The latest issue of kickBright Zine titled #50: “Between Two Ferris Wheels” is out now! I really, really, really want to to get a copy. This issues covers the last year of my life chronologically from December 2022 through December 2023. Other than converting color photos to black and white this issue was created, written and printed without the aid of a computer during March 2024. I used typewriters, scissors, glue and photos I took over the past year.
I’m sharing my journey from Orlando to Savannah through pictures and words. It’s a little sad, a bit joyous with a lot of rock and roll along the way. One acquaintance called it “romantic”. I’ll take it. You’re gonna laugh, that’s for sure.
Rock and roll appearances: Loose Touch, Godflesh, The Cure, Basically Nancy, Teen Cobra, MrENC, S.M.O.P, Velocity Girl, Jonathan Richman, Poghoh, Tuscadero and others!
Regular copies are $12 including postage. I have special hand-colored editions for $20 including postage. I highly recommend the colored version. They are way cool!
In Savannah, you can find it on the zine rack at Sulphur Studios on Bull Street. Or find me around town! You can also find it upstairs at Bizarro-Wuxtry in Athens GA.
Stardust Pajama Party with: Paperback Romance Real Men Widows Holly Pocket Plastic Flowers Default Friends The Elephants @ Stardust – Orlando, FL Friday February 10, 2023 Photos and story by Jeffrey Howard
Kick Bright has never been about bands, or shows, or music, or reviews or anything anyone else has ever associated this with. It’s about me just trying to navigate this stupid world. It was never an attempt at journalism, because duh. Show reviews aren’t show reviews. They’re my memories — what band did what song or what person I saw at the show or the niceness of a new friend.
I reread my show reviews a lot and notice I am friends with so many people still to this day. Hard to believe I know anyone from more than twenty years ago. I notice writing about people I haven’t seen in years. I wonder how they are. Do they ever think to look up Kick Bright? Maybe someone will even see this and say hi like no time has passed. That would be nice.
Anyway, I came to this show by myself. I haven’t heard or heard of any of the six or seven bands that played this show but that’s not a deterrent. It was also a pajama party. Yes, I totally wore my pajamas and my super cool hot air balloon robe. It is really one of my favorite clothing pieces though I never wear it, not even at home. It just hangs on the bathroom door of every house I’ve lived in the past few years. You know, what if someone knocks on my front door in the morning. Whatamigonnado?
Now when talking about this show and sharing these pictures I don’t know which band was which. I even looked them up afterwards and still couldn’t figure them out. Except one: Paperback Romance.
Now Paperback Romance was the reason I even showed up. I was delivering them buttons they had made with us. But this wasn’t just a client drop off. One of the members of this band actually tracked Kristin and I down. Now, see we were both members in the band Courtneys along with two of our favorite Courtney’s ever.
Courtneys were a death/cutecore band that sounded cute but also had violent lyrics. We were in it from 2005-2008 or so but the two Courtneys had been doing their thing for a couple years prior with other members. It was a super fun time. Our tour with Doris Delay in 2006 will always be a fond memory.
Paperback Romance.
So two friends (one being in Paperback Romance) were at a thrift store and found a Courtneys CD on the shelf, bought it, listened to it and loved it. Time passed and the CD went missing. Oh no! You can’t find those on Discogs! They looked up the band on the internet and eventually tracked down us, the former members. They messaged us if we had any copies left.
When the hurricanes hit in 2022 our storage unit was completely flooded. Among the losses were the last of Courtneys CDs, all the handmade ones the ladies had drawn. They were so cool but we all ruined and had to toss them. It was devastating for me to do.
Now in one of our Hot Hands (one of our most current bands) tour merch cases I just so happened to find three copies of the official version left. They were literally the last ones to exist. Sure, the music is on Bandcamp but physical copies are rare and special.
Real Men
I messaged them back and said I brought the tour merch case to our newly opened shop and they came down. I shared with them some Courtneys stories like our fun bloody tour outfits and such. They had their favorite songs like “Eladon”. Kristin always mentions that her drumming on those recordings make her sound like a drum machine.
