band. So this is my honorable mention to them for all their hard work (gotta piss Jesse off and snub Gramercy completely. Oh come on Gramercy, you know I love your music too. Hahaha).
I admitted in my Year in Review I only went to about 20% of shows for the year. There is so much going on in Bakersfield—incredible!
The fog rolled in by 8pm last Friday night. That’s early even by Tule fog standards. I considered not venturing out but had promised myself to find good man Rivera, and to see the 28s, a hardcore punk band led by vocalist/guitarist Clay Pigeon, with Doug as F*** on drums, and scene writer Mike Generic on bass. What a strange night of driving through the fog. Reminded me of one of my own passages in Lords: Part One:
It made Minstrel a bit nervous and cold to think of such a sight. He shivered and stared, and soon, the fog surrounding the windows with the cold grey underbelly of the Central Valley leviathan, he fell asleep… suddenly he saw an oasis of lights that hovered like spheres in the extra-terrestrial city fog…
Oh yes, it was a literary fog drifting through Bakersfield, rolling up old 99 and clouding Vinny’s from sight so that I had to turn around because I’d passed it, and even made one wrong turn, nearly as lost in the fog as that alienated Minstrel.
Mike Generic watches Deadman Walking before the crowds come.
The venue was nearly empty, maybe twenty or so stragglers, all huddled away from the fog and listening to Orange County punk band, Deadman Walking. Right away here was my first meeting with punk boy Mike Generic, creator and writer of the Bakersfield Underground Music Scene blog. I would find out what he was all about later… In the meantime, he stood alone at the front of the stage, intensely into the music of the bloodied band on stage: zombies crawled in from the fog having picked up instruments to play punk music from the grave. Mike and I greeted each other heartily with a handshake and a hug, a quiet and unspoken instant understanding of what we do to help the music scene.
At a far table and drinking a Corona sat Jesse. Here we were, the vast majority of the underground Bakersfield writing scene in one venue as if all suddenly shipwrecked on skull island, shrouded in fog and mystery, all with our own aims to write about such a dark night like some freaky King Kong chick flick love story about how we could all brave the fog for our love of the Bakersfield Monkey Muse of music: N.L. Belardes, Mike Generic, Matildakay and the return of Jesse Rivera.
Oh yes, and a bearded Rob Shock showed up too; he’s another Bakersfield scene writer/ranter. The only one missing who I would have loved to see would have been Heath Dobbler. But then that Steely football mystic was likely hidden away, isolated on a lone peek somewhere shoved above the fog, just below the carpet of milky stars and praying for his beloved Pittsburg team to beat the Cincinatti Bitches (You have to fast a few days ahead of time for such enlightened victories).
In the new year, here was the first night to remember: the writers and the 28s all at Vinny’s. With Dead Man Walking in the crowd and drinking beer, the 28s took the stage and it was all punk. Sure, you might even call it rural rock punk were you to buy into my genre-naming, but surely you can say they were mostly old school, just as Rob Shock pointed out. “Clay’s music never changes,” he said.
Is that good? I mean, to never change? Maybe take a closer look before you totally buy into Rob Shock’s view.
Mike Generic croons back-up vocals to the crowd...
Mr. Clay Pigeon leads the 28s
I will tell you now I loved the music. There was a gritty Bakersfield punk wail from Clay; he in his knife-like Mohawk, and holding his big red guitar low on his hips. I wish I had all of his lyrics. I heard a tale of Bakersfield being told, but wasn’t quite sure as I am horrible at hearing lyrics in music without lyric sheets in front of me. But all punk hard core? Here’s where I differ, but only slightly: Mike Generic lent a hand for a few catchier bass tempo changes to actually take an incredible raw Bakersfield punk rock and make it something new, with a slight catchy feel almost on the verge of pop punk, but purposely staying on a distant edge with straight-forward hardcore sounds, with only a hint of pop fun.
Mike Generic let me in on how he influenced a few tempo changes, indicating how he worked some of his style into the band. That sounds like Clay giving in only a hint to the heavy influence of pop punk in the scene. Yes, Clay overwhelmingly stayed true to his roots, and you have to appreciate that about the 28s. But with a guy like Generic in the band, punk boy from the Phillipines, from a pianist musical family. Such jazzy roots come out in his style of play and takes old school punk and fuses it with his energetic personality that you can easily see in his scene writing and music. Hands down, Mike Generic has some of the highest energy in the Bakersfield Music scene today. And he does it with great bass playing, humorous and detailed writing, and by influencing some local legends in punk rock with his style and wit.
Keaton and his crazy drinking songs. A must hear...
From the land of Bakersfield punk-ska...
Spread the rumor...
Keaton was also on hand as were the Rumor. You can read what Jesse wrote about those bands in his return to the music scene. You’ll hear more exclusive interviews from Jesse, Rob Shock and Jason from Box Jumper, Mike Generic and 'punk make-up blog queen' Matildakay (she wrote an outstanding and deeply personal must-read Year in Review) on the next episode of Bakersfield’s Buck City Podcast…
On the lookout for The 28s...
Oh yes, Jesse had been missing from the Bakersfield music scene for some time. His website had been down, and folks just plain wanted to know where he had gone. Of course I helped fire him up with my 2005 best bands in Bakersfield when he accused me of snubbing Stereotactic from the awards.
