The generosity of the Sacramento punk scene never ceases to amaze me.
A couple weeks ago, it came to my attention that Ken Thrash was trying to move and was totally broke. Anyone who has ever moved knows how expensive it is, and how stressful.
For those of you who don't know, here's a short backstory on Ken Thrash...I'll keep it short and sweet. Ken has been an active and driving force in the Sacramento punk scene longer than most of you have been alive. Along with Mickie Rat and a couple of other punk rock veterans, Ken founded the Sacramento Pyrate Punx. He is constantly seeking out venues (like Silk in Del Paso Heights, Mickie Rat's Casa de Chaos, and the VFW in Citrus Heights) and convincing them to let him do all ages punk shows. With his better half, Anna, working the door and his team of Pyrate Punx running the sound and security, the shows are generally successful (if sometimes sparcely attended).
Ken goes out of his way to make sure touring bands have a show to play, a fair share of the door, and often helps them find a place to stay. He's an unrelenting promoter and is constantly in motion - booking shows, running shows, and helping promote shows that he isn't even responsible for. Ken is such a crucial part of Sacramento and - to say it bluntly - shit would really suck if he weren't around.
Now that you know a little bit about Ken, you probably understand why I was so eager to help him out in any way I could.
In just a few days, we were able to pull together five bands and a couple of my friends to bring baked goods to sell. Craig, a Pyrate by association, brought vegan cookies and one of Anna's friends made two cakes! We used little practice amps and Lys Mayo's drums and microphone. Me and Ken bought gatorades, water, and soda to sell.
Mickie and I got there around 11:45 and I was surprised by the amount of people already there. A bunch of Secretins showed up, as well as a lot of people you tend to run into at Pyrate shows.
The Secretions opened up and played a lot of fan favorites. The audience response to "Freaks Like Us" was almost deafening and I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what the hell was going on.
Eoin followed with some covers, and some of his original songs. He and Mickie used this opportunity to debut their new band, the Gridrats. Then Mickie played solo, combining old favorites, some covers, and some brand new songs.
Nojan from Isonomy played next. I'd never seen him play acoustically and was excited to see what he had to offer. I wasn't disappointed. His song writing and voice are amazing and I really hope he does some acoustic shows in the future. There was a short lull between Nojan and Kepi's sets, so Joe Friday took over and busted out a couple of songs to kill time.
Last but not least, Kepi played with Danny Secretion on drums. It's always a pleasure to see Kepi play, whether he's on a huge stage or in someone's driveway.
If you had any involvement in this event...if you played, or baked cookies, or came out to show your support, or hell, even if you just reposted the bulletin we had going around to promote...THANK YOU. Anna and Ken Thrash thank you. I thank you. You should go look in the mirror RIGHT NOW and stare deeply into your own eyes and thank yourself. If this doesn't prove to you that doing a small part can make a difference, I don't know what will.
I don't know an exact amount, but according to Ken, everything went better than expected. I know we made about $50 off of baked goods and soda alone. Now Ken just needs people to help him physically move at the end of the month. If you have a truck or a van, or just want to help out, please email Ken and let him know. He'd really appreciate it.
You can view more pictures of Ken's Moving Sale Here. Also, my camera died like two seconds after I turned it on, so I was only able to get two pictures. If you took any pictures of the moving sale, please email them to me or send me a link to where you have them posted. Thanks!
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