Days of Lore

Different strokes Change happens. Sometimes for the better … sometimes not for the better. Well, the jury’s still out as to whether the latest change at everybody’s favorite over-21 venue (OK, most people’s favorite) Off Limits is for the better or for the worse.

It all happened about a month ago when Mary Messina, self-proclaimed indie-rock soccer-mom-manager-booker-bartender at Off Limits, stepped down from most of the aforementioned duties after two years and was replaced by Bri Medford and her Holy Hell Productions. It now appears the booking duties will be split four ways—Medford will handle the bulk of the booking at Off Limits and Messina will continue to book a few shows a month, while Matt “Straws” will handle all of the metal shows and the always dependable Katie Perry from Devil Kat Rock Productions will continue to book rock and punk bands.

I talked to the venue’s new promoter this week to see what her plans were for Off Limits. Medford told me she’s still easing into the new position and that she’d have a better idea in a month. Fair enough.

I did check out the MySpace page for Holy Hell Productions, and it said this: “Overall, we love music and believe in good artistry. We want to help expose quality music in order to limit and overpower the low quality music that hypnotizes the weary masses.” Good artistry … whew! Now I can sleep at night! Hey, in my book, change is almost always a good thing, and I think even with a couple of fresh faces it will be business as usual at Off Limits. Check out the venue’s new booking agent for yourself at: www.myspace.com/holyhellmusicproductions.

Dude, where’s my show? As with many cases of change, in the midst of all the excitement down at Off Limits, some shows got cancelled. Naturally, it has pissed some people off.

Frankie Swa, bassist and vocalist of longstanding Chico metal band Fallon, was a little put off by the fact that he had booked a show for Sept. 15 way back in early July, only to have the show cancelled and replaced with Chico’s favorite Portland band (why, God, why?), Floater. And CN&R events coordinator Chris Caraway had booked three September dates—14, 21 and 28—for our upcoming CD release, only to have all three cancelled.

The reason for the cancellations depends on who you ask. Swa and Caraway told me the same thing: Messina and Medford each gave them different versions as to how things got mixed up—a classic case of he said, she said (not to be confused with the delightful film review section in The Buzz).

So, out of sheer morbid curiosity, I talked to Messina and Medford to find out what happened. According to Messina, she gave Medford a list of shows that were already booked over the next three months. But it was too late—Medford had already gone ahead and started booking her own shows without checking with Messina first. Medford told me that Messina did, indeed, give her a list, but that it didn’t include the aforementioned dates. Still with me?

Looks like a little miscommunication on their parts. Of course, all that is neither here nor there. The fact is there are people and bands (surely more than those I’ve mentioned) who have been inconvenienced. Kinda sucks. Medford said she won’t be able to honor the original dates, which probably isn’t the most savvy move for a new business owner. At the same time she insisted, “I want to promote good communication with bands and put on a good show.” While obviously not the case thus far, I have no reason to doubt that things will run smoother in the future.

Let’s put the butt in rock Geez, I go to a friend’s house for some barbecue, and before I know it I’m put to work sifting through a giant cardboard box filled with dust-layered CDs from bands like Winger, Bang Tango and Enuff Z’Nuff. Seeing those names again was enough to make the chicken I had just eaten come back for an encore with one long operatic cluck. It also made me want to tease my hair and shove a rolled-up sock in my pants, but that’s a whole other story …

Anywho, the friend in question is KFM DJ Mark Arnone, and he’s gathering up an arsenal of discs for his new show The KFM Hairball. The show, which airs Saturday nights from 10 to midnight on 93.9, will showcase the horrible butt rock that has surely become cool again—nothing post 1991. So if you think Shotgun Messiah and Tora Tora sound cool—tune in. He’ll also be playing classics from early Mötley Crüe and a half-hour block of rare KISS songs, so that’s pretty rad.

Forget that sock remark—<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> </script>