archives: Top Players Choice: #8 for Don Rawlin (RIP) - Red Devil Lounge, SF,CA 2006

Don Rawlin
1960 - 2010

 I first met Don Rawlin in 2002 when I started booking shows for Jim Cline & the LIQUID DEN bar in Huntington Beach,CA.  He was soon to be the sound man after our original sound man, George, passed away.   He was a smokin' guitar player that had played with the local HB band POSSUM DETH, and also (he told me) had spent some tweaker time with Kerry King from SLAYER, and such had learned some amazing licks.  We played over 35 shows together at the Liquid Den before he moved away to San Francisco at the end of 2003.   We did not see each other again until 2005 when Instagon had relocated to Northern California and we invited Don to play with us in Oakland...it was great to hook up with him again and play a few more shows.  Earlier this year, the news came that Don had passed away in 2010, another victim to Cancer.  We were pretty blown away and sad by this news.  Don was always a man with a big smile and warm energy. I am sure that there are those that were close to him that are missing him a lot.  I knew him pretty good, but we were not "close" or anything.. and I miss him.  Don played 38 sessions with Instagon, giving him the #8 Top Player position.  I chose the show listed below as it was my first memory that came to play when thinking about Don playing with Instagon.  It was the last show that he played with Instagon.  He invited his friend Mutt to be a part of the festivities too.. and we had a blast.   Chris Van Huffel of Sub-Arachnoid Space held down the beats for this show.. it was pretty silly, and fun. ..I wish we (Don & I) had gotten to play more shows before he moved away to Oregon...but it was not to be.

INSTAGON Top Players Choice #8
for Don Rawlin (RIP)
Session #422
February 17, 2006
Red Devil Lounge, San Francisco,CA
http://www.archive.org/details/instagon2006-02-17.flac16

Instagon applied and was accepted to play as part of a "Battle of the Bands" happening being promoted by a company called EMERGENZA Productions. The bands were coming from all over Northern California and the battles were happening in various locations.. the winner would see a show at the Warfield in SF, and get some sorta recording deal.  (or so they said) .. the first round for Instagon was to happen in SF at the Red Devil Lounge.  The Red Devil is a pretty nice venue, and so I was excited to play this show.  I invited a group of ringers, hot players that would bring a great band to the stage and clinch our WINNING! . The band included Chris VanHuffel from SUB-ARACHNOID SPACE on drums,  DON RAWLIN from the Oakland Raiderheads (official band of the Oakland Raiders) on guitar, and myself playing bass.   Don suggested that we include his friend Andrew "mutt" Masonetti..    Mutt's plan was to put on devil horn's ..paint his body red.. and dance around on stage playing Kazoo while Instagon jammed.  it was a good plan. i liked it.. and we went with it.     We arrived and it was already pretty crazy.. , but they had a backline for us.. no load in.. just guitars and drumsticks.. it was cool.  I explained to the MC what was about to happen.. and he was pretty confused. but took my word for it and introduced us.   The ritual Invokation was short (as we only had 20mins to play in this battle) and launched into Deamon's Tube..which was solid..but slow paced.. followed by a wild & crazy Jazz for Satan.  Mutt was totally into this tune for obvious reasons, and was chanting "Jazz for Satan" by the end of the jam.  Don was playing amazing smokin' shredding guitar riffs, it was hot! We closed the set with a fun and bouncy exploration into Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust".. a song we have been playing occasionally for years, and the place exploded..  goes to show just what the power of familiarity and recognition is all about!    There were probably 8 bands that fought it out that night.. we placed 3rd !! We were shocked and amazed...and we were accepted to move on to the next round!!    We found out later that the next round involved us coming to the Bay area 3 more times before the actual gig for some reason or another...and that was kinda pricey (gas prices were soaring at that time) and so we kindly declined to participate in the rest of the "battle"  ..but who knows..we coulda been a contender.. 
Click the link above to stream or download this show in its entirety, or listen to a song or 2. 

the recording is an AUDIENCE recording.. and the crowd was loud and active, placing the recording device someplace safe and strategic was very hard, So there IS a bit of crowd noise on this recording.. but it is the only recording we have.
-/\-

archives: Players Choices #3 & 4: Opus23 & Dr. Oblivious

As we continue our collection of favorites from the top players choices.. we move on to the number 3 & 4 positions.. and CURRENTLY at this time, they are a CLOSE race!!.

