MY FIRST GIG

Opening for Malfunkshun and The Accused in 1984!

My show at Vashon Center for the Arts on 3/30/24 is almost sold out. Remaining tickets HERE.

My wide-ranging interview with Jeff Hoyt will air on KVSH today (1/29/24) at 5 pm Pacific. It’s streaming now on their website.

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Preparing for my first gig in years has got me thinking about my very first gig.

I never played a show with my first band, March of Crimes. I’ll have to write about my experiences in that group another time.

25TH HOUR

My very first rock show was with my second band, 25th Hour. Nice name, huh? We were a genuine garage rock band. Our singer, Brian Fenner, hosted band practice in his parent’s garage in our hometown of Bainbridge Island, Washington. Tom Brown occupied the drum chair. I covered guitar duties while Sean Mugrage held down the low end with his bass. Regular readers of Love Songs Etc may remember Sean from this post about our band Ramadillo or this post about the demo for “So I Am Over You.”

Rocking the Mateo Les Paul copy in the Fenner’s garage. Ca. 1984.

As a sophomore in high school, I was the youngest member of the band. The other guys were juniors and seniors. Sean was old enough to drive and owned a cool old car. The make and model escapes me now—something like a ’56 Chevy. I fondly remember driving around the island hoping for a keg party to materialize. Picture the moon tower scene in Dazed and Confused and you get the perfect picture of ‘Braindamage Island’ on a Friday night. But I digress.

THE BILL

Our first gig was across the water in the big city of Seattle. I don’t recall how, but somehow we landed the opening slot on a very cool bill. We were to share the stage with Malfunkshun and The Accused. Aficionados of the Seattle scene will be familiar with both groups. They were big time. Especially compared to our fledgling outfit.

Like 25th Hour, Malfunkshun was from Bainbridge Island. The band featured brothers Andy and Kevin Wood. Andy played his purple Steinberger bass and sang. Kevin played scorching lead guitar. Drummer Regan Hagar, aka Thundarr, rounded out the three-piece. Regan has gone on to enjoy a fruitful career playing for Brad and Satchel, both fronted by the late, great Shawn Smith. These days, he is partners with Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard in running Loosegroove Records.

ANDY WOOD

Andy Wood, of course, went on to front Mother Love Bone. You likely know the story. He tragically died of a heroin overdose on the eve of the release of the now-classic album Apple. I was the opening act at Andy’s last show ever in March of 1990, but that’s another story for another time.

While in Malfunkshun, he went by the stage name Landrew the Love Child and wore spandex and face paint. He was always the consummate showman. It’s cliche to say so, but even if he played a small club he sold it like a packed arena show.

Andy was a wonderful human. I adored him. Everybody did. I barely knew him at the time of this gig, but later, during the Love Bone years, I spent a fair amount of time in his presence and always cherished every moment. He was hilarious and fun to be around.

Shortly before his death, I bumped into him on the street in Belltown. His label had set him up with recording equipment and he asked if I wanted to get together to make music. He mentioned wanting to do some mellower, acoustic stuff. I was beyond excited. Sadly, he died before we could make that happen. Again, I digress.

THE VENUE

The Top of the Court was on the second floor of a building on 15th Ave West north of downtown near Interbay. (I’m pretty sure it was on 15th, but don’t quote me.) A quick Google search returned just one result. Setlist.fm lists only three shows. All of them in December of 1984. Among them, Malfunkshun on December 8. That must be the gig we opened.

Other bands that played that month included Soundgarden and The Melvins, so whoever booked this venue had their finger on the pulse. My hunch is that the club only existed for a minute. Perhaps a Seattle music historian can chime in in the comments with more details.

I can picture the room. Up one flight of stairs, turn right to enter a rectangular, nondescript room with low ceilings. The low ceilings prevented us from using our flash pots. So much for the pyrotechnics. I guess we’d just have to let the music speak for itself.

THE SET

We went on first and played to a mostly disinterested crowd of punk rock fans. Our brand of basic, straight-up rock did not go over all that well. Most memorable was the fact that we opened and closed with the same song, a cover of “Love Gun” by KISS. We had not planned on bookending the set this way, but as we finished our last song, a lone voice from the otherwise silent audience insisted, “Play ‘Love Gun’ again!” We debated on stage whether to repeat the song. I was adamantly opposed to the idea. It struck me as unprofessional. But then, before I could protest anymore, the machine gun drum fill that opens the song was fired off, and away we went. Years later I learned that none other than Regan Hagar had demanded the repeat encore.

“PROMISE”

The highlight of the night came after the show when Accused guitarist Tommy Niemeyer told me I showed “promise.” This meant the world to me. Tommy had a record out and everything.

PAYDAY

25th Hour was paid a whopping ten bucks for the gig. We split the money up so the two members who drove got three dollars while those who didn’t got two. I placed half of my take in a small picture frame. My first dollar in the music business. That dollar was eventually stolen, presumably used to buy a bag of Beechnut chewing tobacco. Lucky for me, more gigs and more dollars followed.

Peace & Love Songs,

Pete