New Releases at Bandcamp !

instagon.bandcamp.com

We have launched a new online site with streaming and downloads of recordings of Instagon thru the wonderful site called bandcamp.com
Our first release was a download version of the INSTAGON - LIVE AT TRUE LOVE title that came out on CDr last summer (limited to 50 copies).

In November, we released the entire live performance of the Instagon Noise Quintet from Norcal Noisefest 2009. This session features Blake Edwards from VERTONEN, Rent Romus from LORDS OF OUTLAND, Steve Davis frm +DOG+, and Mark Soden of PHOG MASHEEEN playing noise with Lob at NF13. Right away we had a few copies move from the bandcamp page.. it was a really great feeling to have music posted and purchased within a short time. thanks!

In December we released a digital remastered edition of an old title by Instagon, our first collection of live songs from 1999. 

The "SPACE 1999: 10 year Anniversary Edition" features digital remastering of the entire original release that was before only available on cassette., plus a 20 bonus track, and extensive liner notes regarding each track.  This is an amazing document of the early band recordings by Instagon ,and features standards like "Forward", "Orgone Collector", & "Joyride".. plus the debut performance of "Rock Lobster", and an amazing version of Bauhaus' " Bela".   This release also marked the first in a series of FULL LENGTH releases planned for the bandcamp page to happen BI-MONTHLY.  The next full length will be posted in February 2010 and will feature a live recording from Fall 2009 from Sacramento,CA.

for 2010 we also have unleashed the FRESH TRAX series which will feature a new song, EVERY MONTH available for FREE download. Each track will ONLY be available for a limited time until the end of each month it is posted.  The track for January is a new track called "Dripfall" recorded at the UFO Club in Folsom,CA during the COSMIC HOOTENANNY (session 524). This track is currently only available for a limited time...now through Jan. 31, 2010.   A new track will be posted a few days later.

At the end of the year all 12 tracks will be available as a collection with exclusive art work and probably a bonus track or 2.

Set List - session 526 - Jan 25, 2010 - Marilyn's On K St., Sacramento, CA

Instagon 526

Jan. 25, 2010

Marilyns on K Street
Sacramento, CA

First just let me start by saying that we like Marilyn's!.. the sound there is great, Jeff, Jay, and everyone else there are really great people.  They always treat us like friends rather than just another band thru the door, and that really goes a long way for sure.   Instagon played a couple of shows last year at Marilyn's and like is said, we like it there, and so we were happy to be back in 2010.  This show came together rather short notice, and the tails of the headlining band MOO GOT 2 from Arcata,CA.  They are a cool jam band and had a show booked for that Monday, we asked if there was room and Jeff said we could play a 30 min. set.   Then we got notice from the cool guys from MG2 that they wanted to let us use their backline, so we didnt have to bring drums or a bass rig.. and so it made the night way easy to deal with.  Thanks again to the guys from MG2.   It was a Monday.. and it was raining!  so getting a lot of heads out was probably not gonna happen.. so we make the best of it and rocked hard for the people that were there.. it was a small crowd of about a dozen or so people, including our friend Stefano Zeroli (Ink On Suit), who came out in the rain to support the show... (thanks Stefano!)

We took the stage a little after 8pm and was told, to our surprise that we had til 9pm to play.. and we did!.. playing a 50 minute set!  This ensemble had not one, but 2 new players in the Instagon mix for the first time.. John Keeling (Volcano School) who has seen Instagon a few times made his debut on guitar as player 537, and our new friend Marco Fuoco (Marco Fuoco's Illumination) came in to fill the horn position playing both tenor and alto sax throughout the set.  The core was once again filled by the Garage Jazz Architects (Lob, Chad, & Mark).  The show started a little wobbly.. the Invokation did not just melt into the first riff.. it was a bumpy jump off into the Joyride...but once it was going, the flow was on..the Deamon's Tube got great response from the small audience.. and the "Cozmic" was just ..uhm..out of this world..lol.  The Little Turtle wasnt as jumpy as it has been recently.. but the Echophobic, was really very cool and had lots of great fluidity to it....Thee Sickness closer was a jazzy version of this riff, similar to the version from Davis Jazz Fest back in October (session #517).  Everyone seemed to have a great time.. and then Moo Got 2 came on and played 2 sets of great jams and tight songs and got the small crowd off their feet and onto the dance floor.. even Stefano and Jeff were out there tearing it up!

