mrrissue01 columns

TIM'S STUPID COLUMNjterAK47°r °.•

KNOWYOUR

W1'A1)N

Lots of changes in the venue scene . thing or have a good time playing (forFirst, Paul Rat is going out of bust- 8 Tenderloin burnouts while the minorsness, ending his RRZ shows at the Elite are out front where the docrman can stabClub, Russian Center, etc . He attributes 'em).this to rising overhead costs, fewer

Dirk, at the On Broadway, made a compeople paying (200 less per show than mitment to the scene to have the samelast year), and higher door prices (be- proportion of punk and H .C . shows thatcause of the higher guarantees demanded he had at the Mab (the less said aboutby the new "stars" of punk rock) - all Ness' sell-out to new wave the better).of this at a time of economic depression Unfortunately,

it hasn't quite worked(there area few exceptions to the guar- out that way .

There are occassionalantees, like Black Flag and Dead Kennedys mid-week local-group shows, and Flipperwho take a percentage,

believing they and D .K .'s shows, but it's not like itare only worth what they can draw - in was just a year ago .

Dirk's in roughcontrast to bands like Fear, Misfits, shape financially, due to old Mab debts,X, and other bands who demand up to expenses to the O .B ., and his unflagging$2500) . Rat ' s quitting is a blow to the commitment to the artistic aesthetic oflocal scene, as his shows always gave smaller shows . He didn't "go for thelesser known bands a chance to play - bucks" and forsake punk . As always, Dirkalthough recently they tended to be the will keep a club open for us, with planssame few bands over and over again . for summer shows and more.Minors will lose too, as they can't get

Outside of Ruthies (probably the bestin to most clubs . Rat will continue to venue for H .C .), the "guerilla" showsdo occasional shows at the On Broadway, remain the most true-to-form punk . Cigsand will concentrate more on doing shows at legendary Barrington Hall in Berkelein the suburbs .

New Method Industries in Oakland, andWes Robinson still does his shows at the occasional party at Valencia Tool

the Elite Club, Ruthies Inn, and the & Die are the rowdiest (the heart ofEastern Front . Wes' strong point is his the scene) with a full cast of day-to-real love for the H .C . scene,

and he day regulars . "Previews" had potential,continually gives good new bands gigs . but that seems to have gone by theUnfortunately, he is not the greatest boards .

Finally, there is

the lovelybusinessman, and sometimes the support- Berkeley Square, which is expanding anding bands don't get paid much . This opening its doors to minors . Unfortu-happens with all promoters who indulge nately nothing can overcome the "trendy""stars" by paying them the outrageous new wave atmosphere, the "chic" clien-amounts they ask for . In Wes' case tele, and the steep door prices . Hey!,though, this doesn ' t seem to be out whatever became of the $3-tops on clubof greed or maliciousness, but out of tickets?stubborn miscalculation of draw, and

Speaking of which, Maximum R'n'R andgeneral spaciness .

MDC spoke to Dirk about the lack of goodH .C . shows at the On Broadway, asking

Alternative Tentacles puts on shows if we could do some booking (withoutnow too . They make a point of bringing our taking a cut) to get gigs for thein lots of the better new bands (thanks new local bands . Dirk agreed to let usto Jello, who keeps up on the scene) do every Wednesday night in July, andand have the best record of dividing lower the door price to $2 . These showsthe door fairly amongst all the bands . will probably have one out-of-town trav-Unfortunately their shows, sometimes elling band, and several local groups.with 2 or 3 name acts, tend to get over- If these gigs are successfull (theycrowded, resembling Bill Graham style should be, given the low door pricearena shows - masses of punks in huge which will allow kids to go to 2 or 3stadiums, mindlessly consuming enter- shows a week instead of 1 high-pricedtainment . I hope it's just my paranoia, bill), then we will

be booking more

and not the next step .

shows in August and the fall, and notThe Sound of Music, despite all the just onmid-weeks . Once Dirk stabilizes

hoopla about "community input",contin- financially, he can open a smaller clubues to suffer because they still have in North Beach, more suitable to punk.not made minors a priority . As long as Meanwhile, we will have to make goodthe can't get in, bands won't make any- with what we have

- ~~erlcan mo74oly captinues to create problems it cannotsolve . Our elected leaders are onlymaking things worse with their increa-singly fascistic approaches to humanlife, both at home and abroad . Thecolleges have been transformed intopost-adolescent day care centers, andmost of the Old Left is using a staticanalysis unsuited to a world undergoincchange.

"Nazi Punks" have nothing to do witheither fascism or punk . Their patheticworship of Nazi symbols and/or ideasN

truu,rASA

only contributes to the world's prob-This section contains information I lems . They are not Punks, and there is

think you should have and that you

no reason to think of them as such . Ifwon't necessarily find elsewhere . So

they call themselves "vegetarian meat-

pay attention . My opinions don't al-

eaters", no one else would . Too muchways coincide with others on Maximum

time is being given to discussion aboutR'n'R, at their loss .

where they fit into the community,Crawford was a founding member of

given that the answer is so obvious.G .O .D ., one of the more innovative

They don't . They certainly aren't partbands of the past year . She was a

of the solution, and since they havefriend who I hoped I would get to know very little influence, they should bebetter . She had problems, as do most

ignored . We have enough enemies of aof us . I'll miss her .

