The Last Rock Show - We bid farewell to the old Art Boutiki on March 16

Sean E. of Rin Tin Tiger while performing as one of the famous  SULLYZ, circa late 2010

I’m honored to say we’ll be performing at the last ever Art Boutiki show on March 16. Before you cry yourself to sleep this afternoon, know that SLG is relocating to a new building right next to Current Tattooing on Race St. But while the Art Boutiki will return, better than ever, the memories made in that fated building will remain just as they were.

The first time I attended a show at the Art Boutiki was in late 2010. Sean E. and Kev P., now known for being the notorious siblings of SF’s quality music group Rin Tin Tiger, were doing a set of hip-hop songs as the SullyZ.

I was immediately impressed with both the ultra inclusive nature of the place as well as the record wall, which I still end up staring at while on stage to this day. If you’ve ever been to the Art Boutiki, you’ll know what a distinct vibe the place has. I regret never filming part of my 90s teen comedy there.

So come join us and celebrate and thank Dan and the rest of the staff for being so cool to local bands. Maybe dump gatorade on him like those one of those poor football coaches.

-RB

For all the official details, this Facebook link will do you no wrong: https://www.facebook.com/events/573077452718634/?ref=3

If you’re not inclined to click:

The lineup is Picture Atlantic, Bent Knee, Little Red Lung, Rin Tin Tiger & Zen Zenith (doing a super secret emo world premiere.)

$10 at the door. 7:00pm. All ages.

Kev P. taking a chill pill and rapping about ya boi, Honest Abe

A Desert Journey

In about a little less than a month, on March 22^nd,I’ll be playing a little solo gig with my friends in Finish Ticket, Holychild, and Ghost and The City at The Rickshaw Stop. That feels so strange to think about, because I’ll be playing a lot of Picture Atlantic songs by myself along with some vocal backing by my good friend Paige.

Why it feels strange is because what I’m doing is heading back to square one with a lot of these songs, and sort of revisiting the genesis of my musical journey.

When you spend so much time playing these songs in a full band setting, they become other creatures entirely. The dynamics are different. The sonic space explored is different. If you are the singer you don’t have to worry about the rhythm section as much because it’s being covered by your drummer. If you play guitar, you don’t have to be worried about your bass anymore, because someone else is handling it. You feel protected. You feel like there is a wall around you. You can hide if you make a mistake.

When I first started playing music, there weren’t any other people that I knew, besides myself, that seemed to get excited about the same kinds of music as myself. No one was cheering  to Damien Rice with me, or getting stoked on Coldplay. Particularly no one seemed to give a rip about Nick Drake or Interpol. So what was a kid supposed to do? In my case, it was pick up an acoustic guitar and start playing on my own in coffee shops. And boy did I do that. For years, I really devoted a lot of my time to doing things my way and, and having to rely on myself as a sort of one man band of sorts. It was sort of like wandering into the desert by yourself, so to speak. It could get lonely, but it could also be strangely fulfilling. To play this show is like a little time travel session back to exploring the desert.

After all this time of playing the songs as a band production, it’s interesting to really hear these songs again at their barest form. It will be fun to show everyone that start for some of the songs I’ve written, and take a glance at a naked song. When I sit by myself in my room and jam on an idea, all I have is my voice and my guitar. No drums, no bass, no choir of angelic voices (well, ok, we don’t even have that, but you get the picture).

This is exciting, and also feels fresh too. I get to go to square one for a day. Call it a musical vacation if you will.

Hope to see you there,

-Nik

PA Returns to the Road March 8

Hello Internet people,

RB here, signing in to let you all know what’s going on in the PA world. After a break this weekend for a bit of dancing at Leisure on Saturday, we will hit the road again to head north of the bay.

On Friday, March 8, we begin with a stop by KVDS Radio 90.3fm in Davis to perform an acoustic set and trade wit on "Waiting for Marriage" with Beckz and Daphne. The show runs from 1:00-2:30pm and I’ll be updating you with our official air time next week.

The same day we will be performing at The Cave Live in Yuba City with Fighting with Fire, Brave Season and Brolly. This all ages show begins at 7:00pm / $5 cover. 

On Saturday, March 9, we’ll be playing at Fox & Goose, an awesome English pub in Sacramento. With us are Spirit of St. Louis and Bellygunner. This is a 21+ show and begins at 9:00pm with a $5 cover. 

Finally, on Sunday, March 10, we are returning to the bay for a set at the Sunday Streets event at Pier 7 in San Francisco. Sunday Streets runs from 11:00am to 4:00pm and our set time is pending. 

I’m hoping we get to Sacramento early enough to go record shopping this time. If anyone knows of some other fun or unlikely things to do in the cities we’ll be visiting, send your suggestions our way! 

-RB

The Fillmore

Two nights ago we played an acoustic set in The Poster Room of The Fillmore. It was a lot of fun, and the staff there was super nice and interesting. I spent a good portion of the night talking to a guy named Mark who was working one of the bars. He worked for Jerry Garcia for a long time, was a part of the green party, has a law degree, and is writing a novel. Sometimes the people working the venue seem ten times more interesting than the actual bands on stage.

Ryan also met a guy working the downstairs back entrance who told him some crazy stories about previous shows. He said one night, a man entered the venue through one of the loading service elevators. He was completely trashed on some kind of barbiturate drug, and was so out of it, that he was slumped over against the wall and couldn’t stand correctly. Some friends tried helping him up, and called an ambulance to pick him up. As his friends escorted him out the back gate, he suddenly sprung to live, and started attacking people. The doorman said he started to claw at people “like a tiger”, and he had to be restrained by his friends. The ambulance took him off into the night.Two weeks passed by, and the doorman forgot all about the experience. The venue had just put up posters of some of the upcoming headliners who were going to be there shortly.One poster caught his eye, as a picture of a band set to appear looked familiar. Sure enough, the Tigerman was a member of one of the bands set to appear at the venue.

Wikipedia had this to say about the term “running amok”. When I originally tagged this post, I jokingly tagged “The Tigerman Runneth Amok” and got curious about the meaning of the term, so I looked it up without realizing the origin of the term. I thought I’d come back and share it for the post since it clicked so well. Kind of spooky!

Amok originated from the Malaysian word mengamuk,^[3] which roughly defined means “to make a furious and desperate charge”.^[4] According to Malay culture, amok was rooted in a deep spiritual belief. They believed that amok was caused by the hantu belian,^[5] which was an evil tiger spirit that entered one’s body and caused the heinous act. As a result of the belief, those in Malaysian culture tolerated amok and dealt with the after effects with no ill will towards the assailant.^[6]

Brian and I found this cool graffiti tag on a mailbox as we went down the street to get our van. Thank you mystery tagger, for repping our band.

Getting to play such a great venue, with such an immaculate history is really a huge blessing. We’re pretty honored, even just to play the little lounge area with some acoustic guitars. My mom shared a pretty cool thought with me, which was that when she was growing up, she dreamed of seeing rock shows at The Fillmore, and she wouldn’t have guessed in a million years, she would have a son who would play a gig there. This world is a crazy place.

God willing we’ll get a chance to play the Poster Room again, and if so, we hope to see some of you there!

-Nik