Comentarios a cargo de Jason Garcia

Ya os presentamos a Jason. Suyas son las dos fotos que ofrecemos (bolo en el Jackie Robinson YMCA, 1987; la fecha exacta probablemente sea el 19 de septiembre) y suyo es el siguiente texto, redactado para nosotros en diciembre de 2004:

It was late in 1987 as I attended a show at The Jackie Robinson YMCA in southeast San Diego. Positive Action Mod Society was the promoter. This is the first time I saw The Event play.

They were the first band on the bill and I was there early. The boys in The Event looked very "power pop" and dressed in vests, ascots and polka dot shirts. Apparently this was one of their first shows. They played well, even though I don't remember what songs they performed.

As the years passed, I saw The Event grow into an even greater musical act, looking more "pop art" than "power pop". This I liked. Their set was tight and spot-on. With songs like "Window Sill" and "Pop-Think-In" and covers like "I Can Hear The Grass Grow", they dominated the San Diego musical Mod scene. The row they created was new and fantastic and they acquired a massive following. An Event show was frantic and packed.

I remember attending parties in their company. We were all friends and had many things to say. I enjoyed their conversations. I miss those times and I miss the occasions in which I heard the music blaring from their amps and drums. There will never be another band that can make music the way they did – charged and spontaneous.

Jason Garcia

Positive Action Mod Society

Comentarios a cargo de Domenic Priore

Amigo y representante del grupo, coordinador del proyecto This Is The Event y padre, junto a Audrey Moorehead, del programa de televisión It's Happening, en el que los de San Diego aparecieron en su momento, Priore (gran conocedor de lo que dio de sí la música popular californiana de la década de los 60, a la que ha dedicado fanzines y libros de referencia) desempeñó su notorio papel en la andadura de la banda. En 2004 nos mandó estas reflexiones acerca de The Event:

The Event were really an incredible band, the problem is that they were doing all the coolest stuff that, of course, became popular much later. But these high school-age guys, they were on it with all those RUBBLE compilations and doing obscure European Psych. Today, there are magazines like MOJO and UNCUT and others that make this kind of music seem more acceptable to a large audience, but back in 1987-1990 when The Event were together, hell, there was only one mag who cared about this stuff, and that was STRANGE THINGS ARE HAPPENING. Of course, that mag didn't last too long and didn't have the wide readership that something like MOJO does. Anyway, what I think in retrospect is that bands like Oasis and Blur came along later, many groups copped a Mod/Psych vibe, but in 1987-1990, The Event were in the wilderness, alone.

Now you have to understand that those very years, the Paisley Underground of L.A. had already well died out – The Bangles were left but they had one hit that sounded more like Celine Dion ("Eternal Flame") than anything cool like their Paisley stuff. The '60s Garage Punk movement was also just over... The Unclaimed, The Crawdaddys, The Tell-Tale Hearts were no more. Clubowners were going more for a Stooges sound than say The Who, John's Children or The Creation, know what I mean? The major clubowners in California were not booking anything unless it sounded like the Glam Metal bands or, the hardest kind of Punk.

The Event came on like a sonic boom, Ben was a brilliant drummer, Tim had bitchen songs and was a powerful guitarist, Mike could be a real tripmaker on bass and Ken was a tough vocalist who could stand in front of that band and make an impact. So they were powerful, but had much more colourful music than was allowable at the time for booking. Today (even during the late '90s), they could have had a large international following, been on tours and the whole bit. They were one of the rare exceptions where Mods loved 'em as well as Garage people. They just crossed each group's self-imposed rule bit... Those kind of scene "rules" (are you a MOD or are you a PSYCH?) are the enemy of any kind of art. So now, The Event would fit in with this more wide-open vibe happening in the current version of what's been called alternative rock.

On their Voxx album, I think "The Game" came out fantastic, but in general, the album was rushed. I feel more time should have been spent on the vocals, especially the harmonies because those added power to the songs. Voxx really did the record as a favor to Mike Stax, myself and Audrey Moorehead, who were/are long-time friends of Voxx/Bomp. We did everything we could to get them signed to Voxx, because no one was interested in a cool Mod/Psych band at the time, whatsoever. But I don't think Voxx really understood at that particular time how to sell something "'60s" because the label was in L.A., and at the time, people in L.A. couldn't really see outside of the very repressive attitude going on in the local nightclubs. It was all this noise bullshit, and Voxx/Bomp didn't really understand how to market something like "Pop-Think-In" to either the previously obliterated scene, or the nascent '60s interest that was evident from the release of the RUBBLE comps and STRANGE THINGS ARE HAPPENING.

