~Liquor, monocles & revolvers, BJB & the Voodoo Dollz | Ed Araquel~ Big John Bates & the Voodoo Dollz — a rock-n-roll burlesque group from Vancouver, B.C. — bring their booze-swillin’, fire-blowin’, face-rockin’ antics to Bremerton’s Winterland tonight (Feb. 27), joining a stacked line up which features the roving Reverend Dead Eye’s No Man Gospel Band, Seattle’s Hard Money Saints, and Kitsap’s own living legend James Hunnicutt. The show is 21+ w/ a $10 cover, starting around 9:30 p.m. @ Winterland, 1220 Sylvan Way in Bremerton. More @ myspace.com/winterlandrocks, http://www.bigjohnbates.com. We caught up with the lead Voodoo Doll Little Miss
~ Wild West Showdown, Feb. 26-28 | Art: Kryzstof Nemeth ~ This weekend, Bremerton becomes the center of the roller derby universe, as 19 teams from around the country converge on Kitsap County. From national powerhouse the Philly Roller Girls, to the 2009 Women’s Flat Track Derby Association National Champion Oly Rollers, derby’s upper echelons will be battling it out for three days of knock-down, drag-out roller derby mayhem at the Wild West Showdown, hosted by Kitsap’s own Slaughter County Roller Vixens, Feb. 26-28 @ the Kitsap County Fairgrounds in East Bremerton. We’ve got a dispatch from Northwest Roller Derby
~ The storied Port Orchard band returns Saturday @ Winterland ~ It’s been about a year since we’ve heard much of anything from Port Orchard Seventies Rock Preservationists Mos Generator. Following an opening spot w/ Rush @ The Gorge and a European Tour with Texas band Blood of the Sun over the summer of 2008, Mos has been on hiatus without any official word on what was going on. The three-piece had found itself at odds amidst the rise in demand for the band. “We hadn’t talked in pretty much a year,” said guitarist/vocalist Tony Reed. “But the hiatus. .
Almost $8,000 in prize money was awarded to artists through Bremerton’s third annual statewide CVG Show. Winners were announced Feb. 6 at an exclusive awards reception in the Bremerton City Council Chambers. La Connor-based artist Peregrine O’Gormley’s commanding wood sculpture ‘How Much Longer?’ — a bold piece in both symbolism and stature (pictured above) examining the ever-increasing weight which Mother Earth is being asked to bear — won the people’s choice award. While Seattle multi-media artist Carla Grahn’s intricate hanging sculpture “Girl Army” took home the Mayor’s Award for Best in Show, amongst the wide-reaching array of artwork which some
Last weekend the punks came out — and took over — Bremerton’s Winterland. [See the ‘Punk’s Not Dead in Bremerton’ post from a few days ago.] Here’s a bit of the madness you might’ve missed out on — or reveled in — as part of that insane, capacity crowd… courtesy of Bremerton videographer Chuckin McUppets. This is “Fuck, Riot, Rob & Steal” by (motherfuckin’) Neutralboy, from their forthcoming album “From Normal To Wierdo.” Get more Neutralboy tomorrow night (Feb. 6) @ El Corazon w/ The Dwarves in Seattle and also online @ myspace.com/neutralboy. And see more of Chuckin’s fine work
While Collective Visions celebrates its third annual CVG Show with a big First Friday party tonight (5-8 p.m., 331 Pacific Ave., at which people’s choice voting for the statewide show concludes) another Bremerton artists collective — The Artists for Freedom and Unity — is throwing a bash to stay alive. The non-profit artists union — which marks its third year in business next weekend Feb. 13 — hosts the punk-sonic stylings of the brazen Generation Decline, the legendary Gadzooks, the emphatic Atracity, the brash Americommies, and the beloved Cuntry Cuntroll, with doors at 6 p.m. tonight (Feb. 5) @ 318 Callow
~A convergence of artists from around the state | Collective Visions~ For weeks, Collective Visions Gallery has been shuttered from the public. The gallery closed its doors Jan. 18 in preparation for its third annual statewide invitational CVG Show — which opened today (Feb. 2). In the final days leading up to the show, they plaster the windows with a thick mask of brown paper to obstruct any view from outside into the gallery. Inside CVG members and volunteers bustled to clear the near entire gallery, making way for the 120-some pieces of art, from artists around the state, which compete
Long-standing Bremerton punk band Neutralboy — a band damn near 20 years deep — is set to record a live record tonight (Jan. 30) @ Winterland, with the esteemed Tony Reed on the board. And as if that weren’t enough evidence that punk’s not dead in Bremerton, long-gone Btown punks Brainsick — a band which formed in 1993 before relocating to Bellingham and wreaking havoc until disbanding in 1998 — will have their resurrection… er reunion, at the same show. Add to the docket another storied and stalwart Kitsap punk band in The Enemies Of plus Dead Giveaways — featuring
~The Rocky Point/Tumbledown/Chebon Tiger Band~ Meet one of the most impressive bands from the Kitsap Peninsula: The New Old Stock. You might not be able to tell from that picture above. Drummer Harley Trotland says it doesn’t quite do the band’s face rippin’ blues justice. Not quite “go-getting enough,” he said. And he’s right. See them live (maybe tonight, 9 p.m. Jan. 30 @ The Hi-Fideltity Lounge, 2711 Sixth St. in Bremerton) and you’ll know what he’s talking about.
~Smokestack No. 4 ‘Slaughter County Derby Nation’ | Smokestack~ Many, many thanx to all those who brought their vinyl out in support of the Smokestack last night @ The Drift Inn. A lot of good times and stiff drinks in downtown Bremerton. Plus we raised a bit of coin in those donation jars to keep a free press alive. For those who couldn’t make it, no worries, we’ll be hosting another Vinyl Night again sometime. In the meantime… check out the Smokestack’s latest print edition featuring the lowdown on SCRV’s Wild West Showdown, the Brief Return of Mos Generator, thoughts