Now this show was Paperback Romance’s first show ever and I must say they were really good. They are one of many promising “younger” bands. You know the kind, where their parents attend the show to show support. How cute, right???? Their influences sounded all over the place, grabbing some pop punk, some indie without sounding like either. I was impressed.
The other bands were also entertaining. Like I said I don’t know who was who but what I can tell you their music was interesting and ALL OVER THE PLACE. Listening to new bands like this they have so many influences that I wouldn’t even be able to comprehend how they find and listen to music. Between all these bands the following bands were covered: Weezer, Oasis, Blink 182, Black Sabbath, Sublime, Radiohead, Mannequin Pussy, Rage Against the Machine and a cover of Van Halen cover of the Kinks. There was even one song the band was “Everyone sing along” and I had no idea what the song was. I mean, what????? My friend Sarah (the only person I knew at this show) and I were looking at each other trying to figure it out. We laughed at our failure.
The audience was also special. They were all having a real fun time.
Between bands I was being introduced as being a Courtney. And they even knew who that was. What???? I messaged with Courtney M during the show. She was kinda mad because WHO IN THE WORLD WOULD DARE GIVE UP THEIR COURTNEYS CD????? She makes me laugh because that’s exactly how she would react and also appreciate she’s at the point where she is an influence on people. And that goes for me as well. It gets me choked up.
I don’t have to figure it out, I just get to enjoy it.
Yes, all of this made me very emotional (I’ve already been an emotional wreck lately) and I couldn’t help but have some tears. No fighting them back— it was time to just let them go. This show had so much joy I’m going to add this to my “Favorite Shows Of All Time” list.
And going home afterwards, since I was already dressed in my pajamas it made going to bed super easy. I just hopped into bed. Nighty-nite to me.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Night Ranger Ocoee Music Festival @ Bill Breeze Park Ocoee, FL Friday March 10, 2023 Photos and Review by Jeffrey Howard.
Joan Jett is the best. The Blackhearts are so good. As headliner of this festival she really stuck out from all the other male dominated rock and country acts playing. She starts out with playing a Bikini Kill song over the PA and goes right into a twenty song set full of her best songs and a few choice covers including “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone and The Replacements “Androgynous” — maybe going over the head of the average audience member but appreciated by people in the know.
Even her new songs, some unrecorded, still sound pretty cool like they’ve been hits for years. It’s my third time seeing the Blackhearts, such a solid band. For an outdoor concert the sound was unbelievably good. Kristin and I were dead in the lively side of the crowd. “PUT THE SIGN DOWN” — that’s an inside joke for those of us on the “fun” side.
Night Ranger was one of the openers. They’ve been at making mediocre radio rock for forty years now. No doubt they are good at what they do, it looks like they’re having fun. They have a part in their show where all five members gather around and bang out a drum solo. I can appreciate their connection for one another. Their most popular song “Sister Christian” is actually sung by the drummer, not the lead singer, who may have lost his voice over the years but makes up for it with enthusiasm. They threw in a few popular Damn Yankees songs for the deep south freedom loving crowd.
Aaron Borowicz and Tyson Bodiford was a new band called Loose Touch and they are a total fuzzy scorcher. They made their live debut as a four member band a few weeks ago. I was out of town so I missed it. I saw some quick clip videos on social media and sounded raw and fuzzy. When I spoke to them they didn’t have any plans for any other shows. Hopefully that will change soon.
The members are long time friends with Fallon, owner of vintage shop Etoile Boutique (2424 E. Robinson St Orlando), who just began a new video series called Petite Etoile (translated “small star”), where musicians and bands set up in their store and filmed by top notch videographers. The Loose Touch video is the third to be released. Previously sessions included The Sh-Booms and John Lee Wyatt. This session was directed by Forest Royer with Loose Touch performing as a two-piece. Take a look!
Auto Chlor, Snotnoze Saleem, Hifi Envelope @ Uncle Lou’s – Orlando, Florida. Sunday February 12, 2023 Show report and photos by Jeffrey Howard.
