June
1999
WARSTARS, Zombie Squad, Try And Step On Her
Southern Oregon University, WOODSOSC Annual Music Festival
* * *
This was the first Warstars show ever.
Noticing flyers around his college campus for the yearly WoodSOSC
music festival (pronounced 'wood-sock' instead of Woodstock),
Andy Warstar suggested to Velvet Draven (then called Dustin
Powers) that they play WoodSOSC as a duo. Draven was totally
stoked. The Warstars balls were rolling.
In the weeks preceding the concert, Andy Warstar hung out with
Velvet Draven in Draven's dorm room writing songs, and arranging
the setlist*. Practices were held in an empty classroom adjacent
to the dorms.
Warstar had already decided to call the band the Warstars, so
that was cool. Velvet Draven was a little concerned that without
a drummer, the Warstars might sound kinda flat. Warstar reassured
him. There were bands out there (like Tenacious D and Ween)
that started out as a couple guys with a couple guitars. Bands
like these truly influenced and inspired the Warstars from the
very beginning.
A few weeks later, the Warstars, featuring Andy Warstar and
Velvet Draven (Dustin Powers), played WoodSOSC on a fine June
day. The Warstars annointed the thrilled university crowd
with some very unique music.
Andy Warstar played his highly decorated acoustic guitar (fur-lined
and plastered with stickers) and sang. Draven ripped it up
on electric guitar and back-up vocals, occasionally layered
his gutteral screams over the top of it all. It was beautiful...
And then there was the sound guy... He came from the campus
radio station, and had never done sound before. He seemed
to f*ck up the levels for a bit there, but eventually got
it right. The audience loved it anyway. Nobody knew who Tenacious
D was yet, so those comparisons might only be drawn in retrospect.
Warstars phenomenal first performance landed them on the front
page of Southern Oregon University's paper, The Siskiyou.
See the picture here.
Although Draven's face is obscured by Andy's guitar in the
photo, the fact that the Warstars appear somewhat photogenic
kinda kicks ass. To the moon and beyond!
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SETLIST
1. Satan Does Not Exist
2. One foot in the Grave
3. ?
4. Black Boys on Mopeds
5. ?
6. Never Trust a Landscaper
7. ?
8. Molly's Lips
9. ?
10. Mother Earth Explodes
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*The band
is still looking for the original setlist in the Warchives.
Draven claims to have it around somewhere and when he finds
it, we'll post the complete, original setlist of the first
Warstars show. This page may eventually be updated with an
undoctored version of the Siskiyou picture.
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