Tag: Gonerfest

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Music Music Blog

With Patreon & an Online Variety Show, Goner Records Adapts to the Pandemic

Eric Friedl and Zac Ives interview the Archaeas for Goner TV

Record stores have been hit hard by the age of quarantine, and in the case of Goner Records, which is also a label and festival promoter, the effect has been tripled. And yet their many innovations, from a “telethon” for Record Store Day, to Goner TV (which debuted in July), to this year’s virtual Gonerfest, reveal their willingness to innovate in order to accommodate the new normal.

Now they’ve embraced another approach to both surviving and staying connected with fans and customers, one that is more typically associated with artists: Patreon. I spoke with co-owner Zac Ives to learn more about the reasons behind their latest move, and what kinds of offerings patrons can expect.

Memphis Flyer: Is the move to Patreon more for the store or the label?

Zac Ives: It is primarily built to help fund this extra content that we’re doing, like Goner TV and anything else we’re gonna build outside of this. It’s been cool to do all this stuff, but it’s taking up resources and time. We’re asking artists to do stuff, and it becomes a difficult issue to pay people for the work they’re doing, pay artists for performing. Without a way to fund that, it was proving to be a constant issue.

We worked with other things, like donation links and everything, but I don’t like that either. I don’t feel like people need to be bombarded with PayPal links all the time. You’re already taking this level of community out of the experience by not having people right in front of it, getting a live performance. So the positive thing about this is, it really allows people to have a more direct impact on things that they care about. And so that’s what this turned into. If you like what we’re doing, there’s a way for you to directly impact our ability to keep doing these things. And at the same time, it lets us be creative with what we can give back to people for their help, for being a patron.

We’re in the midst of creating this Goner archive of videos and performances and all kinds of different stuff that people can access with Patreon. And we’re also gonna give away cool caps we’re making just for patrons, as well as stickers and other little things along the way. We really didn’t want to make it feel like an exclusive thing. Goner TV is always gonna be free. And we want people to feel like they’re part of what we’re doing, whether they’re able to pay for this thing or not. That’s super important. But for people that do have funds to donate, we want to give them a lot of different options for being part of this on a different level. So far the response has been really good. People who have hopped on board are excited.

There’s gonna be a few different options for what people can get. The Goner Archive will only be accessible to patrons. And we may put up shows and playlists and podcasts and other stuff that will only be available to them. One nice thing is, it gives us the ability to grow. To talk to people about what they want to see, and make sure that they’re getting something back for their role. But a big part of this is that you can be a part of this thing that you feel is important. If this is something you want to see, this is a way to make it happen. That’s the part that’s fun for us.

Goner Records

Goner has always been so communal, and that’s what’s been difficult about the last year: Not being able to have Gonerfest and not being able to get bands on tour. Either on the performing side or the audience side, not being able to get out and have the social aspect of live music is difficult. So we’re trying to plug that void, in the short term. But long term, there are ways we can grow this and develop a niche that offers community but is also global.

Through Goner TV?

Yeah, for sure. Goner TV is a nice catch all. This year’s Gonerfest wasn’t necessarily Goner TV, but it was online content. It was a way to make a festival virtual. People could be together and interact, whether it was through the chat or break-off Zoom things. They all incorporated artists and author interviews, and there were films. All those things brought out a side of it that we’d like to explore more, including with Goner TV. There are all these opportunities to grow this thing in an interesting way. And the Patreon page is a way to make all those things happen, and for people to be a part of it.

The community aspect of it goes back to the long-cherished Goner chat board that was retired earlier this year.

Whether it was retired this year or ten years ago, nobody looked at that board anymore, but it used to be a central part of how people found out about music and food and someone to fix your lawnmower and weird 70s Italian horror movies. It was how you learned about all sorts of things before Facebook took over. And it was much more alive. It was a powerful and interesting thing, at a time when big corporations were starting message boards and trying to get people to talk about things on them, which I saw when I worked at an ad agency. ‘Oh, we just need people to get on our board and talk about our pantyhose!’ And you go, ‘Nobody wants to go on there and talk about your product!’

The reason the Goner chat board worked was, it was all like-minded people who were into talking about whatever. They were all sort of weirdos and loners and into strange things. And they found someplace where they could all interact. And it was a special thing, but I don’t know how those things really exist anymore. I think they’re just gone, and we’re trying to figure out how to replace that communal aspect of it. Facebook did a pretty good job of it for a while, and now it’s more corporate than anything. Trying to avoid ads and political speak and just have a natural interaction with someone is very hard to do these days. So Goner TV is a fun way to approach that communal aspect in a different way. A different take, a different time.

I like how it all kind of blurs together.

All my favorite things do that! We’ve always been that way. We’ve always been spread a little thin, maybe not putting enough focus on the shop or on the label because we’re trying to do all these different things. We threw in a festival as well. We just have a giant to-do list every day, juggling all these different projects. Maybe because we have short attention spans. The natural outgrowth is to blend a lot of different things, even to our own detriment.

Just out of sheer enthusiasm.

It is! And we feel lucky we get to do something we love as our everyday work.

Speaking of Goner TV, there will be a new episode on Friday the 13th?

Yes, we have a new episode! Aquarian Blood’s playing live. We’ve got a new movie segment that is really fun. Eric did an interview with Adele Bertei,  who wrote a memoir about being around Peter Laughner. And some other fun stuff. Then we have a couple more episodes coming. Bloodshot Bill is going to be on Dec. 4, and then one with Robby Grant and Greg Cartwright, a holiday episode on Dec. 18.

