The Lookouting
“Lookout! Records was the very first thing I knew about Berkeley.”
I heard someone say this a few times during the Lookouting, and it’s true for me, too. There was always something special to me about Lookout! Records, and the magic of the DIY that somehow took off to create this larger than life iconic record label. It’s part of the reason I moved to the Bay Area, to find that magic for myself.
Lookout! Records and 924 Gilman just celebrated their 30th anniversaries with a week-long event called the Lookouting, which reunited Lookout! bands that haven’t played together in 10+ years, as well as showcased some that are still together, despite the label being long gone.
Naturally I went to every night of the 4-night event, as well as an extra night at the Ivy Room in Berkeley that wasn’t included in the festival ticket (and three Lookout! Bookout events at public libraries in Berkeley). It was a blast. Not only was it a week full of great music, but I got to live out of my dream of being a 90’s Gilman rat. Add that to the list of dreams that make no sense to have come true for me.
Night 1
There was a line outside Gilman of people waiting to get their wristbands for the week. I was not happy about the fact that I had to keep the wristband on for a full week (I generally take them off immediately after shows), but we only got one for the entire festival and it was a nice enough material that I could shower in it without worrying about it falling off.
I honestly had no idea who was actually playing any of the nights, so I pulled up the Facebook event page to look. Naturally, no Sweet Children/Green Day, Pinhead Gunpowder, Operation Ivy, or the Lookouts. Lame. I would love an Op Ivy reunion show, but if it wasn’t happening at the Lookouting, there’s a good chance it’ll never happen. But I was stoked enough for the rest of the lineup that it didn’t matter too much. What year is it? With these bands, it can’t possibly be 2017.
I walked in the venue and it hit me that I hadn’t been to Gilman in probably at least a year. This has gotta be one of my all time favorite music venues and just being there makes me happy. There’s so much history surrounding it, and I was getting to LIVE that history this week.
I saw Larry Livermore behind a merch table selling his books and a few albums. Gilman was pretty packed (which is awesome, but a little out of the ordinary for what I’m used to there) and there were a bunch of people around his table so I didn’t say hi. I figured he’d see my face enough this week, I didn’t need to be annoying right off the bat.
Black Cat Music
I had never heard of Black Cat Music, but I was a fan. They were just your typical fun punk band. For the first band of the festival, they made me realize that even if I wasn’t familiar with some that were playing this week, they’re all Lookout! bands, so I’m pretty much guaranteed to like them. Lookout! is basically my idea of music.
Kamala and the Karnivores
“If you’ve ever wanted to see a middle aged girl band, it’s us.”
Kamala and the Karnivores considered this their album release show 27 years late. They were finally releasing a vinyl, Girl Band, on 1986 Records, despite the band being long broken up by this point. I was surprised that Kamala is not actually the frontwoman, but the drummer, despite being the namesake of the band. I was also surprised that the guitarist is the drummer of Spitboy, Michelle Cruz Gonzales.
I really really loved them. They were probably one of my favorites of the entire festival. It’s kinda hard to go wrong with a band of badass lady punks playing songs about bad decisions. At least one song vaguely reminded me of the Lookouts (I wonder why…) and some songs were a little reminiscent of Dog Party to me—which I would not be surprised if the Karnivores happened to be one of their influences.
Someone was recording full sets, which is awesome, so I’m including some of my favorites as well.
The Criminals
Ahhh The Criminals. Now this was my favorite band of Night 1.
Let me begin by introducing you to a man by the name of Jesse Luscious. Back when I was living in Berkeley and didn’t have to commute across the Bay to get to Gilman, I always went to the collective’s meetings on Saturdays. I knew Jesse was the head of the fundraising committee and I knew he’d been part of the Gilman scene going back to the early 90’s. But I never really put two and two together about who he really was.
