by Sean Orr | I was going to call this Notes From Underground but I thought was a bit obvious. Nevertheless, these are just some reflections on last week’s Music Waste (Greg Adams offers a broad synopsis in the Straight).

I didn’t get into Honey on Wednesday because I guffawed when asked for 2 pieces of ID. The doorman didn’t like my attitude but I liked what I heard of Flash Palace. On Thursday I got asked to DJ at Lick which was cool because I was already planning to go there. Baptists slayed as usual but Hidden Towers were the highlight for me. Think DC-tinged instrumental melodic post hardcore in the vein of late 90’s bands like Frodus, Leatherface, Quicksand, Helmet, and Sunny Day Real Estate.

On Friday I thought it might be a good idea to get a bottle of cheap Shiraz and walk down to Goody, where I was to volunteer. On the way I saw the Good Idea group show at Rainbow/Red Gates/Gam Gallery. Then I went to Blim to see some spaced out hippy be-in/comedy/performance art piece/nu-jazz/hip hop act called Mangina. It consisted of a man in drag stabbing himself in the vagina and bleeding all over the stage while singing raunchy electro-clash in the vein of Peaches or Gravy Train.

By the time I got to Goody I was pretty wasted and ended up getting fired from my Doorman position at around 2am. On the plus side I ended up at W2 dancing to Speakerbruiser Rob and Basketball until 5 in the morning.

As expected, Saturday was glorious. I popped some paxil and oxycontin and grabbed an eighth of weed and walked up the Mountain. Student Teacher first at Neptoon; then PEACE absolutely killed it with a one armed drummer and some heavy Velvets-style post-rock at Redcat; then Magneticring outside in the blazing 4pm sun at Gene pulled knobs and pushed buttons on his Eno-style modular synth. Honestly, this might have been the best show of Music Waste. My shoulders were burnt and my back was boiling hot. I slogged back down the mountain and had a nap on Beer Island.

A quick glass at Six Acres, then home for some coffee, then to Zoo Shop to catch Boy Voyage. Popped over to Lion’s Den for the Blow Up art show where Spring Break got mellow. Back to Zoo Zhop for Timecopz then time to volunteer at Funky’s. Kellarissa and Fanshaw were cancelled. Shipyards were mind-blowing; 12 people on stage, including yours truly!

Sunday I walked from Gastown to the Drive and was pleasantly surprised by the Italian Festival they had going on. Had to get a caesar and Timbre made one of the best. The bowling show ended up costing 10 bucks so I split to Waste Jam where I was to coach a team called 3 Cams and One Dude to the semi-finals. Let’s just say we made it rain. Tyler Fedchuck played sunny west coast geek hop while starving friends pounded cheap beer and hot dogs. Later that night we pushed our livers even further with 4 huge kegs at the secret space. I didn’t see any of the bands. In fact, I couldn’t actually see.