Mission Mission

10. The time we watched Christopher Walken attack the Golden Gate Bridge with a blimp.

9. The poem I wrote about Hayes Valley.

8. The time we determined what the best song to listen to while driving across the Golden Gate Bridge is.

7. My list of SF-related memories about Jay Reatard (RIP).

6. The #tbt post about the Sofia Coppola movie Somewhere and how I’d seen it at the Roxie back in the day and the scene with the Strokes song is really good and some other stuff.

5. The time I eavesdropped on some techbros in the park and they said a bunch of offensive shit.

4. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Knockout with a list of Knockout memories.

3. The time I ran into a bunch of cool people on a big Friday night out in the Mission.

2. The post we did THE DAY DOLORES PARK OPENED BACK UP!

1. The time I ate the new Mission Chinese Food CHINESE BURRITO for three (3) meals in a row, baby.

Thanks for reading, everybody!

Can’t believe it’s been 10 years already! Seems like only yesterday everybody was like, “What’s the deal with this brand-new bar having ALL THE BEST BANDS AND DJs ALL THE TIME and isn’t their ‘NOPE’ sign funny???”

Seems like only yesterday Jay Reatard (RIP) was playing a 10-minute (amazing) set there. Back when the stage was next to the bar.

Seems like only yesterday we were there for an Oldies Night, laying eyes on Primo for the first time, all that energy behind the decks, and we were like, “ALL DJs SHOULD BE LIKE THIS.”

Seems like only yesterday we were there for a Debaser around Christmastime seeing their Weezer cover band and we were like, “THIS IS WAAAY BETTER THAN ACTUALLY SEEING WEEZER!”

Seems like only yesterday we finally got to see the Dukes of Hamburg for the first time, at a Teenage Dance Craze party on New Year’s Eve.

Seems like only yesterday we saw Stokemonster’s big smile for the first time, greeting us crazy-warmly on our way in.

Seems like only yesterday we were singing “I got soul but I’m not a soldier!!!!!!!!” at karaoke there on a Monday night.

Seems like only yesterday we got ejected from a Debaser for stage diving (when Jamie Jams put on “Holland, 1945″ of course).

Seems like only yesterday Beth was on the door that night.

…………We could go on and on but instead let’s just watch some of one of Jay Reatard’s performances there, and then we’ll talk some more:

Oh and let’s quick enjoy this photo of Primo straight phase-shifting into another dimension that our pal Lizzy took back in ’11:

Here’s what’s happening this weekend:

COME CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF THE KNOCKOUT! BRINGING YOU LIVE MUSIC, CHEAP DRINKS, KILLER DANCE PARTIES AND MAKING MEMORIES SINCE 2005! AS A SHOW OF THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT OVER THE YEARS WE’VE PLANNED A KILLER WEEKEND OF DJs AND LIVE SHOWS TO KICK OFF THE NEXT 10 YEARS!!!

Friday, July 10 9pm

TEENAGE DANCE CRAZE PRESENTS…
THE GEARS
LOST RITUAL
THE COPPERTONES
Plus The World Famous TDC DJS…
OREN, RUSSELL QUAN & dX THE FUNKY GRANPAW

Saturday July 11, 2:30pm

ALCOHOLOCAUST PRESENTS…
VKTMS
HIGHTOWER
CELLAR DOORS
BUFFALO TOOTH
BREAKARTS
CRYPTO

Sat July 11, 10pm

THE KO SUPER STAR DJ SATURDAY NIGHT PARTY
W/ DJs PRIMO, JAMIE JAMS, SPECIAL LORD B (AKA PAUL PAUL) & JOSH YULE

Sun July 12, 2pm

THE POPE OF YES PRESENTS…
CCR HEADCLEANER
TERRY MALTS
MALE GAZE
THE STRANGELAND
EMOTIONAL
JESUS TAPE

+ PBRn’B DJs

Sun July 12, 10pm
SWEATER FUNK MODERN FUNK AND BOOGIE PARTY
W/Live Sets by KMAXX & PLAZA 

Full-weekend passes come with limited edition KO Anniversary t-shirts. Limited tickets.

Rest up, everybody.

Here is a little more poster art:

And here’s a heap of Knockout-related posts from over the years:

I first stumbled upon The Karaoke Underground doing a Google search for “replacements can’t hardly wait karaoke,” because no karaoke place seems to have that song even though it’s like the best song.

As I scrolled through their songbook, seeing songs by Jay Reatard and Cock Sparrer and the Detroit Cobras and the Thermals and NOFX, I was stupefied. I was sure it was some kind of prank, that it was too good to be true.

But it’s true.

A few months later I dragged a couple of my best friends to Austin to see for ourselves, and I had one of the best nights of my life, singing “Always Wanting More,” “Take ‘Em All,” “Pillar of Salt,” “Bad Girl,” and “Lori Meyers” — each and every one a song I’d never in my wildest dreams dreamed I’d get to sing at karaoke.

And it’s not just some jerk playing YouTube videos. Creators and hosts Kaleb and Hannah have made every single one of their 900+ karaoke tracks from scratch, and they’ve even gotten the blessings of certain punk rock superstars along the way. It’s a labor of love and it shows, and it will probably be one of the best nights of your life too.

