Matt Lebofsky

I kicked off the new year with a show at 12 Galaxies (an awesome new club in SF), opening for No Origin. We played six songs, averaging 11 minutes each, and worked out segues between each of them. So it was a non-stop musical assault for 66 minutes. That ended up being total fun. No Origin was a trip - with Tarik was playing lead guitar parts on a piccolo bass. Of course, being in the Mission and all, before the gig the whole band went to Tacqueria Cancun and gorged on amazing Mexican food.

Saturday, January 22nd, 2005

On Saturday, January 22nd, we played a benefit show of some kind at Villa Montalvo down in Saratoga. Not sure who we were actually playing for, as we were in a heated tent outside away from the warm interior where all the doings were transpiring. Only a few party goers dared to come outside. The heat was pumping in right behind me and Wes, and actually blew out the amp that powered my monitor. So during the first song I had to flee out to the parking lot and grab my spare amp in my car which I happened to bring just in case. Well, we sounded good, had fun, and the people who listened really enjoyed it.

Saturday, January 29th, 2005

We headed an hour north to Santa Rosa (Nat old digs, Mac's current digs) to play a two-set gig at Aroma Roasters. The place was continually full all evening with an enthusiastic audience. They gladly filled the tip jar (which ended up accounting for half our take). They even cheered my lackluster solo in "Fully Brachiated." It was worth the drive just to get the explosive applause after the final number. Buzzed on caffeine (I wanted decaf but accidentally got the opposite) we went to a local friend's house to drink beers and watch "Baby Snakes" on DVD. We were all held in complete awe of Zappa until the wee hours.

Thursday, February 3rd, 2005

We were back at the good ol' Starry Plough in Berkeley playing with the usuals for the usuals. Actually, it was a pretty mixed bag - we had gypsy/jug band Sour Mash on the floor in between sets, the long awaited return of Japonize Elephants with their mad arrangements and sick spoon skillz, then we played (sans Smitty who was on vacation), and finally the tight and funky band Hundred from Santa Rosa featuring old R&D drummer Adamen on saxophone. It was a long, full evening considering it was a school night 'n all.

Saturday, February 5th, 2005

Flew down to Los Angeles to play the after party of the 11th Annual SAG Awards. Yes, there were television and movie celebrities galore. Couldn't really mingle as much as gaze or politely get out of the way when famous people brushed by with their entourages. Some random event coordinator lightly grabbed my hair from behind and said, "what outrageous curls!" It was a super high profile gig, but very easy. We basically just showed up and played a short set on equipment that was already there. There was a lot of waiting around in white tuxes. After the gig we headed back to the hotel, drank a bunch of beers, then flew back home early the next morning. What a weird 24 hours.

Saturday, February 12th, 2005

with The Fuxedos:

The Fuxedos more or less headlined the Devil's Valentine Ball, organized by the First Satanic Church and emceed by none other than Karla LaVey. Actually, there were many random, crazy acts too many to list here - we just happened to go on last. It all happened in the tiny little stage upstairs in the Edinburgh Castle in SF. I was actually planning on playing keyboards, but all the acts who were going to bring keyboards for me to borrow were no-shows. Luckily, since it was just me, Danny, Wes, and Jamison, I brought my bass to play on a couple songs - I ended up playing everything on the bass which was weird - especially as I was just going through the PA with no monitors. But it worked. Danny pulled out all the stops as this was his last gig before moving to LA in two days.

Friday, February 18th, 2005

Yay! We're back! After a looong hiatus (keeping a low profile as we slooowly completed the CD) we decided to play a "secret unannounced" show to gear back up to playing live. This happened at the Fishtank (where else?). We played almost all our material, including the debut of two new tunes ("Backwards Man" and "Male Enhancement"). Opening the evening was the raucous punk/pop of the Freak Accident (spearheaded by Ralph of Victim's Family) and closing was a brand new modern funk jazz as-yet-unnamed 8-piece featuring Mitch Marcus and his cronies (including Sylvain Carton, who helped record the 3PC CD). Both those bands were relatively new and were also in "warm-up" mode. So it ended up being a well-attended party where a few bands got to try out some new things live and people got to dig on some cool music from all over the map.

