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Suede at The Fillmore (05 Mar 1995)
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One of the hardest and saddest things during my recent move to Florida was that I had to get rid of some things. Some things were easy to let go, such as CD-Rom/backup, but some things like old magazines, fanzines, and personal correspondences were much harder to throw out.
Old books and magazines were first to go, I just couldn’t justify bringing them to the new home. I do miss my old Select Magazines, such as the one from April 1993 featuring Suede on its cover. Before they even released their album, no less! The band was burning hot at the time.
Needless to say, I followed the band and by the time I saw them in 1995 (I was underage in 1993 when they first came to America), singer Brett Anderson and guitarist Bernard Butler had a fight and Butler left the band. Butler’s replacement was Richard Oakes, who was at the time only 17 years old.
I honestly don’t remember much from the Fillmore show, in San Francisco, other than I remember the stage was dark with backlight and fog and the band walked on stage to a recording of “Introducing the Band”. I was in the front; my friends Melinda (RIP) and Shawn was in attendance. And I guess our friends from Sacramento: Nicole, Natasha, and Phil, were also in attendance (as described from Mel). We actually met Nicole when Oasis played Sacramento in 1994. From what I can remember, I believe they were doing fanzines about Morrissey (The Morri’Zine) and Suede (Sway).
Based on the concert poster, it looks like Chicago’s alternative band Catherine opened the show. The band broke up in 1998.
SF Gate, written by Barry Walters, described the show, “What I failed to take into account is how much San Francisco loves Suede. (The band was forced into a legal settlement with a women's music singer who has a copyright on the name Suede and henceforth has to call itself the London Suede in North America - but I can't do it.) The group has already been quoted as saying that its Slim's and Warfield gigs are among its wildest ever. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Suede chose to end its tour Sunday night at the Fillmore, its third sellout.”
Anyway, there was a special after-party, which I will leave Melinda to describe, via her Stupid Shiny Black Shoes fanzine below. Please note that I may have lost the fanzine during the chaos of my move. I have the old photo of the photo gallery from the centerfold of the fanzine, which I will present below as well. Most photos were taken by me and shows Melinda, Me, Mark, Shawn, and Nicole from 1995. Alexandrea was my friend from Portland (who later moved to New York) and she appeared on the Jerry Springer Show.
And yes, Mel and I went to Manchester, doing our Morrissey pilgrimage to the Sanford Lads Club. All those years of seeing it on The Smiths album, I thought it was green… imagine my surprise when it’s bright red!
I know Mark and Alexandrea are still around, maybe I’ll send a random hello. Still friends with Shawn. Lost contact with Nicole. Melinda died in 2010, God, has it really been that long? Still misses her.
>>>
RESCUE ME FROM THIS HOLLYWOOD LIFE!
written by Melinda for Stupid Shiny Black Shoes
This is the true story of the cheesiest, starf***er rock event I've ever witness -- Suede at the San Francisco Fillmore (05 March 1995). I had a nice chat with bassist Mat Osman before soundcheck. I found out some interesting things about Mat and other members of the band. Mat claims to dig on Snoop Doggy Snoopy Doggsh*** whatever. He also told us that Suede has jammed with Metallica and that they are good friends.
Then we played a game where we rapidly tossed out names of contemporary pop music artists and he would give his candid opinion. I was surprised at the kind of music Osman professed to like. Suede have got this reputation as an "alternative" band. So I incredulously threw out labelmate, "Mariah Carey?" Mat said, "Well, she's better than f***king Salad." I informed him that we couldn't broadcast this interview if he was going to go on using such language. So he amended his former pronouncement, "She's better than bothering Salad." Dear boy!
I asked Mat Osman what Brett Anderson's favorite drug was. Mat first answered that it was caffeine. Then he said that no, it has to be liquor. Osman said that Anderson was a hopeless alcoholic. Later on when Mat wasn't around, I had to ask Brett Anderson himself what his favorite drug was. He unhesitatingly responded, "Coffee." I believe it from the way he was writhing and generally spastically freakin' out on stage. At the time when I asked the question he was drinking beer. Mat also said that Brett had a fetish for pliers and medieval torture devices. So, they fancied the line in Pulp Fiction about "getting' medieval on yo' ass."
Matt also told us about his favorite scene from the Doors film and the Alex Cox film "Sid and Nancy," especially the one where Johnny Rotten derides the idiotic journalist on the bus-- "stupid c***." He had a wicked sense of humor. He also joked that Smiths fans were the saddest and worst types. He winked and said that he could spot them miles away. The newest member of the band, Little Dick, supposedly has a cat named Morrissey.
At the soundcheck I met two types of parasitic hanger-ons in rock 'n roll. The worst aspect of them had to be their obviously fake British accents. One was a nice woman who failed at modeling and so turned to a dubious career in music journalism. The other was a guy, Simon's Pimp (SP) dripping with drama. Had had a hilarious t-shirt that said something like, "Scream Monster Fag." He claimed to be really tight with the drummer, Simon. SP whooped it up, cheering loudly after a very moving rendition of "The Wild Ones" during soundcheck. Most of the time, Brett would sing the first couple of verses and then move off to the side of the stage and navel gaze. They even performed a Doors song for soundcheck, that "Love Me Time Times" song!
