CAMELTOE

Cameltoe, the predominantly female rock band from San Francisco who were together from 1989-99, were a huge influence on me. I was a teenager when I started singing in the band and little did I know how much fun lay ahead! Creating music with these women and performing on stage over the next 8 years shaped the person I was to become.

The following interview with me, Lisa, Catherine, Peter, Cathy and Carmela is for posterity. It's a piece of San Francisco history that has yet been told. As we embark on our first reunion gig August 10^th at The Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco for Rotfest IV, we all look forward to being on stage one more time, playing songs that were the soundtrack to our lives throughout the 90’s.

For all you Cametoe fans past, present and future, Enjoy!

Julie Pavlowski Green

July 27, 2013

1st gig at a House Party in SF

PATTERNS AND TONES: HOW AND WHEN DID CAMELTOE FORM?

LISA SIMONSON: 1989, SF. In my hallway on 14th and Church. Mikey on bongos. Catherine and I on guitar, Madeline (who wasn’t there ) on bass. Holly singing. We were called Plug Ugly for our one show at a backyard BBQ over @ Mikey and Catherine’s flat on Walter. There we met Julie. We knew she had to be our singer as soon as  she got in front of the mic  and belted out full throttle an Aretha Franklin tune.

CATHERINE BUTLER: I believe it was 1989. I was living on Fillmore Street and all my roommates had moved out so I was living alone in this Victorian. It was Labor Day and I was hanging out with some friends and they brought this girl Mikie along. She saw a guitar in my room and asked if I wanted to play in a band. That’s how I remember being brought in. Mikie was a drummer and she was playing with Lisa, Madeleine and Holly.

Soon after, I moved over to a house in Duboce Triangle on Walter Street with Mikie and this guy Alex, who was on parole for getting busted for selling acid through the mail!

JULIE PAVLOWSKI GREEN: I remember going to a backyard bar-b-q on Walter Street in early 1989 where this all girl band was playing. I had just tried out for Gravy Train but it didn't work out. I knew I wanted to start singing in a band. After the gals had played a few songs at the bar-b-q, I got up and belted out an Aretha Franklin song, which I think, impressed Lisa and Catherine enough for them to ask me to join them shortly thereafter.

For the next 8 years, we performed as Cameltoe. It was me, Lisa and Catherine. Over the years, we had Mikie, Ken Woodruff, Noah Marceron, Mike Barbegelatta and Joe Mascolino on drums and Peter Wilbur, Allen, Cathy Ellis and Carmella Thomspon on bass.

PAT: TELL US ABOUT THE BAND NAME AND WHERE IT CAME FROM.

LS: After a bit of throwing out names, Catherine came up with “Cameltoe”. The thought of a camel’s foot representing our sound didn’t quite do it for me so I sulked and gave it a weak thumbs up. After a few days I understood the gist of the name. Then I was happy with it.

CB: I am going to take responsibility here. When I was in college at UCSB, I was in a band with Sarah Hackett called The She Devils. We used to joke about starting a band called Cameltoe. When I started playing with the band, we went through some names like Plug Ugly and The Bluestockings or something like that and then I must have thrown out Cameltoe and we just went with it.

2nd gig at The Chatterbox

JPG: The band already was called Cameltoe when I joined. It was a reflection on how much we all enjoyed a good inside joke! Also, being mostly female musicians, it seemed to fit, as opposed to Moose Knuckle!

PETER WILBUR: Ha ha. Great name for what I understand was an all girl band before I joined. I worked with Mikie, the drummer at a courier service in SOMA. She was eventually replaced by the inimitable Ken Doll.

PAT: WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT BEING IN CAMELTOE?

LS: That I could drink Dr. Pepper and beer and eat chips with my favorite people twice a week. And, oh yeah, I loved writing songs and the music we would come up with as collaborators. Everyone pitched in. All ideas were good! (well...) 