One month from today, on Sunday, April 12th, 2015, KU is coming to SF for the very first time. And it’s at Rickshaw Stop, so you get to perform on a stage the actual Thermals performed on! And THE SONICS performed there last year for goodness sake! I’m gonna pass out.

Browse the (completely mind-blowing) songbook and then RSVP and invite your friends.

(I’m helping out with some promo and logistics, and I’m tremendously excited about it, so don’t be surprised if I write about it a bunch more in the coming weeks.)

It’s been 5 years since Jay Reatard died at 29. I made a list of Jay Reatard memories to post on Tumblr and then I realized it’s all very SF-related, so:

• Going to a Lost Sounds show at Bottom of the Hill in ‘03 or ‘04 and being TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY
• Listening to the original version of “Oh It’s Such a Shame” when he first put it up on MySpace and being TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY
• Seeing him at the Knockout on his first solo tour and being bummed the set was only like 14 minutes long
• Seeing him at Delta of Venus (in Davis) and laughing when the set was literally 10 minutes long
• Skipping his last-minute show at 12 Galaxies in ‘08 (with openers “The Ohsees” and Ty Segall) because I had tickets to see Digitalism at Mezzanine (—‸ლ)
• Being totally blown away by my cousin Jojo’s totally impromptu “Death Is Forming” cover
• Crying at the end of “Better Than Something” when it premiered at the Roxie
• Crying at the end of “Better Than Something” when the Roxie brought it back a year later

Who the fuck is Digitalism, am I right? Anyway, long live Jay. Here are a few more links and a video:

Here is a Mission Mission post announcing the semi-secret 12 Galaxies show in ’08.

Here is the short obituary I wrote in ’10.

And here is the story of the making of the “Better Than Something” poster my pal Al Pal made for the Roxie. (And if you haven’t seen the movie, see the movie!)

And how about some video of Jay rocking the Knockout? It’s really dark and the sound sucks, but, that’s basically what it was like seeing him at the Knockout:

[Epic photo of Jay performing at the Hemlock by Jake Thomas]

I saw Shaun White on TV yesterday and it reminded me of this video we made in a hotel room in Okinawa in February 2010.

My cousin Jojo, who we’ve heard from a bunch of times before, was going to be spending 3 months exploring the Okinawan countryside, and he knew he’d be needing a guitar, so he picked out this cool pink one, and I think he wanted to make a video showing it off to friends back home. Jay Reatard has just passed away, so Jojo decided to pay tribute.

It turned out pretty epic for a poorly lit, lo-res, 2-minute YouTube video, if you ask me:

P.S. Jojo’s current band, which was formed on this same trip, is named Moe Meguro, after the beloved Japanese curling champ.

Cheap Time rules! They used to tour with Jay Reatard and they’re responsible for a couple of the best live shows I’ve ever seen in my life and they’re headlining the Knockout tonight! Also, they wrote the best song ever:

He also tells the story about the first time he ever met Jay:

I first met Jay when he was 17 years old. He booked us a gig at Barristers, the line up was The Spaceshits, Deadly Snakes and Reatards. When we showed up in Memphis it looked like a ghost town. Skid Marks (drummer of the spaceshits) has always  been a magnet for scum bags and immediately befriended a one armed man who had just come out of prison. They disappeared in search for some weed.

When Jay showed up he told me that he had just gotten engaged to be married. He also apologized about the lack of people at the show in advance, the reason was simple… “everyone hates us in this town.”  There were 4 people in the audience that night, Greg Oblivian and the dudes from Impala. But the show went on and it was great fun. Later that night everyone went to Greg’s house to hang and listen to records and Carson Binks (Legend of San Fran), Skid Marks and I decided to go for a Memphis adventure with Jay.

We drove around crazy ghettos in search of drugs. All we wanted was a little weed, none of us wanted any of the countless crack offers not even Jay. We parked at a gas station for some cigarettes and when we were getting back into the car i remember all these crack heads coming out of nowhere asking me for a smoke. They were crawling towards us like true zombies and even continued to follow the car in slow motion as we drove away. It really felt like George A. Romero was somewhere around the corner. Jay spoke of these crackheads with a sense of pride which was followed by pure hatred. He was really into showing us the nitty gritty of his city.

Read on!

[Photo via Pork Magazine]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo_qM_T6zqM

“Rock music DJ night,” says the official invite (which also pointed us to the above Gun Club jam), “glam rock, powerpop, and more. 4 hours of rock music, dozens of beers on tap, no cover.” Tonight starting at 8:30 at Gestalt.

The weather’s too ugly to stray too far from home, so this might be just right (especially if you’re also planning to see the Jay Reatard movie at the Roxie right down the block, which you should). RSVP and invite your friends!

Two showings on Wednesday night, two showings on Thursday night. DO NOT MISS THIS. Whether you’re a fan of his music or a fan of AWESOME MOVIES, or both, you will love it.

Advance tickets and more info are available here.

Click here for showtimes and tickets. One day only!

(And click here for the behind-the-scenes story of the making of this pretty poster.)