Playing for the Rollergirls on May 10th

Okay, this can't be missed. We're playing for the Santa Cruz Roller Girls.

Santa Cruz Rollergirls
Saturday May 10th 7pm
Civic Auditorium
307 Church St, Santa Cruz

The Santa Cruz Rollergirls, is the first all-female, full contact, flat-track derby league in Santa Cruz. The SCRG is a grassroots organization built by the hands of a small group of even-headed smart women who had the dream to bring the sport and art of roller derby back to Santa Cruz. This is a home game pitting the Beach Flat Betties against the Fistful of Dollies and we play halftime! Website

March, Rally and Direct Action Against Military Recruiters at UCSC

Military Recruiters have been blocked from recruiting for three years at UCSC, and have been absent for over a year now, but it looks like they're going to try and come back. The upcoming career fair has FBI, CHP, Santa Cruz Justice Department, U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corp, and the Army health department, along with a lot of other heinous corporations and institutions.

On April 22nd, recruiters returned to UCSC. Trash was there to help with the UnWelcoming Committee. The police presence was light, and though security within the job fair was tight, the marchers paraded and demonstrated relatively unimpeded.

Video from corpo media Scotts Valley Sentinel:

Why We Love Honk!

The Busiest Week of Trash Ever

Hey Trashinistas:

Looks like next week we are playing a bunch:

Sat Apr 19th	Homeless Garden Fundraiser
Sun Apr 20th	Regular Practice
Tue Apr 22nd	Counter-Recruitment March at UCSC
Sat Apr 26th	Our Free Skool workshop: Fun With Scrap Metal
San Apr 26th	Aromas Live!
Sun Apr 27th	Regular Practice

And somewhere in there, we were hoping to observe Gamelan Anak Swarasanti playing Balinese marching gamelan, beleganjur. The busiest week ever, not counting Honk! We hope you'll join us.

Check out our full performance schedule.

Day Five: Ballard Takeover

Sunday morning, marching bands took to the streets for a takeover of Ballard. A march and rally down to the Farmer's Market, followed by a takeover of a public square in Ballard.

Day Four: The Night of Flaming Taiko

A night of more performance insanity. Three more performances in three different venues in Georgetown, south of Seattle. Punched in the gut by a phenomenal performance by the bone-shaking Weapons of Marching Destruction. Played with Hungry March Band and a remarkable set with Eugene's Samba Ja. Picture Jake from Samba Ja rapping in Portuguese to an extended crazy breakdown version of our Ragga.

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What do you mean silly?! This is beautiful!

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Afterward, an after-party in the street with a dozen bands playing to a hundred dancers taking over the street. Police start showing up, at least a dozen cars, dropping flares, blocking streets, disco party police car flashers.

An overheard surreal conversation:

Officer: You have to move out of the street.

Drummer: We're having fun!

Officer: You're blocking traffic.

Drummer: What do you mean? (pointing at a dozen police cars and line of flares) You're blocking the traffic!

Officer: Come on now, this is silly.

Drummer: Silly? This (gesturing) is beautiful!

The officers walk away perplexed, shaking their heads.

And after the after-party, an after-after-party at a remote apocalyptic industrial area, a deafening drum jam, and Trash Orchestra plays flaming taiko.

Day Three: Ballard Street Band Insanity

We arrive just in time for dinner and meeting an assload of people from dozens of bands from as far away as Chicago and New York. Legendary bands, obscure bands, bands we've never heard of, bands we've known forever, bands who's every song we collect and trade, and bands who've never recorded a note.

And everyone is fabulously friendly and welcoming, and everyone's heard of us, making us feel like rock stars and like maybe our ability to sell ourselves exceeds our ability to make music.

We try something different and instead of spending an hour with the whole band choosing a set list for a 45 minute set, we divvy our three sets up and work on them in pairs. A brilliant move as we'd all come to the conclusion in Portland that long, tiring meeting are uh, long and tiring.

We're playing first at the New York Fashion Academy in Ballard, a place we're convinced is actually a hip name for a bar, but turns out is exactly what it sounds like. Because we're convinced it's a bar, we don't bring any booze which we regret. Later we're playing at Mr. Spots Chai House, which turns out to be the venue of the evening.

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Hungry March is pointing at our drummers who are playing quieter and quieter convinced they are fucking something up, before they realize via boots in the ass that they are being pushed into the center for a solo

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We played our set early in the evening out in the street and it feels like a warm-up set for us, not quite on yet, but alright. Then inside for an awesome set in which I don't even remember what we played, but it was good.

Then an amazing set with the Hungry March Band in which they push us forward for little solos. At one point in the jam, they're pointing at our base drummers who are playing quieter and quieter convinced they are fucking something up, before they realize via boots in the ass that they are being pushed into the center for a solo. Each of us takes a crazy little moment of the spotlight and we all keep it going and we're kinda flushed and woozy from the rhythm and the attention.

Then up to Mr. Spots Chai House for a remarkable set in which we brought down the house with our impromptu improv craziness made-up-on-the-spot Song X.

Crazy motha fuckin time.