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We Recommend We Saw You

Penny Hardaway, Gonerfest, Pride Fest, Vintage901, Real Men Wear Pink + More

CREDIT: Harold Byrd

Harold Byrd

I still feel like I’m going to get in trouble walking on the gym floor in hard-soled shoes instead of athletic shoes, but I, along with some 500 fans, couldn’t resist getting their photo taken with Penny Hardaway on the court at a Memphis Rebounders event at the University of Memphis.

A sea of blue filled the gymnasium at the Walton Center on the University of Memphis South Campus for an evening of food, drink, and a chance to meet U of M Tigers coach Penny Hardaway and the basketball team.

About 500 people attended the event, which was held September 24th. The Memphis Rebounders, which is the Tigers support group, and Hardaway hosted the evening.

Guests watched the first public practice of the team, says Rebounders president Harold Byrd. All the other practices have been private. During their break, Hardaway and the Tigers chatted with fans and posed for photos.

“The place that the University of Memphis – in particular in basketball tradition – holds in most Memphians’ hearts is really something to behold,” Byrd says. “That is so because of individuals like Coach Penny Hardaway. He could have gone anywhere in the country to play basketball. He had scholarships anywhere from UCLA to North Carolina, but he chose to stay home. And he truly loves this city. He truly loves the university and he loves the people of the city of Memphis.

“What made the evening so special is a number of things, but most of all I think it was coach Hardaway and the chance to talk to him, to visit with him. And the patience he took to take a photo with every individual there. Some 500 people. I don’t think he turned one person down.”

Everyone got the chance to see “this number one ranked team,” Byrd says. “This is the number one class in the country. People got their first chance to see those players and they were so impressed. And taking their cue from Coach Hardaway, the players were so patient. They seemed to enjoy the give and take of the fans. And the fans were young kids two or three years old all the way up to super senior citizens.”

And, Byrd says, “We not only have the number one elite signing class of freshmen in the country, we have the number one coaching staff in the country with Penny, Mike Miller, Cody Toppert, Tony Madlock, and Dwight Boyd.”

One and Only BBQ provided the dinner, which included spaghetti, barbecue, chicken, and banana pudding. Kirby Wines & Liquors provided the wine.

Michael Donahue

Precious Achiuwa

MIchael Donahue

James Wiseman

MIchael Donahue

Lester Quinones

Michael Donahue

Vintage901 Underground: Low Country Boil

Vintage901 Underground Low Country Boil was a sell-out, says Kristen Myers-Waddell, Vintage901marketing consultant. The event, held in partnership with Common Health Alliance, took place on September 28th at Bobby Lanier Farm Park.

More than 300 people attended. Chef David Johnson of Southern Table Catering cooked 150 pounds of shrimp and 120 pounds of crawfish. These were served with grits and greens.

Michael Whaley was host and wine educator for the evening. Susan Marshall and her band performed. Jamond Bullock of AlivePaint did a painting on site. Guests bid on the painting at the end of the evening.


Michael Donahue

Calvin and Belinda Anderson at Vintage901 Underground: Low Country Boil

Michael Donahue

Pride Fest

Vincent Astor was overwhelmed at this year’s Mid-South Pride parade and Pride Fest, which were held September 28th on Beale Street and in Robert Church Park.

Attendance was in the thousands this year, but Astor remembers when the gathering drew 100 people.

“I was in the first one,” he says. “I’ve been around every one, I think, that has happened. Every year I am overwhelmed at how big all of this has become. All the media attention. The number of people. The number of organizations that come to the festival. It’s so overwhelming it makes me emotional.

“The first Pride festival or gathering was barbecue in a back yard. And now it covers a park.”

The first such gathering wasn’t a parade, Astor says. “The very first one was in 1980 – a march on the sidewalk from Peabody Park to the (Overton Park) Shell (now Levitt Shell). The first one called a ‘parade’ was in 1995 and I was co-chair that year.”

And, he says, “It was changed from a march to a parade because marches are serious and parades are fun.”

The march in 1980 was put on by the Memphis Gay Coalition, Astor says. “It was an activist organization founded in 1979 and expanded in 1990. Memphis Pride was founded in 1990. Mid-South Pride was founded in the mid ‘90s. They’ve been carrying the flag ever since.”

Astor was on the advisory board of Mid-South Pride when it was founded. “I was the one who staged the parade for a number of years. Got them all lined up in First Congregational parking lot and sent them out one by one. And we went down Cooper to Peabody Park. We did that for several years.

“I gave that up. Now it’s my turn to be stand on the sidelines and criticize.”


Michael Donahue

Pride Fest

Michael Donahue

Pride Fest

Michael Donahue

Pride Fest

Michael Donahue

Pride Fest

Michael Donahue

Gonerfest at Murphy’s.

This year’s Gonerfest set a record, says Eric Friedl, who, along with Zac Ives, owns Goner Records, which hosts the annual music event.

“We were maxing around 500 per night,” Friedl says. “Biggest attendance yet.”

The festival, which was held September 26th-29th at various venues, featured 36 bands “not counting after parties.”

Gonerfest began 15 years ago, but this was the 16th Gonerfest, Friedl says. “One year we did two for some reason. We were really killing ourselves that year.”

He recalled the first Gonerfest. “I think it was three nights with four bands a night.”

How many people that year? “About 200 people trying to get into the Buccaneer. Which is not possible. Maybe 40.”


MIchael Donahue

Gonerfest at Murphy’s.

Michael Donahue

Quinton Jevon-Lee at Gonerfest

Michael Donahue

Elyse Mason and Kunal Prakash at Gonerfest.

Michael Donahue

Gonerfest at Murphy’s.