Strangely, a couple of years later other forces in L.A. would break other backwards cool movements such as Rockabilly, Swing, Exotica, Surf and Burlesque. But Voxx/Bomp really had no part in any of that. Mark Neill may be the best record producer in the world today, I have a ton of respect for him, he's up there with the stuff Nick Lowe did for the Pretenders first single "Stop Your Sobbing" and the early Elvis Costello & the Attractions stuff like GET HAPPY, I really mean that. Mark just didn't have enough time to do the Event's vocals right, or, to record enough songs for a full album or CD, or to even develop the songs from their powerful live presentation to something that could carry that into a combined vocals/band thing the way The Who managed on tracks like "The Kids Are Alright" (Brunswick version), "Pictures Of Lily" or "Dogs". That's what we were hoping to get out of the sessions.

Toss the whole thing into 1994-1997 or even today's post-Britney "Garage" environment and yeh, you'd have a better understanding of what the band, and their supporters, were trying to do. Today, they'd be on Conan O'Brein show, Late Show with David Letterman and all the other places that Soundtrack Of Our Lives just played. But The Event never played L.A. with its late-'80s, dyed black-hair Rock idiot mentality, let alone New York City. But I really felt, and feel, that The Event got to that Network TV-worthy level once they matured to the ripe old age of 17... Just before they went off to college. That's probably the best thing they ever did, was to get the hell out of conservative San Diego and live in a groovy place like the Bay Area.

Nota: Agradecemos a Scotty Defiler que nos enviara el scan del flyer que reproducimos, el de un concierto celebrado en la ciudad de San Diego en el otoño de 1987.

Entrevista a Ben Wayne

Segunda entrevista con un integrante de The Event que ofrecemos: la realizada por mí a su batería Ben Wayne en el verano de 2003.

Nota: La fotografía de Wayne que subimos con esta entrada nos ha sido cedida por su autor, Jason Garcia, de la Positive Action Mod Society, veterano modernista/scooterista de San Diego hoy afincado en Phoenix, Arizona:

http://www.facebook.com/jasonjgarcia

Publicaremos varias instantáneas de su archivo personal próximamente. Thanks so much, Jason!

1) Where were you born in? What year were you born in?

San Diego, CA, 1971.

2) What was your childhood like? Did you grow up in a family that loved music? Do you remember what got you interested in music when you were a kid?

I had a good suburban childhood. We (The Event) all grew up in University City. My parents were into '60s music... Dad played piano and he introduced me to Ray Charles, Jimmy Smith, Booker T., The Rolling Stones, and that kind of R&B based stuff. I got into Mod music through my older brother, David. He was into The Jam and The Chords' type of power pop. I also liked The Small Faces, The Who, and those 60's Mod bands. Living in San Diego we got into the garage/psychedelic bands--Gravedigger 5, Tell-Tale Hearts. Ken, Mike, Tim, and I used to go to concerts at San Diego State's The Back Door to check out these bands. We also liked The Milkshakes and The Prisoners. John Hanrattie who played in The Gravedigger 5 managed The Event for a while. He got me into some of the more obscure freakbeat stuff that was coming out on Bam Caruso--Wimple Winch and that type of stuff.

3) How did you get started playing the drums? Were your parents supportive of your musical ambitions?

I bought an old Ludwig and started playing in the garage with Mike, Tim, and Ken... I think we were in 7th grade. Our parents were supportive.

4) What was the Mod/sixties scene like in San Diego in the late '80s? What other sixties-styled bands did you like from around that time?

San Diego was a lot of fun during this time. Lots of bands, cool places to play. We liked The Tell-Tale Hearts, The Nashville Ramblers, The Trebels, Plasticland, The 3'Oclock, The Birminghams, The Chesterfield Kings, etc.

5) Tell me about the first groups that you played with. What kind of music did you play?

The Event was formed in Junior high school. We played garage/power pop stuff in our early years.

6) How and when did you meet up with the other members of The Event? What do you recall about how the group was formed?

We were best friends. We had wanted to start a band in 6th grade. We finally did it in 7th or 8th grade. We started out as The 4 Infidels, and later changed to The Event.

7) Did The Event have any leaders? Who were the group's main songwriters?

We collaborated.

8) Please tell me about the members of The Event. Were they nice people? How did you get along with them? As a band, were you all friendly?

We were kids who grew up together. That's why we had so much fun. We were buddies.

9) What did The Event sound like? What were the biggest musical influences of the group?

Early on we were pretty Mod. We got more psychedelic in the end.