Saturday, February 19th, 2005

with Midline Errors:

"You may have seen me performing with my one-man band called Midline Errors, but tonight I'm doing a solo show." That's how I started the show at 21 Grand in Oakland. This time around I ran through about 13 of my depressing and/or funny songs, each dedicated to random people, as well as doing a cover of "Experiment IV" by Kate Bush (dedicated to all republican musicians). I just brought my keyboard and bass and switched between the two depending on the song - actually this was the first time I ever played bass and sang solo. My act was sandwiched between two other fun solo acts, Salane and Friends and Brian Kenney Fresno. Good times, good times.

Friday, March 11th, 2005

Another day, another dollar. We loaded into the Regency Ballroom in SF to place an annual awards ceremony for (what I believe to be) people and companies that sell funeral insurance (and lots of it). I was all excited to play this venue until I arrived and realized that I played here with Herb like 6 years ago. Anyway, we were well fed, then had plenty of time to kill at the bar next door until showtime. It was late when we started but people stuck around to dance and party, making for a fun evening. We had the realization during soundcheck that at this point nobody in the band actually lives in San Francisco.

Saturday, March 19th, 2005

Our pals in Sleepytime Gorilla Museum graciously hooked us up with an opening slot at their show at the Independent in SF. It was a blast playing our tunes to a packed house of fresh ears, and the response was awesome. Some of them even recognized our random, out-of-left-field cover of Ninewood's "New Can of Ice." Since we had an hour we played almost everything, and at the end Jon was assigned to give the announcements about our next show. Having the drummer be the spokesperson may actually lessen the impression that I run the band or write all the songs. Moe did a solo set as well - he's such a firey ball of energy that guy.

Thursday, March 24th, 2005

with Midline Errors:

I played an opening slot at the Starry Plough. I was given 40 minutes, and I somehow squeezed 18 songs within that time, including my obligatory different-cover-tune-every-time, that being Robert Wyatt's "Muddy Mouth." Even though the always entertaining Brian Kenney Fresno was up next, it was a tough crowd - filled with a lot of people waiting to play in the large Moe!Kestra! and not in the mood for funny (and/or tragic) songs. I really need to get a full band going with this shit..

Friday, March 25th, 2005

The very next night I was back at the Starry Plough yet fuckin' again, this time for the big Three Piece Combo CD release party. Ended up not being much of a party at all - due to competition with other local shows, and I'm guessing the proximity with the last big gig, the turnout was meager at best. We sold less CDs here than at the Sleepytime show. The opening bands were fun (Young Frying Rabbit and the Bleu Canadians) at least, and our set featured a 5-minute drum/guitar fusion improv in the middle of "First the Bad News" as Alex desperately tried to quickly replace a broken bass string. I don't think I want to play the Plough again any time soon. Need to branch out a little more, you know?

Thursday, April 14th, 2005

My original post said 2 long sets, but we actually played 3 long sets at Cafe Van Kleef in Oakland. It was exhausting, but ended up being a super fun gig. It's a cool place to hang out, and so there was a good regular crowd, especially for a school night (and the night before taxes were due). Plenty of people danced (which is fun watching when they try to groove in 17/8 or even better 21/8) and we debuted four new songs including my stupid little tune "Okinawa Copious Curd." One of the new songs was by Mac, which was funny as he wasn't there - Sylvain Carton stood in for him tonight (after somehow learning 2+ hours of insane material). Actually it was double funny as we played it twice - once it the first set, and again at the end when the dancers cried for more.

Monday, May 16th, 2005

Another big out-of-town corporate gig. It was weird. First off it was on a Monday night. Second, it was for an international conference of lawyers. Third, the event took place on an aircraft carrier (the U.S.S. Midway) permanently parked on the shores of San Diego. Like the LA gig earlier this year, we flew in that afternoon, met up at the hotel (after going to the wrong hotel first), caravaned over to the carrier for soundcheck, had dinner at a restaurant near the hotel, then back to the carrier for the actual show which was pretty much a solid 2 hour set of our most pumpin' party tunes. At least 1000, maybe 2000 people were checking us out, dancing, etc. It all ended up being a lot of fun, and afterwards I met up with my cousin Jon (who lives in the area).

