The annual gathering of the punk tribes known as Gonerfest climaxed on Saturday with a 12-act bill that stretched a full eleven hours. After two nights of pleasant, early fall temperatures, the weather became a factor at Railgarten’s outdoor stage.
The afternoon heat was starting to take a bite when first Memphis band on the agenda took the stage at 3 PM. Ibex Clone — Alec McIntyre, Meredith Lones, and George Williford — delivered one of many sweaty sets of the day.
Even though their music is better suited to the dark, the sun was really bearing down when Cincinnati, Ohio’s Crimes of Passing fired up. Vocalist Andie Luman channeled Siouxie Sioux’s banshee wail, while the band spun out vivid sonic textures.
Msr. Jeffrey Evans is no stranger to the Gonerfest stage. The singer/songwriter made a string of legendarily shambolic shockabilly records with ’68 Comeback in the 1990s, and his later partnership with Panther Burns drummer Ross Johnson was a comedy rock highlight of the festival for years. His solo appearance was a slightly more serious affair, with the reverent crowd eating up his renditions of his songs and some classics.
New Buck Biloxi (formerly Buck Biloxi and the Fucks) toned down their name, but not the confrontational nature of their rock. They laid down the first of many big screams as the afternoon’s music got progressively harder and louder.
I have filmed Gonerfest many times, first with Live From Memphis, then with Rocket Science Audio, and now for the official Gonerfest Stream Team. Since live streaming has really come into its own in the last few years, partially fueled by the pandemic, now you can see what we do in real time, rather than waiting for somebody to get the time to edit it all together. The good news (or maybe the bad news, depending on your perspective) is that we’ve gone to the lo-fi roots of Goner music by filming with 20-year-old Sony Handicams. (Don’t laugh, they’re free!) The stream was devoured by Goners from all over the world who couldn’t make it to Memphis. It’s hard work, but I hope the folks watching at home could tell how much fun we were having.
The first artist I’m stationed on stage left to film is Michael Beach, an Aussie with a new album out on Goner. He’s an excellent songwriter, who can both grasp pounding rockers and the occasional more quiet, heartfelt piano song.
Sick Thoughts are another Gonerfest veteran. The New Orleans combo, fronted by Drew Owens and including most of the Trampoline Team, threw down a searing, spitting set that brought the moshers out and sent beer cans flying.
Here’s a safety tip: Don’t bean Negative Approach’s John Brannon in the head with a water bottle during the first song. You’re just going to piss him off more. The ’80s Detroit hardcore legends have long, grey beards now, but their breakneck tempos and punishing sonic assaults haven’t missed a step.
As they were taking the stage, lightning was crackling in the middle distance. In the streaming control booth, we nervously tracked the thunderstorms that roared through the area Saturday night. But luckily, the cells went north and south of Central and Cooper, and the crowd got only a few sprinkles and a refreshing cool breeze from thunderstorm outflow. (A couple of miles away, the Memphis Power Pop fest at the Overton Park Shell wasn’t so lucky.) In the end, mother nature provided the light show, and Negative Approach provided the thunder.
Fellow Detroiters Tyvek, a fan favorite of past Gonerfests, returned with a refreshed lineup and new energy. The crowd, many of whom had been baking in the sun for hours, somehow kept up with bandleader Kevin Boyer’s breakneck pace.
The headliners brought the night to a close with a stunning display of Memphis talent. The first band Greg Cartwright and Jack Yarber formed together in the 1990s was called Compulsive Gamblers. The pair of Antenna punks from Mississippi and Frayser went back to the well of pre-Beatles r&b 45s that had inspired rock in the beginning, and wrote their own songs from that template. With The Reigning Sound on indefinite hiatus, the Gamblers did a recent swing through the Midwest and arrived at Gonerfest as a tight unit— or at least as tight as you want punk-infused covers of The Bar-Kays to be.
With Memphis Flyer music editor Alex Greene on keys, Graham Winchester on drums, and John Whittemore providing sonic assistance with a Flying V and EBow, they kept the capacity crowd on its feet all night with songs like the Cartwright-penned Oblivians’ classic “Bad Man” and Yarber’s pounding “Pepper Spray Boogie.” The highlight of the set was a swaying rendition of Cartwright’s doom waltz “Sour and Vicious Man.” As the crowd dispersed to the afterparties, it was clear Gonerfest 19 was one for the ages.