CB: Too many to name! It was fun playing shows, especially the good ones. I also always enjoyed working out the songs. There was a lot of camaraderie and no one person was the leader, unlike a lot of dude bands. Someone would bring in an idea for a song and then we’d work it out and add parts until it became a song.

JPG: Laughing! I remember LOTS of laughter and joking around. I also really enjoyed creating songs with Lisa and Catherine over the years. At first, I sang lyrics written by Lisa and then wrote my first song “Take A Wild Ride” about my 1^st car, a 1965 Barracuda. That took it to a whole new level for me. 
I love to perform. I was an Ice Skater for 10 years when I was a kid, so being on stage was a natural thing for me and something I loved to do.

PW: The girls were so fun! The music was high quality as well. I had been playing with a bunch of morose loser guys, so the chance to dress up a little, play slap bass, and have some fun was amazing. Playing in a band with some fine ladies didn't hurt, either.

CT: I had been in a couple of bands before Cameltoe, but Cameltoe was the first band I was in where I played with other women.  Not sure if that was my favorite thing, but it definitely was a new thing for me. I remember when Catherine asked me what I was going to wear to the gig and I was stumped…”um what I always wear? “(t-shirt and jeans). I had no concept of dressing up for a show because had always played with guys.

PAT: WHAT WAS THE FIRST GIG YOU PLAYED WITH CAMELTOE?

LS: I believe it was the Chatterbox? I was nervous. I didn’t look up once. I never noticed a guy jump on stage next to me with his dog humping his leg. It was only after we watched the video did I see that.

CB:  There was a pre-gig where we played in my backyard on Walter Street. We told all my neighbors that Mikie was getting married and we were going to have a reception in the backyard. That’s where Julie came to the party and sang while we were taking a break and we all looked at each other and said, “We should get her to sing!” Except for Holly, of course, who was the singer at the time. We held a band meeting at a restaurant on Market Street and fired Holly!

3rd gig at a Warehouse - Halloween 1990

Our first club show was at The Chatterbox. That’s when we had Peter and Ken in the band or was Mikie still playing drums? Madeleine had gone travelling somewhere and so we replaced her with Peter on bass. I was so nervous before getting on stage that I threw up! I also remember a dog jumping on stage with his owner and the dog humping the owner’s leg! Somewhere someone has a movie of this.

JPG: It was a house party somewhere out in the Avenues (of San Francisco) a few months after I joined the band. I was more worried about what I was going to wear, than singing in front of people! Mikey was drumming and Peter was on bass. The first gig at a club was at The Chatterbox later that year. It was a blast to play there and I vaguely remember some shenanigans with a dog on stage but I can’t remember what was going on.

Al's Bar 1990

CATHY ELLIS: I think I started playing with Cat and Lisa while Julie was taking a break? A break that didn't last long - I think she re-joined pretty quickly and we played as "Cake" because you guys were still sorting out whether it was a "new" band or not. I just now remembered that we played one show as "Fingerhut" LOL - at the Chatterbox. Then we figured we'd get sued so "Cake" it was. Then, logic prevailed and the Toe was re-born. I have a distinct memory of a Cake gig at Nightbreak where someone ran over to the Cala Foods on Haight Street after sound check and bought a bunch of $1 cake mix boxes - the Jiffy ones.

And then Julie was tossing them into the crowd between songs. But on one toss, she accidentally nailed Christof Certic in the head! Poor Christof! I remember a friend of mine called me during that time frame and said "you owe me! I went down to Paradise Lounge to go see your band and it was some other band called Cake and they were HORRIBLE." That other Cake made it semi-big I gather, ha.

CT: I think my first gig was in L.A. or maybe Santa Barbara. When I joined, the band had two or three gigs booked in S. Cal about a week later.  Catherine said the band was thinking of cancelling them but I said, no worries, I can do it!  And we rocked them. I think Doug Moody booked my first Cameltoe gig. The last time I played one of his gigs was opening for R.K.L…..but that’s another story entirely.