After the soundcheck, we picked up the complimentary pair of tickets and two aftershow party passes. Unfortunately, this left Shawn out… so far. We went to a smelly and none-too-clean KFC right down the street from the Fillmore. Shawn and Vu played magic cards. I saw two Latino transvestites ordering 27 pieces of chicken and some side dishes. I marked the student paper until 10pm. Then we went to the Fillmore, but we still couldn't avoid hearing the last songs of the opening act.
We joined up with Nicole, Natasha, and Phil. At the same time everyone was trying to avoid personal enemies and scum who were also at this concert. Then it turned out that SP, the guy I met at soundcheck, knew members of our party. He said he was in charge of procuring some good lays for Simon. SP bragged that he had 10 aftershow passes. He gave our friend Shawn the once over and asked, "How would you like to go backstage? Are you straight?" Shawn looked up and answered. My eyes must have bulged when he denied being straight. Then I smiled. After he managed to score the pass, we all gathered round and Shawn sheepishly explained that it happened so fast that he thought SP was asking if he were gay, to which he replied no. Then SP came up to Shawn and said, "Oooh, you're Simon's type." We ribbed Shawn about it, but then he became rather irritable. It was really nothing.
As Wesley Willis would have said, "The show was great. The rock and roll was perfect. The rock and roll was excellent. The concert was a jam. It was goin' on!" It was more bare and stripped down than the show last year at the Warfield, but it was also more energetic. Brett was twisting and grinding while the others, especially Richard Oakes, were rocking out and madly flipping their long hair. No more fey mystic dances learned from precious old men in the third world! No more annoying stage lighting (the light shining into the audience during "Pantomime Horse" at the Warfield was unforgivable). I thought they would be exhausted by their last U.S. show, but they were in tight and top form.
Simon, the drummer, showed up at the aftershow party and graciously chatted with Shawn. He was not the gross, drooling sex maniac Shawn feared that he might be. Simon seemed to be like a really nice and jolly version of Johnny Rotten. He had reddish hair poking out in all directions and was maniacally good-natured. SP simpered up to join the nice tête-à-tête they were having and leeringly said of Shawn, "He's one of my boys." All of Suede were there except for Mat, because he was feeling ill. They were bombarded by people wanting to have them sign things and pose for photographs.
Brett Anderson was sitting in the corner talking to one of the members of Metallica, Kirk Hammett. Only one person out of the roomful of about 60 Suede fans asked for Kirk's autograph. I was surprised that anyone there knew who he was. Brett was really sunken and barely seemed to be able to raise his wrist to scrawl his sig over an album cover. He seemed like a bored and tired old git. I could have just caught him at the low moment; he looked really out of it. Too many downers probably.
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Select Magazine (April 1993)
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Needless to say, I followed the band and by the time I saw them in 1995 (I was underage in 1993 when they first came to America), singer Brett Anderson and guitarist Bernard Butler had a fight and Butler left the band. Butler’s replacement was Richard Oakes, who was at the time only 17 years old.
I honestly don’t remember much from the Fillmore show, in San Francisco, other than I remember the stage was dark with backlight and fog and the band walked on stage to a recording of “Introducing the Band”. I was in the front; my friends Melinda (RIP) and Shawn was in attendance. And I guess our friends from Sacramento: Nicole, Natasha, and Phil, were also in attendance (as described from Mel). We actually met Nicole when Oasis played Sacramento in 1994. From what I can remember, I believe they were doing fanzines about Morrissey (The Morri’Zine) and Suede (Sway).
Based on the concert poster, it looks like Chicago’s alternative band Catherine opened the show. The band broke up in 1998.
SF Gate, written by Barry Walters, described the show, “What I failed to take into account is how much San Francisco loves Suede. (The band was forced into a legal settlement with a women's music singer who has a copyright on the name Suede and henceforth has to call itself the London Suede in North America - but I can't do it.) The group has already been quoted as saying that its Slim's and Warfield gigs are among its wildest ever. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Suede chose to end its tour Sunday night at the Fillmore, its third sellout.”
Anyway, there was a special after-party, which I will leave Melinda to describe, via her Stupid Shiny Black Shoes fanzine below. Please note that I may have lost the fanzine during the chaos of my move. I have the old photo of the photo gallery from the centerfold of the fanzine, which I will present below as well. Most photos were taken by me and shows Melinda, Me, Mark, Shawn, and Nicole from 1995. Alexandrea was my friend from Portland (who later moved to New York) and she appeared on the Jerry Springer Show.
And yes, Mel and I went to Manchester, doing our Morrissey pilgrimage to the Sanford Lads Club. All those years of seeing it on The Smiths album, I thought it was green… imagine my surprise when it’s bright red!
I know Mark and Alexandrea are still around, maybe I’ll send a random hello. Still friends with Shawn. Lost contact with Nicole. Melinda died in 2010, God, has it really been that long? Still misses her.
