There was a peculiar vibe on the streets outside the Memorial Auditorium prior to the Queens of the Stone Age show.
First of all, it seemed curious that a sports bar near the venue had more screens showing the State of the Union speech than the Kings game. In fact, three screens had the speech on Fox News and none were showing the Kings game. Maybe it’s just a sign of the times, but it seemed strange. I had to pester the bartender at the establishment to put on the game for the final seconds of what turned out to be a rare victory for our beleaguered team.
Jon Theodore of Queens of the Stone Age
Down the street, unlike the low expectations for the Kings (and the speech), the crowd heading into the Memorial were prepared see a win. Rather than a feeling of resignation, there was an air of confidence. No one seemed to be rushing. They knew what they were in for. There seemed to be an unspoken consensus that the Queens would show up and kick ass and take names. This is something the band have gained quite a reputation for over the years.
However, it’s important to mention that although this feeling resonated, there may have been some deep-down concern over a couple of recent episodes of erratic behavior by the group and band leader Josh Homme last year.
Troy De Van Leeuwen & Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age
First, the band cancelled their prime time slot at Outside Lands due to an undisclosed “injury.” Then, during a holiday show, Homme received worldwide press when he kicked a photographer’s camera, and it struck her in the head during his band’s set. He later apologized via video and called himself a “total dick” for his actions. This was a little over a month ago.
These incidents may have given concern to many, but the band’s core fans didn’t seem too fazed.
Homme has long been a swaggering, anti-hero on the rock ‘n’ roll scene. Along with Dave Grohl, he’s been a driving force behind a movement to keep authentic rock ‘n’ roll expression alive. Together with Grohl and the former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones he formed the rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures in 2009, which resulted in a Grammy-winning song for Best Hard Rock Performance. Last year, he collaborated with Iggy Pop on the album Post Pop Depression, and went on to do a tour with the legendary vocalist, which received critical acclaim.
Jesse Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal
The openers on this night in Sacramento were Eagles of Death Metal, Homme’s collaboration with Jesse Hughes, an old high school friend. It was in 2015 that the group and their fans were attacked by terrorists at the Bataclan theater in Paris, where 90 people were killed and naturally, many, many others were scarred for life. Homme wasn’t there, but he was deeply affected by the tragedy.
Despite their name, Eagles of Death Metal are more of a boogie rock band with some rockabilly tendencies. Hughes came out with impressive energy, working the stage like a manic preacher and firing up the crowd by tossing them Dum Dums lollipops. The band rocked and by the time they were done, the crowd was ready to pounce.
Early in the Eagles set, Hughes pointed out that local native Colin Hanks was in the wings. Hanks directed an HBO documentary called Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our friends) that documented the aftermath of the Paris attacks. Homme joined the group on drums for their final two songs and Hanks came out with the band at the end of their set to take a bow.
Queens of the Stone Age were touring in support of last year’s Villains album. The record was a departure for the band, who brought in producer Mark Ronson (Bruno Mars, Amy Winehouse). Ronson helped the group explore a sound that follows Homme’s intention to make a record that amplifies the limber grooves of QOTSA’s sinewy sound. This was highlighted in the live realm by the phenomenal drumming of Jon Theodore (The Mars Volta), who joined the band a few years ago. Another standout figure on stage was Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar, keyboards, vocals), who played with nimble ferocity throughout the set.
Jennie Vee of Eagles of Death Metal
While the setlist was great, the sound in the Memorial Auditorium left quite a bit to be desired. The venue is known to be be aesthetically pleasing but acoustically lacking. On this night the Queens tried to compensate by just turning things way up, which buried a lot of the great musicianship onstage. Someone in their technical crew figured out a tweak prior to the last three songs and the sound improved dramatically. Too bad this didn’t happen earlier.
During all of this, at the center of it all was Homme, who started things off by muffing some lyrics near the end of the opener “Keep Your Eyes Peeled,” but seemed to find his stride by the fourth song, “No One Knows.” After that it was full steam ahead.
Homme bantered with the crowd, at one point promising a fan up front to add an unplanned “Mexicola” to the setlist as a birthday gift. They played it during the encore. He told a nice story about growing up with Hughes. He scolded a stage diver. He danced a little like Elvis, and at the end of it all he handed his vodka bottle over to the crowd.
All in all it was a solid, and often blaring night of rock ‘n’ roll that was a good reminder that Sacramento could really use a better sounding mid-size venue. In the meantime, the Memorial will close down at the end of March to begin a substantial renovation that promises improved acoustics. Here’s to hoping that becomes a reality. And fer godsakes, let’s also hope that the Kings can get some good draft picks.
