Local bastard

I am a witness to your demise/ I am the one who saw through the lies/ Give me the one thing you can’t give/ Take me to the black lodge where you live.”

—Anthrax, “Black Lodge.”

Not to be confused with the local recording studio of the same name, Black Lodge is the weekly heavy-metal D.J. night at Hollywood’s Club Lingerie that was started by Anthrax front man John Bush. The theme night that apparently used to “buzz with an abundance of stars from Planet Rock” (ooooh, is that Andy Dick?) has made it all the way to Chico. One of Bush’s former partners in the venture, Bob Nalbandian (who does hard-rock reviews and interviews for Shockwave on the www.hardradio.com site and also DJs at Centerfolds gentlemen’s club) moved to Chico last summer and will spin the best of the heavy-heavies from the ’60s through today every Tuesday night from 10 p.m. to closing at Mr. Lucky. The diverse list of possibilities, which includes more loudness than just metal, actually looks pretty cool: Van Halen, Metallica, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Stooges, Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down, Aerosmith, Ramones, Tool, Guns & Roses. Of course you’ll have to sell your soul to the Devil and suffer through Korn and Godsmack to get your Sabbath, but who needs God when Ozzy’s on your side.

TWO DO: There’s nothing that gets Local Bastard stoked more that seeing the word “experimental” on a flier in Chico (though careful examination for any hidden clues of jamming and/or new-age healing is a must in these parts). So imagine my stokedness at seeing a poster (see below) announcing “the Gorgeous Ventriliquists present an Experi Mental Fashion Show,” with images of local artist/designer Muir Hughes cut-n-pasted in a collage of colorful patterns. Friday, 5/20, at the Chico Women’s Club, Hughes and her fellow Ventriliquists will be displaying what she calls “very modern original designs—each piece is one of a kind” in a part fashion show/part happening, with DJs, a raffle and a chance to buy a one-of-a-kind outfit for that grad party this weekend.

TWO BURN: Craziest one yet from Steve Malkmus, Face the Truth (check “Baby C’mon” at www.matadorrecords.com); also, new Sleater Kinney!!! “Entertain” (www.subpop.com).

TWO MORE: Chico makes Spin! In a recent Spin Magazine list of great bands with bad names, Chico’s long-lost poppy punks Vomit Launch were honored. Also, not quite Chico but close, native Redding-ite and former Knapsack front man (currently of The Jealous Sound) Blair Sheehan made Spin’s list of front men least likely to go to Supercuts (he’s bald, get it). Thank you Radar General for the name-drop tips.

Local Bastard’s first ever reader contest! The person who sends in the best reason for why he or she would want it will get a one-year subscription to the new national version of the Weekly Synthesis.