PAT: WHAT VENUES DID YOU PLAY AT?

I-Beam 1990

LS: Phew...We never did get to play great American Music Hall!

CB: In SF, The Chatterbox, Morty’s, Paradise Lounge, The Kennel Club, El Rio, Purple Onion, Bottom of the Hill, Nightbreak, Slim’s, 6^th Street Rendezvous, The Covered Wagon. What was that bar with the red velvet wallpaper in the Tenderloin? The Blue Lamp! Did 
we ever play at the I-Beam? I don’t think we did…

JPG: Yes, we definately played the I-Beam! I remember crashing into Peter’s bass pegs and ran off stage thinking that I was bleeding! We played Morty’s and The Purple Onion A LOT thanks to Tom Guido and his Fuzz Club. We were also regulars at Nightbreak, Paradise Lounge, Bottom of The Hill and The Covered Wagon.

PW:  I remember playing in LA with Hole. We pretty much ran the whole circuit of dive bars in SF in the late 80s. 

CT: I remember the Purple Onion, Bottom of the Hill, El Rio and Covered Wagon in SF.  In L.A we played the Garage quite a bit.  In San Diego it was the Casbah.

PAT: WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE GIG?

LS: There were so many memorable gigs! I loved the time at Paradise Lounge when, before our show, they played our demo cassette over the PA. 
I saw some heavy metal looking dude playing air guitar to my lead. That was a special moment for sure.

CB:  Too many to name… We played with Hole at Al’s Bar in LA and Courtney told us we were going to be famous! I loved when we played with The Muscle Bitches from Canada at Nightbreak and they walked out with these tiny, little guitars and proceeded to rock out. Sometimes we’d get pegged as a girl band so they’d do “girls night” and then we’d blow the bands away because we were so heavy and fast. Playing with The Imperial Butt Wizards at The 6^th Street Rendezvous when they exploded stuffed animals everywhere. I had stuffing in my hair,  the back of my amp, down my clothes. Shows at The Purple Onion were always memorable for one reason only, Tom Guido. Playing at Slim’s with The Runaways and Stone Fox was fun. I think Sandy West gave us props!

Kennel Club 1990

It was always fun to play at The Garage in LA on Sunday Nights with Vaginal Cream Davis as emcee for Club Sucker. She loved our drummer Joe and would give him massages! When we played in Seattle at The Offramp we played with that funny wanna-be Alice in Chainz band who took all their shirts off. Didn’t we get drunk and make fun of them? Playing with Youth Brigade in Las Vegas to a bunch of skinheads! We played this show in Amarillo, TX at this youth club. It was fucking hot and the kids were eyeing us.

Ken Woodruff

There was an old Volkswagen parked in the middle of the club. On the first note, the club went wild. People were slam-dancing and screaming and clapping. I was wearing this long halter dress and I remember the sweat going down my back and down my butt crack! 

JPG: I’d have to say the gig at Al’s Bar in LA in 1990 where we opened up for The Imperial Butt Wizards and Hole was a very memorable. You never knew what to expect when you went to a Butt Wizards show. It was fun hanging out with Michael Quercio and Paul K. They all had such a great sense of humor and NEVER took anything seriously. Of course I was expecting Courtney Love to spit on us, but she was really cool. They even let us use all their equipment! I used to LOVE Al’s. Turns out my neighbor across the street from me now, Sandy Cruze, used to be the bartender there for years! 

But locally, in San Francisco, every show at The Purple Onion was memorable. The Butt Wizards we unpredictable but Tom Guido was off the charts!

with fabulous go-go dancer Karen Shelver

And of course, my last show with Cameltoe at El Rio in 97 was memorable but one that I would like to forget!
PW:  I still have two pictures from a show, probably at Club Chameleon, where a dog jumped on stage with the band. My favorite shows were always private parties.

CE: The Joe Boxer event at Slim's was up there. We opened for Cherrie Currie and Stone Fox. It was packed and probably the biggest crowd we played to.

