Butthole Surfers, Otto's Chemical Lounge, Frightwig "Live At The VFW#18 in KC, MO Oct 31, 1984"
Captured by my portable tape recorder in 1984 was one of my favorite Halloween nights to date: Frightwig out of San Francisco, Otto's Chemical Lounge from Minneapolis, and Austin Texas's own Butthole Surfers, right in the thick of their double drummer strobelight heyday (while Lawrence, KS champs the Mortal Micronotz are on one of the flyers shown below, sadly they didn't play).
There was already a weird vibe all evening with tons of cool costumes (my favorite being the guy who went as "Lou Reed in a Fishtank" -- he'd photocopied the cover of "Transformer" & built an aquarium-like apparatus around his head complete with dangling fish) and a sudden torrential rainstorm outside which effectively pinned the crowd inside all night. I didn't know Frightwig going in but they came up to me beforehand and fingered my mail-order KISS Army jacket (yeah, I was going as "a KISS fan" -- I swear this seemed a lot more novel 22 years ago) and once they started playing they easily won my 15 year old Flipper-fanatic heart. Next up Otto's Chemical Lounge pulled out a cover-heavy set full of Bluesy/ Bar-Bandish Acid Rock that went right over almost all of my (heavily Punk informed) cultural reference points at the time, and finally after some back and forth between the "Group Productions" promoters (Keith Patterson & Eric Schindling) and the local vice squad, the Butthole Surfers hit the stage. I didn't really know what to expect since only the "Brown Reason To Live" EP & the "PCPPEP" followup (which was almost all the same songs) had been released at this point, but I kinda doubt I would have been fully prepared no matter what. Gibby came out with 100 clothespins in his hair and rat-traps on his nipples while pushing a shopping cart full of paper and the megaphone he would later grab to sing the opener "Cherub" through. Teresa and King stood behind their drums with a constant strobe shooting up from below, and the rest of the band looked to me like they'd been living in a psychedelic garbage can or something. Just a crazy visual mess (by the end Gibby was nakedly twirling about as the rolls of toilet paper he'd covered himself in throughout the show had fully unraveled) that was equally matched by the music; though I'm not sure if you'll really be able to tell from this low-fi recording or not. Still these performances have never been shared (and I know how obsessive some of those Butthole Surfers fans get), so enjoy!
Boy, what a great night. I couldn't hear for the next 3 days.
Click To Enlarge
Click To Enlarge
Frightwig "Live At The VFW#18 in KC, MO Oct 31, 1984" (192 kbps)
Otto's Chemical Lounge "Live At The VFW#18 in KC, MO Oct 31, 1984" (192 kbps)
Butthole Surfers "Live At The VFW#18 in KC, MO Oct 31, 1984" (192 kbps)
posted by Jason at 4/01/2006 02:23:00 PM
25 Comments:
Thanks for posting this rare show! You rock!!
4/01/2006 5:34 PM
Hey! Are you "Cake" from Flipside? After looking at your link I'm gonna go ahead & guess "yes", but I'm still not sure.
Anyway, thanks! The "punk posts" usually don't get the same reaction as the other shit I toss up, but that's okay with me; different worlds & all.
4/01/2006 5:47 PM
Frightwig what a great band can't remember her name but he lead singer used to lick her armpits during the show HOT!!!
4/02/2006 9:20 AM
Wow. Big files. Gonna have to burn some stuff to disc to make room for all this music I'm finding lately. Great files again though.
4/02/2006 1:46 PM
what a great party!
jason,i´ve added a few links in my fotolog that i found in your blog,all right?
4/02/2006 7:09 PM
Emmense thanks!
4/03/2006 7:43 AM
...oh yeah...what do ya mean, obsessive?....
>gulp<
4/03/2006 7:48 AM
frightwig, yeah i'd forgotten about them. great first album. there was some great punk spludge sounds back then before everyone figured out what to do (always a mistake when it comes to rock'n'roll). downloading the wig right now, can't wait...
