Report from Reno

Hey all, I'm in Reno for the Sticker Guy anniversary, and it's also my first trip to Reno. Ever notice as soon as you cross out of California, the roads suddenly get better? What the hell is up with that? California needs to step it up. Anyways, Reno = smooth roads. Once you get near the city, you see all the lights and that's when you realize you are entering the next dimension...

The 2-day show, excuse me, "party" is at this place in Reno called Club Underground. They have a terrible website. The club is pretty big, and there are two stages, which make the pace of the music awesome! There is a main stage and a bar stage. The bar stage is smaller, but that room makes it a little better to see the bands. The main stage actually reminds me a little bit of Gilman street, with the big open space.

We got to the venue around 9:30 or so and there was a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge line outside, so we had to wait about 20 minutes and missed the Juveniles, a local Reno band I'd wanted to see. They have that sloppy-punk Trashies/Spits thing going on. Oh well. We got inside and started looking for our Sacto friends that'd be there, including Heckasac and the Bananas crew.

We hit the bar, and there was very little beer, just lots and lots of hard alcohol. And then I saw Blue Moon on tap and I was sold. I bought Andrew and I beer and about passed out when the Bartender said "$10". $5 for a fucking beer?! It wasn't even very good- for some reason, it tasted more like flat budweiser. With a tip, that was $12 total. DOH!

As I reeled from the shock, we got to see NOBUNNY from Oakland, who coincidently have new Oakland resident, Max Trashie, from the Trashies!! They all wore funny masks and put on a fun show. Once they finished, the announcer got on stage and lead us to the Bar Stage to catch Sacto's own the BANANAS! The kids just love THE BANANAS. We soon found Heckasac. After some small talk, we pointed at each others beers and yelled, "FIVE DOLLARS?!?".

The Bananas put on a great show. People went pretty apeshit. Early in the set, a beer went flying in the air. I looked over, and Andrew got the worst of it. Beer dripped off his hair, as if he'd just stepped under a beer shower. He was a trooper, though.
The beer stage is totally partied out with sparkly streamers hanging all over the place. For the Bananas, it just fits. They played a nice mix of new and old songs...I can't wait for the new record!!

In between bands, DJs play music, which is rad, but the music is way too loud, to the point where you can't talk to anyone without yelling. The mix of yelling to the person next to you, and breathing in the smokey air- (they can smoke indoors in Reno), is enough to make you appreciate places like California where you don't have to deal with that. I'm not wussing out, I'm just saying that if you want to smoke, that's fine, but I'd rather not get cancer from breathing in some shitty second-hand smoke. Plus, all my clothes totally reek. Oh well, what'dya gonna do.


Next Post: The rest of Friday night, including the Spits, Scared of Chaka, pros & cons.