10) Where did you rehearse? Were you good musicians?

We played in our garages. We all sucked at first, but it didn't matter because we had fun.

11) Where and when did you play your first live show? Where did you use to play? What bands did you play live dates with? Tell me about your live shows. What did your set list look like? What cover versions of '60s tracks did you do?

1st live show was in the basement of a club called Croce's in downtown San Diego. Before that it was mostly parties in University City where we played for drunk Heavy Metalers who wanted to kill us. We played easy covers--Wild Thing, Gloria, Mashed Potatoes. Later we played with Manual Scan, The Nashville Ramblers, and all those San Diego bands.

12) What kind of following did you have? Were most of your fans Mods?

Mod kids liked us. However, many of our punk and metal friends liked us too. We weren't closed minded. In fact, most of our friends were not Mods. Many of the Mods in San Diego saw us as being strange because we were so young and we were into music more than scooters.

13) Could you please tell me about your relation with Domenic Priore, Audrey Moorehead and Mike Stax?

We were all friends. They were older than us. They came to see us one night and we played John's Children, Birds, and Creation covers. They had never seen the band before. We were much younger than them, but they dug us. Domenic, Audrey, and Mike were all very nice and helpful. Mike still plays in San Diego, and I see Domenic from time to time in S.F.

14) Tell me about the Event's demo. Where and when did you record it?

Don't Remember much, but Ken Naylor has a copy and I'd love to get my hands on it. I don't have it anymore. We must have been 15 or 16 when we recorded that.

15) Please tell me about the Event's LP. What do you remember about the recording sessions? How do you feel about it now?

I had a lot of fun. I don't think that the album captured the band's live performance. We were a show--smashing stuff up and lots of theatrical stuff. The album was a bit tame for my taste. You get a glimpse of the band though.

16) Did you ever do any radio or television shows with The Event?

Audrey and Domenic did their cable TV '60s dance show--It's Happening or something like that. We played on college radio--UCSD.

17) When and why did The Event break up?

Tim and I went to college--UC Santa Cruz.

18) Where did you go after The Event?

Santa Cruz and San Francisco Bay area.

19) Finally, how do you see The Event from 15 years down the pike?

A group of fun-loving pals who liked wearing funny costumes and playing rock and roll. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Entrevista a Bart Mendoza

Regresa a nuestro blog Bart Mendoza (será, la suya, una presencia habitual aquí, y se lo agradecemos sentidamente), en esta ocasión con motivo de unas declaraciones suyas que nos envió en marzo‎ de ‎2005. La fotografía de The Event en vivo que las acompaña también se la debemos a él. Fue tomada en la edición de 1988 del festival New Sounds, la quinta, que tuvo lugar en el SDSU Montezuma Hall el día 27 de agosto.

1) ¿Conociste a los miembros de The Event en la escena Mod de San Diego antes de que formaran el grupo? De ser así, ¿qué impresión te causaron?

I met the guys in the band at shows here and there around San Diego. They were great - nice guys and they looked perfect, you know, both the clothes and the sound was just right. Great attitude as well, unlike some of the older surlier garage bands. Later on I booked them for shows and we did a few concerts together - that was always a lot of fun. I distinctly remember talking to Ken about The Easybeats at UCSD's Che Café.

2) Inicialmente, cuando comenzaron a tocar en vivo, en 1987, The Event eran una banda más bien orientada al power pop. ¿Les viste en directo en aquel período de su carrera? ¿Qué te parecieron como grupo? ¿Ya destacaban entonces entre las bandas Mod locales?

I saw them from the beginning, but I always thought of them as a Mod band, the real deal, not watered down ska or third hand R&B. Their youth had a bit to do with it for sure, but they wrote killer songs that sounded like classics of the sixties. Heck, with the fidelity of the demos, you could have probably passed them off as vintage material to the unwitting. The brash enthusiasm was great as well. They had a bit of swagger, with the chops to pull it off. They stood out from the pack in the same way that Silver Sunshine does from the current crop today.

3) Recuerdo que, en el verano de 1988, la demo que el grupo grabó me entusiasmó. ¿Qué te pareció a ti?

It's great stuff and no accident that I included "Pop-Think-In" on the Sound Affects compilation tape – I never understood why Voxx never issued the material on CD.

4) ¿Qué me puedes decir a nivel personal sobre cada uno de los cuatro miembros de la banda?