Players Choice #3
for Opus23

session #27
February 18, 1994, KUCI FM, Irvine, CA
http://www.archive.org/details/instagon1994-02-18.flac16

Opus23 (aka Justin Cline) was one of the early conspirators involved with the expanding the Instagon project into the hands of reality. He was involved with the planning and booking of the first live public performance.  Currently Opus rides the #3 position of those that have played the most with the Deamon.. having appeared in 69 separate documented sessions.. and probably some that are not documented. He was a major player in the early days of the project and the many wild and crazy "conceptual" performances that Instagon did in those first 3 years were due directly to Opus' influence on the Deamon. He has not appeared with Instagon since Eugene Noise Fest in 2007.  He currently lives in Seattle,WA with his wife and child and runs a wonderfully successful Ice Cream parlor called "Full Tilt Ice Cream".  When contacted and asked about what his choice for his most memorable adventure with Instagon ..he choice a show from the early days that has become known to the initiated frequencies as "NIRVANA".
  During those first few years of Instagon we were very lucky to meet and befriend a local OC collage radio DJ named Brian MacDonald (who also happens to live in Seattle now). Brian was hosting a 3 hour late night weekly show called "%$#&YER&*%TV" (Yer TV)..it happened on Friday nights from 2am to 5am.. it was live...and it was pretty much anything goes. Brian was open to having live sound artists come and do odd sounding weird stuff on his radio show.. and when we found out about it.. well, it seemed like a match made by destiny!

Instagon made 4 separate appearances on Brian's show and he pretty much handed over the show to us and let us freak out in the studios and halls for KUCI, with as many people as we wanted, for the entire time the show was on air for each of the times it happened...it was RADIO CHAOS.. and we enjoyed the hell out of it.. it was one of those experiences that helped to establish the "no boundaries" attitude that Instagon developed as a growing Audio Deamon.   Session #27 (aka Nirvana) was a live on air performance over the FM airwaves of KUCI at the University of Irvine in Irvine,CA. It was the 4th and final appearance of instagon on Brian's show. It lasted 2hours and 40mins and was epic.. This recording is sometimes hard to listen to.. but its also really amazing the things we did for fun in 1994.. boys up late at night.. with radio waves to entertain an audience that may or may not even be there.  As we were loading in for this show around midnight.. we heard drumming coming from across the college campus.. and upon further investigation found 5 guys playing big Japanese style Taiko drums.. so we asked them to join us on the radio and they agreed.  So this session now had 5 drummers, Lob, Opus, and also the late Rev. Andy Warthog, Wm Rage (BlueSabbathBlackCheer), Daniel Bremmer, Dan Young, Christoher Bradbury (aka Xtopher Robin) (who also now lives in Seattle.. what is this a conspiracy??), & Brian MacDonald...and we were chaos incarnated over the air for hours. Towards the later part of the session.. there was a moment of vocal interplay between Lob & WmRage.. and one of them said the word "Nirvana".. and this led into a frenzy of sillyness surrounding Nirvana..
and making fun of the band, the members, in a very very childish way and it was very fun and infectious.. by the end of the night we were all screaming and yelling "Nirvana" like it was some crazy drug.. we left the studio and defaced the office, hallways, & elevator at KUCI with black markers.. leaving the Instagon symbol, the number 23, psychick crosses, the word Nirvana.. and Opus even signed it.
It was not a very nice thing to do..but it WAS loads of fun.. and the following Monday we were called and told we had to come back to the college and clean up our mess.  I asked a photographer friend, Alexis Grimler, to join us and she documented some great photos of our chaos and shenanigans.  At least one of these photos appeared inside the debut CD by Instagon later that year.. and the title of that CD was also taken from this "clean up" session....While we were cleaning up our tagging.. a well dress woman walked by and stopped to look at us.. we asked her what she thought of our art?  she replied.. in a slight English accent that "It was the most creative thing she had ever seen.."