.more serious nature .

-Mickey Creep

on

Punk in San Francisco has meant poli-tical since its dawning . It was here inJuly' 1978 that every punk band in thecity, except Crime, played three daysof benefit concerts for striking coalminers, where two months later the Mabwas filled for a benefit for strikingrailroad workers . We drew 1,000 peopleto a concert to benefit jailed BlackPanther leader, Ceronimo Pratt . We play-ed for the F .M .L .N ./F .D .R ., the I .R .A .,American political prisoners and on andon . The summer of 1978 also saw bandsorganize and fight private promoters 'like Maniacts and later New Youth . RockAgainst Racism had an active chapterhere . In the White Riot of May '79 punksturned out in a direct assault on thestate . We were communists, socialists,situationalists, anarchists . We were athreat.

It is with great pride that this punk/red/pet rocker recalls those days . Asmanager of the Dils, Negative Trend, TheZeros, and The Toiling Midgets, I did mypart, but past glory is just that -past.Now you and I are confronted with newfights, and far too many that are leftover . Nuclear bombs, imperialist wars,and capitalist austerity are not goingto miss each and every mohawked head.It is a fight for survival we are en-gaged in.The world is a battle ground and we

are all combatants . When the Zionist,hiding their fascism behind yellow stare.,march into Lebanon to commit genocideagainst the Palestinian people, they aredoing it with 1 .5 billion dollars a yearin military aid from the U .S ., and thatmoney is coming from you . It is comingfrom food stamp cut offs, welfare cut-backs, higher college tuitions, loss offunding for the arts, etc . etc . As thebodies of Palestinians pile higher andhigher, the dividend checks of the peoplewho own the factories that make Side-winder missies gore larger and larger.Lebanon is your backyard, you have beendrafted whether you know it or not . Likeit or not, this is your war, every waris,your war . Choose what side you areon, and when the fight begins, know yourweapon .

Herb Cpen is on vacation

LATE NEWS FLASH!! CONTRARY TORUMOR, POLICE HAVE NOT SHUT DOWNTHE TOOL & DIE THEY HAVE WARN-ED KATRINA ABOUT MINORS DRINKINGIN FRONT, AND BROKEN BOTTLES . IFYOU WANT GIGS THERE, PLEASE CO-OPERATE. ALSO, CLUBFOOT IS STILLHAVING SHOWS, DESPITE THE RECENTDRUG BUST. RUMOR HAS IT THAT THECOPS RAIDED CLUB GENERIC, SHUT-TING DOWN FUTURE SHOWS THERE . FORLACK OF A CABARET LICENSE . . .UNCONFIRMED AT PRESS TIME.

Charles McCabe is on vacation

CRASS CHRISTDOUBLE DUE AUG.82

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RAT DRIVEN CRAZYIS FFFFFF INS VVVVVVVVV CCCCCCC SOWN AS A CCCCC

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC ION _

BY INSOLUBLE PROBLEMS

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2 yrs ago atNatoma St . I fellasleep in the truckoutside.

-did you get cold?-no, I was out of it .

. . .he's a swell guy &he really tried hard &we're lucky in s .f that

/'

we're not like 1 .a . ornew york where there'sonly big things -

, we're lucky to have

Isuch a sweet guyeven if he is

gonna quit.

Marzy Quazar

The first Rat showI ever went to wasat the Pit - UXAand KGB played.It was great . Igot really fuckedup and I can'tremember anythingelse about it.

Stannous Flouride

- Rat? What can I say?Let me think a second.-Like the most fucked

(up you ever got at a'Rat show?-Is that a goal tostrive for? (laughs)My mind's a blank -wait til I'm drunk -

WHO ARE ALL THESE\ PEOPLE? I DON'T

KNOW ANY OF THEM!

Curtis

Rat's getting out at theright time because he'sdone a lot to the scene . ..

F I

Iand done a lot of greatshows (by great I mean I'vehad fun at them) . Tonight'sshow's been a drag so far -I saw a friend of mine getpunched out outside . ..If this was a real coolshow they'd be playingJohnny Thunders'

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between bands.I guess people stopped going to his showsin the same quantities they were before.so he's gotta stop . It's terrible.I'm grateful for what he did .

ri1Mickey Creep

desperately.-What about S .F .?-We need it too butsomeone else canalways pop up and takehis place.In L .A . they've allbeen sucked up by

commercials fordesigner jeans anddating services .

You gonna miss Rat?-Yeah . He'll probably doother shows though,somewhere . He can't justgo away.

-if he goes to L .A .?-Oh I feel betrayed.Why should they get him.

7

I feel betrayed now.\ ,LLt . ► •

..He'll get sick of

*01

he' 11 have to come back.

Spike