Saturday, May 21st, 2005

with Research & Development and Three Piece Combo:

Both bands hauled ass up to Santa Rosa to play an outdoor party at the barracks (now converted into rehearsal / living spaces). It was only 5/7's of R&D (minus Dan and Smitty) but we played four rockin' songs while the punks waiting for Nuclear Rabbit to play hung around the keg and ate barbecue. Mosquitos kept landing on my arms, feasting mightily and there was nothing I could do about it as I was busy playing guitar. Then 3PC, without benefit of recent rehearsal, plowed through 7 songs and sold a few CDs to the young party-goers. Then after a painfully long set-up for Rabbit (during which the bassist played Star Wars themes on his 9-string bass) they rocked, the kids moshed, and eventually Jon grabbed Alex from the pit and we headed home so I could get some sleep before leaving for a major backpacking trip in Utah tomorrow.

Thursday, June 2nd, 2005

Freshly back from Utah, I hadn't played any instrument in weeks, but had to jump on stage and perform with R&D at the Bottom of the Hill. It was a late sound check thanks to Mars Volta playing a secret impromptu show there this afternoon. Got burgers with the band at the Connecticut Yankee (for some reason they messed up my order, so it was free, but it took forever to arrive so I got it to go). We played a truncated (but still long) set, followed by Minneapolis's Bubblemath. I actually exchanged e-mail with Kai, their keyboardist, some years ago as he heads the ICS chapter out in that part of the world. So it was nice to meet him in person, and the band kicked major ass. They did a stunning cover of the very old Genesis tune, "The Knife" among other things. Japonize Elephants wrapped up the evening, which ended up being a late one, and I had to go to work in the morning.

Friday, June 24th, 2005

Fast forward to another gig up in Santa Rosa, this time at the Sweet Spot (where R&D played a gig without me several moons ago). Joe couldn't make the show, which meant his car was out of the picture. And Smitty couldn't get access to the suburban, so Nat had to rent a cargo van. Met at the space, filled it up, and hit the road (I still drove just so me and Kevin and Smitty didn't have to sit in the back of the van swimming around with all the heavy equipment). It was a fun gig, and we made enough bucks to cover the van. I also brought my keyboards to fill up the space so I took a couple of extended solos. As well, the Hannafords showed up and sat in, Mike playing cowbell on his tune, and Hosanna playing keyboards on "Crumbs" (she still had the parts memorized). Ducks and fun.

Thursday, June 30th, 2005

The following Thursday I was back at the Starry Plough (it doesn't really feel like coming "back" when I barely ever leave). It was a good R&D set, with pals No Origin opening up, followed by the amazing Wig Lodge (made up of characters from the Oakland ICS lodge of the same name), and then us. Once again, Sylvain Carton filled in on sax, this time on alto, and I brought the keyboards and took some extra wanky solos and shit. It was a good sized crowd for a Thursday night, and they were dancin' until we stopped at 1:00am.

Thursday, July 7th, 2005

And the following Thursday after that we were back at Cafe Van Kleef. It took a while for the crowd to really pick up, but they eventually filled the room. Somehow we managed to squeeze all our gear on stage, which wa almost impossible last time, and now I had my full sized 88-key keyboard as well (and extra amp). We played almost all of our material - had to stop early as Dan had to catch BART back home.

Tuesday, July 12th, 2005

Another corporate gig at the SF Museum of Modern Art. It was on a Tuesday night. Not even sure who the client was, but they weren't really into music/dancing. The theme of the night was "jet setting," so the waitresses dressed up like stewardess and the waiters like pilots. And there was an ice sculpture of a plane. The food was good, and we got to eat it, too. Sushi, dolmas, egg rolls, roast beef, pilaf, etc. It was our first gig in a while so it was fun to shake off the old tunes. As soon as we ended our last set I ran off stage and right to the table with the chocolate fondue fountain so I could get my fill before they shut it down. Yum.

Thursday, July 14th, 2005

Two days later we had another gig, this one down in Mountain View in a giant park near the Shoreline. It was the Google Employee Summer Picnic. The theme was childhood toys/board games. We were on the "Twister" stage and had to dress in primary colors. It was an all-afternoon event - we played three hour-long sets, with long breaks in between to wander around and check out the other stages, beer gardens, carnival rides, and countless kiosks serving up free food like corn dogs, churros, cotton candy, and good ol' fried dough covered in powdered sugar. One of our sets was cut short since the generator ran out of gas and the whole sound system konked out. I got a sunburn being outside all day.

