Ruby Diver/Mention at the Lava Lounge, in the wee small hours of Jan. 1; Twelvehourmary/Mickey's Big Mouth/Shave at the Juke Joint, Jan. 8; the Goods at Club Mesa, Jan. 14, the first great reunion gig of the year—Fastball's Tony Scalzo comes home; Gearwhore, Galaxy Concert Theatre, Jan. 17, working proof that electronic music can be inspired and exciting; Ultrathin at the Lava Lounge, Jan. 29; In Bloom/Alana Gentry at the Tiki Bar, Feb. 6; the Relatives/ Decepticans at Koo's Art Cafe, Feb. 12; Serial Killing 101/Fluf at Chain Reaction, Feb. 26; 4-Gazm/Grab Bag at Chain Reaction, March 5; the Marginal Prophets at Chain Reaction, March 11, the hip-hop gig of 1999—sweat-sopped energy, back flips and dick jokes to a room of maybe 30 people on a Thursday night—boy did you miss out; the BellRays at Chain Reaction, March 26, one of the two or three best LA bands right now; Cadillac Tramps at the Galaxy, April 3, great reunion gig No. 2, a reminder of how good they once were and how great they still can be; the Vibrators at Club Mesa, April 9, wrinkly old Spirit-of-'76 British punkers who've still got their chops; Rob Zombie at the Pond, April 16, a big, bad, guilty pleasure—a decadent, depraved, live-action comic book; Delta Nove on the roof of some building in downtown Long Beach, April 18; John Easdale N the Newcomers at the Hub Cafe, April 25; Mike Ness at the Coach House, April 27; Damien Jurado/David Fischoff/Erik Rez/Nova Soul/Maesrk at Koo's Art Cafe, May 8, Jurado and Fischoff painting quiet, moody, yet warm and welcoming dreamscapes, full of heart and feeling; acoustic-guitar man Rez odd at first but ultimately likable, with a slew of great songs, someone you couldn't ignore; the Vandals/Jughead's Revenge/Assorted Jellybeans at Beach Fest '99, May 16 (PUNK! ROCK! PUNK! ROCK!); Kill Holiday/ Acme Bomb Factory at Chain Reaction, May 26; Robert Deeble/Shuffledown at Chain Reaction, May 27, Deeble teamed with Tom Waits sideman Stephen Hodges, who floored everybody with all the weird percussion stuff he dragged out, giving Toby the sound guy a migraine; Fullerton's Shuffledown knocked out too-cool alterna-country at its finest; the Good Kind at Club 369, June 5; Anti-Flag at Chain Reaction, June 11—revolution now!—punk like back in the day, with mohawks and leather jackets and a calling-to-arms and stuff; Pinehurst Kids/Real Diego at Koo's, June 20; Naked Movie Star/ Element 17 at Club 369, June 26; The Starvations at AAA Electra 99 Art Gallery; Sonic Youth/Sleater-Kinney/ Guided by Voices/Rocket From the Crypt/ Superchunk at Irvine Lake, July 4, Sonic Youth's stolen-gear gig, yet they still shredded as if nothing had happened; Jejune/Buck at Chain Reaction, July 23; Sparklejets UK/Twenty Cent Crush/ Samantha's Favourite at Eastgate Park in Garden Grove, July 31—the three best bands in a power-pop-packed afternoon; the Mosleys/Angoras at the Hub Cafe, Aug. 6; Go! Dog! Go!/Lob/John Weise at Koo's, Aug. 14: the Art of Noise, twisted beauty out of a stack of old records, a few beat-up electric gizmos and some purposely out-of-tune gear all crashing together to create something weird and wonderful—John Cage lives!; Joyride/All the Madmen at Linda's Doll Hut, Aug. 14 —Joyride: great reunion gig No. 3; Wayne Kramer/the Iron-Ons at the Lava Lounge, Aug. 26; the Lassie Foundation at Chain Reaction, Aug. 31; Dwight Yoakam at the Sun Theatre, Sept. 9; Nimbus Luna at Que Sera, Sept. 18; Rush, a French hip-hop guy, at Koo's, Sept. 25; Jud Karn/John Wilkes Kissing Booth at Linda's Doll Hut, Oct. 22—Chris Karn oughta be a superstar, a guy who could seemingly turn the whinnying of out-of-control car alarms into hit records, if someone would only let him; Lucinda Williams at the Sun Theatre, Oct. 25; the Moonlight Wranglers/Buck Sawtooth at Linda's Doll Hut, Nov. 7; Farside at Chain Reaction, Nov. 17; Telecast at Chain Reaction, Nov. 27; Inkwell Chemists at Cal State Fullerton, Dec. 3; the Women at Club Mesa, Dec. 3, great reunion gig No. 4, and maybe—just maybe—the single best damn rock N roll show of the whole friggin' 12 months; Superfuzz at the Foothill, Dec. 10; and . . . Dodge Dart, Havalina Rail Co., Tub, Lo-Fi Champion, Peace Corp., the Pocket Clowns, Smile, the Neil Armstrong Band, the Killingtons, Fireants, Teen Heroes, Filmore, the Dibs, Stranger Death 19, Third Grade Teacher, Peepshot—every place, every time, everywhere.
Send tapes, CDs, show dates, long, rambling diatribes, whatever—but no death threats, please, unless directed to the editor—to Locals Only, OC Weekly, P.O. Box 10788, Costa Mesa, CA 92627-0247.