The Fuzz Club at Morty's  1990 

I recall another gig at El Rio -- another home-away-from home for us -- where Catherine had these awesome vintage velvet trousers and she busted a Pete Townshend move and jumped across the stage and RRRRRRIPPP! She turned around with a look of horror on her face, and I yelled "don't worry, I'll cover you!" and positioned myself between Cat and the back of the stage. You may recall the El Rio had a glass door behind the stage, so people could watch from outside. Wardrobe malfunction!

CT: Oh man there was so many.  I think our gig with Woodpussy at the Garage where they made it snow inside the club. The snow was made of plastic and I kept finding little bits of it in my truck and gear for years to come afterwards. I liked the one where we wore messed up prom dresses at the Covered Wagon and the Reality check guys interviewed us after- I’m blabbing into the mike wearing a ripped up prom dress with fake blood and leaves attached to it (I was the stupid prom girl who drank and drove). I also liked the one at Bottom of the Hill where we opened for Team Dresch and Donna told everyone that I was her inspiration to start a band.  It probably sounds conceited to mention, but seriously my jaw dropped when she said that. 

PAT: WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING IN A PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE BAND IN THE 90’S?

The Chameleon 1991

LS: Being female came second to the music. I just loved writing and playing our music ! We were off the beaten path of what other bands, especially female bands of the time (and any time! ), were doing. Wah wah and rock before gender.

CB: It was great. We got along pretty well. There were no out of control egos. We worked together well and had fun. Sometimes it would suck to get pegged as a “girl” band because we were different from “girl” bands. I think we had our own sound. Sometimes being girls in a band worked for us, other times not. I don’t think people knew what to make of us. They’d see us all dressed up and think we were going to be fluffy then we’d rock out. I think we often surprised people who made assumptions about us because we weren’t dressed in black leather and covered in tattoos.

JPG: It was fun to see people’s faces change when we started to play. You could tell they were expecting one thing and when we would start to play, they got something heavier than they expected.

PW: With one exception, I have always been in bands that had at least one female. Women can play as well as men, and it helps avoid the inevitable crotch rock-ism that can creep in. Unless, of course, you are Cameltoe, and you parody and remake the sexist elements of rock into something fun for everyone.

CT: It was awesome. There were women playing music, but not many bands where most were female and were good musicians. 

PAT: YOU CHANGED THE BAND NAME TO CAKE FOR A YEAR. WHY? AND WHY DID YOU CHANGE IT BACK TO CAMELTOE?

LS: Oh yeah! Cake. There was another band called “Cake”. Cameltoe left a much bigger imprint. At least two fold.

CB: We broke up at a certain point. I think Peter and Ken had left and we took some time to regroup. We came back fresh with a new name, Cake. Then we got a cease and desist from Sacramento’s Cake so decided to go back to Cameltoe because the name was out there and noticeable. We already had a name so we decided to stay with it.

JPG: I had taken a break for about a year and when I came back, we thought we would start fresh with a new name. We actually played a few times under that name. At this point, Noah Marceron was on drums and Cathy Ellis was on bass. I remember one particular night, on April 1st, the other band named Cake from Sacramento played The Paradise Lounge and a lot of our friends had gone to the show. They thought we had pulled an April Fools joke on them! We went back to Cameltoe after that… 

Noah Marceron

PAT: YOU TOURED THE NORTH WEST IN THE EARLY – MID-NINTIES. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?

LS: I loved the free coffee and cookies by the side of the highway.  Fun venues, cool people up there too.

CB: It was super fun. At this point, Mike Barbagelata was on drums and Cathy Ellis on bass. We hit the road, heading for Seattle and Olympia. I don’t think we played Portland though we thrifted there! The shows were fun but I mostly remember everything around the shows. Playing on stage in Olympia at a movie theater facing away from the audience seats, while they stood on the stage. I remember Sleep Capsule complaining because it was sunny and nice in Seattle and they didn’t like that happy weather. Also ,we played at The Cockodile in matching red running shorts, except for Mike, of course! Oh yeah, and we played with that Alice in Chains band… Isn’t that the night Eric disappeared?

