Occupied in Oakland

The day finally came last week when I drew the short straw and was shipped off to cover the war zone known as Occupy Oakland. With my trusty camera and urine-resistant shoes, I was ready for deployment...


The Occupiers are a strange race: a mix between disenfranchised blue-collar workers and militant anarchist hippies. The ability for these two to cohabitate in one area is a fascinating sight... one filled with music, singing and the undeniable stench of marijuana, referred to in the camp as "The Devil's Lettuce".


Wandering through the makeshift city, one will find a variety of explanations for this movement: We need jobs! Banks are responsible for the recession! Death to capitalism! 9/11 was an inside job! Legalize the Devil's Lettuce! For what they lacked in direction, they made up for in gumption. And gigantic signs.


Without any general leader, planning seemed to be achieved through rumors and the occasional flier circulating through the crowd. Today's goal: March on the Port of Oakland and shut that sucker down! The problem with this style of planning is that it isn't very precise, leading many to wander along the 2 1/2 mile port looking for the designated site.


Eventually the entrance was discovered, and thousands converged on the port. To be honest, it was a somewhat frightening sight... that bridge was the only way in or out, and if the teargas started flying, it could get ugly really quick. Suddenly storm coverage doesn't seem worth complaining about anymore.


The best part of the day for me came shortly after this, as 10,000 people marched past my live truck (which says FOX on the side) and hurled F-bombs at me. Few stopped to talk and discover that a FOX affiliate is not the same thing as The Fox News Channel, but those who did shrugged off the answer and laid into me with some more anger and hatred. You know, I'm part of the 99% too, people! I just have a job.


But the port was eventually shut down as protesters swarmed the trucks and shipping crates. A line of cops kept them from entering the port itself, but otherwise they held back from engaging the crowd. It was a largely peaceful demonstration, and as the sun began to set, most of the folks made their way back out into the community.


Later in the night, some anarchists started breaking windows and the teargas began to fly... but fortunately my tour of duty had concluded, so I was on my way home for the victory parade. At the end of the day, they managed to keep a bunch of truck drivers from getting paid (part of the 99%), restaurants and stores in downtown Oakland are being forced to close (part of the 99%), and I cried myself to sleep after being cussed out by an army of my friends and neighbors. Also someone pissed on our live truck and a drunk guy almost pulled his wang out during our live shot.

Stay classy, Oakland.

The Day Foo Came to Town

Lets say that one day I become the drummer of a famous band. Let's also say that the singer of this band will be treated like a god. I gotta say, I might get a little jealous and wonder why I hadn't done things differently. Continuing with this hypothetical, let's say the afore mentioned singer leaves (one way or another) and the band breaks up, essentially granting me a mulligan. When forming a new band, should I continue with my drumming ways that led to my fame and fortune, or should I step out front and join the ranks of the mighty rock gods? Fortunately I have no musical talent, so this isn't a situation I ever imagine myself wrestling with.

On a completely unrelated note, ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl brought his little song-and-dance production known as the Foo Fighters to town on Tuesday, where he was met by a respectably sized crowd at Sacramento's Power Balance Pavilion... and judging from their enthusiasm, Grohl should be considered among the top in his game.

Although I must admit, when compared to every other rock frontman on the scene today, Dave Grohl probably comes across as the biggest dork among them. I don't mean that in a demeaning way, I'm just saying that when he tries to banter with the crowd or chat with his bandmates, I can't help but picture an awkward, dorky guy in high school who is trying to act cool. This was punctuated by the fact that he would tuck his hair behind his ears every time he dropped an F-bomb.

But then he'd start playing one of their songs, and his rock god status seemed much more justifiable. Where'd that dorky guy go?

For over two hours, they tore through their catalog dating back to the mid-90s. There was a good amount of new stuff, which is usually a burden on any concert... but when the new stuff is solid (and is recognizable through regular radio play), there's really no reason to complain.

But make no mistake, Grohl was the one in charge on stage. Aside from some chatting and singing from the drummer, the rest of the band remained in their spots and had minimal interaction with the audience. Dueling guitar solos between Grohl and lead guitarist Chris Shiflett was an entertaining interlude half way through the show, but otherwise this was primarily the Dave Show.

That's not to say the rest of the band didn't sound great, especially when cranking out recognizable hits like "Monkeywrench" and "Pretender". After a 23 song set, including a 5 song encore that concluded with "Everlong", these guys justified their recognition in the world of rock. Really a solid, high energy show that left the audience more than satisfied.

Not bad for a dorky ex-drummer. Now if we could just get Krist Novoselic doing something again...