Dave Catching & Jennie Vee of Eagles of Death Metal
**This review first appeared in print on page 29 of issue #259 (Feb. 12 – 26, 2018)**
In an era where ubiquitousness is as necessary for an entertainer as actually being talented, a guy like Nick Offerman has a lot going for him all at once. The beloved, deadpan, multidisciplinary actor has parlayed his post-Parks and Recreation role as the now-iconic Ron Swanson into a rollercoaster of film gigs (his portrayal of Dick McDonald in The Founder was exceptional), multiple viral video campaigns (have you seen the yule log video of a silent Offerman drinking whiskey in front of a fireplace for 45 minutes?) and a steady stream of live performances with and without his wife Megan Mullally of Will and Grace fame.
Despite that dizzying omnipresence, Offerman’s stranglehold on the pantheon of the uber-American male is anchored in a kind of modesty. Viewers of his Netflix special American Ham will remember Offerman’s steady barbs delivered with eloquent―if not raunchy―poise, always through a piercing, stoic gaze. As more of a one-man show than a stand-up comedy special, Offerman deals in hilarious folk-country ditties he’s written, expounding upon the voracity of his middle-aged sex life, and extolling the virtues of living a prosperous, handcrafted life away from the trappings of modern technology. His is a message of salvation from the ultra-progressive pathos, despite Offerman’s off-stage liberal leanings.
In short, Nick Offerman is probably the most likeable personality in the United States right now, and he seems to be enjoying every second of it. He’s also somehow still able to spend most of his time woodworking at his East Los Angeles woodworker’s collective, the Offerman Woodshop.
Offerman’s well-known affinity for working with his hands is even being utilized for an upcoming NBC reality competition series dubbed The Handmade Project, in a reunion with with Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler.
And things don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. On May 19, 2017, Epix will air a recording of one of Offerman and Mullally’s performances from their 2016 tour, Summer of 69: No Apostrophe. Offerman and Mullally also recently obtained the film rights to the best-selling George Saunders book Lincoln in the Bardo, after Offerman was part of the narration team for the audiobook.
When Submerge caught up with Offerman, he was in the passenger’s seat with his dad at the wheel, driving from Kalamazoo, Michigan, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a gig. The two turned the Midwest dates into a father-son road trip, and if that doesn’t convince you of the Offerman appeal, then I just don’t know what more to say. Offerman will headline Cap City Comedy’s Weekend of Unlimited Laughs along with David Koechner (Saturday Night Live, Anchorman) Sunday, April 23, 2017, at Memorial Auditorium.
So you and your dad are doing the traditional road trip kind of thing? Stopping in little towns and stuff?
Yeah, I have a show tonight, so Dad had a beer for lunch and he let me have one sip of it. It was an Irish stout, and it was the highlight of my day so far.
Last year you were touring the country with your wife Megan Mullally on the Summer of 69: No Apostrophe show, and I understand your show in Sacramento is solo. Could you talk a bit about the pros and cons of performing solo as opposed to performing with another person—especially your wife—on stage in a comedy show.
It depends on who you can get to be your other person. In my case, my other person is incredibly beautiful and sings better than any angel I’ve heard. That takes a great deal of pressure off of me. Many people have seen our show together and were surprised to hear I was on stage with her. That’s preferable. When I’m alone, there’s a lot more onus on me to entertain the crowd and carry the show. So Megan and I, we’re kind of like an old-fashioned showbiz couple, where we have a great rapport between us, and we sing a lot of songs together. When I’m alone I get more personal, where it’s my own singular philosophy, morphed into a sense of humor, interlaced with much more mediocre-sounding music.
Submerge covers a lot of music, locally and nationally, and with music being a big part of your performances, I wondered what you most enjoy listening to that maybe people may not expect? I know you’re a big fan of Wilco …
My dad used to listen to this radio station when I was a kid called WJJB, and they played old oldies from the ‘30s and ‘40s. Being down in his basement shop, where the wood stove also was, it gives me very warm memories connecting working in the shop to the Mills Brothers. I still listen to the Mills Brothers a lot, and the Andrews Sisters, and other similar acts that weren’t related to each other. It’s interesting because Megan’s band Nancy and Beth, she also loves that kind of music, so they do a couple of Mills Brothers songs that I find quite fetching. I also love jazz, specifically John Coltrane and Thelonius Monk—they get a lot of play at the woodshop.
