We've made it to Day Three of all that is Pizza Fest VI -- Seattle's very own annual celebration of pizza, punk rock, and PBR's that has become a musical tradition in our town each summer. From humble beginnings, it's grown to be a multi-day, multi-venue festival featuring some of the best garage-grown local and national bands around, capped off by a pizza-eating contest that is only for the bravest of souls and the hardiest of stomachs. I don't know what you'd want more in entertainment, people, because Pizza Fest is the apex of FUN. OK, now I want to form a Planet Of The Apes-themed band called Ape X and play Pizza Fest next year. GOALS!
Get ready to scroll, click, n' roll through the MASSIVENESS of Day Three and my interview with Pizza Fest guru Pete Capponi!! Also, if you are like me and like to do things in chronological order, check out coverage of Day One and Day Two first, and THEN read on!
Matt Nyce of wimps enjoying pizza at Pizza Fest VI.
Saturday was bustin' busy for me as I had to go see about a guy, so got to the El Corazon too late to see openers, local werewolves Wolfgang Fuck. Maybe they will forgive me and let Ape X open for them someday. Or maybe they will just rip me to shreds. You can't tell with werewolves. Anyway, they will have recorded music available soon, and I know you want it, as do I.
I really, really dug Chicago's Uh Bones, who had just the kind of fuzzy, nasty three-chord '60s-style garage songs that form my DNA, and cause my head to nod and my feet to hop like I had a grave neurological disorder. I would go see them everyday.
Guitarist Kenny rocked his glasses right off his face at one point during their set. Being the kind soul, sympathetic severe myopic, and fellow wimps fan that I am, I handed them back to him right away. After I took a picture of the glasses, of course.
Uh Bones, Pizza Fest VI, El Corazon, Seattle, WA. 8/8/15 Flickr set
*Please note the extreme coolness and flair their drummer exhibits at the end of this song when he loses a stick.
I nearly missed seeing Oakland's BAUS because I was goofing around outside the venue annoying Matt Nyce with my camera flash (see GIF above). Silly me, because when I got back inside their high-energy, post-punk sound was really compelling and fun and I wished I had been there for the whole set! I need a watch.
BAUS, Pizza Fest VI, El Corazon, Seattle, WA. 8/8/15 Flickr set
Youthful frontman Kennedy Carda (OK, everyone is young to me) announced that his mother was in attendance that night, and that everyone should say hello. He then screamed his guts out while wearing a nice suit.
SSDD, Pizza Fest VI, El Corazon, Seattle, WA. 8/8/15 Flickr set
Courtney and the Crushers, also hailing from Oakland, CA., provided a change of mood with their sunny bubblegum garage rock, which made me nostalgic for Josie and the Pussycats, with the idea of Josie and the Pussycats kicking Archie's ass in a Battle of the Bands competition that would end up with Veronica getting mummified in Silly String. That was the overall feeling, and it was a good one.
Courtney and the Crushers, Pizza Fest VI, El Corazon, Seattle, WA. Flickr set
L.A.'s Zig Zags came on next with a knockout punch of headbangin' hardcore punk grounded with the hefty crunch of '70s metal -- the sound of a giant cement mixer barreling down the freeway, heading straight for your car, with Lucifer behind the wheel.
Nice looking lads, eh?
Zig Zags, Pizza Fest VI, El Corazon, Seattle, WA. 8/8/15 Flickr set
I was extremely eager to see Chicago's White Mystery play, having met the duo at Pizza Fest karaoke night and hearing how brain-busting awesome they were live. That turned out to be an understatement. White Mystery, with a simple set-up of a guitar and drums similar to another boy/girl combo from the Midwest whose name also began with "White," tore the joint apart with stomping, rough, primitive garage punk. You could not keep your eyes off them for a minute. I ended up moving from the front of the stage to the side, because it was getting so mental down there I thought I'd lose an eye or a pancreas or something. Bless you, ginger siblings!
Kenny, our glasses-losing friend from Uh Bones, will make appearances from here on, as the Unofficial Go-Go Guy and Stage Diver.
White Mystery, Pizza Fest VI, El Corazon, Seattle, WA. 8/8/15 Flickr set
WHAT TIME IS IT, KIDS?? It's PIZZA-EATING CONTEST TIME!!! YAY!!!! The crowd assembled around a table of six brave volunteers like heckling hyenas, yelling "EAT EAT EAT EAT!" along with DJ Ruben Mendez while the contestants endeavored to do so and not hurl. I, in fact, was warned to stand back as Past Contestants have indeed lost their cookies in pursuit of glory. I was pretty sure that the guy in the yellow shirt was going to vom a river of cheese and crust, but he held it down, at least during the contest.
None more 'Merica! Watch it for yourself!
Pizza Fest VI Pizza Eating Contest, El Corazon, Seattle, WA. 8/8/15 Flickr set
So, who can follow such excitement?? "Seattle's Best Punk Band 2015™®," wimps! The beloved trio recently signed to Kill Rock Stars, and have released their cassette EP, "Super Me," with the express idea that you should purchase and then enjoy it. I support and encourage this idea whole-heartedly.