4/04/2006 6:07 AM
Likewise me & Savage Resurrection! Excellent site. Plus now I can finally stop lamenting my (in retrospect, clearly premature) sale of 50 Foot Hose ten years back as well.
Can't wait to investigate further; thanks.
4/04/2006 7:04 AM
Jason...not really related to the post (but the frightwig tape was interesting)
Over at LostandFoundalbums.blogspot.com
somebody is looking for Don Hinson's "Monster Dance Party" (the one with "Riboflavin-Flavored, noncarbonated, poly-unsaturated Blood")
That's one I'd like to hear the rest of myself.
do you have it?
4/04/2006 7:47 AM
I do indeed -- I'll post it next!
4/04/2006 7:54 AM
hey, thanks for the show! I used to be friends with Frightwig; I should be able to find Mia and pass the recording on to her, sure she'll be jazzed!
scodav
4/11/2006 11:36 PM
Cool! She actually *might* have a copy, but I'm not sure. I gave a burn of the show to Bob from the Lewd (& the Rubber City Rebels, not to mention the Surf MCs) a few years back when my band was playing Thee Parkside, but I forget which member he was going to give it to (or if he managed to do it at all).
By the way I've loved Red Asphalt for years!
4/12/2006 8:10 AM
Thanks for this... On this night in history I was playing in Duluth, Mn in a one-off band called DeMonkie. We did a cover of "The Shah Sleeps..."
Bergie
5/07/2006 10:05 AM
just when I thought I couldn't possibly get anymore old school Butthole.
Good Blog anf Good post
9/07/2006 3:46 PM
I may die from the awesomeness. Came upon this page wondering about references to "Otto's Chemical Lounge". They were a train wreck on stage, but I loved them. Oh, and Frightwig: who doesn't love a lyric like "my crotch does not say go - uh-uh!" -Jenni from MPLS
9/08/2006 12:36 PM
does anybody still have a working to the:
"Frightwig "Live At The VFW#18 in KC, MO Oct 31, 1984" (192 kbps)"
It would be so much aprechiated.
Thanks in advance :-)
1/19/2007 1:47 PM
oh please won't you repost the butthole surfers & frightwig! it would be much appreciated...thanks!
5/06/2007 1:26 PM
Thanks Jason!!
-Sam
11/05/2007 12:56 PM
i'm downloading frightwig and bs now, thank you so so much for these.
1/15/2008 10:37 AM
i used to buy mrr from 82 till 84 on a regulare basis... here in bologna italy the scene was wuite big we had a lot of concerts and people..
this stuff is neat, i have bgk nade my myself in bo 84 should do a blog out of it..
later,
e
8/20/2008 5:41 AM
Some vintage Frightwig photos from an old NYC fan... their stays in that fair city in '85 and '86 are stuff of legend...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24235141@N04/sets/72157608483681207/
10/29/2008 11:52 AM
I was at this show and let me tell you, it was wild! The torrential rain that was mentioned was no exaggeration! I had a helluva time trying to get home as most of the low lying areas were flooded out! Also, this was the most powerful i had ever seen the Butthole Surfers. I had a band called Octoclod and we later opened for them at the Uptown Theatre here in Kansas City and they had really changed and calmed down by this point. At the halloween show, Gibby shaking his head with all the clothespins flying off was fairly bizarre in appearance! Most of the crowd for this show was electrified! Where is the time capsule when you need it?
11/10/2008 11:35 AM
Thanks a million for this post. I never saw Frightwig live but I saw Mudwiwimmen a bunch of times in the early 90's- the band had former members of Frightwig, like the great Mia. They were incredibly unique and amazing. Now if someone posted a live show byt them, that would be incredible.
3/24/2009 9:48 PM
I was 16 and my brother Mott-ly was a big deal in the scene and he took me. They were handing out acid and I was too reluctant, but it was one of the greatest shows ever. I remember Paul taking a sharpie to the floor of the VFW in a psychedelic doodle. Deposit issues? A game changer in my road to weirdo world.
3/24/2022 9:11 PM
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