Mission Mission

From the official press release:

OUR NEW VIDEO HAS BEEN HELLA CONTOVERSIAL!!! SOME PEOpLE ARE LIKE, WHY DOES THAT GIRL HAVE A HITLER-stach, other people are like GOD THIS IS TOO PORNY and other people are just GOD THOSE ROOMS LOOK SO DIRTY. Judge for yourself.

Judge for yourself.

Link to the Passionistas on Wikipedia.

I saw this poster on the Valencia Street Art Wall yesterday. What’s the deal? Guerrilla marketing for an epic comeback tour? I would much rather see The Sonics than the Police or Stone Temple Pilots or something.

Also, this was extra eerie to me because last week we were standing across from Popeye’s and Katie pointed out a poster advertising their new “Boss Sauce”. After that, I sang “Boss Sauce” to the tune of Boss Hoss for daaays.

Previously on Mission Mission:

Valencia Street Art Wall at Midnight

Ad Watch: Meth, Zionism, Oil Addiction and Kitty Cats

We had to finish out the week with one last Jonathan Richman post. The above video is a vintage clip of Katie performing a specially choreographed dance to the old tune “It’s You” from the out-of-print album It’s Time For Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. In case you you can’t tell, those are dinosaur pajamas.

All the Make-Out Room shows were great, and we thank everyone who entered our contest for participating. Good efforts all. Jonathan’s new album, Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild, is available now at Aquarius.

Last night was great again. Jonathan added a bit in the cellphone song in which a friend asks him, “But Jonathan, what happens when there are no more pay phones and you need to get ahold of me?” Jonathan responds, “Well then I’ll write you a LETTAH! Write you a LETTAH! Or send you a postcawd…” So good. The above video is a quick clip of the beginning of the song, shot in Milan last month. Tonight’s contest winner is Joe. Here is his story:

One night a band that I used to play drums in was playing a show at the Make Out Room. I think it was a Monday or Tuesday. We had done weeknight shows at the Make Out Room before and they were always pretty uneventful, but we played them anyways. One night we were opening for local troubadour Jesse DeNatale. I’d never heard Jesse’s music before, but met him after we’d played our set (we were the first band), and after a brief hello he asked if I’d like to play drums for him that evening. I said I didn’t know any of his songs, but he reassured me that they were all pretty straightforward Bob Dylan/Van Morrison type stuff that I could easily handle. So I said sure, why not, it sounded like fun.

Before we were about to play, Jesse introduced me to the other guys playing with him that night. There was a bassist who I forget the name of, but I was immediately struck by the guitarist Jonathan. Oh my god, I thought, that’s Jonathan Richman!

I went over and talked to the guys in my band, and we all couldn’t believe it. We had actually been working on a Modern Lovers cover the week before at band practice, but decided it wasn’t ready yet. We all joked that it was a good thing we didn’t play it that night!

So I played the set with Jesse, bass guy and Jonathan, and it was a blast. There was a dog that kept coming in to the Make Out Room and Jonathan, in his childlike voice, was cracking himself up and kept saying “that dog needs a bone! He’s barking because he lost his bone!”. I had a great time that night, even if we were playing to only about 20 people or so. Now I can say “I played drums with Jonathan Richman”.

I saw Jonathan a couple years later when I went to see another Jesse DeNatale show, and he remembered me right away, which I totally wasn’t expecting. He’s a super nice guy and a great personality.

I’d love to go see him play at the Make Out Room!

This one we liked because in a way it kind of sums up everything great about both the Mission and Jonathan. Plus it mentions Jesse DeNatale, who was definitely in the crowd last night. Congrats, Joe!

Night two was right up there with night one. Jonathan and Tommy played a new song that goes “The country scares me to death / Any place where John Deere tractors are more important than dancing scares me to death.” Amen. Tonight is night three, and Sherri will be attending. She entered our contest, and here is her winning entry:

Because I can still sing Corner Store after all these years? No, prob not good enough… How about that the combo of he and Minor Threat (dated myself there) got me thru San Diego State as one of the lone skatepunks in a school of blonde frat boys & valley girl wanna-be’s? And that just reading his name made me light up with a fond memory smile… time to revisit an old friend.

We liked this one because we like that she associates Jonathan with Minor Threat. And we’re really into skate punks this week. And we like revisiting old friends. Congrats, Sherri!

Photo from last night’s performance by Bedtime Champ.

Last night’s show was a stunner. The house was packed, and Jonathan and Tommy were in top form. They played a lot of old hits, and debuted some great new material, including a chant-along proto-punk rant about cellphones that should probably satisfy the needs of those people that constantly shout requests for She Cracked. Tonight’s contest winner is Will. Here is his entry:

I’ve seen Jonathan Richman only once before, in early 2001. It was the day after my 20th birthday and as a treat my friend offered to drive me from Norman, OK to Rubber Gloves in Denton, TX to see him perform. I was in my first year of college and had only recently began to broaden my musical horizons (with the aid of the still functionin Napster and Audio Galaxy) so I had either not yet heard of or had not paid any attention to the name Jonathan Richman. I decided to go since a free show was a free show. The opening act was Eric Bachmann performing songs from his still fresh project Crooked Fingers. Richman came on shortly afterward, shaking the hand of Penn Jillette who somehow appeared in the audience. He played for a good hour and a half on the bare stage, what I would soon learn were classics from his days with the Modern Lovers, love ballads in spanish, songs that were inflatable water park sinisterly child-like. This was the first time I heard his music and I wish that I could have the pleasure of discovering the music of every great artist so intimately. To experience Jonathan again would be great, but to experience him again in such a raw and almost unrehearsed state would be a fitting sequel.