Michael Donahue

Carlos Salgado is one of the ‘Real Men Wear Pink.’

Men participating in “Real Men Wear Pink” were revealed at a reception, held September 26th at the Orion Headquarters.

The event kickstarted the American Cancer Society fundraising efforts to fight breast cancer. The candidates will wear pink and ask for donations during October.

About 80 attended, including 12 Real Men Wear Pink alums, says Elizabeth Ennis, American Cancer Society community development manager.

Real Men Wear Pink of Memphis was the top performing campaign in Tennessee in 2018. It was ranked third in the nation. It brought in just under $238,000.


Michael Donahue

Dustin Starr and Logan Guleff from ‘Real Men Wear Pink.’

Michael Donahue

Guilherme Garros, Cooper Harrison, and Georgia Garros

What’s the opposite of a house warming? A house cooling? Whatever you call it, that’s what Guilherme Garros and his sister, Georgia, along with Georgia’s boyfriend, Cooper Harrison, hosted on September 27th. Guilherme and George are moving out of the house, where they’ve lived since moving to Memphis.

“This was the first house they lived in by themselves in the United States,” Harrison says.


They moved to Memphis from Porto Allegro three years ago. “Their dad moved here and got a job here.”

Georgia is leaving to visit family and friends in Brazil. Guilherme is moving to Cordova.

About 60 people attended the party. Total Works, which includes Gavin Mays and Quinton Jevon-Lee provided the entertainment.

Michael Donahue

Guilherme Garros and Bailey Bigger

Michael Donahue

Gavin Mays

                                      WE SAW YOU AROUND TOWN

Michael Donahue

University of Memphis Tigers baseball players Ben Brooks and Hunter Goodman at Gibson’s Donuts.

Michael Donahue

AWFM at Kroger on Mendenhall.

Michael Donahue

James Bryant and Aleah Pinter on Beale Street.

Michael Donahue

Natalie Betty and Zack Martin at Trolley Night.

Michael Donahue

Carolyne Young and Alex Kenner at the 2019 Memphis Flyer Best of Memphis party presented by Independent Bank.

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Music Music Blog

Gonerfest 16 Recap: Saturday

CREDIT: Kandi Cook

“It’s crazy,” says Johnny, the doorman at Murphy’s on Madison, the afternoon venue for Gonerfest 16’s Saturday performances. “It’s never sold out before.”

The gold passes have sold out in years past, but this year, weeks before Goner Records’ annual festival of punk, alternative, no wave, and all music left of the dial, individual passes to Friday and Saturday night were sold out. The sea of people inside and outside Murphy’s makes it hard to believe the daytime show hasn’t sold out as well. But, up walks a woman without a wristband. She balks at the cover charge and asks Johnny what’s going on.

Gonerfest is going on, and I’ve never seen so many people at Murphy’s before.

Kandi Cook

The Resonars

Out back, New Orleans’ Total Hell rips through a heavy set. They’re all guttural vocals and crunchy guitars as the audience bakes in the Memphis autumn sun. In the crowd, I can spot folks who seem to have come directly from Memphis Pride Festival, with rainbow stickers and other accoutrements.

Jesse Davis

Aquarian Blood played to a packed house at Murphy’s during Gonerfest 16.


Heading back inside in a (failed) attempt to secure a good spot close to the stage for locals Aquarian Blood’s set, I bump into Frank McLallen of Model Zero, the Sheiks, and the Tennessee Screamers. Like so many of the attendees, he’s got that Gonerfest glow — a sheen that could be sweat or sprayed beer and a happily dazed expression. “As a working local, I was able to make it out on Friday,” McLallen says of the festival so far. “It was nice to see the Oblivians and Quintron. It was a heroic set. Later than night, I played a show with Model Zero at DKDC for the late night [show]. It was a wild scene. We opened for Quintron’s Shitty Stones, a shitty Rolling Stones cover band from New Orleans, and it inspired us to get all ’70s glammed out. The scene was just wild and wonderful.”

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I ask McLallen if he’ll be at the festivities later that evening, and, if so, what he’s most looking forward to seeing. “I want to see the Mummies,” he says. “I’m looking forward to seeing them. It seems like a circus.”

Inside, Memphis’ own Aquarian Blood starts up the first song of their set. It’s haunting, with slightly overdriven acoustic guitar, just enough to give the tone some texture. Their second song begins with drum machine and acoustic guitar. It’s got a mellow groove, with tasteful bends on the acoustic. I stand near the bathroom, as close as I can get, and listen. Murphy’s is a sea of people, all transfixed by Aquarian Blood.

Jesse Davis

The Resonars


The Resonars from Tucson, Arizona, play outside. They’re a band of Fender-wielding guitarists with a tight rhythm section and driving, thrumming bass. An ex-Arizonan, I detect a whiff of the desert in their Southern sound with a slight power-pop vibe.

Jesse Davis

Michael Beach & the Artists

Michael Beach & the Artists begin their set with a steady beat on the floor tom and guitar chords left to ring out. It’s not unlike the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin,” at least, that is, before the Melbourne-based band really leans into the performance and dials the energy up to 11.

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That night, as I walk into the Hi Tone, Parsnip has just begun their set. They have a lo-fi sound with peppy garage-rock cheerleader backup vocals and some nice keyboard action. It’s my kind of music, without a doubt, and stuck in the back again, I let myself get lost in the sounds of the Aussie rockers. It’s worth noting that the shows at Gonerfest start on time. The heat, the tinnitus-inducing volume, the Gonerbrau (Memphis Made’s commemorative cream ale) all seem to conspire against the performances going so smoothly, but somehow, in the schedule, if not on stage, a strict sanity prevails. That leaves all the madness, happily, to the performers and the audience.