Friday, July 15th, 2005

with The Fuxedos:

Since the whole gang was back in town, Danny/Scrote threw together a Bundini Music showcase of sorts, with the Fuxedos doing the usual thing, along with other rockin' acts like the Freak Accident and the Radishes. This took place in the basement of Li Po Lounge (a quaint bar in Chinatown, SF). Perfect creepy atmosphere for Danny to wave around his baby-on-a-stick.

Saturday, July 30th, 2005

with The Fuxedos:

July 30th was a cursed date. First, I got us a Three Piece Combo gig, but that got canceled as Jon had to go to Canada. Then Casino Royale had some corporate event, but that got unexpectedly canned as well. So since my schedule was open, I decided to go party down in LA for the weekend and do a Fuxedos show at the M-Bar in Hollywood. Rented a speedy black car and hauled ass over the Grapevine and got a 48 hour dose of the wacky scene. Freak watchin' at the late night eateries, random parties broken up by police helicopters circling overhead, and oh yeah the gig. Danny allowed me to do a couple solo tunes in return for me shlepping all my gear down south, and then we took the tiny stage. The band was Danny, me on guitar and keyboards, and Scrote on bass. Filling in on drums was Kevin Stevens and for some select twisted cover tunes Rob Shrock bravely joined in on keys. Unfortunately, the night was running late and, for like the first time in a decade, we got "you have ten minutes left" from the soundguy, and we were barely half done with the set. Whatever. Hollywood is hot and noisy this time of the year.

Saturday, August 6th, 2005

We were back at the Starry Plough. It was just us and Nuclear Rabbit. A third band never materialized. Though we were originally slated to headline, we were forced to play first at the very last minute, which ended up being a good thing as my dad and sister flew into town that night en route to Japan, so when we were done I snuck out so we could all get to bed early before leaving for the airport early tomorrow morning. It was a good set by the way. Short and sweet, well played and well received.

Thursday, August 11th, 2005

So Nat calls me in the afternoon with weird news: unbeknownst to any of us until just now, we were on the schedule that night to play at Cafe Van Kleef. Oddly enough, despite the short notice 6 out of the 7 members could make this show. So it ended up being a last minute rehearsal on stage (we haven't rehearsed much since the last gig) in front of an appreciative Thursday night crowd. Played three sets containing most of our material. Took extra keyboard solos to fill in for Dan's absence. How random.

Saturday, August 13th, 2005

Saturday, August 13th we played a benefit show for our friend Val Esway. Val's fine - she just had excessive medical bills after a car accident months ago. The event was at the Mirthworks warehouse in West Oakland, and it was a night packed with high-level eclectic talent, including the likes of Karry Walker, Dandelion, Yard Sale, Joe Rut, 20 Minute Loop, Acoustic Virgin, Lemon Limelights.. the list goes on. We were definitely the loudest band of the evening (but nobody seemed to mind), and we kept the set short and sweet in order to keep the busy night movin' along. Ended up being a pretty fun party, all told.

Thursday, August 25th, 2005

with The Fuxedos:

Well, well, well.. If it isn't another Thursday night at the Starry Plough. But this was the first Fuxedos gig in the East Bay, so cool. It was the start of a very busy weekend. This was part of another Bundini Music night, with Abel Mouton starting off, then the Radishes, then us, then Freak Accident. It was a pretty rockin' night all told. We actually had the full 6 piece tonight, but with a twist. Dan played bass, of course, but so did Scrote. And so did I when I wasn't playing keyboards, and so did Myles when we called him up on stage. So we had to four basses at some points, and you know what? It worked. Danny was his usual freakazoid self. He loaned me a cool jacket/shirt to wear that was nicer than my own clothes.