Last summer when the World/Inferno Friendship Society was playing their run of shows in California, I saw Jesse at the Oakland show. Now at Inferno shows, we have this tradition of chanting “Tonight! We’re gonna! Fuck shit up!” Jesse was standing there a little dumbfounded while we chanted, and my friend Mel later told me that it was because that was originally from a Blatz song.
Cue me still not putting two and two together.
I don’t know who I thought Jesse was, but he’s a different person onstage. He’s a friggin beast and looks a little crazy and I love it. Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve seen the lead singer of the Criminals and Blatz just hanging around many many times without ever realizing it.
So the Criminals are a little heavier than the previous bands, but definitely still very punk. They were really awesome and had so much energy,
A mosh pit opened up near the stage almost immediately. I stood on the outside edge guarding with my arm in front of me and remembered how it was here two years earlier that the girl who now dyes my hair like a phoenix for me first taught me that. It’s such a small and tight knit community. I love it.
It being an all ages show was really interesting. There were older men in the pit, who’ve probably been coming to Gilman for 20 years, as well as 10 year old children. This combination of people of all different ages moshing together as if it was perfectly normal. And here it is. And that’s something I’ve always loved about Gilman. Everyone is welcome.
Before they played a song called “You Stupid Fuck,” one of the band members commented on the situation saying, “Thanks for bringing your 10-year-olds.”
They also mentioned that their album is now 19 years, 11 months, and 3 weeks old, which is older than quite a few of the audience members. Jesse called them grandpas.
Jesse kept running into the pit and moshing while singing. His mic also kept breaking, which is completely unrelated believe it or not.
The frontman of Black Cat Music is also a member of the Criminals, and Jesse made a comment at some point about how he looked familiar.
For the last song, Ivy, the frontwoman of Kamala and the Karnivores, joined the band onstage. Naturally, I lost my shit to this song. I felt like I was screaming along louder than anyone else in the crowd. “Tonight! We’re gonna! Fuck shit up!”
“It’s a high school reunion for people who don’t go to high school reunions.”
Sewer Trout Experience
My first thought when the Sewer Trout Experience came onstage was: “Wow, they look so young.”
It took me a bit too long to realize that this was the Sewer Trout Experience, not Sewer Trout. So yes, they are young. They’re huge fans of the original Sewer Trout, but they’re a tribute band. Larry Livermore made a joke about how they’re more in tune than Sewer Trout ever was. Which I guess wasn’t really supposed to be a joke, even though it is kinda funny.
This was a fun one. They called for a volunteer with gas to come onstage for a song filled with burps.
Tilt
Closing out the first night was Tilt, fronted by another badass punk lady, Cinder Block.
“I never said we were cool. That’s why we ended up on Lookout!”
I’d seen them once before and I really enjoy them.
At the end of their set, I was making my way toward the door to head home when Cinder Block starts a “Revolt! Revolt! Revolt! Revolt!” chant.
All in all, it was a good start to a great week.
Ivy Room
Monday night wasn’t at Gilman and wasn’t included as part of the 4-day festival. If anything, it felt like a little practice run for Surrogate Brains and Dr. Frank of the Mr. T Experience before they played on Friday and Saturday nights. The Invalids also played the show at the Ivy Room, but it got a bit of a late start and I wanted to head home around 11pm, so unfortunately I missed their whole set.
One of my favorite things is being greeted with lines like “I have seen you at every single Matches show.” I think I was wearing a Matches shirt so I get it, but for some reason I appreciate that people notice my inability to miss their shows. Upon walking into the Ivy Room, I hear this from 19-year-old Alex Botkin, bassist of Sarchasm, and the idea behind the Lookouting. It’s crazy to me that someone so young was able to put on such a great event, but it’s really really awesome and falls in with the whole DIY success story of Lookout! Records. It only makes sense.
Dr. Frank
Dr. Frank is the frontman of the Mr. T Experience. He was playing an acoustic set, and I really really loved him. His lyrics were GOLD—super funny and accurate. I would definitely see him again.
He kept talking about his new “balbum,” which is both a book and an album. He’s the author of King Dork, and his new book is King Dork Approximately, which comes with a download code for an album.