So.. this session..has TONS of history and story behind it..  Rage & Lob still joke about the "Nirvana Incident" occasionally to this day..  and the track "Nirvana" itself later appeared on the "THIS IS INSTAGON" collection released later in 1997 on cassette.  This recording is the ENTIRE performance as captured AT the station to cassette using their equipment...the tapes were transferred to large audio files and all of the titles, EXCEPT for "Nirvana" were created for this digital remastering in 2011 for this etree posting to make it easier to explore.
[All photos from session #27 by Alexis Grimler-Donato]

Players Choice #4
for Dr. Oblivious

Session #136
February 2, 1997
The Chameleon, San Francisco,CA
http://www.archive.org/details/instagon1997-02-02.flac16

Dr. Oblivious (aka Alan Urbany) is right behind Opus in regards to the number of sessions he has played since his first appearance in 1995..which is currently 68 sessions. But he has played as recently as 2010 and is scheduled for an appearance later this year... so his numbers are likely to change before the end of the universe (towards the end of next year supposedly...).  Dr. O was a gift given to Thee Instagon Foundation by the late Reverend Andy Warthog (RIP) and to this day, continues to be one of his greatest gifts every given to the Deamon's cause. Dr. O is very much a part of the "NOISE" personality of the Deamon Instagon.. and this too adds to his race with Opus..as they are both probably the players with the most "noise" involved Instagon shows as their accumulated appearances. Dr. O was also one of the FIRST RESPONDERS and so his FIRST choice was a show that was already previously posted..this is his 2ND choice we have taken for his Player Choice pick.

Session #136 happened at a bar in the mission district of San Francisco called The Chameleon, it has closed long ago. This was a late afternoon session..Lob & Dr.O were on Instagon's first Tour or Northern California and playing shows with people from the cities they stopped.  This was Instagon's first public appearance in the San Francisco Bay area. For this session we enjoyed the company of Crow Mayhem, of the band GALAXY CHAMBER, (who was an old friend from OC), also Wm.Rage (BlueSabbathBlackCheer), Gravity Goldberg ..who attempted jumping rope with a live mic cord during the appearance.. and who also played accordion.

This was Gravity's ONLY appearance with Instagon, although she was a very close friend to the original crew and still remains a good acquaintance to this day.  This show also happened to fall on the 4th birthday of the deamon Instagon.. it being the 4 year anniversary of the first ritual in Fullerton,CA.  This show was attended by many friends from the bay area from 23rd Current and TOPY circles. The session was just under 40 minutes long.. it consisted of 3 improvisational drone based sound sculptures..2 of which were named by members of the audience upon request and these requests can be heard on the recordings.  This was Dr. Oblivious' 2nd choice from the year 1997, so it seems that was probably a good year for noise. These recordings are the best available using the equipment that was on hand to capture and document the event.

[session #136 photos taken by Unknown person]
-/\-

NEWS - NEWS - NEWS - NEWS

SO.. did you miss the Tube?  its only been 4 months since the last pathetic posting,..no comments?   Facebook has seemed to become our most active outlet for sending out news and information.. so if you are not a fan there.. you should sign up..

INSTAGON HAS BEEN VERY BUSY this has been a fairly busy year so far...we have played 22 shows so far this year.. and there are another 5 or 6 already confirmed as coming!   the schedule on this blog has been updated.
There have been 2 new releases so far this year.. and there are 3 more that are forthcoming..  TIF released "Thee Speed ov Infection" a studio CD.   LOVE EARTH MUSIC released "Scary City" a collection of live recordings with a poetry book by Lob. .. coming soon there will be "Pink Eye" from Placenta Recordings, a split CD with The Transhumans from Ventura,CA on Paper Cuts Records, and a full length CD on Aurricular Recordings as well.. so its a busy year!

also we have been doing some networking and building the web presence up a bit.
you can now find Instagon on Facebook, Twitter, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Myspace, SongKick, & Reverbnation.

