2011 End of Year Reflection‏, By Holly Homan

2011 started out with my watching The Reverend Horton Heat play a New Year’s Eve show at Seattle’s El Corazon and ended with my watching The Reverend Horton Heat at Seattle’s El Corazon on December 30th. I have now seen the Reverend four times and will see him four more times if the opportunity arises.

February saw me getting four free tickets to the sold-out Satruday performance of Social Distortion at The Showbox SODO. The Saturday show was the first one scheduled and thus the first to sell out. A second show was added and it too immediately sold out. A third show was added and I believe it also sold out. I was perusing Seattle’s Craigslist ads one day when I came upon an ad from someone wanting Showbox memorabilia. I had photos I took of 999 and PIL when they played the Showbox in 1981 and 1982 respectively, so I replied to the ad thinking maybe I could get a little dough for selling my photographs. The reply I got instead was what would I like to trade for them. I thought awhile, then it occurred to me that I would love to see Social Distortion and take my kids (then ages 21 and 17) who also love Social Distortion. The ad writer wanted to see thumbnail samples, so I transferred the color slides onto disk and sent away. To my surprise, I got four tickets to see Social Distortion, and was even given a table in the VIP section. Social D were exquisite and even played my favorite song, Sick Boy.

Other notable concerts this year were The Dropkick Murphys, Streetlight Manifesto with Reel Big Fish, my beloved Posies and the aforementioned Reverend Horton Heat. Ska favorites The Slackers also came through town playing with locals Georgetown Orbits, whom I was very impressed with. Then there was Halloween. Halloween is my favorite Holiday and I lived it up this year. Not only do I decorate my yard more for this holiday than any other, I always put a lot of effort into my costume. I hosted the annual WHOliday party for the Doctor Who fan group Androgums, attended a dance for my students, and went to two concerts. Season of Nightmares, my favorite local psychobilly band played at a club called The Horseshoe Saloon. Along with them were two bands, The Screaming Starts and Hot Roddin’ Romeos, both of whom put on stellar shows. I’m still dwelling on the fact I didn’t win a prize for my costume, though. The Koffin Kats played Seattle’s Studio Seven Halloween night. They put on a stellar show, but there was hardly anyone in attendance and although it was Halloween, there was no costume contest. Go figure.

2011 also saw new recordings from The Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly as well as Punk & Poetry, another stellar release from London band The King Blues (check out The King Blues’ latest video here).

My favorite event for 2011 has to be attending three nights of Soundfest. I initially saw the poster for this event while attending the big Greenwood car show. The poster named artists like The Dickies, Stiff Little Fingers, Reagan Youth, Jello Biafra, The Avengers, etc. I thought it was some sort of nostalgia poster but upon closer examination saw that it was a three-night extravaganza held in several Seattle on each night. I have waited for thirty years to see both the Dickies and Stiff Little Fingers, but also was keen on seeing Reagan Youth and The Avengers. I’d seen Jello before and was excited to see him again. None of the bands disappointed me. And seeing Dickies’ singer Leonard Graves Phillips sing to a larger than life penis puppet is a vision I’ll never forget. I finally got to see long-held favorites, but also got to see newer bands I was familiar with, but probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Bands like The Swinging Utters, for example. None of the bands disappointed me and I survived being slammed into as I watched from amidst the center of the mosh pit every night. The Vandals finished it all off with a lively fun-filled performance.

Other notable concerts were seeing Mudhoney for the first time, seeing New Found Glory for the second time and lest I forget the Jonathan Richman concert at The Tractor Tavern in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. Jonathan Richman is in a class all his own, and with child like qualities, yet seeming also professorial, he is always a treat to watch.

The year was also the year I published my novel, Rodin, Rotten, Jones & Us serially in Easportlandblog. Here’s hoping I can find a publisher or agent in 2012 willing to take it on. And here’s to finishing the sequel to said novel in 2012. I also interviewed Ken Stringfellow and published a story which turned out to be tremendously popular, the true story of how I met the Kinks in 1982.

I also managed to see two Broadway shows in Seattle in 2011. The first, Mary Poppins played at Seattle’s Paramount Theater. The stage production of my favorite Disney movie did not disappoint. The singing, the dancing, the acting, all rivaled the movie. More recently I saw Cinderella performed on stage at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theater. The production was beyond exquisite and combined a bit of contemporary culture with the traditional and even added humor. The costumes were dazzling.

The Other F Word was a movie I attended because it involved my favorite genre of rock music, punk. The movie is a documentary about aging punk rock stars about what it’s like to still be punk stars while raising children. Interviewed were the likes of Fat Mike (NOFX), Mark Hoppus (Blink 182), and Jim Lindberg (Pennywise), among several others. Look for the movie when it comes out on DVD. I highly recommend it.

2011 also was a year of political turmoil. After ignoring the atrocities of Reagan, then Bush, people finally started waking up when they got furloughed, unemployed, lost their homes, were forced to take pay cuts and yet watch the banks take our tax dollars to pay their executives and CEOs millions of dollars. I participated in a total of three Occupy events in 2011 and I’m sure I’ll participate in more in 2012. Here’s hoping enough people stay engaged and by this time next year we’ll be celebrating the ousting of the likes of John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Michele Bachmann, and the end of the Tea Party in general.

Now we are at the beginning of yet another year. Already I have concerts lined up. NOFX, Concrete Blonde & The Voodoo Glowskulls all play this month. The Toasters play in February and March brings my beloved Flogging Molly. Already 2012 is looking to be a very exciting year.

– Holly Homan

All photographs by Holly Homan. All rights reserved.