>>>
RESCUE ME FROM THIS HOLLYWOOD LIFE!
written by Melinda for Stupid Shiny Black Shoes
This is the true story of the cheesiest, starf***er rock event I've ever witness -- Suede at the San Francisco Fillmore (05 March 1995). I had a nice chat with bassist Mat Osman before soundcheck. I found out some interesting things about Mat and other members of the band. Mat claims to dig on Snoop Doggy Snoopy Doggsh*** whatever. He also told us that Suede has jammed with Metallica and that they are good friends.
Then we played a game where we rapidly tossed out names of contemporary pop music artists and he would give his candid opinion. I was surprised at the kind of music Osman professed to like. Suede have got this reputation as an "alternative" band. So I incredulously threw out labelmate, "Mariah Carey?" Mat said, "Well, she's better than f***king Salad." I informed him that we couldn't broadcast this interview if he was going to go on using such language. So he amended his former pronouncement, "She's better than bothering Salad." Dear boy!
I asked Mat Osman what Brett Anderson's favorite drug was. Mat first answered that it was caffeine. Then he said that no, it has to be liquor. Osman said that Anderson was a hopeless alcoholic. Later on when Mat wasn't around, I had to ask Brett Anderson himself what his favorite drug was. He unhesitatingly responded, "Coffee." I believe it from the way he was writhing and generally spastically freakin' out on stage. At the time when I asked the question he was drinking beer. Mat also said that Brett had a fetish for pliers and medieval torture devices. So, they fancied the line in Pulp Fiction about "getting' medieval on yo' ass."
Matt also told us about his favorite scene from the Doors film and the Alex Cox film "Sid and Nancy," especially the one where Johnny Rotten derides the idiotic journalist on the bus-- "stupid c***." He had a wicked sense of humor. He also joked that Smiths fans were the saddest and worst types. He winked and said that he could spot them miles away. The newest member of the band, Little Dick, supposedly has a cat named Morrissey.
At the soundcheck I met two types of parasitic hanger-ons in rock 'n roll. The worst aspect of them had to be their obviously fake British accents. One was a nice woman who failed at modeling and so turned to a dubious career in music journalism. The other was a guy, Simon's Pimp (SP) dripping with drama. Had had a hilarious t-shirt that said something like, "Scream Monster Fag." He claimed to be really tight with the drummer, Simon. SP whooped it up, cheering loudly after a very moving rendition of "The Wild Ones" during soundcheck. Most of the time, Brett would sing the first couple of verses and then move off to the side of the stage and navel gaze. They even performed a Doors song for soundcheck, that "Love Me Time Times" song!
After the soundcheck, we picked up the complimentary pair of tickets and two aftershow party passes. Unfortunately, this left Shawn out… so far. We went to a smelly and none-too-clean KFC right down the street from the Fillmore. Shawn and Vu played magic cards. I saw two Latino transvestites ordering 27 pieces of chicken and some side dishes. I marked the student paper until 10pm. Then we went to the Fillmore, but we still couldn't avoid hearing the last songs of the opening act.
We joined up with Nicole, Natasha, and Phil. At the same time everyone was trying to avoid personal enemies and scum who were also at this concert. Then it turned out that SP, the guy I met at soundcheck, knew members of our party. He said he was in charge of procuring some good lays for Simon. SP bragged that he had 10 aftershow passes. He gave our friend Shawn the once over and asked, "How would you like to go backstage? Are you straight?" Shawn looked up and answered. My eyes must have bulged when he denied being straight. Then I smiled. After he managed to score the pass, we all gathered round and Shawn sheepishly explained that it happened so fast that he thought SP was asking if he were gay, to which he replied no. Then SP came up to Shawn and said, "Oooh, you're Simon's type." We ribbed Shawn about it, but then he became rather irritable. It was really nothing.
As Wesley Willis would have said, "The show was great. The rock and roll was perfect. The rock and roll was excellent. The concert was a jam. It was goin' on!" It was more bare and stripped down than the show last year at the Warfield, but it was also more energetic. Brett was twisting and grinding while the others, especially Richard Oakes, were rocking out and madly flipping their long hair. No more fey mystic dances learned from precious old men in the third world! No more annoying stage lighting (the light shining into the audience during "Pantomime Horse" at the Warfield was unforgivable). I thought they would be exhausted by their last U.S. show, but they were in tight and top form.
Simon, the drummer, showed up at the aftershow party and graciously chatted with Shawn. He was not the gross, drooling sex maniac Shawn feared that he might be. Simon seemed to be like a really nice and jolly version of Johnny Rotten. He had reddish hair poking out in all directions and was maniacally good-natured. SP simpered up to join the nice tête-à-tête they were having and leeringly said of Shawn, "He's one of my boys." All of Suede were there except for Mat, because he was feeling ill. They were bombarded by people wanting to have them sign things and pose for photographs.
Brett Anderson was sitting in the corner talking to one of the members of Metallica, Kirk Hammett. Only one person out of the roomful of about 60 Suede fans asked for Kirk's autograph. I was surprised that anyone there knew who he was. Brett was really sunken and barely seemed to be able to raise his wrist to scrawl his sig over an album cover. He seemed like a bored and tired old git. I could have just caught him at the low moment; he looked really out of it. Too many downers probably.
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