Live Performances by Bruce Licher outside of Savage Republic
a work in progress
Bruce Licher encouraged me at having a go at Scenic and his other pre-SR projects.
pre-Africa Corps/Savage Republic
1980 Them Rhythm Ants
Them Rhythm Ants were Bruce Licher and Philip Drucker on percussion and vocals, Caroline Collins on bass and vocals,
and Hilda Daniel on guitar and vocals. THEM RHYTHM ANTS performed four or five times, including the 1980 student art
show at UCLA, at a picnic in our parent's backyard, and our biggest show opening for Johanna Went and Monitor at
Beyond Baroque Foundation in Venice.
1980-06-14 'Underground III', Tunnels beneath UCLA (solo)
Bruce: "This was the third in a series of experimental noise performances I did in the underground utility tunnels
at UCLA, this one on the day of the yearly student art show. About 15 people were invited, and the essence of the
experience is as follows:
You are in group of 15 people who are guided down into the tunnels under UCLA, where he air is stifling and the
temperature hot to almost unbearable. The tunnels are about 6 1/2 feet in diameter with pipes and conduit running
along the walls. he tunnels turn to the left or to the right about every 50 feet or so and you must walk 2-300
feet in, so that you have the sense of wandering deeper and deeper into some unknown area. There is a strange
screeching and chugging noise off in the distance which gets louder the further you walk into the tunnels. As
you round the 5th or 6th turn there is a locked wire gate and you cannot go any further. The noise is quite loud
at this point and it is obvious that it comes from around the next corner. As you are standing at the gate with
the others who have been led in with you, trying to figure out what exactly is going on, all power is suddenly cut
and you are plunged into complete darkness. The noise stops.
After a minute or so the noise starts up again in the blackness and continues for a few minutes, eventually quieting
down and coming to a stop and he lights come back on and you are led out of the tunnels
Three groups of people were led into his performance and several still talk of it today as one of the most powerful and
frightening experiences of their life, althought one occasion was also rather humerous. The third occasion of the
performance a fellow student's parents and dog came down and in he darkness the father picked the lock to the gate (!)
so that after the lights came on the whole group walked through the gate and around the bend to find me standing there,
de-tuned guitar in hand, rather sheepishly wondering what had happened. We had fun."
(from 'Independent Projects' booklet)
1980 Joey Kill's Bar and Grill - Burbank, CA ([[Bridge]])
Debut [[Bridge]] performance, exact date unknown.
1980-11-08 Los Angeles Museum Of Art ([[Bridge]], Neef, Arrow Book Club)
Bruce: "This was one of the first of a series of shows that Jonathan Gold set up at the Los Angeles Museum Of Art,
a small art gallery in a storefront near downtown L.A. This show also featured a re-formed Neef (the four original
members without me) and Arrow Book Club (an aggregation with members of 100 Flowers and he Last doing free rockin'
improvs). We managed o make a whole event out of the evening by showing films by myself, Brent Wilcox, and John
Talley-Jones, and here was also a metal performance at the end of the night, with Mark Erskine, Yuki Matsumoto,
Luiz Sampaio, and myself. Yuki worked a metal grinder, showering sparks all over the place while Mark pounded
out a tribal beat on his oil drum and Luiz and I pounding rhythms out on our respective pieces of metal. The
show got a review in Flipside, too, which at the time was something which made the show seem like it was somewhat
more important, as we rarely ever saw reviews of our early performances."
(from 'Independent Projects' booklet)
1980-12-10 Los Angeles Museum Of Art ([[Bridge]])
Bruce: "Another "Bridge" performance at he Los Angeles Museum of Art. I forget who else played -- it might have
been The Rack, a psuedo-heavy metal ensemble that Jon Gold enlisted me to play bass in on the spot. Jon played
amplified cello instead of guitar, and when he lit into Sweet Leaf by Black Sabbath, it was something to behold.
There were always 20 or 30 people who would show up for these gigs at The Museum, and sometimes as many as
50 or 60, which made for a thick crowd in the small space. The bands would usually perform in the front of the
space, with the lights of the passing cars making an interesting lightshow through the frosted storefront windows
behind the bands. Fond memories here...