Every once in a while LA resident and former Orlandoian Tim Murray brings one of his musical projects back to Orlando. This year it’s Auto Chlor and he brought together the electro sounds of Hifi Envelope and hip hop artist Snotnoze Saleem.
Hifi Envelope brought the electronics and synths ever evolving from sound to sound, blurring the lines between where songs begin and end and begin again. He was backed by the visuals of Broken Machine Films with dual screens in the background
I wasn’t familiar with Snotnoze Saleem. It was one person and a microphone with backing tracks. The set started off a little slow but ended up being pretty cool and HEAVY.
Auto Chlor (Tim) enlisted the assistance of Tony Mauss as hype-person and button masher as Tim sang through vocal pitch-shifters high and low. The substance fueled performance was entertaining and surprisingly well orchestrated. Glad to see Tim back in town.
City of Caterpillar Gillian Carter The Caution Children Sunday January 22, 2023 Wills Pub. Orlando, Florida Photos & review by Jeffrey Howard.
The last time I saw City of Caterpillar was 2002 way back at local venue Stone Soup Collective down there on South Orange Avenue. Flashbacks, right? The band came to town at least three times that I remember. Each time they were pretty remarkable, even from my terrible memory.
When it was announced I was pretty excited though Kristin and I had plans to be a vendor at a Rockabilly Festival the night before down in Immokalee, which is basically in the Florida Everglades. It’s several hours away.
We ended up making it back to Orlando in time for the show, even if we stopped a million times at thrift stores and looking for a pair of shoes for me since I got blisters from standing all day.
The line was already down the block to get into Wills Pub. We didn’t have tickets so we were concerned if it was sold out or not. Luckily, we got in and made our way to the front. Right in back of us in line were members of one of the opening bands at the 2000 show. How crazy!
Opening up were local legends Gillian Carter and The Caution Children, both whom share members, notably Bob on bass and Tony (also Flashlights) on drums. It’s been a while since I’ve seen any of these bands. A lot of the crowd are all friends and familiar with their music so there was plenty of screaming along and “skits” put on by The Caution Children which involved a mattress with blankets….. and somehow a person sleeping then waking up. Lots of crowd surfing and the singer spent as much time off the stage as on. Fuckin’ great!
Gillian Carter took the stage next with mastermind metalcore guitarist/singer Logan Rivera just ripping into musical membrane that is the Wills Pub stage. More crowd surfing ensued.
So twenty-one years later City of Caterpillar can still put on a great harsh post-hardcore set. They may not be breaking bottles or crushing cinderblocks in the literal sense but do musically. The passage of time just made them laser focused. I couldn’t tell you what songs they did, it’s been so long since I pulled out their CDs or record singles. Every song was as the first time I heard them. They were intense. So glad this band is still together. I picked up their latest album Mystic Sisters that came on on Relapse Records last year.
Opening next weekend (September 9th) at the Orange County Regional History Center in downtown Orlando (next to the Downtown Public Library) is a special exhibit celebrating Orlando’s Underground Music Scene from the 1980s-2000s with a focus on Figurehead Records contribution.
I was lucky enough to have been a part in the presentation. I was interviewed in length with my memories, impressions and observations being an outsider among outsiders through Kick Bright Zine. I also contributed some photographs which will be on display.
It is running for several months so at some point it should be worth making time to check this exhibition. It’s something that usually does not receive recognition so I think it’s pretty neat.
This is a short film called “Attack Of The Supermarket Flirts” made in 1999 by Kristin Howard when she was in the 10th grade. She put together some commentary to introduce her project and shows the film. There is one original song at the end where Kristin is playing rock guitar and sings, Her brother Eric is on drums.
This time out it is the entire show of The Sonora Pine that I filmed in 1997 at Sapphire Supper Club in Orlando, Florida. The video has been sitting on my shelf so I thought I’d share it with anyone interested.
I added in some commentary at the beginning including showing some of the unique merchandise I bought from them at their table.
I have to do that thing where everyone says “like” and “subscribe”. Please do! I am toying with the idea of a new non-music channel. Anyone interested?
Kick Bright Zine 