I had only seen Stereotactic perform once and I told Jesse I didn’t like their packaging even though I loved their CD. Besides, that meant Jesse or anyone else could do their own awards and do Stereotactic the justice they may have deserved. I should have at least put them in the nominees category. He’s right about that. Sorry guys. Gramercy Riff too… but then, I can’t make everyone happy and it’s not like I had a big awards ceremony with ten-thousand-dollar checks. If anything, Stereotactic should have been up for band of the year with all the touring around they do. They really are a great band. So this is my honorable mention to them for all their hard work (gotta piss Jesse off and snub Gramercy completely. Oh come on Gramercy, you know I love your music too. Hahaha).
I admitted in my Year in Review I only went to about 20% of shows for the year. There is so much going on in Bakersfield—incredible!
The fog rolled in by 8pm last Friday night. That’s early even by Tule fog standards. I considered not venturing out but had promised myself to find good man Rivera, and to see the 28s, a hardcore punk band led by vocalist/guitarist Clay Pigeon, with Doug as F*** on drums, and scene writer Mike Generic on bass. What a strange night of driving through the fog. Reminded me of one of my own passages in Lords: Part One:
It made Minstrel a bit nervous and cold to think of such a sight. He shivered and stared, and soon, the fog surrounding the windows with the cold grey underbelly of the Central Valley leviathan, he fell asleep… suddenly he saw an oasis of lights that hovered like spheres in the extra-terrestrial city fog…
Oh yes, it was a literary fog drifting through Bakersfield, rolling up old 99 and clouding Vinny’s from sight so that I had to turn around because I’d passed it, and even made one wrong turn, nearly as lost in the fog as that alienated Minstrel.
Mike Generic watches Deadman Walking before the crowds come.
The venue was nearly empty, maybe twenty or so stragglers, all huddled away from the fog and listening to Orange County punk band, Deadman Walking. Right away here was my first meeting with punk boy Mike Generic, creator and writer of the Bakersfield Underground Music Scene blog. I would find out what he was all about later… In the meantime, he stood alone at the front of the stage, intensely into the music of the bloodied band on stage: zombies crawled in from the fog having picked up instruments to play punk music from the grave. Mike and I greeted each other heartily with a handshake and a hug, a quiet and unspoken instant understanding of what we do to help the music scene.
At a far table and drinking a Corona sat Jesse. Here we were, the vast majority of the underground Bakersfield writing scene in one venue as if all suddenly shipwrecked on skull island, shrouded in fog and mystery, all with our own aims to write about such a dark night like some freaky King Kong chick flick love story about how we could all brave the fog for our love of the Bakersfield Monkey Muse of music: N.L. Belardes, Mike Generic, Matildakay and the return of Jesse Rivera.
Oh yes, and a bearded Rob Shock showed up too; he’s another Bakersfield scene writer/ranter. The only one missing who I would have loved to see would have been Heath Dobbler. But then that Steely football mystic was likely hidden away, isolated on a lone peek somewhere shoved above the fog, just below the carpet of milky stars and praying for his beloved Pittsburg team to beat the Cincinatti Bitches (You have to fast a few days ahead of time for such enlightened victories).
In the new year, here was the first night to remember: the writers and the 28s all at Vinny’s. With Dead Man Walking in the crowd and drinking beer, the 28s took the stage and it was all punk. Sure, you might even call it rural rock punk were you to buy into my genre-naming, but surely you can say they were mostly old school, just as Rob Shock pointed out. “Clay’s music never changes,” he said.
Is that good? I mean, to never change? Maybe take a closer look before you totally buy into Rob Shock’s view.
Mike Generic croons back-up vocals to the crowd...
Mr. Clay Pigeon leads the 28s
I will tell you now I loved the music. There was a gritty Bakersfield punk wail from Clay; he in his knife-like Mohawk, and holding his big red guitar low on his hips. I wish I had all of his lyrics. I heard a tale of Bakersfield being told, but wasn’t quite sure as I am horrible at hearing lyrics in music without lyric sheets in front of me. But all punk hard core? Here’s where I differ, but only slightly: Mike Generic lent a hand for a few catchier bass tempo changes to actually take an incredible raw Bakersfield punk rock and make it something new, with a slight catchy feel almost on the verge of pop punk, but purposely staying on a distant edge with straight-forward hardcore sounds, with only a hint of pop fun.
Mike Generic let me in on how he influenced a few tempo changes, indicating how he worked some of his style into the band. That sounds like Clay giving in only a hint to the heavy influence of pop punk in the scene. Yes, Clay overwhelmingly stayed true to his roots, and you have to appreciate that about the 28s. But with a guy like Generic in the band, punk boy from the Phillipines, from a pianist musical family. Such jazzy roots come out in his style of play and takes old school punk and fuses it with his energetic personality that you can easily see in his scene writing and music. Hands down, Mike Generic has some of the highest energy in the Bakersfield Music scene today. And he does it with great bass playing, humorous and detailed writing, and by influencing some local legends in punk rock with his style and wit.
Keaton and his crazy drinking songs. A must hear...
From the land of Bakersfield punk-ska...
Spread the rumor...
Keaton was also on hand as were the Rumor. You can read what Jesse wrote about those bands in his return to the music scene. You’ll hear more exclusive interviews from Jesse, Rob Shock and Jason from Box Jumper, Mike Generic and 'punk make-up blog queen' Matildakay (she wrote an outstanding and deeply personal must-read Year in Review) on the next episode of Bakersfield’s Buck City Podcast…
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Sunday, January 08, 2006.
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Nick, there were so many people that night I didn't get to see or meet you at all. *winks* Thanks for showing man. It means a lot because I will probably never mention our band, The 28's, the way I praise other on there. I hate patting my own back because I broke my backbones once before. -Mike Generic.
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