Jesse Davis

Giorgio Murderer plays to a sold-out audience at the Hi Tone.

Giorgio Murderer from New Orleans brings a set of urgently-strummed guitar. It’s classic punk, classic rock-and-roll, hitting every downbeat, with attitude to spare. It’s stripped down, gnarly, and totally at home at Gonerfest.

Next, Memphis-based Hash Redactor makes their appearance with squealing, squalling guitars. Listening to their first song is like being sucked down the drain, with descending riffs and bending guitar strings. The second song kicks off with a bang and ends with a warble. With their third song, they settle into the dark, spooky side they do so well. With members of NOTS and Ex-Cult in the lineup, Hash Redactor is a Goner Records supergroup of sorts, and they were in full form at Gonerfest 16. As I wrote in a review of their Drecksound album, “The guitars alone are worth the price of admission.”

Courtney Fly

The Mummies

It’s fitting that in Memphis’ alternative rock festival, the Mummies close out the night. As Gonerfest attendees pack themselves into the Hi Tone, it’s readily apparent that Gonerfest 16 sold out. I’m loathe to be a broken record, but these performances were absolutely packed. The Mummies earn every second of the audience’s rapt attention. Clad in tattered “bandages,” the band powers through a dynamite performance. The keyboard player lifts his instrument over his head and onto his back. They’re so obviously in lock-step with each other, the tempo and changes so ingrained, that they play with a ghoulish intensity. They change to double-time for the end of a song, all as easy as second nature. And the musicianship is only a fraction of the show. The humor and stage presence are top-notch as well. After some banter about “the sign-up sheet for the human sacrifice,” a Mummy says, “It seems like we’re wasting time, but this is for your benefit.” Another band mate chimes in with lightning-fast reflexes, “We’re waiting for the suppositories to kick in.”

Later, the band gets a laugh by “confusing” Tennessee’s two music towns: “It’s great to be here in Nashville,” a Mummy quips. “Great to be at the Grand Ole Opry.” All in all, the Mummies made an excellent cap to the Goner festivities — a mix of humor, wild energy, and air-tight song craftsmanship. After the Mummies, well, that’s a wrap.

Courtney Fly

The Mummies


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Music Music Blog

Gonerfest 16 Recap: Friday

Violet Archaea at Gonerfest Friday night.

It’s Saturday morning of Gonerfest, and I have a headache. And I’m not the only one. Folks from all over the world are cursing the bright, fall sun of Memphis the morning after an overstuffed night of punk, garage, no-wave, and the indescribable.

And too much beer. Did I mention the beer? Memphis Made brewed a special Gonerbrau cream ale, and it only comes in tall boys for your beer-spraying convenience.

After a full afternoon at Memphis Made with Static Static, Lenguas Largas, Fuck, Graham Winchester, Kelley Anderson, and Tyler Keith, Goners reconvened at Crosstown Arts auxiliary gallery at 430 Cleveland. Miss Pussycat, Quintron’s partner and celebrated artist and puppeteer who recently got a fellowship and retrospective at the Ogden Museum in her native New Orleans, performed her puppet show “The History of Egypt” to as packed a house as it is possible to have. After Antony was defeated at the Battle of Actium, and Cleopatra got fatally intimate with an asp, Miss Pussycat added a post script set in the holy Egyptian city of Memphis detailing the founding of Goner Records and the Mummies playing Gonerfest. Later, Goner co-owner Zac Ives confirmed that this was the first time he had ever been portrayed in puppet form.

Miss Pussycat presenting her ‘History of Egypt’ puppet show, featuring Guitar Wolf as it segued into a ‘History of Gonerfest’.

(I was unable to confirm with Eric Friedl if he had ever been represented via puppetry before that evening.)

Miss Pussycat’s art on display at Crosstown Arts 430 Gallery

In years past, the golden passes have consistently sold out, but individual tickets could still be had if you got to the venue early. This year, Friday and Saturday sold out weeks ago.

“It’s like Mecca, almost. Everyone comes together,” says Megs from Louisville, who is here with her friends Yoko and Aaron.

This is Megs’ second Gonerfest, Yoko’s third, and Aaron’s fifth. They say they’re here primarily to see the Oblivians reunite with Quintron to play their watershed 1997 album Oblivians Play 9 songs with Mr. Quintron. The descriptively titled album is the best Memphis rock record since Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers. Its reputation has grown in the 22 years since the January 1997 afternoon when Quintron rode the bus up from New Orleans and recorded the album with Greg, Eric, and Jack in one eight-hour session. It sits in an unlikely pocket of lo-fi, punk, and gospel, and the songs have been rarely performed by the full band. “It’s my favorite album,” says Megs.

“I’m ready to go to church tonight,” says Yoko.

Sarah Danger of Mallwalker

At 9 p.m. sharp, Mallwalker from Baltimore, Maryland, gave the evening a swift kick in the ass. Singer Sarah Danger, who would act as the MC for the evening, reserved some special vitriol for the anonymous person who accidentally broke her foot during the band’s 4 a.m. after-show last year. Afterwards, I talk to her as she’s rehydrating at the bar about the band’s big stage debut. “It was fucking amazing while I was up there, but it was horrible beforehand because it was so nerve-wracking!.”

This is Danger’s eighth Gonerfest. “One of my favorite ones was when Guitar Wolf played the opening ceremony. I had never seen that kind of energy. It was so sick.”