ALL of this news and these links can be found at the instagon web page menu

http://www.tif.org/instagon/menu23.html

but the BIGGEST NEWS is that INSTAGON has joined the etree at archive.org!!
a collections page HAS been posted for LIVE RECORDINGS of full shows by INSTAGON for streaming and download..  the floodgates have opened.. and the sounds of the deamon are flowing..  select shows are beginning to be posted by Lob.. as well as others that have live recordings..  this can be found here

http://www.archive.org/details/Instagon

INSTAGON will appear at CURTISFEST (9/10), NORCAL NOISEFEST (10/1), & IAMINDUST FESTIVAL,SF (Nov)

set lists/recap - October 2010 - Shows 548-551 Norcal Noisefest & more..

NFXIV logo

October was a fun month.. we had 4 shows lined up..all of them were pretty different.. and so it was gonna be a good time.. the month seemed to get away from me.. and so i neglected to get this blog updated.. but here I am now to do just that..  so.. October started with Instagon's annual appearance at Norcal Noisefest in Sacramento, CA.   Instagon has appeared at EVERY Norcal Noisefest.. this one was #14.  This year's Instagon set included  Lob playing with members of Fraud, Cast Iron Sinks, Smegma, (waning), Delayed Sleep, Dental Work, & also included hidden imported elements of Return of the Jedi.  The performance was to be a MIXER SET, one of a larger size than is normally done when Instagon does this sort of performance. We had a few quick technical problems..but they were just ignored and we were off.. the set was pretty awesome as far as noise sets go.. it was LOUD.. we were bombastic.. it was screaming with feedback.. and it was contained and creepy.. it was a pretty good noise set from instagon

INSTAGON #548
10-2-2010
Sol Collective, Sacramento, CA
NORCAL NOISFEST XIV


"Thee Return ov thee Loud Jedi's"

Instagon 548 was:
LOB
CHARLES ARDINGER
SEAN CAMPEAU
SUSAN HUNT
MATT KRETZMANN
PAT MABIE
JAY WATSON
DONKEY FLYBYE

photo by Yvette Lucas

Our next adventure in October happened the following weekend, when we played outside of a Log Cabin in Davis, CA and got to appear with a classic SF beat poet too!  It was the Annual Davis Jazz & Beat Festival..   Instagon appeared this year as a follow up to our debut appearance in this festival last year. This year we had a smaller ensemble, and we were asked to play some music behind the poetry of Beat poet David Meltzer.  Which was really cool and fun,  I we we had had a chance to chat. He arrived while we were playing, and he left while were were playing.. and I never had a chance to say give a proper hand shake and hello.
It was outside.. on ground.. no stage.. to a handful of awesome listeners.. (most of the Festival goers were at the OTHER stage across the street where Mike McClure and Ray Manzarek were playing.)  Instagon played about half an hour.. then David Meltzer joined us.. he finished and we closed with Echophobic.   This show had a new drummer that had not played with Instagon previously named Graham Roggli... we all had fun.. i did not force him to play Insta-gadda-da-vida.

INSTAGON #549
10-9-2010
DAVIS JAZZ & BEAT FESTIVAL 2010,
Log Cabin Stage, Davis,CA

Invokation>
The Flux,
Spider,
Log Cabin Jam  [improv, fresh riff]
Buzzkill,
Jazz for Satan> (no vocal)
Orgone Collector,
We Own This Corner,
poems with David Meltzer**>
Echophobic


** poems by David Meltzer

INSTAGON 549 was:

LOB - bass, CHAD E. WILLIAMS - guitar, JAROBA - sax
GRAHAM ROGGLI - drums, -- special guest: DAVID MELTZER - poems*

Photo by Yvette Lucas

On the following weekend we somehow were able to pull off one of the wonders of being Instagon.. and we appeared inside the center of the Downtown Plaza Westfield Mall.. outside, under the dome..in the middle of the afternoon.. with a full sound system on a nice stage.. it was very very wonderful.. this show was for the Sacramento News & Review's 3rd Saturday Art & Fashion show .  Unfortunately someone forgot to explain that to the Fashion part... and they were a no show at the end of the day.  but there was some great art.. I even bought some. .. and we were allowed to play 2 sets and enjoy our selves greatly..  at some point during out set the mall manager asked the sound man to turn us down, and he had to explain to them that this was OUR volume on stage.. not his.. we attempted to play at a decent level.. i guess we were still probably a little too loud for some people. In the first set Thruster was really really sweet.. and the Simpsons was also something pretty special and different this time around.  The 2nd set opening "Trip23" had some great stuff and Cosmic was also very much so.

