The 28s at the Smoke Hole - By N.L. Belardes

A few big puffs of air and I was as dry as a Bakersfield summer hillside of foxtails just before a brush fire. That's the air inside the smoke hole, ala the Silver Fox bar, one of the favorite hangouts for Bakersfield musicians. It's a risk every time I go. You know you have to brave the ash-filled air, but it's all for the good music, the friendship and a few good photos.

Thanks to Mike Generic's good marketing and email hounding, I went out to the show. If bands would harrass me the day of a show the way Mike does, there would always be a better chance of me showing up. And it's mostly just because I am busy and forgetful. I don't keep a calendar, so I'm always flying by the seat of my hiney...

Here's my photo essay of this night of music...

It all began with sound problems. Mento Buru's ska king was on hand to lend a crack, er, professional bit of sound tuning...


We've seen him at his most vulnerable.


And when he's the sexy Ricky Ricardo on the mic at the fish fry.


The crack disappeared, the sound got fixed and the 28s got into their punk.


Clay Pigeon started off by singing what should have been a duet.
The song was called, "Heath Dobbler is spam".


Heath Dobbler seemed happy enough about his crown of spam.




When Clay sings it's hard to tell what he's saying.
It's punk rock, OK? And it's good.


And the music gets the blood flowing.


Doug as F*** smashes drums the way Generic drinks the brews.


I set out for the night with Les Paw. He plays a mean stand-up bass.


The night started with the moon over Mento/ It makes sense
the night would end with the ghost of the ska-king watching
over Mike Generic.

This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on Friday, February 24, 2006. You can leave your response.