There’s an early hip-hop side to my catalog. The Greatest Hits of Kool and the Gang is one of our favorite records in the shop. It’s very rousing music, so after lunch when we feel like we’re ready for a nap, we put on Kool and the Gang and that gets us bouncing back over to the table saw. Also in that category would be the Gap Band, the Dazz Band, Parliament, Sly and the Family Stone. Old-school funk, I guess. Also the early records of The Meters from New Orleans; their stuff really gets my fanny bumping.
What can you tell me about the new reality competition series that yourself and Amy Poehler have in the works, The Handmade Project? Is Amy experienced in the handmade world?
Well, I’m really excited about the show. It’s a really fun celebration of people who make things with their hands. Those are my favorite kind of people, so to do this show on a big platform like NBC thrills me to death. When I’m touring, I always include as part of my spiel encouraging people to get off their phones and their video games and make things with their hands. It’s a much better way to say “I love you” to your friends and family than showing them your high score on Call of Duty. The show was the idea of Amy and her production company, which means it’s going to be way better than if I was in charge. I’m really excited to see how it turns out, and I’m very grateful that they invited me to be a cheerleader on the show. I love meeting people who are exceptionally talented, and I love the notion that we’re going to encourage a large audience to make things, because that makes us better citizens.
Amy is a self-proclaimed novice when it comes to crafting, but she’s a huge fan. She’s always been surrounded by people making things. So she has said she’s really excited to have this close-up view of the ingenuity of crafting people, and undoubtedly some of it will rub off. I’m sure she’ll be making quilts for everybody by Christmas.
In American Ham, you outlined your “10 Tips for a Prosperous Life.” As this was produced a few years back, have you made any addendums or substitutions since then? What might be 11–15, if you could add those?
The latter is much more likely. A list like that never really shrinks, although there is one I’ll weigh in on. I think it might have been number four, and that was “Eat red meat.” I still very much enjoy red meat, but I’m older now and I’ve come to realize in conversations with my cardiologist that my circulatory system is not that of a fictional comedy character, but in fact exists in the real world. So I might amend number four to “Eat red meat … on occasion.” In this day and age, I could probably tour another show with a second 10 tips that would all just involve good manners, and standing by one’s word. “Don’t grab people in the genitals.” Things that you would think would be obvious, but apparently not everyone knows these points of etiquette. No. 17: Spend a weekend at the White House once in awhile instead of golfing. There’s a great tip for success.
Did you have any additional information you wanted folks in Sacramento to know about your show?
I’m terribly excited; I haven’t played Sacramento before, and looking at the weather patterns and my own improving health situation, the Sacramento show will be the pinnacle of my touring career. So I wouldn’t miss it if I were them.
Cap City Comedy’s Weekend of Unlimited Laughs will run from April 21–23, at venues around town including Punch Line and The Comedy Spot. Offerman’s show will take place at the Memorial Auditorium on April 23, 2017. For tickets and a full lineup of events, go to Capcitycomedyseries.com.
**Editor’s Note: As of Friday, April 21, 2017, we are currently running a TICKET GIVEAWAY on our Facebook and Instagram pages where four lucky Submerge readers will win a pair of tickets to this show! Check out our pages to enter to win (it’s easy, really). Find us @SubmergeMag on both IG and FB!**
Think you’ve got what it takes to join Sacramento’s Roller Derby Elite?
Skip the tutus, leave the fishnet stockings at home and dare call any of them “derby girls.” For the women representing local derby leagues Sac City Rollers and Sacred City Derby Girls, roller derby is taken very seriously. Sure, the term “derby girl” stuck as the overall vernacular throughout the sport’s existence; however, you’ve been forewarned. For both leagues, derby is a full-contact sport that requires more skills and dedication than just rolling around on eight wheels. Derby encompasses the lives of each player, often dedicating dozens of hours outside of practice to improve their endurance and abilities for life on the track. Whether they’re teaching sixth grade science during the day or taking on the general manager position for their entire league, the women of derby are all in. Players from both leagues sit down with Submerge to squash the misconceptions and hand out tips for this season’s tryouts. Do you have what it takes to become a blocker for the Sac City Rollers or the next jammer for Sacred City? Find out from four of the leagues’ toughest competitors.
FISHNETS, TUTUS AND MISCONCEPTIONS
Besides the “derby girl” label, there are other misconceptions about roller derby that Josie Moody, or Colt 45 of the Sacred City team, the Sacrificers, says really bothers her. For one, the game is never staged and is very real.
“This is a sport, and we take derby very seriously. Plus, I don’t think we call 40-year-old women, girls,” says Colt 45 who adds all personalities and body types are welcome in the world of derby.
“You don’t have to be a big, burly person to play derby. There’s no one type of person that plays. It’s straight women, lesbians, transgendered people, people who are in law school, servers, CEOs, nurses [and] all sorts of people.”