JPG: My brother Eric and I went a few months before that tour to scout some venues and meet the bookers in person. We had never been north of California before, so it was a real eye-opener for both of us. Kurt Cobain had literally died just a few weeks before we went up there. We decided on the way back to check out the town of Aberdeen where he was from, which turned out to be a small, rundown mill town on the coast. We were run out of town, with guys in pick up trucks throwing beer bottles at us, since I’m assuming. we had CA license plates!

The tour itself was fantastic! The Crocodile had a GREAT sound system. I remember it was the first time I could actually hear myself through the PA! We stayed with a band called Sleep Capsule. They showed us around and we really felt at home. I almost thought about moving up to Seatle at one point, and then it rained…Olympia was amazing. We played on a movie theatre stage and the kids were really friendly and cool. I wish we had done more touring.The only draw back was Catherine and Lisa were hard-core thrift shoppers and I had to be quick to get into the store before they did! Ha ha…

CE: I recall we went out to breakfast one morning after a late night out in Seattle. We found this very unhip diner/coffee shop with mainly old folks and we grabbed a booth and ate and got coffee'd up and were generally laughing and carrying on and having a good time. There was this one younger guy, by himself at another table who was shooting us disapproving looks until he finally got up, paid his bill and left. 

The waitress, who was I think enjoying our company, came over and said to me "you know who that was? That was EDDIE VEDDER!" Ha - maybe that's why he was so irritated by us - we were a table full of obvious rocker chicks who did not recognize His Royal Highness of Seattle. Sorry dude - we don't recognize you, and we don't like your band either!

PAT: ANY OTHER MEMORABLE STORIES YOU WANT TO SHARE?

LS: El Rio has a courtyard with a large glass window looking onto the stage from behind. This particular night I was outside in the courtyard looking through the window into the El Rio after we played.  That’s when I saw Catherine and Julie getting into a heated physical knock out, nail brandishing, slap upside the head fight. 

Mike,our drummer, was visibly upset. “ Aren’t you going to do something to stop the fight?” No” I said. “I’ve got a great view! “

CB: One time we were playing at the 6^th Street Rendezvous and I was wearing a rodeo outfit with rhinestones and this homeless man came running at me shouting, “Loretta Lynn, Loretta Lynn!”

Another time we played at the Chatterbox and I got so drunk I passed out in the doorway of the entrance. My boyfriend at the time said I had to get up but I said, “No, no, that’s okay, I’ll sleep here.” Thank god Facebook wasn’t around then! I’ll always remember Frank at The El Rio, “doing” the soundboard with one hand, smoking, drinking and doing coke with the other! 

Practicing at Turk Street studios was always fun with the guys who smoked crack and watched the place, sitting under the street grating, playing checkers and watching a fuzzy black and white TV. One time we were practicing at Turk Street and there was this shout from outside our door and we opened it and it was Ron Seahag who had long since lost his bid at rock stardom because of addiction and was pushing a shopping cart, plugged in to the outlet of the bathroom across from the studio, playing his guitar. He had seen sparks fly out of our doorway or something and was freaking out.

JPG: We had a song called “Maxi” which evolved literally out of the gutter. Our practice space was in the lovely Tenderloin, a really rough section of the City downtown. I was walking to band practice in a vintage 70’s red velvet suit on one occasion and this guy leans his elbow up on the curb, while reclining in the street (as you do in the Tenderloin) and said “Mama, you’re a Maxi Gooey Guchi Smoke Foot, yeah!” I took it as a compliment…

PW:  I mostly remember Julie's amazing jumps. I also remember the song "Maxi," and I can still hum the melody to the signature tune "Cameltoe."

