Tag: jonathan richman
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The Growlers Reclaim Castle Beach Goth and all is Right with the World Again
Rob Shepyer
August 10, 2018
I love Beach Goth because The Growlers know how to book a festival better than anyone blessed enough to have their own festival. In the age of mixed bills, Beach Goth offers the total package every summer, with hip hop, hardcore, punk, metal, garage, goth, and everything in between. These artists then get presented on stages decorated like nothing you’ve ever seen, this year we celebrated “The Death of a Rat” on a stinky, burning garbage heap of a stage where bands and drag queens put on memorable and boundary pushing performances. related content: Beach Goth 4: The Party Of The Year Beach Goth had to scale back this year. Usually, the festival would be two days with headliners that you could opt to see instead of the Growlers each night. This was partly due to the ambition of last year’s festival. Last year was artistically a massive success, with the Geto Boys, Bad Brains, and even a Butthole Surfers reunion. It’s also important to mention that last year, the festival was called “The Growlers 6” because someone had the audacity to try and claim ownership of the name. Call it whatever you’d like, Growlers or Beach Goth, it was
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The Growlers Lose The Beach Goth Battle But Won The War This Weekend
Dave Unbuckled
November 7, 2017
We had already survived a dead car battery in record breaking heat, when our ride dropped us off at Bolsa Chica State Beach for Punk in Drublic, in Huntington Beach. This was a fitting location to pre-game for Growlers Six, happening twenty miles up the coast, as it was the show I had intended to cover, but the promoters seemed less interested in our intention of reviewing the fest, than assisting with late promotion through our social media. For this reason alone, we felt it necessary to stop by and “sample” some of the 100 local craft beers being distributed amongst the festival goers, then ditch the divorced-dad-fest, as we cruelly nicknamed it, and go straight to Beach Goth. related content: Beach Goth 4: The Party Of The Year We attempted to count and review each beer, but by the time we arrived at the mid-twenties, I was already tripping over my shoelaces and bumping into patient patrons, hiding their disgust at our unruly entitlement, and surly demeanors. It also didn’t help that the more I drank, the more negatively critical I became with each beer, while my partner and photographer became more friendly and outspoken with the pourers and
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“It’s Important To Be Sincere”- Jonathan Richman at The Monday Club
Lawrence Rengert
June 23, 2015
There is something simultaneously heartbreaking and inspiring about seeing a broke legend like Jonathan Richman. I remember years ago getting a call from our friend Hollis (the drummer from Boss Hog) about a secret show. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion would be the surprise opener for Ike Turner in Manhattan. Of course tickets were like $50 because it was at BB King’s Blues Club, but we paid it. What I remember more than the jaw dropping-ness of Ike’s guitar playing, was an overwhelming sense of sadness that Rock ‘n’ Roll’s originator had been all but forgotten. The man who recorded Rocket 88 on Chess Records in 1951, 2 years before Elvis, played that night to a pathetically small crowd for a no name label release party. And yet…he wasn’t going to let that stop his greatness. He still showed up, smiled, told jokes, played and still humbly thanked the handful of loyal fans who had each paid to see him; something tragic and at the same time noble. Seeing Jonathan Richman in the alley beside The Monday Club venue in San Luis Obispo felt like that. There was Jonathan, a few hours before show time, in a gold minivan, front
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