Karma at Jerry’s
“Are you coming down?” The voice on the phone asked as I sat on my couch at home.

“Yeah I’ll be there.” I said to JR.

He and I share a fanatic love for Karmahitlist.

“The first band is on right now, Karma will either be playing second or last, so you have some time.” JR informed me.

“Ok I’ll be there in a little bit.” I replied.

I walked down the Wall Street Alley past the old time Alley Cat, Riley’s back door where a few people stood smoking, and Azul’s, where people mingled at the entrance to the quaint neon blue brick space. I walked down the renovated downtown alley alone. Karmahitlist was playing at Jerry’s Pizza and I was willing to brave downtown’s youthful punk venue to hear one of my favorite local bands. I hate walking into bars or clubs by myself. I feel awkward, strange, and on edge. I feel like everyone is staring at me. “Look at her, why is she here by herself? Doesn’t she have any friends? Doesn’t she have a boyfriend? What’s wrong with her?” I imagine everyone is thinking. I just don’t possess the kind of confidence it takes to walk into a bar/club alone and act like I own the joint or like I’m the center of attention. It’s just too much social pressure. You would think at 37 I’d own my own skin-- radiate self esteem, but divorce has a way of knocking the wind out you. And then there are always those certain kind of guys that are way too drunk or they just don’t understand the meaning of NO that single women have to put up with. Still, here I was on this hot Bakersfield night bravely making my way down the Wall Street Alley towards Jerry’s Pizza alone all because of my love for Karmahitlist.

“What band are you hear to see?” The girl at the door who was collecting the cover charge asked.

“Karmahitlist.” I firmly stated as I watched her put another mark next to Karmahitlist’s name on a poster.

I walked inside the pizzeria and headed down the stairs to the basement. It was rumored in the music scene that Jerry’s basement had undergone some changes in recent days. Stereotactic was performing. JR leaned against a column listening, watching. Gus of the Filthies stood a few feet away. Matt Munoz of Mento Buru sat in a chair close to the back stairs and Seantastic of Karmahitlist leaned against a brick wall looking like the Punk-Rock-God he is in a red and black striped shirt dissecting Stereotactic’s performance. One by one my music scene friends embraced me, included me in their circle, I no longer felt like I was by myself. I felt like I was part of a much bigger community. A community so open minded, so friendly, so willing to reach out to others, a community who’s common bond is their huge love for music and the arts.

There had been some changes to Jerry’s basement. The walls had been painted a dark red and looked much better. Most of the holes in the ceiling had been repaired. The stage had been extended and the sound system was a much better quality than before. There still wasn’t much stage lighting to speak of, which is a shame for the bands that have to scream their music through the dark. The floor was still sticky, dirty and gross and when there is a crowd in Jerry’s basement… it gets very hot. To the youth of Bakersfield that go to Jerry’s to hear music and hang out the aesthetics of the venue are probably not all that important. To a single 37-year-old woman Jerry’s basement is still an uncomfortable venue even with the improvements they have made.

Bullets and Octane performed after Stereotactic. JR, Gus and I went upstairs to hang out for a while during their set.

“Can I call you guys my honorary dates for the evening on my blog?” I asked JR and Gus.

“I’d be honored.” JR said.

“Me too.” Gus replied.

“Cool.” I said smiling.

And then JR and Gus started fighting over which one of them got to be my date for the night. A huge bare fisted brawl with straining, rolling, struggling bodies broke out in the Wall Street Alley. I was stunned. Then Kenny jumped in. All of this hoopla over me? It was unheard of! Seantastic was about to jump in too, but he didn’t want to mess up his punk makeup that I envy so.

“Hold it guys… you can all be my date!” I screamed.

“Can you watch my beer for a minute?” Gus asked.

“Huh? What?” I said startled coming out of my daydream where rock stars and writers fight over me.

“Can you watch my beer for a minute?” Gus repeated.

“Oh yeah. Sure.” I said as Gus went downstairs to watch some of Bullets and Octane’s set.