“Buy the album for $10 and get a free book! Or buy the book for $10 and get a free album! Or buy both and get a discount to get them for $10!”
His protagonist writes songs, and Dr. Frank plays them. King Dork is probably one of the only books in the world with a theme song.
(This is not it.)
“You can always count on your girlfriend to give you a woo.”
Overall, his music was very fun and happy and dancey and relatable. I think part of his appeal is that he seems like a normal guy, totally no rockstar vibe at all.
Here are the videos of his full set. He played for a good amount of time.
Surrogate Brains
I’ve heard talk of Surrogate Brains for probably as long as I can remember, but I’d never listened to them before seeing them live.
They were fantastic. Another of my favorites. They play heavier punk music, which I would definitely describe as my style.
“We weren’t sure if we should play one 30 min. song or 30 one minute songs. We got to 18.”
They introduced Green Day’s “Troubled Times” as one of their own and I was extremely confused by it until I realized that yes, they are just covering Green Day.
And then the full set:
At one point they said something about how when they play this certain song at Gilman, they want the whole crowd to pogo to it. There was one guy in this smaller crowd actually pogo-ing, and for some reason that really amused me. You can see it in the beginning of this video.
I just loved them. I wish they still played shows, because I would attend.
The Invalids
I didn’t actually stay for the Invalids, but for the sake of the review, here’s video of their set. They seem really good, I kinda wish I would’ve stayed for it, but oh well.
But the two bands I did see both blew my mind, so it was definitely still a good night.
Night 2
The Friday night Lookouting show seemed to be the heavier night out of the four. Lookout! has a reputation of being pretty pop punk-ish, so the heavier bands were interesting to see as well.
I spent a decent portion of the night wandering around Gilman looking at the different merch tables. There’s a publishing company, PM Press, that I see at shows sometimes and I always spend a bit too long looking at everything but never buying anything, and I have a feeling the guy working the table is probably getting sick of seeing my face at this point. I like punk music and I like books, so what can I say? I also wanted to buy Lookouting posters but was afraid of the fact that I have literally zero wall space. I wanted to make sure I could get them all to fit before buying a bunch.
Scherzo
Wynona Riders
Wynona Riders introduced themselves as goth. A goth band on Lookout? That’s surprising. And what does goth even mean? As someone who religiously goes to shows, I don’t understand subgenres most of the time.
Their set was pretty cool. They turned all the lights out and had this crazy lightshow (at Gilman!?) and a lot of smoke.
“If you haven’t practiced with the smoke machine, don’t play with the smoke machine.”
They played a few covers as well, “Kids in America” and the Sex Pistols’ “Pretty Vacant.”
Surrogate Brains
Ahhh Surrogate Brains. I had already seen them once this week, but their performance on Friday somehow topped their show at the Ivy Room. They were by far my favorite of the night. They have so much energy and presence onstage and they interact with the crowd so well. I could not handle how entertaining they were. It was awesome.
They came out all decked in orange. They said they were for “safety.”
“We wore our safety gear so you’ll remember safety is first.”
They made use of some giant cards for the audience to help sing along throughout the night. There were “Oi!” cards, as well as “Cha Cha Cha” cards that were used to censor some original lyrics of “You should die.”
They pulled some audience members onstage to help with the cards, like this young boy and an older punk by the name of Punk Rock Joel.
“You gotta stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. I learned that shit in prison.”
And once again, they played a cover of Green Day’s “Troubled Times” with that same weird intro making it sound like it was their song. I sang along loudly, a little disappointed no one else around me seemed to know it.
And because I love them, here, have a full set:
Corrupted Morals
Corrupted Morals was on the much heavier side, which unfortunately is not really my style. They were very hardcore and the kind of music you’d mosh to, but I did not partake in the moshing.
They did play one song I knew, which was on The Thing That Ate Floyd, “Big Man.”
