Look Back Powerful Fucking Champs Red Fang
The Fucking Champs. Looking back to what might be June 7th 2007. The town is Philadelphia. The venue is Johnny Brenda’s. A perfect size venue. This is one of the handful shows I’ve seen at this place. As long as you can walk up the stairs you should have a good time. A gem on Frankford Ave. As far as photo archive goes, I have less pictures of these incredible bands than i thought. What can I do. This is due to hard drive taking a dump. Life goes on. Since I moved out of Philly in 2008 I have been back one other time. That is another story. For this I focus on The Fucking Champs and company.
The first band? Hmm I’ll guess Red Fang play first. Cut me slack, gig was 20 eons or so past. However regarding Portland Oregon’s Red Fang. This is very early on in their career. At that time, I had no idea who they were yet. But that night I fuck around and find out.
From what little I remember I can say they were really good. They perform a Dust cover. As in the band that releases Hard Attack LP. So if you don’t know that one, there is an opportunity right thar. If you’re looking for some murky, heavy stuff, then Red Fang’s early material. Back to 2007 though, Red Fang are in kickass mode and even though I don’t remember minutia, I am impressed. Tour Only CD EP purchased , pictured above. Cassette lovers get bent.
On to the next band. The name of the band is Birds of Avalon. This band featured members of the power rock ‘n’ roll group Cherry Valence.
Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina.. Cherry Valence sets the bar high when it comes to live performance.
I’ve seen them ( as Cherry Valence) sweat themselves silly in that small New Brunswick NJ venue( called Ristorante Retina at one time ? ). So full of shake appeal and hard riffs. Featuring two drummers or players switching instruments on various songs . They were not to be fucked with. Stage presence and energy that pisses on most these days.
Anyways Birds of Avalon have some of those (Cherry Valence) members in it so I was anxious and excited to see what they would do. If you are into gear nerdery I can tell you they have a Korg Kaoscillator chaos pad. Birds of Avalon are great that night. Yours truly also cannot remember details again. The overall feeling was fun, rocking, and no bullshit all rolled into one set. I want to say they weren’t dynamic and cut throat as their former band, Cherry Valence. However they make-up for that in melodic hooks, overall fun, and musical tightness.
The songwriting seemes smoother and polished.
Don’t get me wrong they still bring the noise and stage presence. So they are overlooked and in my opinion (cringe) under rated. That is to say, if you dig hard original rock. Search out a song by them called Bicentennial Baby. Actually that whole record, Bazaar Bazaar. It’s good for an occasional spin throughout the years. But of course the more into hard rock ( with maybe a touch of stoner influence ) you are.. then the more you may want to dust that LP off.
The headliner is Drag City’s own, the mighty Fucking Champs. This is a band that when I get wind of them coming through it’s no excuses. I need to be there. Very serious thing. I’m that big of a fan. To quote their write in Thrasher Magazine long ago regarding their music. ” It’s like Christmas morning and you are opening riff after riff” That is paraphrased but entirely accurate.
For the record it’s my opinion The Fucking Champs are the ultimate, mostly instrumental, riff metal of all time.
If you picture motocross video footage, then this the perfect soundtrack for said video footage.
So there you have the Fucking Champs. Victorious, soaring and hard edge palm mutes vs open strings. Glorious harmonizing guitars. Yours truly sees them a few times and leaves with jaw on the floor and full of energy.
One time with custom (DIY hand made? ) 9 string guitars. If I recover any more digital pictures of this gig or others I’ll make a separate post. Additionally I’ll scan some old school printed pictures of this band at some point. If you want to help make sure that I have sales to invest back into zine, blog, and vlog here is my store. https://meatsheetfanzine.com/shop-merchandise-meatsheet-merchandise/
In closing, support this band if you can. https://www.dragcity.com/artists/the-fucking-champs Here is a live set that captures the spirit (not volume) of this band. It was earlier than the gig I write of but stellar nonetheless. Throw the channel a like and subscribe if you will. Enjoy