JR and I hung out upstairs for a while longer before we made our way downstairs to watch the end of their set.

Then finally it was Karmahitlist time… I stood in the darkened basement with JR watching Karmahitlist set up for their set. Cesareo looked very reflective as he set up his drum set and I wondered what goes through a musicians mind right before a performance.

I love to watch Karmahitlist perform. Every song is a rock and roll musical piece of art that is carefully crafted. Seantastic’s stage presence is bigger than life. He lights up the room and starts a fire in the crowd. JR describes his performance as: “Sean is a man possesed once he is on stage, he's the lit fuse on the explosion that is Karmahitlist.” I agree and will simply add: he is a Punk-Rock-God!

Karmahitlist’s set was going along great when suddenly Tim’s bass head blew a fuse and he lost the bass. Cesareo and Seantastic tried stalling for time hoping Tim could fix the bass. Cesareo beat a hip beat on his drums and Seantastic rapped apologies to the crowd. They performed one song without the bass, rocking hard as Jim shred his guitar. I wondered if the dark forces of Karma were at work in Jerry’s basement.

“Shit, I don’t want to play anymore songs without a bass, it sounds weird!” Seantastic exclaimed as Tim continued trying to get sound.

“Are you actually smoking a cigarette?” Cesareo asked Seantastic who reached for a cigarette from a nearby fan.

“Yeah, this sucks. I’m nervous.” He replied.

“Screw this!” Cesareo said coming out from behind his drum set.

“Are you leaving?” Seantastic asked.

“No. I’m hugging everyone!” Cesareo explained emotional as he came out into the crowd and began hugging one fan and then another.

“Thank you so much for coming.” He said to one then another.

“Matildakay, thank you so much! I really love your name Matildakay.” He said hugging me and kissing me on the cheek before he went to the next crowd member and then the next making his way around the entire room while Seantastic paced and smoked on stage.

This was a rare literary musical moment that I was witnessing…

Cesareo made his way back to the stage and they began a second song without a bass. Gus had taken Tim to the Filthies studio nearby to borrow a bass head and half way through the second bass less song… the bass was suddenly there, rocking out and filling in the missing sound. Gus walked off the stage wearing a big S on his chest-- he was Karmahitlist’s Superman.

“We have to give them something for sticking around.” Seantastic said to the band.

They all looked at each other expectantly.

“This is a brand new song we wrote not to long ago, we hope you like it.” Cesareo said to the crowd.

Seantastic came out into the crowd, leaned up against the brick wall and began soulfully singing their new song Cancel my Funeral, jumping back on stage in time for its rocking chorus. They continued to rock the basement through the rest of their set ending with fan favorite and patriotic Uncle Sam. What does a Punk-Rock-God who’s over 6 feet tall and used to jumping and flying while performing do in a low-ceilinged basement? Swing from the rafters of course! Seantastic will always find a way to put on a dynamic show for his fans. He doesn’t know any other way to perform their music except to put his all into it. And that’s what we love about him.

After the show I asked Cesareo to tell me about the new song.

“Well we had the new song Cancel my Funeral and a reworked song 1203 which is now called the Fast Die Young.” He explained.

“What two songs did you play without the bass?” I asked.

“1203 was the first one.” He explained.

“Then we played Drowning in Poetry and if felt like we were drowning… then the bass came in at the end of it and we were saved.”

“It was a rough night.” He said sighing.

“The new song was amazing!” I said.

A day or two after the show I received an email from Seantastic that said:

“Sorry about the technical difficulties, my advisors tell me to say “It happens” but, you know, to be honest, If I was at a gig watching a band and they lost bass, I would of been outie, so thanks for sticking it out...your a real trooper...”

To which I replied:

“No need to apologize. Those things happen in music and life. The important thing is how you recover and what you make of the situation. People deserve the chance to show you who they can be... and Karmahitlist did that at Jerry's. Before you jump to the 'outie' remember it might be worth staying for. :)”

Thanks guys for another great Karmahitlist moment...  posted by Matildakay at 11:40 PM