Monsula
Like Corrupted Morals, Monsula was also a bit too heavy for me to really get into. They were talented, but just not my kind of music.
It’s kinda weird seeing a musician who you like in a certain band but not as much in another. In this case, Bill Schneider of Pinhead Gunpowder, also in Monsula.
It was getting to be pretty late (at least past midnight) and I was tired, so I left before their set was quite over.
A couple other things of note that happened this night:
Two guys—Nick and Frank—recognized me from one of the Lookout! Bookout events and started talking to me. I can’t go to any kind of tour or festival without finding some kind of crew, so I was thankful these guys decided to befriend me. They’re both crazies like myself and traveled from far away for the shows. Frank came from Canada and Nick from Detroit.
Jack Curran from Fifteen more or less picked me out of the crowd to give me a free 7″. It was an interesting turn of events. I was just watching the show when a man walked up to me and told me to go to the Fifteen table…because maybe Jack knows me? Nope, he doesn’t. But I went over there and the guy started taking pictures of us. I was confused, but shrugged it off and went back to where I was standing. Not too long later, a woman taps me on the shoulder and tells me Jack wants to give me a record. One of those don’t-question-it-just-accept-it kinda things.
Night 3
Saturday night was by far my favorite of the whole festival. It was more of a full day of Lookout! madness, as the afternoon was spent at the final Lookout! Bookout event followed by lunch at Mike Dirnt’s restaurant Rudy’s Can’t Fail with Nick and Frank and three others I just met that day.
We went straight to Gilman from there, where I finally bought a ton of posters and blew all the cash I brought before the show even started. Whoops.
I also spent a good amount of time Saturday night talking to V. Vale, the creator and publisher of the zine RE/Search, and another man Ethan, about writing and self-publishing. V. Vale was originally talking about having me intern until I told him I have a Master’s degree in publishing, and he said I probably wouldn’t learn anything new from him aside from getting inspiration. It was still really cool getting to talk to him, and I’ll probably take him up on the offer to check out his self-publishing studio (his apartment, I believe) one of these days.
Kepi Ghoulie
I was really shocked Kepi Ghoulie (of the Groovie Ghoulies) played first, because he was AMAZING. I had many favorites this night, but he was one of them. He definitely blew me away. The music was super pop punk and fun. There were balloons and streamers, and overall it was a great way to start off the night. If I loved him this much, I knew it could only get better.
He even had a dancing chupacabra onstage.
He gave a shout out to Revolution Radio, which made me kinda sad because Green Day was unfortunately already in Europe at this point. Seems like Billie was about as upset as I was about that fact.
Bad tour timing, boys. Shoulda been at the Lookouting.
Here’s his full set:
Potatomen
The Potatomen are led by Larry Livermore (ya know, Lookout’s founder. So that’s pretty cool). I personally prefer his other band, The Lookouts, but oh well. Unlike the Lookouts, the Potatomen are pretty chill, and “punk” isn’t a word at the top of the list of how I’d describe them. But it was super cool to see the band that was formed entirely by Lookout! founders who had all this spare time just hanging around the office. In addition to Larry on guitar and vocals is Chris Applegren (artist for many Lookout! bands) on drums and Patrick Hynes (who I believe was also an artist) on bass.
“Our label was blessed with a lot of really good bass players.”
Apparently they had never actually played Gilman before this show. They used to play across the street from the venue. They’re not the only band I know of that liked playing outside of other bands’ shows, but it was interesting because I’m sure had they wanted to play onstage, they would have had no issue doing so. They more or less ARE Lookout! Records.
A lot of their songs were about specific people they knew in real life, mostly from the scene.
Brent’s TV
Brent’s TV is one that I had been hyped about because I’ve heard such good things. They were extremely talented, great band, but much more chill than I was expecting, so they weren’t one of my own personal favorites. I know they were at the top of many people’s lists though.
Squirtgun
I felt pretty similarly about Squirtgun. They were really awesome, just not one of those ones that particularly jumped out at me this night. Not their fault, all the bands this night were stellar. However, unlike Brent’s TV, pop punk is exactly how I’d describe their music.