INSTAGON 550
10-16-2010
Downtown Plaza, Sacramento, CA
SN&R 3rd Saturday Art & Fashion Show

1. Invokation>Red Planet Landing>My Little Red Planet, Orgone Collector,
   Deamon's Tube, Spider, Echophobic, Thruster, Simpsons
   (42:00)
   
2. Trip 23, Forward, The Little Turtle, Cosmic, Thela*,
   Jazz for Satan (backawards remix)
   (38:00)

*last time played 2-16-08 (84 shows), riff by King Crimson

LOB - lead bass, vocals, CHAD E WILLIAMS - guitar,
JOHN KEELING - guitar, JON BAFUS - drums

photo by Yvette Lucas

Our last show of the month happened during the middle of the week in the East Bay city of Albany.. at a monthly happening called the HOOTANANNY. .. it is something organized by Suki O'Kane of the bay area.. and its a conjunction of musicians learning how to play and lounge together.. and is one of the funnest and most special happenings I have gotten to play at so far.. the line up I assembled for this set was comprised of member of OTHER projects that were already appearing that night at the Hootenanny. which was renamed the Shakenannny in tribute to the 20 anniversary of the bay area quake that damaged the bridge and stuff.   Instagon was an amazing line up of really fun and special people.. this grouping was a one off happening.. and that it was captured and can be re-visited is simple bliss..  Thee Sickness was amazing.. just fucking amazing..

INSTAGON #551
10-20-2010
Kingman's Ivy Room, Albany, CA


Invokation>
The Flux,
The Sickness,
Orgone Collector,
Deamon's Tube,
Cosmic

Instagon #551 was:
LOB- lead bass,
MOE STAIANO - drums,
DARYL SHAWN - guitar and loops
LUCIO MENEGON - guitar /effects,
PHILLIP GREENLIEF - saxophone
JIM KRULL - saxophone,
WHEELCHAIR RICKY - vocals

photo by Chad E. Williams

THIS SESSION NOW AVAILABLE FOR FREE STREAMING AND DOWNLOAD
http://www.archive.org/details/instagon2010-10-20.flac16

courtesy of Michael Zelner

set list - session 543 - August 12, 2010 - Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco,CA

INSTAGON 543

August 12, 2010
OUTSOUND SERIES

Luggage Store Gallery
San Francisco, CA

Once again.. another MIXER SET!!
This was our 5th time back to play in San Francisco for the OUTSOUND SERIES that happens weekly at the Luggage Store Gallery on Market St.  This series is produced by Rent Romus from Edgetone Records and he does a great job of bringing in amazing eclectic jazz and experimental music every single week, and has for years and years now.. He deserves applaud where ever he goes!!
This time we were paired up with a guitarist from Paris,France named Richard Bonnet.  A few week prior to the show Mr.Bonnet contacted me and ask if he could possibly borrow a guitar!  I told him it was not a problem, and we arranged to have a guitar there for him to play.  He brought his own effects pedals and did a very soothing, yet kinda lengthy set of solo guitar work.. the best part of his set was some things he was doing with harmonics and noise towards the end.. he did this  while also running a small Slinky across the strings (which eventually became tangled).

Instagon followed with a rather large grouping for the evening.. this was to be a 7 person mixer set.. it featured Mark Wilson of Conure, Amar Chaudhary from Reconnaissance Fly, Alan Herrick from Nux Vomica, Martin Irigoyen from Vernian Process, Blanahillary from Holy Sisters of GaGaDada, and SF friend and ally Lena Strayhorn!.. it was quite a group.. and we had a very wonderful time.. 

Everyone that came to play brought very interesting approaches to the Mixer Set.. for some it was their first Instagon experience.. for others it was their 2nd mixer set this year!.. and for Alan, it was his first Instagon appearance in 13 years!! 
As mentioned above this was a MIXER SET.. it was the longest Mixer set so far recorded..clocking in at around 35 minutes.  I had a lot of fun playing bass within this set.. 

i told the players we were going for a droney and creepy feeling with this performance and they came ready to bring it. One of the most interesting parts of the performance was the involvment from Blancahillary.. who brought a roll of aluminum foil to the gig, wrapped her self up in it as the show started.. and then clawed he way out and shared parts of the foil with the rest of the ensemble..it was something special for sure.

