Geekfest

Geekfest is the name of a series of free, all ages concerts organized by California indie label S. P. A. M Records during the 1990s. The first Geekfest was held in June 1996 on the shoreline at Point Molate in Richmond, California. This site, a former Navy fuel depot at the foot of the Richmond San Rafael Bridge, became the default location for dozens of Geekfests, though other locations were eventually used.

In the mid 1990s, local ordinances and economic considerations led to difficult times for San Francisco Bay Area bands whose members were under 21. Multiple bars and nightclubs were driven out by the bustling dot com economy. Others, fearful of losing their liquor licenses, stopped allowing minors to attend or perform on their stages. By 1996, 924 Gilman Street was the only one all ages music venue in the East Bay. With the rise of Green Day, Rancid, and other former underground bands who had popularized the punk rock genre, Gilman had become an insular community, rejecting those who did not fit an increasingly narrow definition of punk. Though Gilman was not by design exclusively punk rock (they were and are explicitly devoted to independent music and arts), a combination of internal politics and aesthetic tastes of the Gilman staff kept other types of music off the stage. S. P. A. M. Records grew out of the efforts of underage musicians and artists from Pinole, California frustrated with the situation. The fringe Gilman band, The Hope Bombs, encouraged the S. P. A. M. crew, most notably by letting them jump on stage at Hope Bombs shows to play as "The Bob Weirdos" (whose shows consisted of crazed songs like "Help I'm On Fire" which actually involved setting singer John Geek on fire). But this support was the exception and the bands were generally deprived of any meaningful access to the Gilman audience. S. P. A. M. Co founder John Geek (now vocalist for punk band Fleshies) alluded to this in an interview:

"Along with Dan and Corbett of Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits (and joined soon by Robert Eggplant and Dylan McPuke), I started the S. P. A. M. Records Collective in 1995 because no one else would put out our shit or let us play." Select work from the S. P. A. M. Records Catalog circa 1996 2002:
Catalog # Band(s) Title Year Released Format PUG 001 Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits The Two Cats Running EP 1996 CD PUG 002 Various ArtistsIf You Can't Laugh At Yourself, We'll Do It For You A S. P. A. M. Records Compilation 1997 CDPUG 003Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits At One With The Dumb 1997 CD PUG 004 Astrolloyd Astrolloyd 1997 7" PUG 005Astrolloyd Live on KXLU1997 Cassette PUG 006 Enemies / Second Hand SpitConquered/Concord Split 1998 7" PUG 007 Your Mother / Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits Advice For Young Lovers Split 1998 7" PUG 008 The Pilgrims Songs About the Letter W 1998 CD PUG 009 Various Artists Later, That Same Year An Absolutely Zippo Compilation 1999 CD PUG 010 Los Rabbis The Bible Part 2: Jesus Goes West 1999 CD/LP PUG 011 Dory Tourette and the SkirtheadsRock Immortal 1999 CD PUG 012Every Dog Has His Blues A Collection Of Songs From The Bands Of Lucky Dog 1999CassettePUG 013 Harbinger Eartraining For Corporates 1999 Cassette PUG 014 Flobby Tthomuse New Home Videos From Planet X 1999CD PUG 015Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits ¡Carmelita Sings! : Visions of a Rock Apocalypse 2000 CD PUG 016Evolution Spoken Word Compilation 2000 CD PUG 017Finky Binks Monkey Business EP 2000 CassettePUG 018Scrilla Stoic Heroic Nuggahs The 8 Nuggah Master Race 2000 CassettePUG 019Clan Of The Bleeding Eye Kill The Humans 2000 CassettePUG 021Steven Schultz I Forgot To Get A Rap Name 2000 CD PUG 022Fleshies / The Jocks Playdough Split 2000 7" PUG 023Stalin Claus Superstar A Suplex Prune Hittite Fantasy 2000 4 CD Box Set PUG 024Uberkunst Making Fun Difficult 2000 CD PUG 026Beckett and Friends Weed Crazy b/w Losing in the Drug Game 2000 7" PUG 027Fleshies Self Titled commonly known as "The Baby" 2000 CD PUG 028The PilgrimsPlymouth Rock 2000 CD PUG 029The Blast Rocks!!! You're Fired 2000 CDPUG 030Fleshies Kill The Dreamer's Dream Authorized cassette version of Alternative Tentacles release 2001 Cassette PUG 031Fleshies / The Phantom Limbs Split 2001 7" PUG 032The Blottos I Can't Take My Alcohol 2001 7" PUG 033Dory Tourette and the Skirtheads Versions 2001 7" PUG 034Panty Raid / The Blast Rocks!!! Split 2001 7" PUG 035Finky Binks Charlie Buckett: Cosmonaut 2001CD PUG 036Iron Ass Backwards 2001 CD PUG 037Various Artists The S. P. A. M. pler: Your Guide to the Rock Apocalypse 2001 CDPUG 040Finky Binks Takin' Back My Samich 2001 CDPUG 041P. A. W. N. S. Rabble On The Move 2001 CDPUG 042Lo Budge Self Titled 2002 CD PUG 043Tommy LasordaTommy Lasorda 2002 7" PUG 044Hate Mail Express 12x4 2002 CD PUG 045Gravy Train!!!! The "Menz" EP2002 CD PUG 047Hickey Various States of Disrepair Complete Works 1994 '96 2002 CD PUG 050Rock N Roll Adventure Kids Live on Berzerkley Radio Split release with Soul Not Style Records 2002 12" PUG 051Sharp Knife Sharp Knife 2002 CD/LPPUG 052Shotwell The Devil Has Its Day 2004 CDPUG 053Clan Of The Bleeding Eye Self Titled 2002 CD PUG 054The Blottos The Blottos 2002 CDPUG 068Zero Tolerance Task Force Z. T. T. F. Mania 2003 CD PUG 069Nebulus Interactive 2003 CD PUG 076The Clarendon Hills All Day All Night All Right 2003 CD PUG 077S. H. A. T. Stupid Has a Target unknown 7"

