There was a post about a Jonah Mantranga show (with pictures) on brooklyn vegan. With multiple comments. Huh. I had heard that Fred Durst loved Far but I guess I didn't know that people in other places still remembered them. And before K.S. becomes enraged, that is not a dis on Far. I never heard Far and I only saw them once at the Cattle Club. Jonah took the stage with his long, luxurious locks tucked up into a cap, and then as the rock kicked in he headbanged in a carefully choreographed move so that the cap would fly off and his hair would flow everywhere. That's when I knew it wasn't for me and went out onto the patio.
Jonah's One Line Drawing is pretty big in emo circles. It is probably the biggest Sacramento "alternative" band outside Cake & the Deftones. Far is considered an emo pioneer by some. They are more popular now than they were when they were alive.
ReplyDeleteThe Sea Pigs wanted me to put out the split 7-inch with Far, but I said, waitaminnit, you fuckers have sold a pressing or two of Two Old Guys And A Fat Kid and I am still out hundreds of dollars, so no way. Plus, Not being a Far fan, I didn't see why the Sea Pigs wanted to be a part of it. The ep got put out and sold well and I missed my shot at being a record mogul. Kevin said they are pals. I like them as people too, which is usually a sure sign that I'll hate the band. Never did get it. If OLD is regarded as "emo pioneers," I guess that explains why that didn't do it for me either. Good for Jonah. May he get rich.
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Speaking of Cattle Club.... What's up with The Library? Is it open yet? Will they have shows? Has anyone been?
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Yeah, that's where the uber-hip Animal Collective played. It was a trip being back in that building! It looks fairly the same, though the stage area seems to be bigger, they got rid of that damn pole and there are book spines on some of the walls to make it look like a library. I would be psyched if good shows started happening there. The worst part was they had a club going on after the AC show so the second the show was over, they started really aggresively clearing the place out. Fuck that. They raked it in that night already. You could barely look at the merch table or find your friends. The classic line from a security dude was "move along people, this is not a social event".
ReplyDeletemiller
One of my favorite musical memories is Far playing Marysville. All these Sacramento people showed up, and, despite the music being hard-rock/heavy metal type stuff, nobody in the crowd wanted to beat each other up Marysville style. I bought a four song tape and rocked it all the next day at school. They were always great live, and had a few songs that still stand up. Bird Racoon agrees 'cause we were just talking about it with Nitro.
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Thornucopia played with Far a few times when they first started and they sounded like they were trying to do a Pearl Jam kinda thing - which I guess set them apart from many of the other Sacto bands at the time who were shooting for the Primus alter. I guess their sound must've changed after those early shows I saw if they're considered emo cornerstones. Nice enough guys, but not my bowl of soup.
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about the Library: It is a total trip going back there now. Somebody spent piles of money on the place. If it wasn't for the location, I would have sworn I was at a completely different place. The bathrooms are expanded, the back patio is totally walled-in. The bar staff is largely hotties who don't exactly hustle you into buying drinks, but they _do_ behave in a very (fake) flirtatious way. Gone is the funk. The old boxcar is gone. I guess that's all there is to report. New place, old location. I agree with Miller that it would be great if they'd get some decent bands there more often and decide if they're gonna be a live venue, or a DJ place. (Or at least stick to one or the other on a given night. The AC show that was mentioned smells more like an El Dorado Saloon tactic.) I went there to see SLA and the BEL RAYS. (Liv, why the hell weren't you there? Twas great!
ReplyDeleteJed: Thanks for reminding me of the days when every band in town had a slappin, poppin' wear-your-bass-way-up-high bass player. There were so fucking many of those bands that it was a chore playing the same bill with them, since it was pretty tough telling them apart. That, if memory serves, is why a gig with Far was preferable to the other options. (Tho, I agree with Beckler that Jonah's hair twirling, and overwrought, expressive, *sensitive* vocals/performance was a bit much. But, hey, he MEANT IT, man.)
Ed
i don't know if i ever saw Far live but i kinda lump them in this category of bands that a certain type of person will say like "they're the best band in sacramento" because they can actually play their instruments somewhat and get a little press. and then when i finally hear said bands (i'm not going to name names cuz that would just be mean), i'm totally falling alseep and wondering what all the hulabaloo was about. and again, the people in these bands always tend to be very nice so it's hard to dis. but, man do they get way more credit than they deserve.
ReplyDeleteActually i put those far/sea pigs records out.Gave a pile to them and the rest for the Sea Pigs.They did a Madonna song on it so it wasn`t really like them bein` serious or whatever.I didn`t really try to sell them and thank god.Cause when i decided to catch some Hodgkin`s Lymphnoma stage IIIa cancer the stupid record became hotcakes on ebay.I ended up sellin` a good amount of them and usually put an extra one in the post cause i was thankful(emo kids liked that)so that i could pay for my chemo and house bill.Sorry Ed if still owe some moo la from back in days.Hopefully when i`m in states i treat ya to something.Also i only pressed 500--ed there should be about 25 somewhere at world`s best comics.So if there still ya know >>gold..Take them.So thanks to Far!Cause alot of ya didn`t come to my garage sales or didn`t know about them.Sorry for bad writing..I usually blame it on the after effects of chemo which made me forget my roommate,iguanas and my now present day wife names for like 2 months.I would be like "hey--ya you,what`s my iguana`s name again and yours"..I would write in a notebook then but the doctor had me on predisone which is like speed so i always lose the notebook.I also rode my bike to chemo which was 10 mile trip..Ed thanks for the doobs and jed was at one of my garage sale(so thanks).Sorry for be a lunny..jay san
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