INSTAGON  #526
Jan. 25, 2010
Marilyns On K St, Sacramento, CA


Invokation >
Joyride
Deamon's Tube
Cozmic
The Little Turtle
Echophobic
Thee Virus >
Thee Sickness  (with Pink Panther tease)
(51:00)


LOB  (lead bass/vocals)
CHAD E. WILLIAMS (guitar)
JOHN KEELING (guitar)
MARK HALVERSON (drums)
MARCO FUOCO (tenor & alto sax)

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photo by Jennifer Jacobsen
tour flyer from MooGot2

Set List - session 525 - Jan 23, 2010 - Vega's Nightclub, Old Sacramento, CA

Instagon 525
January 23, 2010

Vega's Nightclub, Sacramento,CA

Well it was a cold and rainy night as the deamon descended upon Old town Sacramento for our first excursion there..but that did not prevent us from having a great night of fun and chaotic acid jazz in our new favorite place in Old Sac, VEGA'S NIGHTCLUB!  The line up was set to be Chikading, followed by THE POLYMERS, and then Instagon, session 525. All of the early sets were really great. CHIKADING was a little more relaxed than they have been at recent past shows.. but they were still on fire as usual with their great new fusion grooves that they are getting a reputation for laying down.  The POLYMERS followed with a great set of psychedelic edged garage pop.. great catchy riffs and awsome songs, plus some cool covers like "Quinn the Eskimo" and Pink Floyd's "Lucirfer Sam".

 

 Instagon took the stage sometime around 11:30pm and played til nearly 1am.

This session was a 6 piece ensemble featuring the Garage Jazz Architects (Lob, Chad E. WIlliams, Mark Halverson) at the core of the beast.. and with Dex Lopaz from Chikading playing some keyboard... also Matt Kretzmann from DELAYED SLEEP came out and played guitar for this session. It was his first session since Jan. 2009 (session #490), over a year!.. and it after many times asking, but not having our schedules make it available, this session was the debut Instagon set for local jazz man Tony Passarell.

The set was really drenched in thick gooey chaos from the very start.. and it stayed that way throughout the adventure.  Chad, Dex, & Tony were doing really great things between them and it was really awesome. Thee Sickness was probably the hot spot in the set.. but thats just from my opinion.. your could very.

INSTAGON # 525
Janurary 23, 2010
Vega's Nightclub, Sacramento, CA


Invokation>
The Flux,
Jazz for Satan
Brainwashed Love
The Little Turtle
Spider
Rock Lobster  (song by B-52's)
Buzzkill
Speed of Light
The Virus>
Thee Sickness
Deamon's Tube
Echophobic


Instagon #525 was:

LOB  (bass/ vocals)
CHAD E WILLIAMS (guitar)
MATT KRETZMANN (gutiar)
DEX LOPAZ (keyboards)
TONY PASSARELL (sax)
MARK HALVERSON (drums)

 