INSTAGON 543

August 12, 2010

Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco,CA

(MIXER SET)

The Perplexity of a Shrinking Steering Wheel

LOB - bass guitar, effects & metal

MARK WILSON - electronics

AMAR CHAUDHARY - keyboard & cell  phone apps

ALAN HERRICK - laptop

LENA STRAYHORN - assorted acoustic items

MARTIN IRIGOYEN - guitar

BLANCAHILLARY - guitar,  & performance art

all photos by Yvette Lucas

original hand bill design by Lob

setlist & details, session 529 - UBRADIO appearance / collab with Big City Orchestra - March 3, 2010

Instagon 529
March 3, 2010
UB RADIO STUDIOS
Alameda, CA

UB RADIO SALON is a 2 hour weekly radio show that happens from a secret location in Alameda, California hosted by Ninah Pixie & dAS of Big City Orchestra that is broadcast live over the web via a radio server in the Netherlands.  Its quite the technological feat actually, hosting a weekly show. 

This was Instagon's 2nd appearance on this show (last was session 479), and this time out we brought Chad E. Williams with us from Sacramento.. and BCO brought Tom from UNIVAC ..and together we made a force to reckoned with.  Chad and I drove from Sactown to Alameda thru 2 ugly rain storms.. and another one greeted us upon arrival and downpoured on top of us as we unloaded our gear..  Our studio space was warm and welcoming..

Ninah was already set up to play with her Alesis and so she was able to greet us and be a wonderful hostess. She offered us towels to dry off with..and some beverages.. she is always the best host.  Tom was also already set up with his gear. The last time Instagon happened on UBRADIO, Tom also appeared and this was the first time we had seen each other since then.. it had been nearly 2 years!  So it was great to have UNIVAC involved once again with our radio shenanigans..

Chad and I came in out of the rain as quick as we could and got our gear set up.. Chad had come with just his guitar and pedal board..so he was set up quickly..  I on the other hand came with a bass, a mixer, some effects, a set of marching bells, and a piece of metal that was salvaged from a Moe! Staiano performance..so I took the longest to set up.. which gave opportunity for everyone else to say hi and take these nifty pictures that you are looking at .   The show was loosely based around the notion that I was gonna read some of my "kids" poems.. i did read some of my rhymes.. but we never ever got to a point where reading one of my children's pieces ever seemed like it would work.. i did read numerous poems.. probably the most poems in one sitting that I have read in over a year. I also played some bass, and made some noises.... and hosted the radio show.. the show was continuous for 2 hours.. there was short break at the half way point.. and then another shorter break while Tom did his monthly "science" spot for the show. So in all actuality there were 3 sets.. one long one. and 2 shorter ones. There was not really a set list in regards to the music.. it was very experimental and improvisational with what we had to work with., but there were appearances of a few standard Instagon riffs.. 

Instagon 529

March 3, 2010

UB RADIO STUDIO, Alameda, CA

songs:
My Little Red Planet,
Thee Sickness,
Echophobic

poems:

Where Are The Baby Pigeons,
Plastiphobia,
When Shit Becomes Food,
Have You Ever Smoked A Bowl? 
I'm Stoned & This Poet Sucks,
Poodle,
I Could Have Been Hit By A Bus,
Lirbrary,
Waiting for a Ride,
Postcard from Italy,
Fidel Castro,
Whale,
My Favorite Song,
Jesus Has A Sampler

Instagon 529 was:
LOB - words, bass, metal, bells, shenanigans
CHAD E. WILLIAMS - guitar
NINAH PIXIE - Alesis Synthesizer
TOM UNIVAC - samples, keyboards, toys
DAS UBI - master control mixer, samplers

all words, original poems by Lob.

==============================================
photos by Chad E. Williams
Flyer art and photo of Chad by Ninah Pixie

Set List - session 523 - El Rincon, San Francisco, CA - Dec. 22, 2009

INSTAGON #523
December 22, 2009
El Rincon, San Francisco, CA

It was a cold winters night in San Francisco.. no rain, just cold with some wind.. but not as cold as we had thought it was gonna be .. so I guess that's a good thing, right?

