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July 6, 2006
"Blight At The End Of The Funnel" Opening Reception with ADZ, Flipper, Channel 3, and DI - July 1, 2006
Text and Photos by Kevin Hillskemper
Ed Colver is a Los Angeles photographer and artist known primarily for his photos of the Southern California Music scene of the late 70's and early 80's. His pictures are in every single book of LA punk history. You've seen his stuff.
Blight at the End of the Funnel is an exhibit that includes not only his photographs but some of his multi-media installations as well. It's at the Cal State Fullerton Grand Central Art Center in Downtown Santa Ana. It was nice to see his photographs blown-up onto high-quality paper and mounted on a wall instead of on yellowing newsprint or having the crease of a book running through the middle of them. Since all of the hype and hoo-hah was about the photos, I will say a little bit about the installations. What I really liked about them is the artist's use of humor to portray outrage. Some of the harder hitting works are more tragic but it's coming from the same place. Most of it being political satire, it's both comic and tragic. I'm tripping over myself, aren't I? What the hell am I blabbing about? I'm not a fricken art critic.
He uses the American flag a lot in his work. It was strange to see this show during the same week that the same symbol was being used to sell ground beef, beer, and used cars.
After the book signing, ADZ hit the stage and did a short set of punk rock with a capital Rock. They did a few of my favorites from their "Transmissions from Planet Speedball" album (which features Ed Colver cover art) and a fine version of "Do The Nihil" by F-word.
Flipper played forever. They took the stage in full daylight and didn't leave until it was completely dark. The once-enthusiastic crowd became listless and bored during the course of their marathon dirges. I liked it. Ears did perk up occasionally for favorites like "Ha Ha Ha" and "Sex Bomb Baby." I wanted to hear "I Am The Earthworm." Do they still play that? Did they ever?
Channel 3 brought the crowd back to life. I haven't seen them for a long time and I think they're better than they used to be. I was reminded of how great "You Make Me Feel Cheap" is. Not necessarily a great song, but a great overall concept.
Oh yeah, Ed Colver did the cover for their "Fear Of Life" record.
DI closed the show. Casey had already been working the crowd for hours. He must have had a conversation with every person there. He talked right up until showtime, jumped on stage, and then continued talking without missing a beat. He's not human.
The band did manage to play a few songs like "OC Life, " "Falling Out, " and "Hang Ten in East Berlin."
Then they played a few more songs like "OC Life," "Falling Out," and "Hang Ten in East Berlin."
What exactly did I say about humor and tragedy? Maybe you can explain it to me.
Blight at the End of the Funnel runs until August 20, 2006 at
California State Fullerton's Grand Central Art Gallery
125 N. Broadway
Santa Ana, CA
Posted by Big Kev at July 6, 2006 7:45 PM
