Arts Devo

Cold blue monkey I think we all can agree that it doesn't get more metal than taking a dump while sitting face to face with a live, 6-foot-long alligator looking right through you with its cold, dead eyes … hissing.

I've been sitting on that anecdote and the story of my day on the set of a heavy-metal video shoot for a couple of months now. But last week, local heavy-makers Cold Blue Mountain finally debuted the epic video for the song “Seed of Dissent” and I no longer have to keep the secret. Which has been exceedingly difficult given the fact that Arts DEVO (a painfully bad actor) got to star in the video alongside local theater stud Matt Hammons (most definitely a rad actor), whose cred in all things metal and badassness was cemented as the one who shared the john with a dinosaur (who was safely locked away in a very large crate) during a break in filming.

But badassness is a relative thing when you're in the presence of Jeff Lee, the former Chico punk/metal dude (Trench!) and current animal trainer, who brought the alligator, plus a bearcat, lemur, porcupine and one very sweet monkey (which you might remember from the Pirates of the Caribbean films) to play exotic entrants in one hella-metal dog show filmed inside Off the Wall Soccer by locals Michelle Camy and Frank Rebello.

It was a hot and fun day, and the video came out awesome. See for yourself at http://www.coldbluemountain.com/seed-of-dissent-video/

Art rich, cash poor The 1078 Gallery, Chico's favorite multidiscipline arts venue is hurting. Donations and memberships are down and there's still very little city funding to be had, so the gallery is reaching out to the community for desperately needed help in keeping the lights on. In addition to asking for donations (via the gallery's website at 1078gallery.org or, through Sept. 30, via Annie B's Community Drive at drive.anniebs.org/cause/1078-gallery), the gallery is starting an extended fundraising campaign that kicks off with the If It's Broke, Fix It! rent party on Saturday, Sept. 26, 6-9 p.m. There will be snacks and live entertainment (comedy by Annie Fischer, Becky Lynn and Amy Helen, and music by Ol' Hawk Eye, Jimmy Reno and more) as well as information on how you can help out. Also hopefully helping the gallery get out of the hole is its busy schedule of live events returning after few weeks off (which raises the question: Why did the gallery mount an art installation that covered its floor for a month, precluding any revenue-generating live music for nearly all of September?). Show your support any way you can, and help this 34-year-old cornerstone of the local scene continue doing its job of flooding Chico with wild, new art.