We arrived early to the venue, Bob from Xome had traveled with us and was going to be involved with the Instagon set that was planned so it was cool to have come as a group. Instagon was planned to be another mixer set and basically the same set that was played last week at Luna's Cafe, but obviously with different players. This time around we had planned to included Free Fargo from SF, but he declined. We also invited Cory Thrall from Shrew Florist & E-Yard to join in the festive fun.. he was very excited to play, it would be his first Instagon session. We also asked the project that played before us called Bonus Beast if they would like to be involved and so we grew to a 5 piece group with the addition of Ryan King and Josh Thomas

Tonight we started with "Foundation" .. as this was more as a NOISE show and not leaning on the season for its inspiration.. (the show last week had an xmas themed title)..it was really heavy and full of steam really early on. This piece has truly evolved since its first appearance in 2007 and this evening rendition and players were all on their game. Bob Scott was really watching Lob as he manipulated the mixer and found what channel he was on and really watched for moments he was being mixed forward in the chaos. We finished "Foundation" and the crowd cheered and thought we were done.. Ryan started to pack up his gear..and had to be stopped.. we announced.. "no no..its not done yet.. we are just getting started" .. a quick change of the cd for direction.. and we started into "So This Is Chistmas".. it was loud and over the top.. and went only about half way thru the actual foundation track of the 1994 original mix. . so this was a shorter live version of this song than the one played last week in Sacramento.

At the end of the set it was discovered that the audio recording device was unplugged at some point during the ritual and so no audio recording was captured. Jared from Shrew Florist made a video recording and so this is the only known documentation from this session that exists besides photos. Free Fargo, who came to support the show even though he did not play, mentioned that it was timely and it was happy we had played "So This is Christmas.." its nice to have someone give feedback for a change.. feed back is always welcome.

Instagon #523

December 22, 2009
El Rincon, San Francisco, CA

Foundation
So This Is Christmas...

523 was:
LOB
BOB SCOTT
CORY THRALL
RYAN KING
JOSH THOMAS

=============================================
photos by Yvette Lucas
flyer art art possibly by Grux
photo art by Lob

do you read this blog?? LEAVE A COMMENT...
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Setlist - Show 516 - Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco,CA - Sept.24, 2009

Instagon #516
Sept. 24, 2009
Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco,CA
[NOISE TRIO]

Introducion
Dueling Tables,
Evil Jazz 23,
Extra Luggage Fee,
Banana Man

LOB (bass),
DR. OBLIVIOUS (toys/microphone, the minimalist),
FREE FARGO (metal source, effects pedals/antelope specialist)

Since moving to Northern California Instagon has played annually at the Luggage Store Gallery for the OUTSOUND EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC SERIES hosted by Rent Romus of Edgetone Records. This was our 4th appearance as Instagon at this space. The space is a beautiful gallery near the corner of 6th St on Market Street in the heart of San Francisco (half a block from the Warfield). There is a wicked steep staircase hidden behind a door that is covered by stickers, but once up the stairs you find a very nice space with hard wood floors and high ceiling with great natural reverb. We got up the stairs and started setting up for the show.. .upon arrival only Dr. Oblivious was confirmed to play.. .about half way thru the set up time, Free Fargo arrived at the show and we informed the door and Free at the same time that he would be playing in the set. He was surprised and excited.. and we continued to set up.

Noise Trio : 1 part metal and pedals, 1 part mic and toys, 1 part bass

This was Dr. O's 2nd time playing the Minimalist for the Noise Trio.. . he was also very entertaining to watch we were told afterwords.. he brought some of his own toys this time too.. Free was on the metal "ANTELOPE SPECIALIST" sign, and was playing very minimal noise.. nothing too power filled or
outbursting.. which set the tone for a very flowing and fun set from Instagon Noise Trio.. with Lob on bass.