Ranked seventh on the West Coast and certified with the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), the members of Sacred City look forward to their season-opening bout, or game, on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 at the Memorial Auditorium. Colt 45 says attending a bout is the best way to understand the physical demands of roller derby.
As a full-contact sport, derby calls for knee pads, helmets and mouth guards to protect all those pretty smiles, but for Aleitha Burns of the Sac City Rollers, which also recently gained certification with the WFTDA last year and looks forward to moving up the ranks this season, or as her team mates know her, Aleithal Weapon, the tutus and other glamorous threads shouldn’t be of importance when on the track. Roller derby is no fashion show.
“My biggest pet peeve is that people think that roller derby is all about hot pants and fishnets,” says Aleithal Weapon. “[We’re] true athletes. It is a real sport. It’s just like basketball or football or any other sport. The biggest misconception is that we’re all focused on our hot pants and our fishnets.”
TRYOUTS: HUMILITY, HEART AND HAVING THICK SKIN
Colt 45 said it best, “You weren’t born wearing skates.” Certain women are natural athletes and move up the ranks within three months time in the world of roller derby, others, take a year or more. Despite the time it takes an individual to land a position on either team, Trinity Gleckler, aka La Lucha, of the Sac City Rollers admits to falling during tryouts over seven years ago–a lot.
“I started in the league’s birth in 2006. I didn’t know how to skate, and I had to teach myself through falling,” says La Lucha. “It took a lot of hard work.”
Hard work and the willingness to laugh at oneself according to Colt 45 are also important when it comes to derby tryouts. She says as adults the reluctance to fall in front of others paired with the acceptance of humility is a difficult feat for most.
“I was completely terrible at [skating] when I first started and I was terrible at it for a long time,” says Colt 45.
Being terrible in front of new faces sometimes invites the “shit talking” to begin as Lisa Zaniewski so bluntly explains.
Evil Shenanigans, or Evil, as her Sacred City teammates refer to her, says one cardinal rule of roller derby is having thick skin.
“Not all the girls are going to be nice to you. When you play, they’re going to call you names, they’re going to say horrible things about you and about your team,” says Evil. “You have to be prepared to take it. You have to be ready for people to talk shit about you and they will.”
Still, falling in front of strangers and the whispers of others should be last on your list of worries when contemplating derby tryouts. Aleithal Weapon says derby isn’t a sport you get in shape for, but a sport you should be in shape for.
“My biggest top tip would be interval running where you get your heart rate up by running for five minutes, stop and do some other activity,” says Aleithal Weapon. “Studies show–I’m a science teacher–to properly build endurance, interval training is the best way to go, because you’re training your heart to be faster and slow down.”
Endurance is a major plus in roller derby, so Weapon suggests whether its wall sits while watching television, or squats while brushing your teeth, working those hamstrings and quad muscles as much as possible will only help.
REWARDS AND WHAT TO EXPECT
All the women agree that there are no real requirements when it comes to tryouts. Gear can be borrowed and no skating experience is necessary, but it’s recommended to visit a rink and practice balance. In the end, both teams welcome any and all to try out and say not only will you experience a lifelong sisterhood, but gain confidence and assertiveness in all aspects of life.
“I’ve seen moms without any sporting experience come in and just blow my mind,” says La Lucha. “Join something that will change your life. It changes your life if you allow it to do so.”
Watch Sacred City’s first bout of the season at Memorial Auditorium on Friday, Feb. 8, and visit http://sacredcityderbygirls.com/ for tryout information. Tryouts begin March 10, 2013.
Think you have what it takes to join the Sac City Rollers? Visit http://saccityrollers.com/ for more information on their tryouts scheduled for Jan. 27, 2013.
Cover Photo of La Lucha by Joe Schwartz
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you’ve got to respect how far punk-rock giants Green Day have come. It’s been a long time and a helluva lot of albums sold since their early days gigging at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, Calif., and their early releases on Lookout! Records.
Just this week, Green Day announced a date right here in Sacramento on Saturday, Dec. 1, and Submerge was majorly stoked to find that the show will (thank god) not take place at ARCO Arena (it’ll always be ARCO to us!). Instead it will be at the much more intimate and slightly better sounding Memorial Auditorium. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, Sept. 14 at 10 a.m. at Tickets.com. Green Day’s fan club, “Idiot Club,” has early access. Fans that purchase tickets online will be entitled to one free copy of Green Day ¡Uno! off of the bands upcoming trilogy Green Day ¡Uno!, Green Day ¡Dos!, and Green Day ¡Tré!