CT: I always think of the show we played at Dragonfly.  The soundman was kinda brushing us off while setting up our mikes but then he dropped a mike or something on his foot.  He was wearing sandals (?) and it probably broke his toe.  He grabbed his toe and bounced around yelling “MY TOE!….MY TOE!.” For years after we mimicked him…CAMELTOE! CAMELTOE! Minneapolis was great…we played the 7^th St Entry. I had bought a cool coat a couple days before in Chicago for $5 and a woman at the Entry gave me a $100 for it.  I had to take it, I mean we were on tour and broke.  But it was a cool coat.  She asked me how much and I just blurted out $100. The bartender told me later I should have asked for $200, that she was loaded and probably would have given it to me.

PAT: WHAT OTHER BANDS HAVE YOU BEEN IN?  

LS: Nervous Texans, Cookie Monsters and Cookie Mongoloid. Pigs in Blankets played once.

CB: She-Devils in college. Post-Cameltoe, I moved to LA and played with Heidi and Max in The Witching Hour (ex-Vooduo) and a band called Plastique which was great but we never played out. I played a few shows with The Neptunas. Then tried to start a band called Theodore, which never took off, and for a second played in ZZ Topless. We were going to play our first show at Jumbo’s Clown Room. Then I veered into old country playing with The Henpeckers for several years. The Henpeckers became a Tiki band. I haven’t played music in about 3 years.

JPG: I started a band with GG King called The Checkers when I moved down to LA in ’99. We have 3 CD’s and 4 singles out. We still play out occasionally. 

I was in a band call The Runaway Monkees in '98 with Jon von from The Rip Offs/ Mr. T Experience, RJ Gallentine from The Creamers, Sunita Bhardwaj from Moist, and Wendy Powell from The Groovie Ghoulies. We played Runaway and Monkee’s covers and had a show up in Sacramento. Other than that, I was a Cameltoe through and through!

PW:  Most notably, Tallow.

CT: Short Dogs Grow, Wolfticket, Cookie Mongoloid, Hellfire Choir, Gang of Forty, Chainbreaker, Psychology of Genocide, Meat Sluts (currently)

PAT: WHAT IS THE BANDS DISCOGRAPHY?

LS: From cassette recordings of early practices, single on vinyl, to a CD of the last C-toe incarnation, they run the full gamut.

from 1994

What I want to know is, where the hell is my copy of “ Take a Wild Ride “ music video?? ( it was overdubbed onto an instructional VHS tape on how to dye and style mens beards ) Reward for its safe return. No questions asked.



from 1995

CB: Several demo tapes, a single and one c.d. Oh yeah, and a video! Some live video too…

JPG: When I was in the band we only put out 2 demo cassette tapes… When I left in 97, they went on to produce a CD. Hey, I never got a copy! I want one…

CT: We recorded one CD with me in the band. I think it’s just called Cameltoe.

PAT: ANY TOM GUIDO STORIES TO SHARE?

LS: One night we showed up at the Purple Onion for our gig, our gear piled up on the sidewalk. Doors were locked. Where the hell was Tom? “Look, over there!!” We heard Tom’s squeaky voice from the liquor store across the street “I’ll be there in a minute! “ 

He came running and huffing across the street towards us, his arms overflowing with 6 packs of PBR, fumbling and dropping them as he ran.  Out of breath he says “Sorry. I needed to get some beer to sell for the show” Needless to say he ran out of beer in no time. I was bummed because I only got to use 1 drink ticket that night.

One night I was shooting some video before one of our gigs (Carmela’s first show with us) at The Purple Onion. Tom came up and struck a threatening karate chop pose in front of me. “Don’t you dare photograph me. You’ll steal my soul! “



CB: Playing at The Purple Onion was always an experience. You never knew what to expect from Tom. He could be calm and normal or he could be freaking out. One time, he was bossing this guy around who was a friend of our drummer’s and I said he was being mean. 

