Black Happy at the Knitting Factory on Saturday, August 7th
Tonight I had a blind date with Black Happy. I have never heard of Black Happy until a reunion show was mentioned and they sold out a show at the Knitting Factory then all of the buzz started to float around my circle of friends. I was a kid living in the Kennewick when Black Happy exploded into the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene Scene; also I was only 2 years old. I didn’t get what the big deal was about and how everyone kept telling me how talented they were. I was told it was punk, metal, ska, everyone had a different genre to label them and a different story to tell me. It was cool to see so many people in Spokane get excited about a show. That doesn’t happen as much as it should these days!
Trucker Dave could not stop talking about how great it was to go to the Friends and Family show at the Empyrean. He raved about how they sounded great and how great it was to see old friends from the Spokane music scene. He was also so excited to tell a Black Happy story on camera for an upcoming documentary about the bands reunion shows. We talked to Cory Menzer at The Baby Bar and he talked about how they still had a ton of energy and that it didn’t seem like they just started performing again, it was like they never stopped. Matt talked about how he went a Black Happy show at The Met when he was a kid and how in 2003 Richard Duggan re-introduced him to the band and burned him the CD’s Friendly Dog Salad and Peghead. Richard did the artwork for one of their albums. Those CD’s did not leave Matt’s car the summer of 2003. Bob Gallagher from 4,000 holes talked to us about how great the show was and how we take for granted how cool local bands are.
The Sold Out Show at the Knitting Factory sounded great. Black Happy and The Crowd were bursting with energy and had ear to ear grins. The crowd would go nuts when they would hear one of their favorite songs. Black Happy is still a great live band, but this wasn’t a new style of music for me. To me their sound pops up all over the place. That’s when my friend Dave had to say ANDREA PUT YOURSELF BACK IN THE EARLY 90’S WHEN NOBODY WAS PLAYING MUSIC LIKE THIS, LET ALONE IN SPOKANE. I laughed.
It was a great evening. It’s crazy that this all happened over the Facebook Page Black Happy Needs To Re-unite. I wish I could have been in Spokane back in the day when Black Happy was born. When they had a one of a kind sound that swept everyone off their feet; however they still swept the kids and some of their parents off their feet tonight. It’s great to see a man in his late 30’s crowd surfing. I loved the excitement and their posters too! We had to get one. They made limited screen print posters that had the Spokane and Seattle dates on them. We deiced to get the Black and White Cow poster, but it was a tough call because Godzilla taking over the Clock Tower is pretty badass!
I hope this isn’t the last we see of Black Happy. I would see them again without a doubt. I can’t wait to hear about the Seattle shows this weekend and I want to see the documentary about the reunion shows. In the mean time this Fan will have Peghead and Friendly Dog Salad in my I-Pod. I’m sure on repeat…
One final thought this is the second time this year, once with Pavement, and now with Black Happy where everyone just needs to forget about it being a reunion and just enjoy the music.
Comments
[...] To check out our write up and photos from their SOLD OUT Spokane show, CLICK HERE. [...]
love me some black happy! where is cory menzer?!? i’ve love to get back in touch w/ him.