The second set of the evening was Richard Papiercuts et Les Inspecteurs. The New Yorker crooned like a hyped-up Brian Ferry. It was an ’80s-infused dance party, with the evening’s only saxophone, and an example of how the sounds at Gonerfest have expanded and diversified over the years.

At 10:30 p.m. was the legendary M.O.T.O. Paul Caporino’s low-fi, pop-rock machine mesmerized the crowd. The peak of the set came with “Tastes Just Like A Milkshake,” a Memphis favorite covered by Secret Service.

Innez Tulloch and Matthew Ford of Brisbane, Australia’s Thigh Master with Memphis singer Jesse James Davis. Blurriness courtesy Gonerbrau Vision (TM).

Brisbane, Australia’s Thigh Master had the distinction of throwing their record release party at Gonerfest. Now For Example is out on the label as of yesterday, and they celebrated in style, joined at one point by Memphis’ Jesse James Davis on vocals.
At the stroke of Midnight came NOTS, a Gonerfest staple, sounding as fierce as ever. Now playing as a three piece after the exit of keyboardist Alexandra Eastburn, Natalie Hoffman did double duty on guitar and synth, while Charlotte Watson and Meredith Lones pounded out titanic rhythm behind her.

NOTS

People on the floor jockeyed for position as the back stage curtains parted to reveal Quintron’s massive vintage Leslie speaker. Violet Archaea was wearing a “Kill A Punk For Rock and Roll” shirt, famously featured on the cover of the Oblivians album Popular Favorites. “This is my first one, but I’ve been wanting to come since I was of age,” she says. “It’s everything I want.”

Her band The Archeas would be playing the super-late night after-party, but she was in no hurry. “2 a.m., 3 a.m. It will be an a.m.”

The Oblivians playing nine songs with Quintron

When Greg Oblivian began the circular riff of “Feel All Right,” the packed Hi-Tone surged forward. Seconds later, the first thrown beer of the night nailed him right in the face. It couldn’t have been more accurately aimed if it was actually aimed. This served to piss him off, and for a glorious hour or so, the snarling, rock-hard Oblivians of old were back. The gospel songs played by punks with a lot more miles on ‘em than in 1997 revealed new depth as they rattled down the road like an old truck about to shake apart. “Before this time another year/I may be gone/In some lonesome graveyard/Oh Lord, how long?”

They encored with the New Orleans zydeco stomper “Call the Police” from their Desperation album, and then Greg decided to teach the band a new song right there on stage at the Hi Tone in front of a packed house at 2 a.m., just to make sure the crowd got that vintage Oblivians experience.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Thigh Master

Thigh Master

Music Video Monday’s gonna rock you down under!

It’s Gonerfest week here in Memphis! Garage and punk outfits from all over the world are converging on the Bluff City for three days of nonstop rock. This year’s festivities include headlining sets by rarely-seen, budget-rock pioneers The Mummies, Japanese madmen King Brothers, and what promises to be an explosive set from hometown heroes The Oblivians, reunited with New Orleans keyboard genius Mr. Quintron.

Goner Records’ latest release is the new album by Brisbane, Australia’s Thigh Master, Now For Example. You can see them in action on Friday night, September 27 at 11:30 PM—but you’d better hurry, because Gonerfest tickets are almost sold out! This video for “Mould Lines”, directed by Matthew Ford and Dusty Anastassiou, gives you a taste of the Aussie’s ragged glory.

Music Video Monday: Thigh Master

If you’d like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

How to Survive Gonerfest With Your Liver Intact

CREDIT: Jake Giles Netter

Gonerfest 15 is this weekend, and, boy, is my liver already tired!

I was in my mid-30s when the garage-rock music festival — the brainchild of Goner Records co-founders Eric Friedl and Zac Ives — was started. In those early days, the promise of endless rounds of booze rivaled the guarantee of great musicianship, and there were pre-shows and post-shows galore, which led to drinking around the clock.

I vaguely remember tossing back a vodka and Kool-Aid concoction during an after-hours party in a trashed room at the beleaguered French Quarter Hotel at the corner of Cooper and Madison. Another year, I recall carrying a bottle of tequila into Evil Army’s home base, the Armory, as dawn was breaking on a post-post-Gonerfest show. And at the very first Gonerfest, back in 2005, I pogoed inside the also-long-gone Buccaneer Lounge, spilling more Busch beer on the floor than I could pour into my mouth as the Black Lips caroused onstage.

Now I’m 49, and a little wiser about my drinking habits — particularly when it comes to maintaining the stamina required to make it through four days and nights of live music.

Jake Giles Netter

Ex-Cult

It was former Memphis Flyer music editor/Ex-Cult frontman Chris Shaw who stated that “if treating your body like a trashcan while thrashing around to high-energy bands is your idea of a good time, then consider Gonerfest the shit-head Olympics.” Shaw coined the phrase for a Vice article, in which he chronicled Ty Segall baptizing the Hi-Tone audience with four bottles of champagne, amongst other liquor-fueled hijinks. As he sagely noted, Memphis’ relatively lax drinking laws lure garage-rock boozehounds like moths to a flame. Seriously — I’ve clinked beer bottles and red Solo cups with people from Australia, New Zealand, all corners of Europe, and even Japan, who travel to Memphis for the weekend year after year.

Unfortunately, there are no open container provisions in Cooper-Young, so when the opening ceremonies begin in the gazebo on Thursday night, I’ll be a teetotaler. Or, if I get a wild hair, I’ll brown-bag a tall beer. Tecate, bought from the corner store, is a likely contender.