The Smugglers
Speaking of bands that jumped out at me… The Smugglers absolutely won me over and stole my heart from the moment they walked onstage. By far my favorite of the whole festival. They were amazing and I’m so upset that they’ve been broken up for 13 years and I’ll probably never get to see them again.
They opened with “Rosie.”
You can’t help but just dance along with them.
They were all in suits and had fantastic stage presence. Their music was super dancey and fun, and they had high energy, which is given to the crowd as well.
Another song that stuck out to me was “Booze Can.”
They were interactive with the audience as well. They had a dance contest, and oddly enough, when they pulled the winner onstage to kinda joke about how she might have other trophies but not a “Smugglers Dance Contest” trophy, it turned out that she had also won a Smugglers dance contest in 2003.
I have a little hope that maybe they’ll play again someday, because even though this was their first show in 13 years, they agreed to play super easily. They were just asked, so they said yes.
Here’s their full set. Be prepared to fall in love.
I went to merch after their set was over and was disappointed, yet unsurprised, to find that it was cash only. I had spent all of mine on posters already, but CDs were only $5. I was eyeing Rosie because it also had “Booze Can” and a song called “Coffee, Tea, or Me” (that was giving me some weird deja vu for some reason) on it, so I felt like I needed it. But alas, it wasn’t going to happen.
SWMRS walked into Gilman while I was at the Smugglers’ merch table. This is normal. Actually, it is kinda normal to see SWMRS at Gilman, but I hardly ever say hi to them. I just kinda make awkward faces and wonder if they recognize me at all. (They ended up standing right behind me during Pansy Division’s entire set. That’s cool.)
I mentioned to Nick about my running out of cash situation and he offered to buy me a CD since I drove him to Rudy’s earlier that day and I told him no, I couldn’t take his money, and I was driving myself to Rudy’s anyway. But of course, he didn’t listen, and between Pansy Division and the Mr. T Experience sets, he disappears for a minute and comes back and hands me Rosie.
“If you want a different one I’m sure you can trade it…”
“No! This is perfect! Thank you!”
It was really sweet. Just another reminder of how great the music community is.
Pansy Division
Pansy Division, another fantastic and super fun band to see live.
They’re an all openly gay punk band, which is rare from what I can tell, and incredibly awesome. They had a giant inflatable dick making its way through the crowd during their set, and at one point their bassist came out in a sparkly top (or was it a dress? I couldn’t quite tell from where I was standing).
And they had a lot of songs about sex.
I really loved them and would have gotten a CD if it weren’t for the fact that Smugglers took priority for me. And, ya know, the cash situation. I would love to see them again, and because they are one of the few (the only?) Lookout! bands who are still together (and still play Gilman every year!), it’s possible!
Pansy Division’s full set:
After Pansy Division was when Nick bought me the Smugglers CD, and I guess SWMRS had moved because all of a sudden they were in front of me rather than behind me. I don’t think Nick heard me say something about them being there, because this conversation happened:
Him: “SWMRS or Emily’s Army?”
Me: “Emily’s Army. There are so many songs on the new album that I love, but I prefer the more punk sound.”
Him: “Yeah, it’s not bad, it’s just different.”
Me: “Ya know they’re standing right there?” -points at them-
Him: -looks in that direction, then turns back to me- “I hope they didn’t hear me.”
The Mr. T Experience
I was blown away by Dr. Frank’s solo set on Monday so I did not complain when the Mr. T Experience played until 1am Saturday night.
They played a lot of the same songs Dr. Frank had played solo, but this time with the full band. But he did play a few solo songs acoustic as well. As I said about his solo performance, the Mr. T Experience songs are all raw and down to earth and funny and just relatable in the best way.
He kept introducing songs with the same intro: “This is a song about a girl.”
Here’s their full set:
Such a great night. All the bands were so amazing. This is why I love this label so much.