Having watch wimps build their fanbase over the last couple of years, it is rather nifty to see tons of people, from the dewy youth to a gray-haired stage diver, go apeshit for their music. They truly deserve those Burger King crowns. We ALL deserve a Dancing Hot Dog, too.
wimps, Pizza Fest VI, El Corazon, Seattle, WA. 8/8/15 Flickr set
The floor was absolutely packed for Pizza Fest VI headliner, NOBUNNY. I don't know that you could pick a better King 'Za than a dude in a filthy bunny mask and black briefs with a cottontail. It was so very hot and sweaty by this time that I thought our rambunctious rabbit might end up as hasenpfeffer, but the glowing adoration of the crowd inspired him to close out the night in absolute rock n' roll triumph.
NOBUNNY called repeatedly for our friend Pete Capponi to join him onstage, which he did. The circle was now complete and we could go home, sated, soaked, and satisfied. Long live Pizza Fest, and thank you to all the bands, the venues, the organizers, the sponsors, and the fans for a wonderful, wild time.
NOBUNNY, Pizza Fest VI, El Corazon, Seattle, WA. 8/8/15 Flickr set
MY PIZZA FEST VI WRAPUP INTERVIEW WITH PETE CAPPONI!!!
Please
tell us how you survived Pizza Fest VI and are able to answer these questions
today. Who helped you along your journey?
Jen
Knight is my booking partner, co-organizer, and right-hand woman. She provides
me with perspective, moral support and laughs. Elaine Grabicki is our social
media director and co-organizer. Her contribution this year was significant.
She gave us to-do lists and worked so many angles and so many hours it makes my
head spin. Kitty Page made us an awesome new website and worked hours at the
merch tables.
Pizza
Fest wouldn't have been successful without all of us working six months solid
on it this year. The only way I survived it is the support of Jen, Elaine, and
my bandmates in Steal Shit Do Drugs. We have a gang mentality and they helped
carry me through.
Give
us a little insight on behind-the-scenes of getting a music festival like this
up and running. It's not for the weak of heart, right?
No,
it is not. Putting this together every year is a like giving birth,
figuratively speaking, of course. It takes true grit and a willingness to
swallow your pride and take blows to your ego. The toughest thing for me this
year were the times when Elaine and I would be sitting at Cafe Pettirosso
literally all day on a weekend just pouring over shit on her computer, with me pacing
around and acting like a desperate animal. But I wouldn't want it any other
way!
What
were some of the stand-out moments of Pizza Fest VI for you?
Well,
I kicked off the weekend by falling asleep in the unused green room in The
Funhouse at the end of Thursday night and waking up at 4:30AM inside the locked
club. So I guess it started off perfectly!
Friday,
all the bands were incredible, but the two I was really looking forward to most
were Scraper and Useless Eaters because I hadn't seen them yet. All the other
bands that night have a generally upbeat vibe to them, but these two had this
unmistakable contrast that made my mouth water. To have the night go from the
summery girl group uptempo harmonies of Susan into Scraper's dark
surgical-dental drill-downer punk was a real example of what Pizza Fest is
like. Then Gooch Palms got up like Demolition Doll Rods meets the Smothers
Brothers! It was ridiculous and made the night just excellent.
Saturday,
the highlight for me was definitely singing along with NOBUNNY to “I Don't
Wanna Be No Personal Pizza” by Pizza Fest Hall of Famers, Personal and the
Pizzas. I love NOBUNNY and we've been buds for a long time, so to have him and
his awesome band headline our music festival was an honor.
Will
there be a Pizza Fest VII? What's the process? What changes would you like to
see next year?
There
will be definitely be a Pizza Fest VII!! Who knows what changes will be made?
Maybe next year we'll have a celebrity look-alike contest? Or maybe we'll get
some Hollywood celebs to have a regular person look-alike contest??
There
was some controversy over the pizza-eating contest winner at the end. Can you
explain what happened? What did you think of this year's contestants?
All
in know is, whatever I decide is basically like the hand of God coming out of
the clouds and changing the course of history. There will be people crying and
whining all year long about how crooked the decision was, but guess what has
two thumbs and doesn't care?? This guy! I'm drunk with power and I've never
felt so free!!! And if you don't like it I'll sick my legal team on you!!!*
*Pizza
Fest INTL does not actually have a legal team so much as a barely-working Magic
8 Ball. Please do not sue Capponi as he is a broke loser. Thank you.
Any
closing thoughts?
The
best things about Pizza Fest are the bands and the vibe. People show up in a
good mood and bring their senses of humor with them. That's as important as
anything! As long as I have fun doing it and people like it, then I want to do
it.
The
music scene and community surrounding my city is so uniquely spectacular and is
on the verge of getting even more amazing. Brendan Bowers Generator Shows,
Brian and Bobby getting a venue again, Chop Suey getting saved, Summit Block
Party, Nathan Chambers at the Sunset, Mama’s Cave, CJ Frederick and DASWASSUP
gigs, Black Lodge is still kicking ass, and a host of other awesome people
doing rad stuff in music in Seattle is proof positive that even though our city
is being overrun with new money and assholes, the energy of a flourishing
creative community like ours MUST go somewhere.
We work like crazy to make our
home a cool place to live and so if it is to be that we're getting pushed out,
at least I can say I'm going down swinging, man. PEACE.
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman