I've spent most of my life around musicians and bands.  Which led me to work for one for most of my 20's.  This will be some stories from that time way back when, in a galaxy far, far away.

Fucking yessss. I've been waiting for something like this. Can. Not. Wait.

Now, lets make something understood...I'm not a musician, I just know a lot of them. I pretend to play a few instruments and can fake it for awhile. I can play a lot of guitar riffs, keep a beat on the drums (just not for long) and as long as I'm playing chords on piano, to an untrained ear, I sound okay. I can read music, just can't physically play it. All throughout school I took some sort of music class, I just have no real talent. I have good ears and can speak "musician", which is beneficial in a recording studio setting. Have I established my lack of talent enough? Anyways, in my little group of friends were all musicians of varying abilities, both accurate and what they thought was their level, if you get my drift...some claim to be better than they are. So, in the very early 90's...1992-ish, there was a ska revival. We all decided to form a ska-ish band, which lasted about as long as this post. We had 3 practices, which mainly consisted of us having cookouts, smoking cigarettes, drinking beers and me sneaking over to the drum kit, because I could hold the ska drum beat better than the drummer...I was going to play keyboards and sing. I can play keyboards much better than I sing...you can play keyboards much better than I can sing....I don't know why I was the singer. So, nothing ever happened except lots of talk of the shows we were never going to play.

The guitar player of this wonderful band was actually going to college for music production in Boston and was in the music scene there, which meant, we were in the music scene, because who doesn't want to go to shows? He had a radio show at his college, I did as well...that may be a story for another post...he had bands play on his show...which in my closet of a radio station, didn't happen. I got a call from him saying that one of the local ska bands that we liked was playing live on air at his station. The band is called The Allstonians, they were part of the Third Wave of Ska. We loved them, they were nice guys and the two main people in the band were hilarious. Nigel Knucklehead was the keyboard player and also sang and King K (Knucklehead) was the lead singer. This band is still around, they been together for nearly 30 years and have had something like 85+ different members. One of the long running jokes was they would play the first song and then someone would go, "I quit!" Nigel is the lone remaining original member.  Nigel is one of the funniest people I've ever known.  Just a natural comedian.  They sound like this:

SPOILER: Click to show

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

So, needless to say we all got to be good friends, we'd go to as many shows as we could and usually get in for free.  Most of them lived together in this big house called Greylock Place, because it was the name of their street.  They had cleared out their large dining room and used it as a practice space.  We'd all be sitting around the kitchen, living room...wherever and someone from the band would go, "Hey, do you remember that song that goes, 'La-la-la laaa?'  Then another one, would say...'oh yeah, the chorus goes...dooo-dooo-dooo.' And then, someone would say the first lyric starts with, 'When I saw your face...'  Yeah, right?  They'd all get up and start playing this song...freaky talented.  The first song is called Spike and it was about their buddy, named Spike.  He was an interesting character to say the least, listen to the song.  He died suddenly, I think it was drinking related and he was either just shy of 30 or just past 30.  Anyways, they had a show the day after he passed away.  Most of them drank enough to be professionals, but they were in rare form that night.  Nigel, the keyboard player could barely stand, he'd been drinking since 10...in the morning and it was now after 11pm by the time they went on stage.  Nigel would make PSA's often from the stage, as it was part of his shtick, usually it was to call in a drink order for the band...on this night, he asked for 2 beers and 5 napkins, as he was about to try an experiment...so, he was far gone.  They still played well, because they were often extremely inebriated when they played and often didn't warm up until the 3rd inning began (the 3rd stage drink, not necessarily the 3rd drink of the night).  Welcome to life in music. 

That's all fine and good, we all like music, but when did you start working for bands. Geez, calm down...pushy, pushy.



Okay, my friend that had the band contacts in Boston starts an independent record company...yes, I know. And yes, he took a bath financially, but he did put out some records. One of which was by a band we knew well and liked a lot. They were called Otis. They were kind of a East Coast version of Kyuss, stoner rock, but a little more metal. They go into the studio to work on their debut album. I start off just helping out here and there...you know lugging shit. Amplifiers, Drums, SVT cabinets and whatever else is needed, all around go-fer...Go-fer food, Go-fer beer...etc.





Around this time, Otis got invited to play in the WBCN Rock n' Roll Rumble. Something that has been and still is, going on since 1979. Most of the important Boston Bands played it, the idea is not to win it. The myth was if you win, it's the kiss of death and obscurity. There were only 1 and 1/2 bands that have had any true national success after winning. The half band that had success were called the Dresden Dolls and they won in 2003. They were a kind of performance art, dark cabaret punk band with a pretty famous member, Amanda Palmer. You may have heard of her, maybe not...she's really best known for being married to Neil Gaiman. So there's that. They sounded like this:








The other band were the darlings of MTV for a bit, you know when they still showed music. They were called 'Til Tuesday. The band Aimee Mann is from originally. They won the Rumble in 1983 and put out a couple of decent albums before breaking up in 1988-ish, where Mann would go onto a pretty successful career as a solo artist. They sound like this:










Anyways, any band from the New England area worth a spit wants to play this Battle of the Bands. The further you get the more money, studio time and interest you gain from the music business. Well known bands of varying national success have played the Rumble. Bands like Letters to Cleo, Morphine and Tree all lost. Dropkick Murphys never got invited to play it...more about them later.



So, it's a big deal in the Boston Music scene. Otis gets the invite and they want me to help out, I get my first taste as stage manager.



Basically, that job comes down to this:



1. If something goes wrong (broken string, amp, mic stand falls down, etc.) fix it! Nothing Goes Wrong, ever!



2. Be invisible, your not in the band, it's not about you...fix it quickly, accurately.



3. Provide beer, water and whatever else...the band can't get off stage or get drinks, you can. Be like the wind, run...don't walk.



That's about it. Easy...right? Depends on the band. So, it's the 1995 Rumble and they get into the Semi-Finals, which means a second night to play. That's as far as they get, they don't qualify for Finals night, but they got good exposure. They ended up making two records, but the band didn't get along in the end and went their separate ways. They did tour Europe a little and most of the members joined other bands. Me, I got a call from a high school buddy before I ever got to do any touring with Otis, but it was a blessing in disguise...



Otis sound like this:

Shit, @ck, I didn't know you hail from Boston/New England area. This is gonna make this extra compelling.

I used to live at the border of Allston and Brighton, off the Warren(?) stop of the B Line of the Green Line of the T in a group house across from St. Elizabeth. It sounds like you're maybe a generation or so older than me though. I was in sixth grade I think when ska was peaking again?

Anyway, wondering how many of the locale shoutouts I'll recognize.

Let's see...I never lived in Boston proper, but hung out there a lot. I lived in Brockton, MA...then Mansfield, MA and then lived in Providence, RI for over 15 yrs.

Where you were, let's see if I can remember...you should've been close to the Model Cafe...I love that place. You should also know the Brighton Music Hall and Paradise Rock Club, those are all on Brighton Ave if I can remember correctly.

May 1, 2020 22:14:40 GMT @ck said:

Let's see...I never lived in Boston proper, but hung out there a lot. I lived in Brockton, MA...then Mansfield, MA and then lived in Providence, RI for over 15 yrs.

Where you were, let's see if I can remember...you should've been close to the Model Cafe...I love that place. You should also know the Brighton Music Hall and Paradise Rock Club, those are all on Brighton Ave if I can remember correctly.

Paradise!! Yes!! Model and the Music Hall sound familiar too, but don't have specific memories. Not to say haven't been, but chance it was beer buzzed and crowd flocking without knowing specific destination.

First couple years lived down in what apparently used to be called the Combat Zone, off Tremont? But to me just seemed like where the Commons bumped up against Chinatown.

Then later moved out to Allston/Brighton border, then Brighton/Brookline border. Then all the way down to Pittsburgh, PA babay!!~

When we went back the other year for a tour of duty for work we were in Watch City/Waltham.

My mom's side of the family was from Boston/Mass though. Lynn, Topsfield, Springfield, etc. My Gah lived in Newburyport and Plum Island.

Honestly, no idea what venues I could rattle off. More excited for you to potentially cue up inadvertent memories.

May 1, 2020 23:55:29 GMT 🤯 said:

May 1, 2020 22:14:40 GMT @ck said:

Let's see...I never lived in Boston proper, but hung out there a lot. I lived in Brockton, MA...then Mansfield, MA and then lived in Providence, RI for over 15 yrs.

Where you were, let's see if I can remember...you should've been close to the Model Cafe...I love that place. You should also know the Brighton Music Hall and Paradise Rock Club, those are all on Brighton Ave if I can remember correctly.

Paradise!! Yes!! Model and the Music Hall sound familiar too, but don't have specific memories. Not to say haven't been, but chance it was beer buzzed and crowd flocking without knowing specific destination.

First couple years lived down in what apparently used to be called the Combat Zone, off Tremont? But to me just seemed like where the Commons bumped up against Chinatown.

Then later moved out to Allston/Brighton border, then Brighton/Brookline border. Then all the way down to Pittsburgh, PA babay!!~

When we went back the other year for a tour of duty for work we were in Watch City/Waltham.

My mom's side of the family was from Boston/Mass though. Lynn, Topsfield, Springfield, etc. My Gah lived in Newburyport and Plum Island.

Honestly, no idea what venues I could rattle off. More excited for you to potentially cue up inadvertent memories.

Lynn, Lynn...city of Sin...Big Hair Headquarters...My dad grew up in Marblehead, not far away from Lynn.

May 1, 2020 22:14:40 GMT @ck said:

 and then lived in Providence, RI for over 15 yrs.

What part(s) of Providence did you live in? I went there for the first time this past October. Spent the bulk of my time in College Hill with jaunts to Federal Hill, what I imagine is Downtown (RI State House, Roger Williams Park, Oldest Indoor Mall in the US, etc.), and I guess what you'd just generically call "the East Side."

🤯 So you were in Mass before Pittsburgh? I was not aware of that. I thought it went DC Area-Pitt-Boston-Pitt again.

May 2, 2020 0:03:59 GMT Baker said:

May 1, 2020 22:14:40 GMT @ck said:

 and then lived in Providence, RI for over 15 yrs.

What part(s) of Providence did you live in? I went there for the first time this past October. Spent the bulk of my time in College Hill with jaunts to Federal Hill, what I imagine is Downtown (RI State House, Roger Williams Park, Oldest Indoor Mall in the US, etc.), and I guess what you'd just generically call "the East Side."

🤯 So you were in Mass before Pittsburgh? I was not aware of that. I thought it went DC Area-Pitt-Boston-Pitt again.

I was about 5 minutes away from where you were.  Technically, North Providence, but I was right on the line.  You were by Brown/RISD...Thayer Street...which before it got really commercialized, was an amazing hangout street.  You went to the Arcade...the mall?  If you had gone towards Downtown Providence you would've found Friendship street...which in Providence is an actual one way street.  

May 2, 2020 0:17:23 GMT @ck said:

May 2, 2020 0:03:59 GMT Baker said:

What part(s) of Providence did you live in? I went there for the first time this past October. Spent the bulk of my time in College Hill with jaunts to Federal Hill, what I imagine is Downtown (RI State House, Roger Williams Park, Oldest Indoor Mall in the US, etc.), and I guess what you'd just generically call "the East Side."

🤯 So you were in Mass before Pittsburgh? I was not aware of that. I thought it went DC Area-Pitt-Boston-Pitt again.

I was about 5 minutes away from where you were.  Technically, North Providence, but I was right on the line.  You were by Brown/RISD...Thayer Street...which before it got really commercialized, was an amazing hangout street.  You went to the Arcade...the mall?  If you had gone towards Downtown Providence you would've found Friendship street...which in Providence is an actual one way street.  

Just looked it up. Pretty sure I just missed Friendship Street. Like if I'd have walked left instead of right at some point I'd have been on Friendship St. a time or two.

May 2, 2020 0:03:59 GMT Baker said:

May 1, 2020 22:14:40 GMT @ck said:

 and then lived in Providence, RI for over 15 yrs.

What part(s) of Providence did you live in? I went there for the first time this past October. Spent the bulk of my time in College Hill with jaunts to Federal Hill, what I imagine is Downtown (RI State House, Roger Williams Park, Oldest Indoor Mall in the US, etc.), and I guess what you'd just generically call "the East Side."

🤯 So you were in Mass before Pittsburgh? I was not aware of that. I thought it went DC Area-Pitt-Boston-Pitt again.

Born and raised in DC area. College and a bit in Boston. Pittsburgh for like a decade after that. Back to Boston area for a year and a bit for work. Now finally back "home" in Da Burgh.

As I was saying in a previous post, I moved from Brockton, MA to Mansfield, MA...two towns away.  Brockton is not known...still to this day, as a safe city.  This was nearly 30 years ago.  Very high crime per capita...more crime than Boston.  It's a very historic city, known for it's sports, it's nickname is the City of Champions.  Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler are from Brockton, both very famous boxers.  The high school is one of the largest in the country and I believe the largest in the state of Massachusetts.  Close to 5,000 students when I was there last in 1991, I know enrollment has gone down over time, because people have been moving out of the city as soon as they can, we were one of those families that moved.  My brother was going to be a Freshman the year after I graduated, he'd already gotten jumped and beaten up in junior high school.  He has a big mouth, with nothing to back it up, so it was in his best interest and health that we moved, also my parents were done with living in the city after 10 years.

Brockton High School

(Not pictured: Football Stadium, Ice Rink and the other half of the school...it's big)

We moved to Mansfield, MA about 2-3 weeks after school started.  I was driving from Brockton to Mansfield for school every morning, about 30 minutes depending on traffic.  It was a little bit of culture shock for me.  My graduating class was going to be over 1200 students if everyone graduated, but that's not going to happen.  My graduating class in Mansfield was 106, not a typo.  So, my first day of school was comical to me at least.  One of the bigger guys on the Mansfield High Football team came up to me in home room and said, "Hey, your new around here."  I answered him, "Yes, that's correct."  He had close to a foot on me, I'm not a tall person.  He asked me where I was from...I answered with a smile, Brockton.  He asked me not to kill him.  I said, "Excuse me?"  He then explained if someone of my stature (short and stocky, decent build) was still alive, I must be able to hold my own.  I thought, alright...he's afraid of little old me?  This is hilarious, but word got out, I was some tough guy, because I was from Brockton. 


I tell you all that, to get to this.  Another guy in my homeroom, in fact he sat right in front of me and witnessed this wonderful interaction, was Jack.  Jack was a musician and played bass in a garage/punk band called The Flower Gang.  We became fast friends and I'd start going to his shows whenever they played.  I started hanging out in clubs just after I turned 17, senior year of high school.  The band was heavily influenced by Minutemen, fIREHOSE, Husker Du and Black Flag.  Fast, aggressive, but catchy music.  They had a reunion back in 2012, which I'll include.




Okay, flash forward a couple of years...I'm out of college, not by choice.  Jack is a math major at one of the local colleges and playing in this new band called the Royal Crowns.  Hey, our debut show is coming up...come down to Babyhead and hangout.  Who are you playing with?  Oh, you know Dennis' band, Boss Fuel...oh cool, I like them and some guy named, Dick Dale.  Wait, THE Dick Dale?  Yeah...him... :coolthumb:

I get there early and help load some stuff in, nothing major.  Jack is talking with Dick as I walk up to him.  Hey, meet Dick Dale!  I gotta go do some stuff.  Jack disappears.  I proceed to talk with Dick for well over 30 minutes before Jack shows up and tells me we have a "thing."  It was just to get me out of there.  Dick was one of the nicer guys in music, we'd see him here and there over the years, usually at a festival and he'd remember the band and ask how things were going.  Dick likes to talk...about himself and his guitars...A LOT.  I saved Jack, not knowing what was about to happen to me.  The guys play and the original lineup was Jack on stand up bass, Jason on throat and Johnny the Colonel on guitar.  I can't for the life of me remember who played drums.  They've had 10+ drummers in their history, maybe more.  The whole Spinal Tap drummer problem...if you know the movie, you get the reference...no one died, but they'd either quit or get fired.  

Boss Fuel sound like this: 

Dick Dale is a legend, but just in case: 

So with the debut under their belts, the band gets a steady drummer for at least a little while.  Dana "Daddy-O" Stewart, phenomenal drummer who generally played standing up, but would sit for this one.  Dana looked like Eddie Cochran and they way he spoke was as if he just landed from 1962.  Great guy that lived in an old house that had equally old stuff in it.  They had the next couple of shows lined up, opening for The Cramps and Man or Astroman, The Reverend Horton Heat and Brian Setzer's Orchestra, which at the time was a new thing.

The Cramps were already legendary and completely frightening to me.  I mean Lux Interior and Poison Ivy were intimidating to me, then I met them and they were sweet as pie, well Poison was and Lux, was well Lux...odd and great as can be.  For the longest time, I never knew they were married.  I just never thought about it, but we ended up touring with them about a year or so later and when you see people on an every day basis, you figure things out.

The Cramps:


Now, Man or Astroman would dress up in spaceman suits and were pretty over the top.  They were like a space/surf rock type of band and were nice guys.  

Man or Astroman:


The next show was playing with The Reverend Horton Heat, who would become one of our longest friends in music.  Jim (The Reverend) Heath is one of the great rockabilly guitarists of the past 30 or so years.  Jimbo Wallace is a great stand up bass player and all around good person.  He was always nice to me.  When we first played with them, Taz Bentley was the drummer and he was okay, but they really hit their stride when Scott Churilla took over for him.  Scott has come and gone and come back and then left again, bands can be a tumultuous relationship.  More on these guys later.

Reverend Horton Heat:



Am I forgetting anyone?  Oh yeah, Brian Setzer...he was an asshole, 100% dick and all around douche.  Granted, I barely met him, he played his set, opened up the stage side cooler, dunked his head in the ice and grabbed two beers and left.  He was also pretty aloof before the show.  He just had that air of "I'm better than this."  Through the years you can figure out who you can talk with and those you dare not approach.  This was before his cover of "Jump, Jive an' Wail" took off for him.  I'd hate to see that version of Setzer.  Talked with a couple member of the orchestra and they were all nice enough, nothing memorable.  His bands have had a lot of turn over, so that's most likely on him.

The other cool thing that happened was the band got management.  His name is Darren Hill and when I met him he was just another guy.  Later on, they inform me of his music history.  "Hey, Darren used to play with Paul Westerberg (of the Replacements) and still manages him, that's why we went with him."  What?  Really?  "Yeah, Darren played on Saturday Night Live with Paul."  Darren?...that...Darren.  "He had a band in the 80's called Red Rockers and they were kind of a one hit wonder and had videos on MTV when it mattered."  Wait a second, but Darren never talks about it.  "Nope, he never will.  That's why Darren's cool, it's not about him anymore and he knows everybody."  Who else does Darren manage?  "Some Boston Irish Punk band called, The Dropkick Murphys, we'll play with them in a couple of weeks."


The Legend of Darren Hill:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}




Darren is the bass player.  Josh Freese is the drummer for Westerberg, he's played with everyone and a fantastic guy.

This was a really cool read @cerealkiller, look forward to reading more entries.

I’m not knowledgeable when it comes to music mentioned but meeting someone famous then discovering they are a douche always sucks.

May 11, 2020 16:54:33 GMT System said:

This was a really cool read @cerealkiller, look forward to reading more entries.

I’m not knowledgeable when it comes to music mentioned but meeting someone famous then discovering they are a douche always sucks.

Yes sir, generally you don't want to meet your heroes, they will disappoint.

The Royal Crowns are beginning to gain a following.  They play more shows in the New England area, occasionally going to other states like New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  We play often with two essential (in my eyes at least) Boston area bands.  One that you've heard of, one that I'm sure you haven't.  Both of these bands had the goods, they were/are just great bands to see and listen to, but just have different paths.

This first band is the band you most likely haven't heard of, they're called The Shods.  Kevin Stevenson their guitarist/singer was in a Boston hard rock band called Only Living Witness in the late 80's early 90's, but he left to form this band.  The Shods are if you took The Clash, took away their politics and added more of a party vibe to them.  Great power pop/poppy punk band.  I loved them instantly, because the Clash is one of my favorite bands.  They have had a lot of missteps/start-stops to their career along the way.  Kevin learned he had MS in 1998-1999-ish and they had to eventually stop for a number of years in the early 2000's.  He still plays when he's feeling good and the band is still around.

The Shods:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}








Now we come to the other band, that you should've heard of if you listen to punk/power pop-ish music.  They're called The Dropkick Murphys.  Ken Casey, the bassist/co-lead vocals is the only original member left in the band.  He's a salt of the earth type of guy.  If he meets you, likes you, he'll never forget you.  I've had this proven by him over a number of years.  Mike McColgan (remember, their all Boston Irish) was their original lead singer.  He was ex-Army (I think, sounds right) and told us he was waiting to get into the fire department, because that's what he always wanted to do, but in the meantime...Ken and I are doing this punk thing.  He was replaced by Al Barr, who is still their lead singer today.  Let me amend Ken being the only original member left, drummer Matt Kelly has played on all their albums, but was came into the band after their first year, he'd count if you're going by album releases.  Anyways, doesn't matter.

They start about a year or two after the Crowns and they're just wonderful, even early on, they had a thing.  Basically, like less traditional Pogues on steroids, not Ireland Irish, Boston Irish...massive difference in my book.  They start opening for us or playing before us on local shows, if we're both opening for a bigger national band.  They plugged away, played all the bad venues in the world, got some breaks and signed to a great record company that believed in them, Hellcat Records (subsidiary of Epitaph and Rancid's personal record label).  I'll never say a bad word about the band and I always cheer for them no matter what their doing.  I'll never say they had a rocket strapped to their backs, but they flew by us in a couple of years.  We're thanked on their first album, this is back when liner notes meant something kids.  If you were thanked on a band's liner notes, it was kind of a big deal.  Liner Notes for those that never purchase physical copies of music is where the lyrics are printed and thanks to all those involved with the band in one way or another

Early Dropkick Murphys:

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{Spoiler}

Okay, enough about those bands...we release our first 2, 7" records(single) in case you have no idea what I'm talking about.  Cheaper to produce vinyl single, 99.8% of all punk bands have done this in their careers...

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

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{Spoiler}

Not exactly the layout I wanted above, but fuck it.

Love that give zero fux spin on Hobbs wearing the HHH/Mötöhead King of Kings 👑

May 16, 2020 15:50:37 GMT 🤯 said:

Love that give zero fux spin on Hobbs wearing the HHH/Mötöhead King of Kings 👑

?

May 16, 2020 16:12:40 GMT @ck said:

May 16, 2020 15:50:37 GMT 🤯 said:

Love that give zero fux spin on Hobbs wearing the HHH/Mötöhead King of Kings 👑

?

The tiger on your album cover?

Unrelated:
Lately I've been rocking Dropkick Murphys while basement lifting. Super curious to listen to your band's stuff and others you've linked in this thread, so might cobble together a little playlist for today's lift.

Blah...Blah...1997....everything happens in 1997!  (Who was born?)


Stuff that happened before this time...

Dana the drummer quit to do his own band.  His replacement, Nate was fired before '97...he didn't really fit and he didn't want to tour.  Enter, Judd...a true Boston music scene vet.  He'd been playing in bands professionally since the early 80's.  Yeah, he was OLDer.  I was Judd's "keeper."  We both smoked, he drank...not to excess, but before you'd know it, he'd have 7 beers, think he was only on 3 and say he was good for a couple more.  He was also king of having multiple cigarettes going at once, because he'd "misplace" them...these were lit cigarettes.  Great drummer, funny guy...we got along famously.  He'd start every conversation, "SO young CK..."  Yes, it's true, I was young once.

The big blow was Johnny the guitarist quit.  He was a really good player and excellent rockabilly guitarist.  His big thing was he wanted to be an authentic rockabilly band.  The Crowns were rockabilly, but also had punk/hard rock influences...not attached to one style.  Johnny's equipment was authentic, he had an early 60's Gretsch guitar and his amp and effects ranged anywhere from late 50's to mid 60's.  It all sounded great in a studio setting or when it worked...which was not always.  This is where you learn how to solder on the fly.  Reattaching wires in the back of an amp that's 15 years older than you.  Soldering is a good skill to have, but not fun in anyway.  He also practiced...a lot...to the point of obsession.  He never felt he played well and was more than likely super OCD.  

Before Johnny quit, we had the WBCN Rock n Roll Rumble to play.  The lineup that year was pretty forgetful, except one band from New Hampshire called, Scissorfight.  They were a stoner rock/metal band and were intimidating looks-wise.  Their singer's name was Ironlung (he's since left the band years ago).  I met him in Allston, MA after a show when I was there with my friend Scott (the record company guy).  He came up behind Scott's back, I instantly knew who it was, because I've seen the band play and 6'4" 280lbs, bald with a lumberjack's beard midway down his chest is hard to forget (this is before all that became a thing).  He smiled, put his finger up to his lips (like Shhhh...) and then scared the living shit out of my buddy.  I learned that Ironlung (I never learned his real name and as far I know, that's his real name out of the womb) was a great guy.  This is the same guy who would announce songs from the stage like so..."This next one is called, Granite State Destroyer...Motherfuckers!"  He was a real sweetheart.

Scissorfight:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

Anyways, Scissorfight didn't get out of the semi-final round and we ended up winning the whole thing.  Yeah!!  Kiss of Death!!  

That summer we played dates on the Warped Tour...we'd do more in 1999, I think that whole tour or something.  Memory is a little fuzzy. 

The band also released their first album.

Wait...aren't you guys called The Royal Crowns?  Yeah...we were.  There was this swing band from California called, Royal Crown Revue.  They claimed promoters would often be confused between the bands, since we'd often play the same clubs.  Here's the thing...they were a SWING band and we were a PUNK band.

They sounded like this:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

SPOILER: Click to show

SPOILER: Click to show

SPOILER: Click to show

On The Warped Tour they'd be "You guys need to change your name..."  Yeah...yeah...we will (never) change our name.  Then there's the music business...Royal Crown Revue were on Warner Bros. Records, were in the movie The Mask (as the SWING band) and we weren't.  Yeah...we'll call ourselves, The AMAZING Royal Crowns, because that's ridiculous and funny...tee hee.  It worked for about a year...then Warners sent a lawsuit for more than we'd ever make, plus it was over 100 pages of legal mumbo jumbo.  They became The Amazing Crowns...sadly.

NOOO... What happened!?