The S. P. A. M. bands, most notably Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits, had been rejected by the punk scene due to perceived superficial differences in dress and musical style Label co founder Corbett Redford, who was the singer for Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits, said "We were all living in Pinole and we couldn't play Gilman because they said we weren't punk. We couldn't take out an ad in MRR because they said we weren't punk. We were thrashfunk and silly folk I suppose." They decided, in a DIY spirit, to create their own venue, one where nobody would be rejected for having the wrong fashion sense. The name "Geekfest" was chosen partly because the S. P. A. M. collective saw themselves as geeks; they realized their idiosyncrasies made them unpopular at parties, but made no effort to change. Their rejection by the punk scene was viewed as just another chapter in a long history of being uncool; but, as John Geek says, "Our pride in maladjustment ran too damn deep."

S. P. A. M. founder John Geek set up a hotline, (510) BAD SMUT, to circulate event information. Applying the guerrilla tactics of rave culture, photocopied handbills listed the telephone number, but not the location of the event to try to prevent the show being shut down by law enforcement. Point Molate was selected as a location, partly because it was already in use one Sunday a month for free outdoor "Sunset raves". It was far from any residential area, beneath a large bridge, and under confused jurisdiction as a Navy Superfund site. Politically, the concept of Geekfest took an anarchist bent. It addressed issues of public land use, the role of the audience in art (since much of the time, the audience consisted of the other bands playing that day), and issues of hierarchy in a supposedly egalitarian punk scene. Approximately 12 bands played the first show, most of who were made up of minors and bands who shared S. P. A. M.'s sense of humor and disenfranchisement. S. P. A. M. members rented a gas powered generator, and hired a local sound engineer to work the jury rigged P. A. The concert lasted from about 1 p. m. until sunset.

S. P. A. M. continued to organize Geekfests, usually about one per month during the summer months and occasionally during the winter, when they could find a suitable indoor location. The locations and the bands varied widely, although many bands had repeat performances, but the shows were always free and all ages. This concept of inclusion was central to the Geekfest concept, and extended to the booking policy. As word spread about the festivals, bands began calling to ask for shows, and sending promotional packages to the label's P. O. box. S. P. A. M. avoided listening to demo tapes they received, booking bands on a "first come, first served" basis. This was done to remove the bias of musical taste that S. P. A. M. blamed for their own exclusion from Gilman. As a result, the bands were often unskilled, untalented, or conversely, so polished and professional that they seemed wildly inappropriate at a no frills, guerrilla concert. Geekfest organizers observed the conflicts that arose between different musical subcultures with a bemused detachment. Due to the length of the concerts, which were sometimes over 8 hours, and the inconsistent quality of the acts made Geekfest less like a traditional concert and more like a carnival. Since the schedule was never listed, it was difficult for people to show up to see one band in particular. People tended to stay for most of the day and began to come as much for the playful atmosphere as for the bands. Several Geekfest organizers, including Dan Abbott, Shawn Martin, and Dylan McPuke, were affiliated with the Amtgard live action role playing game, bringing Amtgard to Berkeley, California. They brought homemade foam padded swords for attendees to battle with during concerts. From then on, random foam sword battles were an integral part of Geekfest. Between bands, organizers held costume contests, raffles, and trivia games, and videogame tournaments: usually with a nod to traditionally geeky themes like Dungeons & Dragons, "Weird Al" Yankovic, or Atari games. Gradually, Geekfest attracted a community of disparate individuals, and become something of a scene itself. Several bands made inroads into the Gilman scene, and several Geekfests were eventually held within the Gilman club itself. Geekfest's esoteric aesthetic also became popular among organizers within the Cannabis Action Network (CAN), which allowed S. P. A. M. Records to book second stage performances at their annual 420 festivals, including at least one at the Maritime Hall in San Francisco on April 20, 2001(video).