Days of Lore

Third is better than first I’ve been giving this some serious thought for years, and I have decided to make a serious change in my life. Something that will undoubtedly contribute to my growth as a person. And something that I think will change other people’s lives as well. I’ve decided to start referring to myself in the third person … I mean Mark Lore has decided to start referring to himself in the third person.

Why, you ask, would Mark Lore do such a thing? Well, one of our former columnists, Local Bastard, did it. Our Arts DEVOté does it, too. And former Major League Baseball player and future Hall of Famer Ricky Henderson is all about referring to himself in the third person. Plus, Mark Lore loves the sound of Mark Lore’s name and, even more so, he loves the sound of Mark Lore’s voice saying Mark Lore’s name. In fact, Mark Lore has just decided to take it to a whole new level and make his name one word.

Yeah, MarkLore likes that.

Rocking the suburbs Over the last few years, the punk-rock community has put out a handful of compilations under the moniker Suburban American. There have been three volumes thus far, with the fourth having never seen the light of day. Well, Brent Blacklisted, who books the shows at Monstros, and Rachel Loveless of Gruk, among many others, are working on putting together the Suburban American Vol. 5, which will feature bands like Dirty Sister and Season of the Witch.

There have already been a number of benefit shows, and there will be a rare one going on at the Black Lodge, the studio co-owned by Makai guitarist Zeke Rogers, this Friday, Dec. 8. The show will feature longtime Chico punk band Gruk, destroyers of guitars Zabaleen, the acoustic punk of Nothing Left and Mikey Ramen. Show starts at 8 p.m. MarkLore says show your support or Botox bassist Brad Lambert will come out of the woodworks, pin you down and lick your face repeatedly. MarkLore hates it when he does that.

Doing the dew Speaking of Brent Blacklisted, he sent MarkLore an e-mail with a link to a co-worker’s Web site: http://mdewtree.com. David Barshow has created a 6-foot Christmas tree made with Mountain Dew cans. Using PVC pipe for the trunk, Barshow and a friend fastened some 400 empty Mountain Dew cans with construction markers and added lights and red bulbs. And to top it all off? An empty 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew, of course.

God gave rock ‘n’ roll to us The questions surrounding the future of live music at the 1078 Gallery have finally been answered: let there be rock.

The 1078 board has figured out a way to once again incorporate live music with visual art. Many of the shows will be scheduled during the down time between visual art exhibits. The way it’ll work out is, there will typically be a one-week gap between exhibits for music performances.

There will also be shows scheduled during exhibits. The size and style of the show will depend on the exhibit: If it involves sculptures that take up space in the middle of the room, shows will be smaller, sit-down affairs. There will be a little more flexibility during exhibits where only the walls are covered.

No doubt some good news for local music. Shows will get started Dec. 16, and there will be a couple of cool cover nights held at the 1078 in the next month. First will be a KISS cover night, cleverly title Merry KISSmas (MarkLore will be the first in line) on Sat., Dec. 23. And Elvis vs. Elvis (that’s Presley vs. Costello) is planned for Jan. 12. Bands interested in rocking out should contact Jason Cassidy, also CN&R’s calendar editor, at <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> </script>.

Skinny dipping in the mainstream MarkLore recently received an anonymous letter in his mailbox, directed at MarkLore, from someone who doesn’t think the CN&R provides fair coverage of the music scene.

“Your conception that all things pop, melodic or mainstream sucks has got to go,” the letter reads.

Hey, MarkLore is all about pop and melody. He doesn’t mind dipping his toe into the mainstream either. In fact, MarkLore has written plenty about his proclivity for pop music, and the paper has featured countless local bands that might fall under the umbrella of “pop” and “melodic” and “mainstream.”

The letter was also accompanied by a CD with a song that “sums up what I’m trying to say better then I ever could.” Well, MarkLore listened and after the completion of Lagwagon’s “Know It All,” one thing was clear: poppy, melodic, mainstream punk rock really sucks!