Even if garage rock means nothing to you, the crowd-watching during the Friday afternoon show at Memphis Made Brewing at 768 S. Cooper is sublime. This year, the brewery’s tap room will be serving a time-honored favorite: a cream ale dubbed Gönerbraü, which has 4.5 percent ABV. It’ll be a smooth component to the musical line-up at Memphis Made, which includes bands from Austin, New Orleans, and Chicago.

After a late night at the Hi-Tone on Friday — where I hope to stick to water after pre-gaming with a round of cocktails — I’ll be ready for white wine (I’m no snob — the Barefoot Pinot Grigio, listed on the menu at $4.50 a glass, suits me just fine) or a beer at Murphy’s on Saturday. The music, slated for indoor and outdoor stages, starts at noon and runs until 7 p.m., with the party moving back to the Hi-Tone at 8 p.m. My strategy includes sunglasses, plenty of shade, and a few healthy meals that will cushion whatever I decide to imbibe.

No matter which musical genre floats your boat, when attending festivals, moderation is key. Getting so wasted that you forget all the fun — or wind up acting like a total jackass — is an issue, but so is dehydration. Water is especially crucial if you’re dancing, walking, or staking out your spot on the front row. Add in some Gatorade to replenish your electrolytes. Pace yourself. And for heaven’s sake, don’t drink and drive.

At concerts, I hate standing in line at the bar, so when I do buy drinks, I tend to purchase them two at a time. Sometimes I drink them both; more than likely, at Gonerfest, I’ll run into a friend from halfway across the world and share. That kind of camaraderie is what the weekend is all about — and, along with the stellar music, it’s what keeps me attending year after year.

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Gonerfest 14: Friday

Gonerfest Friday went all day and night.

Thunderroads take the Gonerfest leap.

For a second day, the weather gods smiled on the afternoon show. This one, at Memphis Made Brewery, featured a truly international cast, with Magic Factory from New Zealand being the farthest afield.

The Memphis band Model Zero made something of a debut with a groovy, hybrid drum machine and live drummer setup.

Model Zero

The atmosphere was friendly, with some kids running around and old friends reconnecting. Allison Green, a New Orleans photographer, has been covering Gonerfest for four years. “It’s my friend’s bachelorette party, so I’m taking it a little easy. I love shooting candids at the day shows more than anything.”

She says Gonerfest has been one of her favorite events to photograph. “Visually, Ty Segall’s set he did a couple of years ago was brilliant. He knows how to put on a show.” she recalled. “Hank Wood and the Hammerheads blew me away. They had two different drummers, and it was the best I’ve ever seen that done. There were tribal undertones, with traditional drums on top, and it was amazing.”

The highlight of her Gonerfest so far was Thursday night’s Sweet Knives performance. “I love Alicja Trout. I was a huge fan of the Lost Sounds. My buddy Rob and I were working in the darkroom—we went to college together—and he said, ‘You need to come to this show with me!’ That was my introduction to the Memphis scene in Chicago. It was 2004, probably? That’s when I saw the Lost Sounds. Alicja’s just the nicest human being in the world. I adore her. It’s very nostalgic for me.”

Kyle Johnson and Alyssa Moore keep Gonerfest sounding good.

Memphis bassist Jeremy Scott said it’s important to pace yourself during these long day/night show combos. “I love the outdoor shows at Murphy’s. Blood Bags, out of New Zealand, played last night, but they first played last year, and I saw people in the room with their jaws dropped. They were just that freakin’ good. Heavy, no bullshit, straightforward rock.”

He has played Gonerfest four times, but last year’s Reigning Sound reunion was his favorite. I don’t think we knew we were going to do it ever again, so to have that go off as well as it did was a lot of fun.”

I didn’t get pictures of anyone I talked to, so here are a couple of random guys.

Thunderroads, a Japanese band, closed out the after with a spectacularly athletic set that ended with  Masahuru, brother of Seiji from Gonerfest favorites Guitar Wolf, leaping from the landscaping.

Masahuru of Thunderroads

Friday night at the Hi Tone started off with Frantic Stuffs from Osaka, Japan playing a charming, English-challenged set. Outside, Goner Records founder Eric Friedl was happy with the way things were going. “The first band is killing it, and it’s as full as it was last night already.”

Finding bands to fill out the weekend is a year-round job, he says. “There are a range of bands you would like to get. Then some people approach us and say, we’ll build a tour to get there, or we’re going to be on tour, it would be great if we could play. Then other people we ask. It’s kind of a random mix. We don’t have enough money to say, ‘We want you. We’re going to fly you in and put you up.’ So it has to be a collaboration between the bands and us. That’s why it works, I think. People really want to be here. People like Mudhoney, Cosmic Psychos—these bands could make more money other places, but they want to be here.”

In the crowded Hi Tone, San Fransciso’s Peacers delivered noisy power pop seeped in Big Star harmonies and Husker Du noise meltdowns.

Gonerfest 14: Friday (3)

Foster Care from New York City blew the roof off with rude, old school hardcore. When the crowd started to throw beer cans onto the stage (a sign that things are going well at Gonerfest) Foster Care’s bassist upped the ante by emptying out the contents of a trash can onto the audience, then wearing the trash can while he played.

Foster Care, with trash can.

The set ended with a punk puppy pile.

Foster Care gets intimate with the fans.

Lindsey, a Memphian attending her fourth Gonerfest, was there for one band. “Nots are my favorite!”

Gonerfest 14: Friday

Nots had their coming out party at Gonerfest a few years ago, and now they’re a staple of the festival. This year, fresh off the road, they did not disappoint, putting forward some new, synthesizer heavy songs, mixed with guitar-led screamers.

Gonerfest 14: Friday (2)

Tyvek, another veteran Gonerfest band, rose to the challenge the Nots laid down. pushed and swayed.

