B.A.B. SAMPLER

[October 15th, 2003] B.A.B. SAMPLER

Bands Against Bush. Saturday, Oct. 11. 9:30 pm. Outside Liberty Hall in North Portland. Things we heard: Where is the fire. Where is the fire! ... Oh, look the moon. There's a man in there.... I usually play as Ross and the Hellpets .... I saw a photo in a magazine that showed it was Bob Hope.... In 1992 we did Burning Bush. It was the election-night party.... I was floating above the stage, and I was just playing one note.... Everyone inside for the raffle.... Hello, Holly, this is Bands against Bush. You just won the raffle for the afghan.... How many punk-rockers does it take to change a lightbulb? ... No, no. Vegan activists don't change anything.... It takes 100. Ninety-nine to change it, one to say he did it before anyone else did.... I hear there's a country named after it. Just get some troops together and, um, get an afghan.... Plato, do a flip.... We're Pepto Dizmal . Welcome to the Big Bang Circus .... This is a protest song. I can't work in this sweatshop. It's about kid power and stuff.... Oil isn't the only thing we steal from the Middle East. This is the ladder of machetes. When I bought these, I told them it was for a care package for the Philippines. They didn't get it.... Did you read the paper today? ... I will now perform as the human pin cushion.... Oh my God! Oh my God! ... Those are people who died, died. Those are people who died, died. They were all my friends, and they died.

LIBERATE AND ROCK

Chances are you haven't heard of the Music Liberation Project. Even if you have heard of it, you still probably haven't seen the local music zine. That's because the ragtag group of writers and designers who have been creating the 40-page monthly zine for the last half-year have been more focused on honing their craft than making sure everyone gets to see the results. Sure, the mag has a website (www.musicliberationproject.com), but try to find one of the 1,000 photocopied and stapled issues of MLP after the first week of the month and you're pretty much out of luck.

The editors are looking to change that with a major overhaul of the magazine this winter.

Starting with the December issue, MLP will up its circulation to 10,000 copies and transform into a semimonthly magazine-sized publication. The magazine will still focus solely on the local scene, staying true to its roots.

"We want to do three things with the magazine," says co-editor and guy you always see wearing bibs at local shows, David Also. "Provide a point of reference for those who want to learn about local music; help instruct amateur musicians on how to support themselves and the scene; and give music reviews to every local band that sends us an album. One magazine is hardly enough to cover the music scene in Portland. But we figure there should at least be one."