 ====================================================

photos by Yvette Lucas and Kathleen Le Mer

photo collage by Lob
flyer art by Lob & Kathleen Le Mer

2009 Statistics and retrospect

Well, another year has closed on the Instagon history and data files and I must say that this has been a really fun and productive year. There were lots of shows in lots of places and lots of new and wonderful faces! I think my favorite show of the year was easily Instagon #500 which happened in the spring.. it was a clusterfuk of a good time.. It was great to play with so many old friends like Greg Ginn, Robert Fisher, Dan Kaufman, Scott Huestis, Zack Olsen, and of course Cary Pealer, and many others.. (Charles Ardinger opening the show was probably my favorite part of that night)..it was a great time and I have a scar on my knee from when I bashed it on the stage to remind me of it for the rest of my days. Also this year saw the re-birth of the GARAGE JAZZ ARCHITECTS project which had taken the shape of a trio and is moving along nicely.. so that is my new BAND.. its a real band.. we have practices and set lists and everything.. LOL. Cary Pealer also made a norcal appearance in the Fall when we recorded the new material at KDVS (Instagon #520).. those recordings done by Fenris Wolf at KDVS are amazing.. and we are currently shopping them to labels! All and all it was a great year.. it was the most shows we have played since 2004, and moving north to Sacramento.
2009 also saw the release of 4 NEW full length titles, 1 amazing re-issue, and 7 compilation releases.. we were busy.. the new titles were, if you missed them.. "DEAMON ROCK" - on Auricular Records, "Thee Scream ov Angels on thee Deaf Ears ov Man" on LOVE EARTH MUSIC, LIVE AT TRUE LOVE on TIF, and LIVE AT NORCAL NOISEFEST 2009 from TIF/BANDCAMP.. and the SPACE 1999 -10 year anniversary edition digital remaster on TIF/bandcamp is something very special
So here are the statistics for Instagon for the year 2009.. the deamon and I both thank you for your continued support. - Lob

Instagon 2009
TOTAL NUMBER OF SHOWS PLAYED - 35

number of NOISE shows - 9
(5 trios, 1 quintet, 3 mixers)

TOTAL NUMBER OF VENUES PLAYED - 24
(7 repeated)
festival appearances - 3

TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 58
number of NEW players - 22

TOTAL NUMBER OF SONGS/TITLES PLAYED - 114
number of NEW titles - 64
number of NOISE titles - 13

NUMBER OF COMPILATION APPEARANCES - 7
NUMBER OF FULL LENGTH RELEASES - 4

Detailed information about every set from Instagon in 2009 can be seen at the Instagon web site and the data base for 2009.

if you need any further detailed info on anything mentioned.. please make contact.
============================================
photo of Lob by Yvette Lucas

Set List - session 524 - Jan. 2, 2010 - House on the Hill Cosmic Hootenanny, UFO Club, Folsom, CA

Instagon #524 January 2, 2010
House on the Hill - Cosmic Hootenanny
UFO Club, Folsom, CA
(3 sets)

The UFO CLUB is an organization that was started in the UK in or around 1966 and was founded by the founding members of Pink Floyd. Syd Barrett's sister is still involved with the original group in England. A number of years ago a local man named James and his brother David began a project to re-create a version of the UFO club here in California.. they became involved with the UK group and opened an "official" West Coast chapter of this International collective for creative happenings in, of all places, Folsom, CA. ..the House on the Hill. Each years since its beginnings the West Coast UFO Club has hosted an annual end of the year celebration and party. This year marked the 10 year anniversary of the first West Coast UFO happening and a 3 day event was planned. Our good friends DELAYED SLEEP, played the festivities for New Year's Eve night.. and we were honored to be invited to play the closing night, Saturday Night, as the live band entertainment.. and so armed with Pink Floyd riffs we headed up the hill from Sacramento to Folsom ready to party

.

We arrived at the House On the Hill to find no one home.. not a soul.. the lights were on but no one was there.. we were at first sorta worried.. but then, after a phone call to Jimmie James , the event planner, we were told to hang on for a few minutes and he would be there to let us in. The band that was playing as Instagon for this session was all 3 members of the Garage Jazz Architects (Lob, Chad Williams, Mark Halverson) and also 2 of the members of Karmada (Stephen Elliot & Matt Conklin). This would be the 2nd time playing with Instagon for both Matt & Steve, but the first time Steve was on his main instrument, the guitar. (last time Steve played drums, Instagon #501). The house was a smallish house with old hard wood floors and lots of great visual effort to make it look like an old English party flat.. rounded archways.. hard color painted walls.. a mirror ball.. a liquid light.. and we brought trippy projections, and all of a sudden this show was a rainbow more colorful than Liberace throwing up on himself.

