Flipper at the Sound of Music and this is where I show my age. Sound of Music was a San Francisco Tenderloin dive and by dive I mean dive. Though it was a bar they didnt check ID, so there were always minors there, as well as the street crowd which was usually junkies, pimps and whores. At that point Flipper had just the 7"s out but there was graffiti all over the city which read "Don't be stupid. Flipper Rules, ok?" - which has to be one of the best slogans ever - and when i mean all over the city, i mean you could not escape it. This was the time of Flipper's short set phase, which entailed them making feedback noise for about 5 minutes, playing for another 10, and Bruce shoving a skrewdriver into a wall socket, tripping the breaker, and then demanding pay from the club because the power went out! the short set phase was soon followed by a long set phase, in which they would play for up to two hours. At an Eastern Front fest, I watched them sneak on to the stage and play for about an hour and a half. They were not on the bill and the promoter did not want them on the bill, but he was powerless to stop them. Flipper: The Best Band Ever.
Sound of Music! You ARE old! Yeah, I think they were closed down by the time I got here in 83. A couple of older guys (well, they were like 36 when I was 22) I bartended with back in the early 90’s used to work at Sound of Music and they used to try to tell me stories but I was too jealous to hear about it...stupid kid. The first time I saw Flipper was at On Broadway in 83. I think they played with Fright Wig but I’m not sure. I do remember them playing with Fright Wig a lot though. The first time I saw Flipper I thought to myself, “wow, this band is too slow to be a punk band” but then their sound kind of stuck with me and before I knew it, “album” was my favorite record for a long time. The last couple of shows I went to were the one at the Mab with Sea Hags (I think they just did a reunion show…) and at the Farm with Helios in 86. And I think Will died not too long after those shows.
Yup, still the best.
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