JOHN’S CONCERT COLLECTION: NOVELTY GIG SITUATIONS

LIVE FROM THE DRIVE-IN

Throughout my long, illegible career in music, I’ve played plenty of shows in funny places. I’ve played shows on boats, at burger restaurants, behind train stations, and at diners—both in Queens and a ski town in Alaska (also in Alaska, I somehow performed at a log cabin in the North Pole). I’ve played stadiums and suburban basements, art galas and parked school buses. But did I ever play a successful headlining gig at an indie rock club whose capacity is greater than 150 people? That’s another story…

Anyway, it seems like for many people, novel performance situations have been played out and poisoned thanks to a barrage of stunts by TikTok influencers and EDM DJs whose names I will not mention. But I still love it when countercultural energy is thrust into places where it doesn’t belong. The below videos only scratch the surface of a long tradition—sound off in the comments of the blog with your favorites—but hopefully they will inspire you and your friends to pull up to the 7-11 and play a mediocre noise set.

The Coneheads, Live at Rock N’ Roll Hardee’s, Springfield, IL 10/3/15

In the middle of a confusing decade for guitar music, The Coneheads flew the flag high for twisted hardcore, helping to incubate an entire genre in the process. Springfield, IL is the home of the store Dumb Records, which set up a monumental one-off that saw the band throwing down in the parking lot of a Hardee’s. In this video, The Coneheads rock on a stage facing the fast food chain; a Hardee’s sign is illuminated in the right-hand corner of the frame; and the band covers a song called “I Used To Be A Cheese Puff” by a band called Cal and the Calories, who also played that day. To have been there was to have witnessed American history.

Live Without, Live at Denny’s, Houston, TX, 5/18/13

The mother of all novelty show clips. “What the fuck is up, Denny’s?” is a phrase that will outlive us all. Almost five million views later, it still shmacks. It’s a hardcore band called Live Without playing inside a Denny’s. It’s moshers in shorts doing spin kicks on carpet. A different writer might bemoan the lack of “third places” in America, but I’m going to focus on the positive: It’s a bunch of kids fucking up a room primarily used for consuming sausage and eggs. (Bonus hardcore fast food footage: Nebraska deathcore band Byleth playing at Wendy’s.)

ASSACRE + Whos Jealous, Live at a Laundromat, Austin, TX, 2006 

In the 2000s, American noise music thrived in wacky situations. Probably the most notorious band of that era was the group Friends Forever, who didn't play inside the venue but rather outside of the club and from the inside of their van. Friends Forever were from Devner; around the same time as their run, I remember hearing about late-night noise laundromat shows in Austin. I’m glad I was able to find some fleeting footage. For a minute, the serenity of a laundromat at night is interrupted by piercing feedback. Texas legend ASSACRE wears a dinosaur mask; another head runs laps around walls of washing machines while carrying a pink stuffed animal. In Europe, the performance would’ve happened at a state-sanctioned art space.

Coachwhips, Live at 16th St. BART, San Francisco, CA 6/14/02

I was going to write something here about how this clip represents one of the “last gasps of Bay Area subculture,” but that would be all cap. Last year, a couple of punk bands played a gig not just outside of a BART train stop, but on an actual BART train. Despite interference from tech warriors, the beat goes on. I’m not sure if any of those bands ended their set staring down a mustachioed cop, as John Dwyer does here. He finishes the song.

Kyuss, Live at a Generator Party, Indio Hills, CA, 5/8/93 

We haven’t even gotten into the situational novelty that all but defined the American rave scene in the 1990s. That’s probably its own blog post, and god knows I need to be partitioning these things out. Kyuss rocking heavy at a generator party in the Californian desert is about as close as we are going to get today. It’s full windy headbanger action. The band is lit up and surrounded by a ring of heshers; beyond them, a sea of darkness and the sliver of a light field. I have a feeling there were nitrous tanks in the mix.

Gel, Live at Sonic Drive-In, Hainesport, NJ, on 09/10/22

I’ve recently noticed a few Sonic Drive-Ins popping up around New York City. The only thing missing is the actual drive-in. A storefront Sonic sharing space with delis and pizza joints? I’m not exactly sure what corporate is trying to pull. Sonic makes more sense almost anywhere else in America, Jersey included, and home state hardcore heroes Gel make good use of the opportunity to perform next to a drive-in window as fireworks shoot off in the distance. In a confusing country, you must mosh.

Lucy, Live at the Swamp Show, Northampton, MA, 10/21

The Swamp Show was a group art exhibition that took place on the Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts. In order to catch it, viewers had to get in a canoe. In some ways, the show was the culmination of a decade of small, zany off-site exhibitions that existed on the fringes of the contemporary art ecosystem. I’m talking about art shows in fast food restaurants, art shows inside of the ATM lobby of a bank, art shows on the dashboard of a moving car, and art shows inside of a cat tree. A lot of those shows and “galleries” came with cryptic websites, most of which are already lost to time. Here, Jonathan’s Music Blog favorite and all-around pop mastermind Lucy does a quick set on the banks of the river. You better believe he ended with his cover of “Beauty and the Beast.”

Mobb Deep, Live at The Kibitz Room (Canter’s Deli), Hollywood, CA, 5/2011

It’s Mobb Deep inside of Canter’s Deli. What more do you people want? I’ve actually played a few shows at The Kibitz Room. You don’t make any money but you do get a free meal (restrictions on menu items do apply). At one gig, a dazed Steven Tyler dropped in on the action. You never know what’s going to happen in Hollywood. The Mobb Deep concert was organized by Supreme, and the little video documentation of it that exists comes from Kunle of the legendary graffiti crew IRAK.

Minutemen, Live at Joy At Sea, San Pedro, CA, 6/15/84

Desolation Center was an ‘80s LA collective that set up shows in unorthodox spaces. I’ve previously mentioned Gila Monster Jamboree, their desert acid throwdown that introduced Sonic Youth to So-Cal. They also threw a party on a boat with the Minutemen and the Meat Puppets. I think it’s safe to say that the Minutemen are one of the best American rock and roll bands of all time. I don’t think that’s a very controversial statement. And what would be better than seeing them rock on a boat while cruising the smoggy Sand Pedro and Long Beach harbors? I’m glad it got captured in beautiful, warbly black and white.

Beat Happening, Live at Shangri-La Records Parking Lot, Memphis, TN, 4/19/92

A record store and a parking lot both barely qualify as novel gig situations, but when you put them together and add a couple of kids running around—and when the band is Beat Happening—you have deep south twee magic. The VHS patina, the family-friendly environment, and the general feeling of frozen underground Americana. This is a good video. YouTube user @sg6000: “2:16, when she starts spinning the kid around in the background. its too fucking perfect.”