The set was short and fun.. only a few pieces were attempted due mostly to the natural reverb in the room making it really hard for Lob to hear the bass he was playing.. and also we played late due to the opening act playing long.. so it was time to go home.. there was a really interesting version of "Evil Jazz 23" that was included in this set.. and also this was the first Noise Trio set to not include "To The Point" (for those that care)

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photos by Yvette Lucas

Setlist - Show 515 - Flux 53 Theater, Oakland,CA

Instagon #515
9 - 12 - 2009
Flux 53 Theater, Oakland, CA

introduction/invokation>
Red Planet Landing>
The Flux*,
Orgone Collector,
Space Walk,
Evil Jazz 23,
Simpsons,
Deamon's Tube
Forward

* new riff, first time played

LOB - bass
CHAD E.WILLIAMS - guitar
RENT ROMUS - sax and electronics
FREE FARGO - drums
[free stream/download
http://www.archive.org/details/instagon2009-09-12.flac16  ]

This show was an art opening for our good friend CJ Borosque, and also a release party for the MUDWAGON CD compilation that was released on Edgetone Records a few months back. The venue was a really sweet little playhouse theater with a generous stage and nice seating for everyone. The rest of the acts that played that night were mostly jazz and avant garde sounds.. very mellow and loose.. Instagon did not come with that mindset ..we came to rock, and rock we did. The band was anchored by Free Fargo who was playing his 2nd Instagon show ever (the first one being May 2007) and who had not touched his drums in over 2 years. For someone who has not played in 2 years, he was awesome .
Also someone that had not played with Instagon in over a year was Rent Romus from Lords of Outland, he is always great to play with and also was responsible for putting this entire event together. It was a great time. The band was rounded out with Chad E. Williams playing guitar and Lob laying down the riffs. Out of the Invokation we teased "Red Planet Landing".. and then something different happened and I could not lay off the delay pedal.. and so something new was born that we called "The Flux" in honor of the room we played that night. Its a great tune and will probably start to appear in future garage jazz set lists. Over all we rocked really hard.. but also the regular tunes like Deamon's Tube, and Forward both were taken to very different places and not played in very regular way. So this set list appears to be filled with mostly alot of Instagon standards, but in fact they were not played very standard like at all..
Chad left early before we could take the group photo shot, so here is a shot of 3 of us from the end of the night .. from L: Bug spot where Chad should be, Free Fargo, Rent Romus, & Lob.
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all photos by Yvette Lucas

THIS SESSION NOW AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING & DOWNLOAD
http://www.archive.org/details/instagon2009-09-12.flac16

SETLIST: Show 510 - GODWAFFLENOISEPANCAKE, San Francisco,CA 8-1-2009

Once again back to San Francisco for a late morning adventure with Grux and his rubber O Waffles! The GWNP show in SF has been a true consistent venue in SF for years and years now, holding shows on weekends, at noon and serving pancakes..its a great idea.. other cities should try it! This past Janurary the location that had been hosting the GWNP for so long, ARTSF, closed its doors and so the noisepancakes were on the move. The new location is in a flat in SF.. a bottom floor flat of a 2 or 3 story building. The performance space was small and dark, and people that were watching were forced to stand in the kitchen area and hallway. The PA has no monitors, so the sound is facing away from the performers, which makes it sorta tough to hear what you are doing..but the venue is small and the sound bounces around enough to make it work. This outing was the 4th installment with Instagon's newest face The Noise Trio
This time the trio would be Lob on bass, with Dr. Oblivous as "The Minimalist", and Bob (xome) Scott as "The Antelope Specialist". We played 3rd of 5 acts. The set started nice and quiet and grew slowly with awesome dynamics. It was a short performance, lasting perhaps 15 minutes...but it was very fulfilling and fun.

Instagon Show #510
August 1, 2009
Godwafflenoisepancake
Golden Trapper Keeper Lodge, San Francisco,CA


Invokation>
Godwaffle,
Robots Farting in Josh Fernandez's Face>
Spider,
To The Point

Instagon 510:
LOB - bass
DR. OBLIVIOUS - mic'd objects (THE MINIMALIST)
BOB SCOTT - metal signage and effects pedals (THE ANTELOPE SPECIALIST)

also were XOME, NECKHOLD, MR.MERCURY, GRR ON GRR

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photos by Yvette Lucas
top flyer by Grux
bottom flyer by Lob, art work from Yod