Tyvek

Sydney, Australia punks feedtime’s drummer was rejected for his visa, so the band played their headlining set with Anthony from San Francisco’s Leather Uppers sitting in. At that point, the Hi Tone main room was so packed I couldn’t make it in the door. I paused for a moment to talk to Elise from Salt Lake City, Utah. “I’ve been to Memphis, but this is my first Gonerfest,” she said. “It’s fucking awesome. I like everything about Memphis—the culture, the people, the music.”

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Gonerfest 14: Thursday

After a blisteringly hot Cooper Young Festival, the weather for the Gonerfest opening ceremonies in the Cooper Young gazebo was just about perfect.

King Louis and Abe White rock the crowd at the Cooper Young gazebo for Gonerfest 14’s opening ceremonies.

The talent, however, was less cooperative. Gonerfest staple King Louis was scheduled to open the show with former Manatees and True Sons of Thunder member Abe White on drums, leading into Memphis legend Greg Oblivian Cartwright. Instead, Cartwright—in town from Asheville, North Carolina where he’s raising a brood of kids—opened up with some new songs in a more mellow mode, before being joined by Louis on drums for “Bad Man”, “North Cakalacky Girl”, and ‘Hey Hey Mama”. From there on, White, Cartwright, and King Louis swapped around in various configurations, calling out songs, (Louis’ rendition of “Streets of Iron”, a song he performed with Jay Reatard, has become a memorial tradition at Gonerfest) until the permit ran out. As Goner Records owner Zach Ives said, “There are no schedules in rock and roll”.

Goner Records’ Zach Ives and Greg Cartwright

At 9 PM, the party cranked up at the Hi Tone, where a mixed crowd of Memphians, and international visitors sipped the tasty Memphis Made Brewing Gonerfest beers: a Sessions IPA and the ever popular Gönerbraü. A man named Efe was in town from Toronto, Canada for his second Gonerfest. “One of the things I had to think of before coming was whether or not the political climate would effect it,” he says. “Those kinds of things have far reaching consequences.”

The Canadian wondered if the “Trump effect” had suppressed the number of international travelers coming to the festival. “Maybe people are bummed out,” he said. “But I’m here. There’s a lot of bands from Japan, a lot of bands from New Zealand. Other people have mentioned it, too.”

But after last year’s Gonerfest, Efe says he couldn’t bear missing it this year.  “It’s great. I wouldn’t be back if I didn’t like it! I love the aspect of discovery. Gonerfest has a mix of legendary bands—we know you know this, or, look it up—and a bunch of new bands that you look up on Soundcloud and go, holy shit, that’s awesome! That’s the most rewarding part. I hope they keep it that way. In America, you’re saturated with all these big music festivals, but it’s very generic, paint-by-numbers type stuff.”

Benni

The diversity of musical styles was evident from the beginning, with Benni, a new act on the Goner roster. The New Orleans-based keyboardist has played with several Goner-adjacent acts rock acts, but his debut album is all analog synths action.

Gonerfest 14: Thursday

By the time New Zealand screamers Blood Bags’ put a cap on their set, Efe’s turnout worries appeared to be misplaced, as the Hi Tone big room filled up.

Hi Tone crowd

Sweet Knives, the Memphis band made of some former Lost Sounds members, including Alicja Trout and Rich Crook, John Garland, and Jonny Valiant, played a blistering set of mostly new songs. The band was in rare form, and the crowd ate it up. Why doesn’t every 14 year old cool girl in America have Trout’s music in their playlists?

Gonerfest 14: Thursday (3)

Los Angeles’ Die Group kept the party rolling with the kind of chunky, muscular riffs that are Gonerfest specialties.

One of the most anticipated acts of the weekend was A Giant Dog, garage rock powerhouses from Austin. Singer Stephanie Ellis was all flailing limbs and piercing screams, grabbing the crowd from the first notes. The band had been hanging out with some folks from down under, so they climaxed their set with a spirited cover of INXS’ “Don’t Change”.

“This is my first Gonerfest,” she said later. “A Giant Dog has been together for nearly a decade. We’ve attended Gonerfest, and we wanted to play. We played the Hi Tone when there wasn’t anybody here. So this is our first Gonerfest, and it’s a damn fucking good one!”

Gonerfest 14: Thursday (2)

Gonerfester crashing after the first full day of rock.

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Gonerfest Friday: Woozy, Brutal, Beautiful

Gonerfesters got a running start on Friday with an afternoon superkegger at Memphis Made’s taproom on Cooper. Memphis Made created a pair of custom beers for this year’s festival: A tart saison IPA and Gonerbraü, a smooth creme ale. Both proved popular with the rockers assembled in the sun to watch a four-band bill. New Orlean’s Trampoline Team turned in the most turnt tunes of the afternoon.

Yes, I just wrote that sentence. I probably should have just deleted it, but I’ll leave it to show the effects 48 hours of pounding beats are having on my synapses.

Trampoline Team riles up the crowd at Memphis Made.

The eventful Hi Tone Friday night got rolling with Opposite Sex from Deundin, New Zealand. They led with an impressive one-two punch in bassist/screamer Lucy Hunter and guitar squealer Reg Norris, who is able to get an huge range of sounds from just a wah pedal and a souped up stomp box. (TurboRat represent!)

Opposite Sex

The Hi Tone was filling up quickly as Memphis family affair Aquarian Blood howled to life. The husband and wife duo of Memphis hardcore OG JB Horrell and Laurel Fernden, supported by drummer Bill Curry and Coletrane Duckworth (son of Memphis guitar legend Jim Duckworth), gets better every time I see them. Between Horrell trying his best to strangle his ax into submission and Fernden switching between a clean microphone and one with rubbery echo effects—sometimes within a single lyrical line—they sound like no one else.