I always saw them as a collective presence. Ben was a great drummer and rather dapper if understated. Tim always looked serious and had a great presence with his guitar. Ken was a GREAT frontman, while Mike always had a dry wit – something he kept with The Loved Ones and Dave Gleason. I've run into to Ken on a few occasions since those days, but it's Mike I probably saw the most – The Shambles stayed at his house in our Ron Silva days while on tour and I always catch any group he's in – what an amazing bassist! He more than any of them I think would have fit in perfectly in The Small Faces.

5) ¿Tienes anécdotas divertidas sobre The Event para contarme?

Just how mesmerizing they were and how much the audience loved them – I always remember that one anecdote where they smashed up a row of TV sets at New Sounds one year. Glass flew everywhere and people packed in at the front got cut. I was worried about liability, but everyone was thrilled at the action. I remember walking by a guy who was bleeding from his face (not bad) who was excitedly retelling everyone how it had happened. The sort of things we couldn't get away with at a show today.

6) Háblame un poco de los conciertos de The Event. ¿Eran uno de los grupos más espectaculares que había entonces en San diego?

Well, keep in mind that this is the same ground stalked by Ron Silva and Ray Brandes, but yeah, they were good – though they didn't cross over to the regular public as much as the other groups, the crowd from their high school was more than enough to sustain them. I realize that most bands lifetime is only a few years at best, and things get dicey when you're young, but I always felt that the band had a lot more to offer and a second album would have been magic.

7) Háblame del club 2581, en el que The Event tocaron a menudo.

I did a lot of the booking at the club. 2581 was an all ages club located literally at 2581 University Ave. in San Diego, run by Julie, and the hub of the Mod scene at the time. It only lasted a couple of years and was a little hole in the wall, but essential. All kinds of band played there not just Mod groups – many of the New Sounds pre and after events were held there. It was pretty small – maybe 75 people legally with tables a back bar for sodas and food and a small stage, but on bigger shows, like Lyres many more would cram in there. The club moved and became a 21 and up bar called Megalopolis, basically the home of The Shambles. 2581 was really comfortable – after closing hours, the door would shut, the outside lights would go out and musicians would gather to play until the wee hours. I was there nearly every night the club was open and more than a few when it wasn't. While there are many great clubs in town, there is nothing like it in San Diego today – heck I slept on that stage more than once.

8) ¿Qué puedes decirme sobre el festival New Sounds, que tú organizabas? Sé que The Event participaron en algunas de sus ediciones.

It would be 30 bands or so from all over. The Jetset, The Risk, The Donkey Show, The Tell-Tale Hearts, and on and on. I just felt that there were a lot of great bands that were never going to come to San Diego unless there was an event like this, and a great selection of local talent that was escaping media attention. During the years that the festival ran, we had incredible support. The local papers always gave it a huge coverage – a full page, with a front page banner – the biggest radio station in town, 91X, always gave us 3 hours the Sunday night before the show to promote it. The whole show was sponsored by Secret Society Scooter Club, and I worked with different people over the years, notably Matt Fidelibus and Ron Friedman. At its peak the shows drew over 1,000 paying customers in a 14 hour show day, with multiple stages and DJ rooms, rare films and merch area, with visiting rock stars making the backstage scene, including Johnny Marr of The Smiths and assorted Bangles etc in 1987 – and we always lost money. But the main purpose was served, a great show was seen by many and my favorite bands got some great exposure. It was a lot of work though. As for The Event, they were exactly the sort of band who the festival was designed for.

9) ¿Formaban parte The Event del sector más heterodoxo de la escena Mod de San Diego? ¿Qué tipo de discos escuchaban entonces los Mods más integristas de tu ciudad? ¿Los Mods más puristas seguían a The Event?

The Event were essential to the scene, and they were latched onto by purists with a vengeance. Many people were listening to stuff like The Creation, The Eyes, The Action and so on – the rarer the better, and The Event really knew their tunes. At the time it was all about vintage Mod, psyche and garage.

10) La banda evolucionó hacia la psicodelia en 1989-1990. ¿Cómo fue recibido este cambio de planteamientos musicales en la comunidad Mod de San Diego? ¿Fue aceptado?

At the time it wasn't seen as a big deal, it was just the guys with new material. The Mod scene here loved the band until its final days – and still does. At most it seemed like a natural progression, though nothing compared to where Tim ended up with The Fucking Champs.

11) En 1988-1989 los miembros de The Event se relacionaron bastante con los músicos de The Birminghams, el grupo de Berkeley. ¿Qué puedes contarme sobre The Birminghams?

