Well, one upside of the general standstill created by the world-wide coronavirus emergency, has meant that long-postponed photo projects of mine can now be given a bit more attention.

These photographs of Rain Parade, have not been shared before, partly due to my perfectionist tendencies: I do not have the exact date of this show in my current records, and attempts to determine such on the Internet, and reaching out to those who might have been there, have – so far – been fruitless. If you happen to stumble across these photos, and might know when this benefit show for the University of California Berkeley’s radio station, KALX-FM, at The Omni, in Oakland, California, took place – please drop a line, or leave a comment below [Thanks, in advance, for any help!]….

NOTE: Almost exactly 36 years later (April of 2021), and only after rifling through old paperwork before a move, did I happen across an old invoice of mine for photos that I had delivered to BAM Magazine, from this evening, for publishing consideration. My notes indicated that this show took place in May of 1986 – and not in 1987!! So, a bit more detective work led to a blurry ad for The Omni, which misspelled the apparent headliner, Steve Wynn, but definitely confirmed the date [see the following ad for more]:

Another reason for the long delay, was the fact that I could never be sure what the names of all the participants were…. I reached out to Matt Piucci, as he is the occasional bandmate of an old friend of mine, Alec Palao, in the band The Hellenes https://blurtonline.com/review/hellenes-love-animals/, a couple of years ago, and he thought that the name of the woman playing percussion in these photographs may be Bonni Evensen [If this turns out to be incorrect, my apologies... I really tried, and thank you, Matt!].

NOTE: [May Day” weekend, 2020] Steven Roback wrote, after seeing the photographs, and was ever so kind to clarify this question – the woman in the photos above, and below, are actually of Susan Matthews. Bonni Evensen, as he pointed out, was part of a project he produced at roughly this point in time, called “Snowy“. See more about Ms. Evensen’s other musical contributions, here: https://www.discogs.com/artist/3357854-Bonni-Evensen

The photos above feature the trio of Susan Matthews, Steve Wynn of Dream Syndicate, and Steven Roback, vocalist and bassist for Rain Parade. Mr. Wynn also appeared during a solo set, earlier in the evening, and images from his set will be shared, along with shots of the other performers that appeared at the benefit, in a post, sometime soon.

Susan Matthews & Steven Roback during Rain Parade’s set

I had specifically planned to attend this evening’s show, just so I could see Rain Parade, having been introduced to the band, by the very radio station that they were playing on behalf of, KALX-FM, Berkeley. In addition, I had learned more of their story, from my girlfriend at that point in my life [“Hi! Grace!”], as she had been a devotee of many of the Paisley Underground bands, from Los Angeles, that they were often associated with. At that point in time, I believe I had all three of their vinyl lp releases in my collection, and was very curious to see how they would pull off the sounds they created on those records, since I had not had the opportunity before, to see them perform live.

Much to my surprise, they would appear without a drummer, and their songs would still be performed to great effect, while being amplified by The Omni’s famous wireless system [the club was owned by the patent holder of the first widely-used wireless PA system, John Nady, of Nady Systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nady_Systems,_Inc. ]. The Omni would feature his gear, and while it proved to be quite seamless for Rain Parade’s set, and the others on this night, that would not be the case for another group on that evening’s bill, the newly-formed All, who were none-too-happy with not having much control over their sound or volume…..

This shot of Matt Piucci on electric & John Thoman on acoustic, may show the lack of cables onstage, from the microphone stands, to the short loop extending from Piucci’s Gretsch guitar.

Stage lighting would prove challenging, at times during the set, when there would be very little light for lengthy moments, and then, suddenly, very bright spotlights would kick in, leaving me with very uneven results in my images, such as seen in these examples above.

Steven Roback on vocals, Matt Piucci on electric, and John Thoman on acoustic, early in the set.

One of the few times John Thoman would be lit up enough to capture his image [although with movement], in this frame.

Steven Roback, lead vocalist, during different points of the set. [I have to note that the “Morley” on his tee shirt, while advertising the guitar effects company, I believe, always prompts me to think of Malcolm Morley, and the band, Help Yourself, a huge favorite of mine].

Matt Piucci, playing one of his “patented” slide guitar parts, here.

A couple of dark frames, with core members Steven Roback & Matt Piucci.

Matt Piucci, vocals, and John Thoman playing acoustic, in the background.

Steven Roback, in the images, above, and below….

Susan Matthews, Steve Wynn & Steven Roback on percussion and vocals.

A favorite still of mine, featuring Matt Piucci & John Thoman, in sepiatone.

Early on, in the set, with the core trio, that remains today, in Rain Parade.

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For more information on Rain Parade, and several of the other projects that have been spawned since their original breakup, please investigate the following links:

Rain Parade on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Rain-Parade-167048516785408/posts

Rain Parade – Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_Parade

A nice page dedicated to Rain Parade interviews, and live archives, courtesy of “The Lama Workshop” and Patrick Lundborg:
http://lysergia_2.tripod.com/LamaWorkshop/RainParade/lamaRainParade.htm

Rain Parade Topic page on YouTube, with links to friends, as well:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfDzEYew1sQaYsMGG7IgtOA

Matt Piucci‘s page entry, over at Discogs, for further references:
https://www.discogs.com/artist/381500-Matt-Piucci

A less-than-thrilled critique of the band, from Trouser Press, for the sake of balance [although I do not agree with the assessment]:
http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=rain_parade

See more photos, of the other groups that performed that evening, here:
https://michaelconen.wordpress.com/2020/04/13/where-were-you-kalx-fm-berkeley-benefit-show-at-the-omni-oakland-ca-circa-1987/

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NOTE:  A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE WATERMARKS ON MY WORK

While many of you who arrive here, to look at these photographs may get turned off to my use of watermarks [thinking they ruin the image], let me explain why I choose to do this.

No one paid for my camera equipment but me. No one paid for the film I used to take these photographs.  On occasion, when I free-lanced for a free monthly newsletter, and they published a photo of mine, the payment for each photograph barely paid for the fuel to get my vehicle to the show [when I *did* have a vehicle], and the film I used on that night. 

Not too many of my photos were published, at the time, because the artists I chose to capture images of, were not hugely popular then.  Hence, the old dictum, “Supply and Demand”; I had the supply, but the demand [pre-Internet], was not there. You can argue the relative merits of the quality of my work, and that is precisely what a blog offers:  a venue for discussion.

Back to the watermarks: no one is subsidizing my time to scan and then clean up the images I am presenting here. Start to finish, each negative will take approximately an hour-and-a-half to reach “proof” quality – which is what you will see here.  This is my labor of love, and until there is some measurable return on my efforts, what you see is what you get.

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