The corner of the kitchen ceiling in “the Octagon” appears to be
held together with decomposing, 20-year-old masking tape. “When
we moved in, the house was infested with spiders,” Tiffany tells me.
“Go in the bathroom; you’ll probably see some on the ceiling.” This is
an old house, with a backyard fire pit surprisingly secluded by giant
evergreens, and it’s teeming with metal kids lugging around cases of
cheap beer. There are fliers all over the walls promoting Space
Losers, a depraved online puppet show created by housemate
Jeremy and his neighbors at the Chuck Norris House. Both houses are
home to members of several popular local bands, and tonight three of
them (Red Rapture, Ubik, and Barefoot Barnacle) are performing in the
Octagon’s cramped basement.
I make my way to the front for Barefoot Barnacle and find that all
four members are actually playing without shoes. The band ask
the audience, “What makes an egg roll?” The answer is a hilarious,
aggro cover of Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It.” Their set is a barrage of
instrumental tech and thrash metal, mixed with Dillinger Escape Plan
jazz breakdowns and “Planet Caravan” space-outs. In 30 minutes the band
rip out 300 riffs; all of them rule. Invariably, a pipe gets
passed around, and in a sense of true performer/audience camaraderie,
it is held and lit for the band as they shred. Their closing words are
simply, “Go get drunk.” Sure enough, that’s exactly what everyone does.
Want to tell The Stranger about how great Botch was at your backyard party? E-mail the date, place, time, and party details
to partycrasher@thestranger.com.