Friday, August 26th, 2005

with Chance Tinder:

It's about time I played in a backing band for an Elvis impersonator! And that's what I did at Bimbo's in SF on Friday night, August 26th. Chance is a great guy, and a great Elvis, and he was in town for the weekend just for these shows. It was a semi-Casino Royale backing band with Scrote on bass and Wes on drums (both of whom worked with Chance years ago). And it was me on keyboards, and Chance brought his right-hand-man Lou on guitar. I learned the 15 songs from CD, so basically this was our first rehearsal live on stage at one of the nicest clubs in San Francisco, opening up for Super Diamond doing their annual "Hot August Night" shows with a hired string section and everything. We're such pros. Anyway, it went quite well, the women kept rushing the stage for a scarf and a kiss from Elvis himself, and we'll get to come back and do it all again tomorrow night.

Saturday, August 27th, 2005

Had a gig in the morning of Saturday, August 27th at some Silicon Valley company picnic party in Palo Alto. Wes and I were slow in getting there since we were out late the previous night. This resulted in the very first time in both our lengthy musical careers that we got yelled at for being late. Eddie the promoter gave us hell as we loaded in 10 minutes before the end of soundcheck. But it all worked out okay (except for amp which I didn't need so I left it in Wes's hot car until it melted and now it emits foul sounds and odors when turned on). We had to squeeze out three sets, but we had plenty of material to jam on and it all actually sounded good. Just like the Google party the stage was positioned perfectly so that me and my expensive equipment were fully exposed to hot sun for the entire third set. Luckily I put on sun screen. Others weren't so lucky. And we got back by 4:30pm. Not bad for a three-set day gig in the south bay, especially as I had another gig in a few hours...

Saturday, August 27th, 2005

with Chance Tinder:

Wes and I went back to Bimbo's, a lot later than the previous night since our stuff was still set up from yesterday. But a lot later meant a lot less parking. So this made us even later. Still, we didn't get yelled at this time for being late. We relaxed in the dressing room as Chance did up his hair and costume, then hit the stage. This time we cut "Teddy Bear" and extended "Polk Salad Annie" with solos all around the horn. It was a better crowd tonight. More dancing and frolicking during our set. Actually got to talk to Vince a bit (drummer of Super Diamond who I used to play with in the Stevie Blacke band 10 years go) before their set. Caught a bunch of it before heading home. Wow. Four gigs in three days. And tomorrow I get to spend the whole day being an extra that gets mauled by a bear in a short biblical film. True story.

Friday, September 9th, 2005

It was Alex's birthday. Well, sort of - it was a couple days early. But still - we played a party at his house, a.k.a. the Fishtank. Kept it short and sweet as there was another birthday boy and half the people were there for him, not to hear some loud ass crazy band. But we played great, I think. Getting so damn relaxed playing this material live. So much so that we survived a near train wreck in "First the Bad News" (which nobody noticed except us, of course). Happy birthday, Alex!

Saturday, September 17th, 2005

This was Mac's last gig with the band before leaving on a multi-year travel extravaganza that will take him all over Europe and Asia. We played the Sweet Spot in Santa Rosa, somehow managing to get all of us and our gear up there in Nat's and Joe's cars. We played two long sets, and it was a good crowd. The club owner/manager/soundguy kept leaving little love notes on my keyboard throughout the gig saying things like, "turn down your low end" or "the bass is drowning you out." Halfway through the song Vortex some guy who claimed to be the keyboardist from Ambrosia asked what key we were playing in and if he could sit in. I told him to wait a second, as I was busy handling some tough parts. When we hit the 6/8, 6/8, 6/8, 7/8, 2/4 section his eyes bugged out. I guess he thought we were just "jamming" or some shit, and when confronted with the possibility of having to sight read some difficult music, he disappeared. Speaking of jamming, we ran out of material as the crowd lavished us with anguished cries for more. So we actually improvised for the first time on stage - a funky jam in D minor. I took a Keith Emerson-esque solo on the keyboards. Dig my chops, Santa Rosa!

Thursday, October 6th, 2005

with Three Piece Combo and The Fuxedos:

We played the Stork Club in Oakland. Yep, the old Stork Club. Actually the new Stork Club, but I haven't played a gig there since I was in Mumble & Peg. Last time Alex played there he was kicked out for bringing in his own (non-alcoholic) beverage. But this gig was thrown together at the last minute so whatever. It was actually nice hanging out there looking at the old gig posters with a few friends who were there reminiscing about some of these particular shows - some of them as far back as 1995. Damn we're old. Anyway, 3PC playing a super rockin' set. The Radishes played a likewise set, and then I had to get back onstage again to play with The Fuxedos - it was the full 6-piece and we closed out the evening with the usual mayhem and destruction. These gigs where I play in two bands really wear me out. I'm tired.

