sparkrobot

I was sent this recently from a friend involved in the Dockyard Derby Dames league. If you’re interested in All-Girl, Flat-Track Roller Derby, Tacoma’s team is looking for YOU. Here’s their call to action:

The Dockyard Derby Dames (Tacoma’s ONLY all girl flat-track roller derby league) have scheduled tryouts! This means any girl, age 21 and over, that posses grit , determination, and derby desire can come out to our rink on Sunday December 3rd, from 10am to noon, and bid for a spot on our league. Tryouts will be held at the SkateN Station, at 133rd and Pacific Ave. Good exercise, great friends, and awesome fans are all things that are included in the derby experience, but we are also looking for dedicated women that can commit to our practice schedules and be positive team players. Prior experience is not necessary, but good attitudes, determination, and desire to learn are a must!

This will be the first tryout the league has held since March 2006 and open spots are expected to fill up very quickly again. If you attend try-outs you do not need equipment (i.e. helmet, skates, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, mouth guard, etc.), but if you have any, we encourage you to bring it along.

Pre-registration is a must, though, and can be done by contacting Elysia Smith at leashpj33@yahoo.com or Jennifer Hirst at hirstinterp@yahoo.com . They are also doing a referee clinic for anyone who is interested in being a ref… same date, same time.

We look forward to seeing you ladies soon!
– your one and only Dockyard Derby Dames

These ladies are total rock stars in other cities with Flat-Track teams. What have you got to lose?

Kirk Rundstrom, guitar player for the Wichita, Kansas alternative bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield, was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Though he endured four months of chemotherapy, the cancer spread and he was given only a few months to live. He decided best therapy would be to hit the road one last time, playing a round of shows before retiring to beat the cancer for good. They played the Tractor Tavern in Ballard on Friday, November 10th.

A couple of friends of mine, and fans of the band traveled up to Seattle from Tucson to catch the show. The Tractor was packed with fans and the band got a lot of support from Seattle. Also on hand were several family members whom I talked to briefly. I’d seen SLR once before in Tucson at the now defunct 7 Black Cats, probably 6-7 years ago. Their performance on Friday night was spirited as ever and it was good to see them giving it everything on regrettably, what may be their last tour.

Portland-via-Oklahoma’s “I can lick any son of a bitch in the house” opened the show played before SLR. I took photos of the whole show, but there was a red light shining on the stage the whole time. During ICLASOBITH, I didn’t use flash so I wouldn’t be annoying. My Nikon absolutely hates red light, and as a result, no photos of them. But I was actually encouraged to shoot photos during Split Lip Rayfield’s set, flash or not.

Here are some of the images taken at the show.

Best of luck Kirk. Hope you beat it.

Ventured up to Seattle last night to see the Little Steven’s Rolling Rock and Roll Show. On the bill were four bands, newcomers The Charms from Boston, garage rock pioneers The Chesterfield Kings, Seattle-via-Tucson’s Supersuckers and the New York Dolls. To be honest, the whole thing stunk of corporate advertising and bumptious, celebrity notoriety exploitation, but we had a get-in-free pass. What the hell, right?

The Charms were on when we arrived, but the line to get a drink was so long that I didn’t see a lick of their set. (Seriously, we were in line for 20 minutes. For beer. While a band was on. Ugh.) $13 later and two beers later, we made our way into the main room to find The Chesterfield Kings (instant audio and ridiculous, skip intro screen. You’ve been warned.) on stage doing their thing. This was the first time I’d seen them play, and they looked pretty tired. I’ll sum this up with one word: meh.

Countryfied, punkish and self-proclaimed “The greatest rock n’ roll band in the world”, The Supersuckers (instant audio warning) were up next. Say what you will of these guys. Are they breaking new ground? No. Are they gimmicky? Totally. Do I think they’re the greatest rock n’ roll band in the world. No. Do they care? Absolutely not. Will they leave at the end of the night having put on a entertaining show doing exactly what they love to do? Count on it. I’ve never left a Supersuckers show feeling slighted. Put a stamp on it and stick it in the mail. They deliver the rock.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED TO WORRY. I’m rolling my own eyes at that last line FOR YOU right now.

Protopunk glam rock veterans New York Dolls (photos) headlined the show. What can I say that hasn’t already been said? In one incarnation or another, these guys have been putting on this show since before I was born. El Corazon was super crowded and I didn’t really have the vantage to bust out the camera earlier in the show. When the Dolls hit, I decided to just stick it up there and see what happened. These photos were all taken from pretty far back in the crowd. The stage was pretty well lit, but there were a ton of asshats in front of me. These shots are all digital and held overhead. It would have been nice to get up closer and actually compose the shots, but I mentioned the whole asshats thing, right? Whatever happened, happened.

Again, here are the photos of the New York Dolls.