Jason Traeger
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Anyone who knows me knows I've never been one to revel in the past. I'm the last one to cast a misty-eyed glance back at the "good old days". In my experience the people who take this angle are usually the ones who weren't there. Whatever mistakes, false starts and missed opportunities I've had the pleasure of having, I was wherever I was for better or worse.

This blog is not meant to romanticize any choices I made or any particular era. It's simply a place where I share stories and take stock of where I've been as a way to figure out where I might want to go next. I'll celebrate some people along the way, some of them you'll know or know of, others will be new to you. I'm glad to have known every one of them.

The posts are in no thematic or chronological order. The date at the end of the post's title refers to how the content of the post relates to me personally. I make no claim about the accuracy of my recollections I only promise that I'll be as honest and accurate as I can be. If you were there and you remember things differently than I do, or you find evidence that contradicts my memory (I wouldn't be surprised or upset) feel free to let me know.

Rather than editing the posts for historical accuracy, I'll put ( * ) next to any parts that have been challenged or updated for that reason.


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July 3, 2012
MAURO FROM RAW POWER AND JELLO BIAFRA AT A PARTY   SAN DIEGO 1984 This is a little bonus blog entry to tack onto the one that preceded it. I don’t remember who took this picture, I’m pretty sure I didn’t but I was there when it was taken. Like I said in the other post this was the second time I met Biafra who I’d end up working for at Alternative Tentacles a few years later in the decade.  I’m pretty sure Biafra’s leg got fudged up on stage in L.A. at the Olympic by some over eager stage diver. The venue was notorious for having a ridiculously porous stage policy that would often lead to the bands being almost totally lost in the crowd jumping, stage diving and slamming all around them on stage. I remember it was weird seeing him do the show in San Diego perched on a stool with his leg out straight in front of him, doing his trademark hand gestures and stuff. He still rocked and the kids went crazy of course. That night though really belonged to Raw Power. Hardly anyone had heard of them and they simply blew the SD crowd away with their relentless attack. They were unstoppable and the hard-headed SD punks loved them for it. SD Punks of a certain age take note of the Personal Conflict shirt in the other room! (Photo of Mauro and Jello from my personal archives)

MAURO FROM RAW POWER AND JELLO BIAFRA AT A PARTY   SAN DIEGO 1984


This is a little bonus blog entry to tack onto the one that preceded it.

I don’t remember who took this picture, I’m pretty sure I didn’t but I was there when it was taken. Like I said in the other post this was the second time I met Biafra who I’d end up working for at Alternative Tentacles a few years later in the decade. 

I’m pretty sure Biafra’s leg got fudged up on stage in L.A. at the Olympic by some over eager stage diver. The venue was notorious for having a ridiculously porous stage policy that would often lead to the bands being almost totally lost in the crowd jumping, stage diving and slamming all around them on stage.

I remember it was weird seeing him do the show in San Diego perched on a stool with his leg out straight in front of him, doing his trademark hand gestures and stuff. He still rocked and the kids went crazy of course. That night though really belonged to Raw Power. Hardly anyone had heard of them and they simply blew the SD crowd away with their relentless attack. They were unstoppable and the hard-headed SD punks loved them for it.

SD Punks of a certain age take note of the Personal Conflict shirt in the other room!

(Photo of Mauro and Jello from my personal archives)

12:33am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Zl8DhvOc3hS8
(Notes: 27)
  