Friday, October 7th, 2005

with Three Piece Combo and The Fuxedos:

But we had to do it all over again the next night, this time at the Li Po Lounge in SF. Wes and I carpooled and we had a ton of shit between us. I couldn't bear to haul my kurzweil down the stairs to the dungeon where the stage is, so I brought my old roland d-5. Circled around for 25 minutes trying to find parking in North Beach on a Friday night. Ended up in a $5 garage. There were slightly more audience members than at the Stork, but that's not saying much. 3PC played the same rockin' set, this time with all kind of sounds issues due to bad electrical conditioning in this place so my guitar was screaming 60 cycle hum. Then the Radishes and The Fuxedos, but tonight there were extra acts to shake things up a bit, including a duet between Jab and Scrote, and a fun solo video/music performance by Jascha Ephriam. Good stuff. Danny went particularly nuts tonight, literally bouncing off the walls in this weird venue.

Saturday, October 8th, 2005

And then the following night we (The Fuxedos gang) had a real gig playing a wedding at the University Club in SF. Carpooled with Wes and Lisabell, and load-in was a snap. Parking however, was a total fucking nightmare. I circled for a half hour before giving up and entering a nearby garage. I was almost done with the transaction when I realized they closed at midnight, which was no good. So back to circling, just missing spots left and right. In utter rage and anger I cursed and punched the gear shift, spraining my wrist just before having to play a two hour gig. I continued circling as far our as Chinatown, getting stuck for 15 minutes in some street fair during which I nearly cried. I finally headed back and found the nearest all night garage and paid the damn $20. Fuck San Francisco. Still had plenty of time to relax and eat as the ceremony was running late, and the gig went fine, otherwise. I screwed up and started the wrong song at one point, but it was no big deal. We're all pros.

Friday, October 14th, 2005

We played the first of several bi-weekly gigs at the Cafe Van Kleef in downtown Oakland. The nearby club Seventeen was having some big event, so there ended up being a street party of sorts on that corner. It was a great show, with Carolyn kicking ass in her debut on tenor sax, and the place was jammed. Somebody in the audience recognized me from Mumble & Peg. Without warning it started raining when it came time to load out. It wasn't unwelcome - it fact the cool water was refreshing after being crammed up on that hot, tiny stage all night.

Thursday, October 20th, 2005

Had an early show at the Fishtank, performing between Duckmandu and God of Shamisen. We rehearsed on the stage the previous night, so basically all I had to do was show up and play, which was refreshing. Good crowd and we played a weird set (weird in song selection and order) but it was a total blast. Right after we played I packed up and snuck out as I had another gig (see below).

Thursday, October 20th, 2005

After speeding home, dropping off my guitar, and changing my shirt, I grabbed my keyboards and headed to the Starry Plough (yet again) to play my first R&D gig strictly on keyboards. We played last after miRthkon and Think Tank. All three bands featured Nat on bass and Wally on guitar. So it was a big prog rock extravaganza going late into the evening. Lots of long odd-time epics and jams filling many Berkeley ears (and perhaps shaking a few of their asses to boot).

Saturday, November 26th, 2005

Saturday, November 26th was another one of those gigs at the Cafe Van Kleef. It was interesting, as it was the first play-everything-we-know gig with me on keyboards and Wally on guitar. As well, both Joe and Dan were not at the gig. So I ended up taking a lot of solos. Good fun, though, as a lot of friends showed up to check it all out.

Friday, December 9th, 2005

This gig was the first Casino Royale gig in a while, and Susan Z was back with the band! So there was the dusting off of a bunch of her tunes which we hadn't played since Seattle last year, as well as incorporating a few new songs to fatten our catalog. We talked through them in the dressing room and played them for the first time on stage. It was an Xmas party for Nolo, where Jenya used to work for ten years. At first she wasn't invited to the party as she didn't work there anymore, but since her husband was in the band they of course let her in. Treated well, good fun, and good practice for the gig tomorrow in LA.

Saturday, December 10th, 2005