Night 4
Saturday had been a packed house long before the first band even came on, so I was little surprised when I got there on Sunday and it wasn’t even close to packed while the first band played. Considering Saturday’s lineup I shouldn’t be too surprised I guess, but still. The crowd seemed significantly smaller at the beginning of the night.
Cringeworthy was on the lineup this night, but ended up not being able to make it unfortunately.
The Jimmies
The band that opened the last night of the Lookouting was the Jimmies. They were a good pop punk-y kinda band. They were giving away free 7″s which was awesome.
Juke
Juke is the only Lookout! band to have lost money when their record was released.
They were pretty fun onstage. Frontman Wolfinger lost all his clothes mid set. He started in a suit and ended in his undies. I was not expecting that.
They also threw books into the crowd, which was unexpected. One of the guys I had met at the shows, Ethan, apparently told some of the kids there that they had to write book reports on them.
At the end of their set, the lights in Gilman came on, but the guitarist just kept playing and playing and playing. You don’t play so much anymore, gotta take advantage of the time you get I guess.
Black Fork
Black Fork is a very angry punk band. Right up my alley. Even better than that, it’s yet another female fronted punk band. Ugh my heart. Love me some angry female punks.
They brought a “fascist bull donkey” piñata for the pit. When I saw it, I got excited because I knew exactly what it was there for. But at one point it ended up in Nick’s hands completely unharmed and he goes “What do I do with it?” and passes it on.
Me: “Destroy it!”
Eventually it’s back onstage with Black Fork and the woman tells us to kill the fascist bull donkey. Aren’t pits meant for destruction, and piñatas meant to be destroyed?
It was entertaining and I appreciated the crowd interaction. That’s always my favorite part.
They also kept alluding to a 40 Day Spoon-Free Challenge? I’m not quite sure what that was about aside from the fact that the name of their band is Black Fork. I’m assuming it’s not meant to be read into at all. Punk band, after all.
Avengers
The Avengers were my favorite band of the night. They’re another female fronted punk band, but more melodic rather than hardcore.
Pansy Division drummer Luis Illades and guitarist Joel Reader are both members of the Avengers as well. Joel’s celebrating his birthday in April by playing a show with all of his bands. I’m hoping I can make it to that.
Here’s the Avengers’ set:
Nuisance
I felt similarly toward Nuisance as I did toward Brent’s TV. I’ve heard nothing but praise for them, and I appreciated their immense talent, but they were pretty chill and for some reason just did not blow me as far away as I had hoped. Terrific band, just not exactly my style.
I caught Larry singing along at one point and that made me really happy to see. He really truly loves and believes in these bands that he introduced to the world. That’s the best reason to start a record label. He did it out of love for the music, and watching him sing along to Nuisance proved it in the best way.
They seemed like a weird band to mosh to, but that didn’t stop this crowd. Chill or not, they were moshing to Nuisance.
A couple of fun quotes from the frontman:
“This song is for anyone who’s ever had their heart broken. …by a motor vehicle.”
“Whatever you can do to piss off old punks, you’re on the right path.”
“It wouldn’t be a Nuisance show without a slow, boring country song.”
“East Bay warehouses like this need to be protected.”
“You’re all weirdos and freaks and you’ve disappointed your parents, but you’ve made me happy tonight.”
And then the lights came on in Gilman and it was over. I stood around with my new friends for a little while, not wanting to accept the fact that it was over and we’d all be parting ways. My week of living in the early 90’s with people as weirdly in love with this record label as I am had come to a close.
I cannot imagine another record label having the same effect on people as Lookout! does. It’s so much bigger than just the music. It’s the DIY spirit and the energy and excitement and possibilities that come with it. I left this festival feeling inspired more than anything else, and there aren’t many music festivals that can accomplish that. Nothing but love for Lookout!
Not familiar with Lookout? Here’s a playlist of some of my favorites. I can’t help but listen to it thinking “Holy shit, they put out a ton of great music.”
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