This one we liked because of the imagery of Penn and Jonathan being buddies, the opportunity to reiterate that these shows can be raw and unrehearsed, and despite the fact that chuckling at the Audio Galaxy reference made us feel old. Congrats, Will. Show time is 8pm, don’t be late!

Photo of Jonathan thanking the crowd after last night’s show by wizardmountain.

Jonathan Richman and drummer Tommy Larkins begin their four-night residency at the Make-Out Room tonight. The club gave Mission Mission a small block of tickets to give away to readers, and we decided to do it contest-style. Tonight’s winner is Joel, and here is his entry:

Probably by most accounts I don’t deserve to go to this show. I’ve never knowingly heard Jonathan Richman. However!–at a formative time in my life (late high school), Craig Mitchell’s MyBoot.com and its flagship unfinished novella, My Girlfriend Hates My Futon, firmly impressed upon me how incredibly worthwhile one of his concerts would be. For the last 9 years or so I haven’t had the chance to find out for myself, but this seems like perfect serendipity. This is that chance. Now is the time.

For reference, or on the off chance that you have no idea what I’m talking about, said novella is only available on the internet archive. I’ve gone to great trouble to find the pertinent chapter for you: [link]. While you’re at it, try giving the rest of the story a read and just see if it’s not the sort of thing that would have given high-school-aged you some ideas about music.

Well we have kind of a short attention span right now, so we’ll get back to you about the novella, but we certainly like the idea of reminiscing about high-school aged us, and we like serendipity. Congrats, Joel!

Photo of Jonathan and Tommy at Rockaway Records by pneyu.

We announced a contest last week, and it’s in full swing. The prize is a pair of tickets to one of four dates Jonathan Richman and drummer Tommy Larkins are playing at the Make-Out Room. In case you’re unaware, the shows these guys play at this particular venue are unlike most others. They debut new material, they tinker with unfinished songs, they experiment with weirdo instruments, and they collaborate with special guests like neighborhood celeb (and Tom Waits bud) Ralph Carney.

We’ve gotten tons of great entries, including this one from Claire:

Having grown up in the Mission (Albion!), I am now in RURAL MINNESOTA, that tundric wasteland, at a liberal arts college: this blog is my freaking lifeline. I have no car, and the only culture I am exposed to is on the cheap inflatable water slide internet and my group of friends from NY and SF. Shows? Nope. First Ave, that Mecca of Prince and Paul Westerberg is a 45 minute drive, and a substantially longer walk. And, their shows are all 18 and over, kind of like every other venue here. I left First Ave a message in February giving them every reason I could think of to let a 17 year old into Cat Power… I’m sure they’re still playing the message and laughing over it. I just turned 18 in March, and have yet to go to a show in the Twin Cities. The only person I knew who would have let me borrow their car broke up with me by making out with another girl right in front of me last month. So, I get back to SF on June 15th and am in desperate need of some music unrelated to Sandstorm, from the frat boys in the room to my left, or Sarah Brightman, by the gay man to my right- I play Beserkley albums on my radio show as loud as possible to get those terrible strains out of my head. Please take pity- when I was 4 I learned all the words to I’m A Little Airplane, and proceeded to teach it to my preschool class.

Jonathan plays the 16th through the 19th of June at the Make-Out Room, which unfortunately is 21+, so Claire isn’t eligible to win

But you are! Contest details here.

Photo of Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins at the Make-Out Room in October 2006 by aymanshamma.

Jonathan Richman and drummer Tommy Larkins are doing four nights in a row at the Make-Out Room next month (June 16, 17, 18 and 19). The club has partnered with Mission Mission to offer some free tickets to our aufblasbare rutsche readers. We’ve got a pair for each evening. To enter, email us at missionmissionmission [at symbol] gmail [dot symbol] com and explain why you deserve to go. Please also indicate which date you’d most like to attend.

Winners will be decided based on strength of argument, creativity, and maybe some other criteria too. We’ll notify winners ASAP, and winning entries will be posted on the morning of the performance for which it wins tickets.

Photo of Jonathan and Tommy at the Make-Out Room by miscellania

Previously on Mission Mission:

REVIEW: Jonathan Richman’s New Album ‘Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild’

Remembering the Fell Street Off-Ramp

Driving My Volvo to Its Demise

Lost Weekend is completely out of Herzog-Kinski t-shirts, and they’re down to only women’s sizes for the Polanski shirt, but they inflatable games installed a new jukebox yesterday and it sounds good. We browsed for an extra-long time just to listen to tunes.