Aquarian Blood

When I walked into the Hi Tone Big Room to see Power killing it, I briefly wondered if I had stepped back in time to 1974. Like their countrymen Wolfmother, the Melbourne, Australia trio have embraced butt rock, mullets and all. And the Gonerfest audience went right there with them.

Power and the crowd.

I have to admit I totally missed Buck Biloxi and the Fucks. I was visiting the food truck out front for a much needed gutbomb burger when the party (it may have been a hip hop show, I wasn’t clear on the details) across the street at the erupted into a shirt-ripping brawl. There was at least one shot fired, but no one was hurt, and cop cars quickly swarmed the area. It was a strange, tense scene: on one side of the street, an African American crowd rapidly dispersing as police arrived; on the other side of the street, sweaty, mostly white punks from all over the world watching with a combination of horror and fascination, wondering if we were going to be witnesses to some kind of racially charged incident that has dominated the news in 2016. Fortunately, the first wave of cops to arrive seemed focused on de-escalating the fighting, and the situation cleared up without further violence or—judging by the lack of ambulance—injury.

The Blind Shake demonstrates unorthodox guitar technique.

Flashing blue lights provided the background as The Blind Shake took the stage. The Minnesota brothers Jim and Mike Blaha, who describes themselves as an “extraterrestrial backyard surf party”, are Gonerfest regulars. This year, they topped themselves with the tightest, snarlingest set I’ve seen from them. “Shots fired next door,” Jim said from the stage. “It’s an old marketing ploy.”

Black Lips

When 1 AM rolled around, the wrung out crowd milled around, trying to catch our breath as Black Lips meandered onto stage. The original Gonerfest grew out of a Black Lips show, and the band represents something of a garage rock ideal. The sound they have been chasing for the last decade and a half is something like a drunken 60s girl group backup band practicing in the stairwell where John Bonham recorded “When The Levee Breaks”. This is the strain of punk rock that originated in Memphis with the immoral Panther Burns. With the addition of a new saxophonist, the Black Lips pushed ever closer to the Panther Burns party vibe, gathering steam with each woozy rocker until “Katrina”, their 2007 underground lament of New Orleans devastation sent the crowd into a frenzy from which we didn’t emerge until the lights came up.

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Reigning Sound Rule Gonerfest Thursday Night

If you want to get cheered up quick, try Gonerfest. 

Memphis punks Nots open Gonerfest 13 in the Cooper Young Gazebo

I had had a pretty crappy Thursday, and was in a pretty foul mood as I headed to the corner of Cooper and Young for the kickoff of Gonerfest 13. The fresh air, idyllic weather, and flurry of faces, both familiar and unfamiliar, loosened me up a bit, and then Nots rocked away the remnants of my darkness. As Goner co-owner Zac Ives said in his brief introduction to the band, it’s been a real privelage watching this band of Memphis women grow and evolve from raw, explosive talent into the finely honed outfit that confidently kicked off the world’s greatest garage punk festival. Even more heartening was the gaggle of little girls who gathered transfixed before Nots frontwoman Natalie Hoffman. The rest of Gonerfest may not be kid-friendly, but for a few minutes yesterday afternoon some Midtown kids got a glimpse of what a powerful, talented, and determined bunch of women can do. 

The show moved to the considerably less kid-friendly environs of the Hi-Tone for the evening’s festivities, led off by Memphis newcomers Hash Redactors. Half the fun of Gonerfest (well, maybe not literally half) is discovering new acts, and between the psychedelic Redactors and Chook Race from Melbourne Australia, I had joined two new fandoms before 10 PM. As the night’s MC, the legendary Black Oak Arkansas frontman Jim Dandy, explained “Chook Race” is Aussie slang for chicken racing, which is apparently a thing in the Outback. But aside from their accents, the three piece didn’t sound like they were from down under. I got a distinct vibe of Athens, Georgia circa 1981 from the jangly sound and twisty songwriting. Some songs sounded like Pylon, while others could have been outtakes from REM’s first EP “Chronic Town”. 

Chook Race from Melbourne, Australia

The crowd shoehorned into the Hi Tone mingled all kinds of accents and looks. I noticed as I entered the show that passports were being offered as IDs as often as American driver’s licenses. Yes, people really come from outside the states to Gonerfest. Lots of them. 

Reigning Sound

The rest of the evening offered various shades of garage rock, from Ohioans Counter Intuits to the Gonerfest veterans now based in San Francisco Useless Eaters. Guitar heroes Fred and Toody—Oregonian legends who fronted Dead Moon and Pierced Arrows—played a noisy set to a reverent room. Then it was time for a return of some Memphis favorite sons, Reigning Sound. Greg Oblivian Cartwright formed the band in the early 2000s with Alex Greene on keys, Greg Roberson on drums, and Memphis import Jeremy Scott on bass and backup vocals. The original lineup stayed stable for two of the best records created in Memphis since the heyday of Stax, and their live shows are legendary. When the original lineup reunited, with the occasional addition of John Whittemore on pedal steel and guitar, they proved the legends true for those who didn’t get the opportunity to see it go down the first time. There wasn’t a bad band on the first night of Gonerfest 13, but the Reigning Sound were head and shoulders above the rest. No one else had the width and depth of Cartwright’s songwriting, or the telepathic group cohesion that can sound both haphazard and incredibly tight at the same time. These guys are, and have alway been, the real deal. 

Now to get rehydrated for today’s shows.