If memory serves me correctly, the "Bridge" performance this night was particularly ineresting as we performed
with one member playing in each corner of the room. Conceptually it was pretty interesting but realistically
it made it a bit more difficult to play coherently. This wa a group that was still learning how to play in
time with each other in he first place."
(from 'Independent Projects' booklet)
1980-12-21 'Anticlub Benefit', Club 88 - Los Angeles, CA ([[Bridge]])
Bruce: "This was he biggest show for "Bridge" and a prestigious thing for us at the time, to be able to play a
benefit for the Anticlub which was then trying to find a new location. There must have been close to 100 people
who saw "Bridge" perform that night, including my mother and brother, and on the way home after the show I was
pulled over by the police, wondering what I was doing driving around after 2 A.M. with all that scrap metal in
the back of my car."
1981-02-08 Parking Structure 3, Tunnels beneath UCLA (Them Rhythm Ants and [[Bridge]])
For the continuation...
Scenic
1995-02-11 'Beautiful Noise' - El Rancho De Los Muertos - Phoenix, AZ (w/ The Aprils, Six String Malfunction, Half String,
Loveliescrushing, Nosalgia Drags, and Alison's Halo)
1995-06-15 'Morning Becomes Eclectic' - KCRW 89.9 FM
1995-06-15 Luna Park - Hollywood, CA (w/ Radar Brothers
1995-06-17 Eagles Coffee House - Hollywood, CA (w/ Half String, Alison's Halo, and Aberdeen)
1995-10-14 'Beautiful Noise' - The Hollywood Alley - Mesa, AZ (w/ Alison's Halo, The Apples (In Stereo), Dart, Aberdeen,
and Monte Verdict Stars)
1995-10-20 Spaceland - Los Angeles, CA (w/ Deception Bay and A Produce
1996-05-31 Spaceland - Los Angeles, CA
1996-07-23 Stinkweeds - Tempe, AZ (w/ Lanterna)
1996-07-25 The Alligator Lounge - Santa Monica, CA (w/ Lanterna and special guests Jeffrey Clark / September)
1996-07-28 Sam Bond's Garage - Eugene, OR (w/ Lanterna)
1996-07-29 Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA (w/ Lanterna and special guests Memorium, featuring members of 'faith & disease')
1996-08-01 Crocodile Cafe - Seattle, WA
1996-08-05 Linnaea's - San Luis Obispo, CA (w/ Hefetz Hashoud and Bottle)
1996-12-05 No Life Records - Los Angeles, CA (w/ Half String and Dart)
1996-12-06 Spaceland - Los Angeles, CA (w/ Half String and Dart)
1996-12-07 Penny Lane Records - Los Angeles, CA (w/ Dart)
1997-03-17 The Hollywood Alley - Mesa, AZ (w/ Radar Brothers)
1997-07-26 Glaxa DT - Los Angeles, CA
This was for the grand opening of Glaxa DT, and was a fundraiser for he GLAXA Playwright fund.
2003-05-29 Museum of Contemporary Art - Scottsdale, AZ (selection of graphic design and letterpress printing)
2006-09-14
2003-05-29 Museum of Contemporary Art - Scottsdale, AZ
2003-05-30 Modified Arts - Phoenix, AZ
2003-05-31 Future Studios - Sedona, AZ
2003-09-07 Amoeba Music - Hollywood, CA
2003-09-07 The Fold In The Derby - Los Angeles, CA (w/ Starflyer 59 and Tarmac)
2003-10-16 Cafe Du Nord - San Francisco, CA (w/ Breathless in support of Mike Watt & the Secondmen)
2003-10-17 Capitol Garage - Sacramento, CA (w/ Breathless and The Monks Of Doom)
2008-01-26 Artwork exhibit at Dangerous Curve (Musique, Desert Photograpy, Letterpress Prints & Ephemera
2008-03-01 Local Post Stamps, and Filmwork)