Punk Rock Bass Guitar

I'm in Omaha for the punk rock reunion, and having a great time, though it's certainly strange to see all of these people more than 20 years later. It seems all of us skipped our high school reunions, and I'm amazed at how many people, like me, traveled long distances to be here. Last night after Apathy practice we all went to Brother's Lounge, and it freaked me out to see all of these legends of the Omaha punk scene. Sociologically it was fascinating. Nobody is famous, and while we're all saying we're just there to have fun, there was still bickering between members of bands about the order in which they'll appear. I also noticed that many of us are still trying to change the world. That's what led us to punk rock in the first place. I think if we would have been Van Halen fans we would have been happier. We could have just held our lighters up and thought about hot looking teachers, spandex, and cameros, instead we were trying to fight for social justice by slam dancing and stage diving. Sure everyone at Brother's last night was a sociopath, but like Superman we were fighting for truth and justice, but not the American way so much.

So the show is Saturday night at the Waiting Room, and tonight after all the bands will practice at Warehouse Studios where my brother Jim works (and where C.W. McCall recorded Omaha's most famous song, "Convoy"), we'll all head over again to Brother's, where the 1980's flashback will surely just get weirder.

This was my first bass guitar, and as you can clearly see, it was a punk rock bass.

The Circle Jerks signed the bass at a Kansas City show back in 1983. Keith Morris wrote "Eat fruit," Greg Hetson wrote "Your bass is ruined," Earl Liberty wrote his name, and Chuck Biscuits just drew a design with his initials. I think Chuck was illiterate, even though his design does resemble the Sumerian pictogram for God, or what they called DINGER.

Practice has been going good. I'm thinking I might even do a few jumps to go along with the standard cool wide stance and moving my head up and down. My hair is also just long enough to cover my eyes when necessary. It's getting close to kickin' out the jams time.