The first set was truly like an Instagon set from the past with the set list featuring songs that were played during the Liquid Den days & Lob even sporting his infamous "space pajamas" shirt . "My Little Red Planet," "Joyride", "Speed of Light", even Black Sabbath's "Behind the Wall of Sleep" (not played since NYE 2008, 36 shows). The only song that was something that has been added into the shows more recently was the theme song for "The Simpsons." That was mostly because that has become a GJA standard, and it was easy to make happen with the 3 of them all there. The set ended with a botched attempt into "One of These Days" by Pink Floyd that quickly went south and became closer to The Doors' "LA Woman". Also at this sets end, Stephen complained that his back hurt and took a break and so Matt was playing guitar for a short while.. and it was really cookin'! This first set lasted about 40 minutes.

The second was the shortest of the 3 sets we played that night, only about 30 mins.
It started with a new song "Dripfall" that was written in the studio this past Fall.. This was the first time it had been played out live...followed by another old school song, "Space Walk".. by this time the band was starting to calm into a place where really nice grooves and interaction between the players could happen..this "Space Walk" was really nice. Then, with twist of the old effects knob, Lob added this fat wah sound to his bass.. sounding like Jerry Garcia playing "Shakedown Street", and busted into a seriously funky version of "Thee Little Turtle".. deep disco dance version. After some boogie time, it was time for more Pink Floyd.. this time "Let There Be More Light" was the subject of the sonic garage jazz exploration.. it was a first time for this song to enter the deamon's realm and it was taken seriously.. finally to close the set we tore up a hot swingin' "Jazz for Satan" and then it was time for a bite to eat.

The 3rd and final set was the epic set of the night.. closing out at just around an hour, it started with more Pink Floyd with "Set the Controls...." we were at the UFO Club after all! This set was mixed with old songs and new songs.. and another first time Pink Floyd outing for Instagon with "Interstellar Overdrive". "Thee Sickness" was dedicated to Chad, who was ill but came to play anyway. The "Rock Lobster" brought down the house! This set was the sonic power set of the night.. all the way around great stuff. Only real moment worth mentioning was during the middle of the "Interstellar Overdrive"...it seems that the NYE weekend of party happenings got to Stephen and he fell asleep into a nod and a wall of feedback.. just nodded away.. to the point where Chad had to nudge him awake to cut the feedback from killing all of us.. it was something you seriously needed to see to believe it happened.. but alas.. it did.. supposedly there is a video that was shot .. maybe we can get to see that again someday.

All and all it was a pretty fun show.. there was some frustration and some chaos, but it was Instagon.. and the first show of the year too.. The deamon had a great time and looks forward to the next time we are asked to play at this interesting and special location.

Instagon #524
Janurary 2, 2010
House On The Hill Cosmic Hootenanny
UFO Club, Folsom, CA

set 1
Invokation>
Red Planet Landing>
My Little Red Planet
Joyride
Speed of Light
Behind the Wall of Sleep (song by Black Sabbath)
Simpsons (TV Theme song)
One Of Those LA Women* (Pink Floyd/Doors live mash up)

set2
Dripfall
Space Walk
The Little Turtle
Let There Be More Light**(song by Pink Floyd, 1st time played)
Jazz for Satan

Set3
Set The Controls (song by Pink Floyd)
Undoing
Spider
Echophobic
The Sickness
Interstellar Overdrive** (song by Pink Floyd, 1st time played)
Brainwashed Love
Rock Lobster (song by B-52's)



session 524 was:
LOB (lead bass / vocal )
CHAD E. WILLIAMS (guitar)
MARK HALVERSON (drums)
MATT CONKLIN (keyboard / guitar)
STEPHEN ELLIOT (guitar)
=======================================================
flyer art by Lob
group photo by Kati LeMer
all other photos by Yvette Lucas

thanks to UFO CLUB West Coast !

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