May 10, 2016 Save Music in Chinatown 9 with California, Saccharine Trust, Zander Schloss, Spokenest, and Mike Watt & The Secondmen
When my wife and I came up with the idea of organizing all-ages DIY punk matinees to raise money for the music program at Castelar Elementary, we had no idea what we were doing. We just went for it and–with help from so many friends in bands, with venues, on radio shows, and with cool stuff for the raffle–have been doing it for three school years. So I guess there was no excuse for Sunday’s show to end late for the first time and by more than an hour!
But this is a labor of love and charity, and we hit up everyone that would thought would be a good fit when we found out that my friends in California would be touring Southern California and had a Sunday afternoon free. I asked my pal Adam, who is the drummer and show booker, what legendary L.A. punk bands he’d want to play with and he suggested Mike Watt or Saccharine Trust. We asked both and Watt, who has been supporting our cause ever since playing with The Gears and Adolescents for us last year, volunteered along with his Secondmen right away. Of course. Watt is as renowned for being nice as he is being transcendent on the bass guitar.
I thought it would be great to have a “younger” band in the lineup and asked my friend Daryl who got a kick out of being considered that since he and his wife Adrian are in their thirties. It was great to have the Spokenest duo playing songs off their great new LP as well as representing RazorCake and KCHUNG, underground media that have been supporting our cause. Spokenest blistered through a 20-minute set of raging garage punk, and I hope that some people in the crowd bought their vinyl.
Zander Schloss played for us earlier this year as part of the duo Sean Wheeler & Zander Schloss, and said that he would return for a solo set. It doesn’t seem like an obvious fit for a curmudgeon like him to play his thoughtful, deliberate, and delicate folk songs in an all-ages matinee with little kids running around but I think he must secretly like it since he came back. Of course, Zander has a storied punk rock pedigree including The Weirdos, Thelonious Monster, The Circle Jerks, and Joe Strummer–not to mention acting in the Repo Man movie–so he knows how to handle a rough crowd.
I didn’t think Saccharine Trust was really going to happen, but Adam mentioned that he was in touch with singer Jack Brewer. Meanwhile, I had recently met guitarist Joe Baiza at a Zander Schloss show. Each of us contacted our acquaintance, respectively, and I was shocked to find out weeks after asking that the legendary band would indeed play for us. Five sets would be a lot, but crap. Saccharine Trust is not only a legendary combo that pushed the boundaries of L.A. punk into hard jazz freakouts, but they also played many shows with Mike Watt’s Minutemen at the nearby Hong Kong Cafe. How could we say no?
By the time California hit the stage, most of the primo bake sale stuff was devoured and and a chunk of the Watt and Saccharine Trust crowd went home to take naps. But then a funny thing happened: the little kids took over the space previously occupied by punk and beatniks. First, it was Eloise and her cousins, then classmates, and finally singer Jason’s nieces in the pit, dancing and jumping around like the bunnies in the Peanuts Easter special. New songs were mixed in with cuts off the just-released album for a new generation of kids that are hopefully not only provided with music education in public school but exposed to, stoked on, and empowered by DIY and underground culture.
Another awesome show and another school year wrapped up. Thanks to the Grand Star for hosting us; all the bands that played for the kids; KXLU’s Molotov Cocktail Hour crew for DJing; Kiyoshi Nakazawa from the flyer art; everyone who contributed to or helped out with the bake sale; all the generous and awesome donations to the raffle; all my family, friends, and future friends who helped spread the word; and of course everyone who came and had a blast while making no messes or fusses. Such a great scene has been forming and it’s not only for but with little kids. Let’s do it again next school year!
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