MBP at Bay To Breakers 2009

[MWaldorf]

This past Sunday, Meshugga Beach Party performed at the 98th annual "Bay To Breakers" race in San Francisco. The race course starts on the east side of the city (by the bay) and winds through the city to the ocean (breakers!) Some 60,000 people run the race, many in elaborate costumes, some in no costume at all. It was our fourth time playing the race. Some pictures (PG rated) on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10752591@N02/sets/72157618336690505/

[Desert Surfer]

Nice going! You've got big and nice crowd!
"....some in no costume at all????" Too bad, she was walking away...
Any youtube clips we can watch? (I mean your concert)

[Veenture]

Cool man, I think The Meshugga Beach Party is very brave in always showing their colours and where they're coming from in this dangerous world we're living in. Good for you! In some strange way you guys also remind me of ZZ Top

[MWaldorf]

Thanks guys, we do have a lot of fun with our shtick.

I only posted the PG pictures, but if you're interested in seeing saucier fare, go to flickr and search "bay to breakers" I did have a difficult time concentrating on what I was playing when that woman came up to have her picture taken with me. This sort of thing does have it's price - two years ago a guy wearing nothing but sneakers was jumping up and down in front of my screaming "Look! Look! I'm circumcised! I'm circumcised!"

On the more serious side, we're proud of our heritage and have a reverantly irreverant take on things. There have been gigs that have been uncomfortable, and one in particular where we chose not to play in outfits because the audience was heavy on the scary skinhead crowd. I don't know that we could pull the shtick off in other places, but here at least, so far, so good.

Mel

[dellison]

Holly cow... Where in the world (California) can you run around naked???? I hadn't read though the entire post before I went through the pics and I must say that one (or a couple, I can't remember) kind of took me for a loop.

So, the real (off-topic-question) were you able to keep playing with the dude jumping up and down proclaiming his, er, configuration?

[mosman]

As if there isn't enough to concentrate on when playing live!
Bill.

[Dennisthe Menace]

Vincent responded:

"....some in no costume at all????" Too bad, she was walking away...

It's got to be a really bad situation when you definitely know what
fret your finger(s) are supposed to be on.....only to get distracted by
evil ..................... .....................

[MWaldorf]

Bay to Breakers may well be one of those "only in San Francisco" kind of events. It was started as a form of civic pride a few years after the 1906 earthquake that destroyed most of the city. Apparently people started running in costume in the 1940s, and it's gotten more free-wheeling since.

As a performer, the naked people can be distracting (for better or worse) but the party-hearty drunks are the real challenge, as they're more likely to get physically out of control, knock into you or trip over gear. I think the nudists generally have the idea that falling over or knocking into things might hurt in places you wouldn't want to put a band-aid.

[dellison]

I think the nudists generally have the idea that falling over or knocking into things might hurt in places you wouldn't want to put a band-aid.

That's hilarious!

[Dennisthe Menace]

Mel posted:

As a performer, the naked people can be distracting (for better or worse) but the party-hearty drunks are the real challenge, as they're more likely to get physically out of control, knock into you or trip over gear. I think the nudists generally have the idea that falling over or knocking into things might hurt in places you wouldn't want to put a band-aid.

Well........ ........Throw the Ground Switch on the Showman .
I always wanted to know if naked drunks glow in the dark after
a 'Close Encounter' with an Amp that's not grounded ......