Filed under: Dead Kennedys Jello Biafra Mauro Codeluppi Raw Power alternative tentacles olympic auditorium san diego tim maze personal conflict 
March 23, 2012
SAMHAIN/POISON 13 WABASH HALL SAN DIEGO 1985 This show was absolutely wild. San Diego, or Slow Death as the scene was nicknamed was a very violent punk scene on a good day and then there were nights like this one where all hell broke loose. Wabash Hall was a wide room with a low ceiling and a stage about three feet high. Samhain was a highly anticipated band since it was Glenn D’s first outing post-Misfits so the place was packed. Poison 13 an Austin, TX. blues-punk band featuring Tim Kerr and Chris Gates from (the brilliant funk-punk pioneers)  Big Boys opened the show. The SD scene was not known for having much love for bands that stretched the idea of what constituted “punk rock” and Poison 13’s slow, chugging, bluesy vibe was not well received. As their set progressed the crowd grew angrier and angrier until in response to shouts of “PLAY FASTER!!” Tim Kerr good-naturedly said “Why don’t you start your own band?” The crowd was not inspired by this D.I.Y. suggestion. Somehow the band finished their set and left the stage intact. Samhain came out and Glenn being the master he was, had the crowd whipped up into a frenzy in no time. The thick air of the room was filled with dark, aggressive, intensity and when the guys from Poison 13 waded into the crowd to watch Samhain they quickly became the object of heaps of derision. The crowd’s scorn turned to action and like a spark in a room full of gas vapor s—t went off. The SD thug-punks set upon the Texas guys but Chris Gates got the worst of it. Fights were nothing special AT ALL at a San Diego punk show, in fact I can hardly recall a show at that time where there wasn’t a brawl. The things that made this one notable was that it involved one of the bands getting wailed on and a good portion of the crowd dishing out the beat down. I was the furthest thing from a brawler and this was a scene where anyone with a brain would just cover his head and move to the side which is what I did. The whole thing was over in a couple minutes which (as anyone with experience in this type of scenario knows) is a long time when fists, feet, and whatever else are flying. My crew of friends and I would flyer and clean up after shows for Tim Maze and we got in free to all shows so we stuck around backstage after it was all over. Everyone was f—cked up, knots on heads, cuts, black eyes, torn up, some dudes were snorting speed. The hall was trashed. I remember Tim Kerr saying “San Diego is no joke!” Yeah, you could say that again. I don’t want to glamorize this violent s—t. I tell this story to paint a picture of a time. Putting up with this kind of mayhem was very tiresome and even depressing. It was a total pain in the ass that would ultimately ruin the “punk show” experience for me.

SAMHAIN/POISON 13 WABASH HALL SAN DIEGO 1985


This show was absolutely wild. San Diego, or Slow Death as the scene was nicknamed was a very violent punk scene on a good day and then there were nights like this one where all hell broke loose.

Wabash Hall was a wide room with a low ceiling and a stage about three feet high. Samhain was a highly anticipated band since it was Glenn D’s first outing post-Misfits so the place was packed. Poison 13 an Austin, TX. blues-punk band featuring Tim Kerr and Chris Gates from (the brilliant funk-punk pioneers)  Big Boys opened the show.

The SD scene was not known for having much love for bands that stretched the idea of what constituted “punk rock” and Poison 13’s slow, chugging, bluesy vibe was not well received. As their set progressed the crowd grew angrier and angrier until in response to shouts of “PLAY FASTER!!” Tim Kerr good-naturedly said “Why don’t you start your own band?” The crowd was not inspired by this D.I.Y. suggestion. Somehow the band finished their set and left the stage intact.

Samhain came out and Glenn being the master he was, had the crowd whipped up into a frenzy in no time. The thick air of the room was filled with dark, aggressive, intensity and when the guys from Poison 13 waded into the crowd to watch Samhain they quickly became the object of heaps of derision. The crowd’s scorn turned to action and like a spark in a room full of gas vapor s—t went off.

The SD thug-punks set upon the Texas guys but Chris Gates got the worst of it. Fights were nothing special AT ALL at a San Diego punk show, in fact I can hardly recall a show at that time where there wasn’t a brawl. The things that made this one notable was that it involved one of the bands getting wailed on and a good portion of the crowd dishing out the beat down.

I was the furthest thing from a brawler and this was a scene where anyone with a brain would just cover his head and move to the side which is what I did. The whole thing was over in a couple minutes which (as anyone with experience in this type of scenario knows) is a long time when fists, feet, and whatever else are flying.

My crew of friends and I would flyer and clean up after shows for Tim Maze and we got in free to all shows so we stuck around backstage after it was all over. Everyone was f—cked up, knots on heads, cuts, black eyes, torn up, some dudes were snorting speed. The hall was trashed. I remember Tim Kerr saying “San Diego is no joke!”

Yeah, you could say that again.

I don’t want to glamorize this violent s—t. I tell this story to paint a picture of a time. Putting up with this kind of mayhem was very tiresome and even depressing. It was a total pain in the ass that would ultimately ruin the “punk show” experience for me.

11:02am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Zl8DhvIRW_CY
(Notes: 13)
  
Filed under: big boys eerie von glenn danzig poison 13 samhain tim kerr tim maze wabash hall san diego 
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