Good guys and an incredible live act – I have a tape around here somewhere from a show Manual Scan and The Birminghams did together at 2581– real cocky especially Bart Davenport. To my ears they were kind of a new younger version of The Crawdaddys. I always liked the guys, and we hung out several times in San Diego as well as the Bay Area. The Event and The Birminghams represented the new era though and it was obvious that this was the changing of the guard. Both groups always impressed me. In retrospect I suppose that was the end of the first revival, but at the time the Berkeley scene was so tight knit and happening it was the envy of scenesters the world over. To my ears (and eyes) The Birminghams always seemed to follow in the footsteps of The Crawdaddys, indeed Ron and Bart had been in The Driving Wheels together. But I have to give the frontman edge to Bart – he was manic and driven, the latter of which Ron could never be accused of.

12) Se ha comentado a veces que el álbum "This Is The Event" no refleja lo que la banda ofrecía en sus conciertos. ¿Te decepcionó relativamente el disco cuando lo escuchaste por primera vez?

Well, no. The record was one thing – and I think it's a perfect snapshot of the era, but their concerts were something else, full of energy and tight, with some great covers. I first played the album over the store stereo at the Wherehouse record store and I remember thinking how authentic it sounded. But live on a good night? You couldn't think of a better place to be.

I have to say that one of the things that I loved about The Event is how unpretentious they were. They were almost a time warp – they weren't dressing a certain way to impress anyone or writing in a certain style to sell records – they just did what they did and shook things up a little in the process – nothing like having a new band do really well to make the old guard start rehearsing again.

Entrevista a Bart Davenport

Bart Davenport (a quien unos cuantos asociarán a The Loved Ones y a sus grabaciones en solitario) ejerció de vocalista de los Birminghams, de Berkeley, California, durante el período en el que The Event estuvieron en activo. Como tal, entabló relación y compartió aventuras con los de San Diego, llegando a actuar en directo con ellos. La entrevista que sigue fue realizada en enero de 2005:

1) How and when did you meet up with The Event?

I think it was the Spring of 1988. I somehow received a letter (no Internet back then) from Ken Naylor. He was looking for gigs in Northern California. But I didn't get them a show right away and in fact, I met them later that summer because my band, The Birminghams, were on a bill with them in San Diego.

2) What was your personal relation with the members of The Event? Were they nice, friendly people? Who were you the closest with?

Yes. They were very nice. We hit it off instantly. I think Mike was probably the most out-going and definitely the funniest. And when he moved to Oakland, we started The Loved Ones which he played in with me for about five years. So I was definitely closest to Mike. Ben Wayne also played with me and (loved one) Xan McCurdy in 1996 and '97 in The Kinetics.

3) Do you have any funny, crazy anecdotes concerning those guys?

Well, I believe Mike once accepted the payment of one dollar for drinking an entire bottle of pancake syrup.

4) How were The Event live? Were they one of the tightest bands of the Californian sixties/Mod Scene?

Yes. They were always well rehearsed and had a great mix of obscure '60s covers and authentic sounding original tunes. They also dressed better than most of the other bands – which is half the reason to be up there in these kind of bands.

5) Did The Birminghams see The Event as rivals?

No. Not at all. Quite opposite. We were like comrades. Brothers. There was no rivalry at all. Their music was more classic Mod pop-art style. While we tended towards a more R&B, blues and garage based sound. The two bands were very complimentary.

6) Did The Birminghams often share the bill with The Event?

Yes. We got them gigs in the Bay Area and they got us gigs in San Diego.

7) I know that you once sang with The Event (New Sounds annual festival / Sept 16, 1989 / Montezuma Hall, SDSU Campus, San Diego). What do you remember about that gig?

I remember Ken smashed a television with a sledge hammer on stage – ala The Move that night. Also that night, I saw a fantastic group led by (the Crawdaddys') Ron Silva. He had AJ Croce (Jim's son) on Vox organ and they played 'One By One' by The Blues Magoos. I think our drummer, Kelley, smashed up a rented drum set that night too. And Bart Mendoza refused to pay us. So I think we had to go and bug him at his day job the next day to get the $200 bucks!

Aclaración: Bart Mendoza desea añadir que "if I recall correctly, it wasn't refusal - the school (it was held at SDSU) didn't release our ticket money as agreed for a few days so we couldn't pay some of the bands until later, but everyone was paid".

Nota: Gracias a Scott Honnor por el scan del flyer de un scooter rally organizado en 1988 por la Positive Action Mod Society de San Diego. Conocido como Scott "evil eye" Saxon, Scotty fue en su momento el guitarrista de la banda neoyorquina The Defilers:

http://www.myspace.com/xxxthedefilersxxx