Tom freaked out and charged up the stairs and out into the street, saying he couldn’t deal with me or see me. Often, my boyfriend would be charged with working as the door man or getting beer or some other task for Tom when he came just to watch us play.

I remember he was freaking out one night and whipped his dick out and started moving the sound knobs with his penis. Another time, he got on the mike when we were playing and accused us for selling out because we had a show at Slime’s (Slim’s) as he called it, drawing it out in his whiny voice. I used to see bands there and if he didn’t like them, he’d just cut them off. 

JPG: I had my going away party at The Purple Onion when I moved down to LA in ’99. I remember it was pretty uncomfortable as he screamed over the ENTIRE DJ set Otto von Stroheim played that night. It was classic Tom… The next day we had a drink across the street. I took a Polaroid of him and he signed it “Warn LA” … Still not sure what he meant by that but I took it as a fond farewell!

CE: Well, the Purple Onion was our home away from home and we played there probably more then we played anywhere else except maybe Chatterbox. Tom always loved us and was nice to us. He told me more than once that he thought we were going to be famous one day! But he was eccentric for sure. I have one random memory of us showing up for sound check and he wouldn't let us in. The door was locked and he was on the other side saying "I'm not ready to open! I'M NOT READY YET!!" 

We were sitting out there with all of our gear, totally blocking the sidewalk on one of the busiest streets in SF, on a freezing cold night, stuck there because Tom was not ready yet! We were begging him! No go. Until he decided he was ready. I'll ad that the load-in there was treacherous - super steep stairs down from street level.

CT: I wore a Chatterbox t-shirt at a gig at Purple Onion and afterwards I went over to Tom and he yelled at me in that high pitched voice “ OOOOOHH YOU’RE FROM THE OLD DAAAAAAYS”

PAT: HOW DO YOU THINK THE MUSIC SCEEN HAS CHANGED SINCE YOU FIRST STARTED PLAYING?

LS: Everybody is a drummer now.

CB: Online presence. We stopped playing just when it was taking off. We had kind of a website. Barely. I think it would have been great to get our music out to a broader audience, beyond SF. I do know that when we toured cross-country we mostly had a great response. The kids were hungry for live music. I don’t see live music that often. I don’t find it to be much different except it’s more expensive and no one smokes anymore (thank god!) I also find music to be kind of dull right now. A lot of it sounds like adult contemporary. 

The Casbah - San Diego 1997

It’s also very safe. I went to Coachella one year and it was so clean and perky. It’s so frickin’ expensive that you completely rule out any edgy element. I do like doom metal but feel like a grandma if I go see those shows. I still have fond memories of seeing High on Fire Thursdays after practice at The Covered Wagon.

JPG: Facebook, Twitter, MP3’s… anything digitally related to music was not around when we were together. I kind of like that…

CT: Well, to put it this way, at one of the early shows I played at the Farm, Lynn Perko and I were going back stage to get a beer and the bouncer put his arm out to stop us and said (seriously) “No girls backstage”.  So we turned around and went back to the front bar. Later the promoter was looking for Lynn because the Dicks had a sound check . Erik Meade told him that Lynn took off because the bouncer wasn’t letting any girls backstage.  I don’t think that would happen today.

PAT: WHAT IS CAMELTOE  UP TO THESE DAYS?

LS: Reunion show August 10th @ The Hemlock Tavern in SF. I better start practicing…

CB: Cameltoe’s very last show was in Denver, October 1999. Sob!

JPG: We were asked by David Nuddleman to play Rotfest IV August 10^th at The Hemlock Tavern 1131 Polk St. SF starting at 6pm

The line up is 3 Stoned Men, Icky Boyfriends, Cameltoe, Uke Band, Junior Executives, Pineapple Princess, We Could Be Friends and The Peddlers. Each band is going to play 5 songs… Should be an amazing night!

CT: Oh you know, the usual stuff, plotting revolutions and working on becoming America’s Next Ninja Warriors.