Revenge at Michael’s

The flashing neon “cocktails” sign should have tipped us off.  The homeless man who helped us fit our car in a narrow space was yet another indication of what the night had in store.  Michael’s Pub in North Hollywood is a bar’s bar.  Cheap beers, grumpy old men, pool, etc.  By the time the Quixotes took the stage (basically a small doorless closet at the end of the bar) an anxiousness had seized crowd.  After yet another hard week in a harsh time the people needed an outlet and we, the Quixotes gave them that.  Despite a few microphone glitches, and a few too many shots of whiskey the set was smashing.   Don’t fret if you missed it as the Quixotes will be playing another gig their in October.  This hole in the wall spot is actually one of the few places you can still see a good night of original bands for the price of FREE.  

 

As for the Quixotes we head into the studio this weekend in hopes of pounding out  five song EP to get up for sale for ya’ll…

stay in touch, keep drinking, and never, ever, find yourself on the wrong side of cool.

Porn Stars, Poets, and The Quixotes at the Viper Room

No punches were pulled last Friday night at the Viper Room as the Quixotes played to a packed house that included a few B-rated celebrities, playboy bunnies, and at least one legitimate prostitute. In the wake of it all I think it would be best to consider the night as a series of truths, and half-truths, or put bluntly, facts we know to be true and facts that are most probably true.

True:

An earthquake rocked Los Angeles around 8pm local time Sunday Night.

Probably True:
This quake was in fact caused in no small way, by the excessively inspired and distorted 35 minutes of rock and roll that made up the Quixotes set on Friday night.

True:

Porn Star king Ron Jeremy was in attendance and gave his full endorsement of the Quixotes, telling Bassist Ryan Jones “you guys had too much energy for me to handle at my age.”

Probably True:

Inspired by his stage antics Jeremy recruited Ryan Jones for several upcoming films, going so far as to label the talented Bass player his heir apparent in the business.

True:
Tommy Lee’s sister, Athena, played in the band directly after the Quixotes, told Sam Brown he looked like Simon Cowell, and offered her endorsement of the band.

Probably true:
Ms. Lee will be starring along side Ryan Jones in “Banging The Drum,” scheduled for release on DVD and Blue Ray sometime next month.

Those of you who made it out can attest to most of these facts and half facts. The important thing is we all managed to keep from blacking long enough to play 10 songs in 35 minutes and rock the place pretty goddamned hard. See you all at the next show.

Hope For The Dying World at the Viper Room May 15th

After a raucous practice that included guest appearances by the likes of Mark “Extreme” Howe and John “The Poet” Cagle, the Quixotes are rocking our way steadily to our next gig, next Friday at the Viper Room (May 15th).
Though last month’s show at the Joint taught everyone that our stage presence is sometimes a little too intense for our own good Johnny Depp’s Viper Room ought to be able to handle our style a little better than Judy’s “Get the F**k out of my bar” venue over on Pico.
Tickets are available but limited. Throughout Los Angeles the mumblings and stirrings about the next ahead of its time punk band are growing louder.
In these tough times of war, poverty and pandemic, it is not the folk singers, or the poets, or the whiny dime a dozen emo-bands that are rising to the challenge.
Rather it is four barely employed twenty somethings, armed with distorted power chords, strong livers, and an undying and palpable lack of seriousness who are choosing to fight to bring hope, joy, and optimism back into our dying world.
Yes this world, and this city may be short on heroes, and we are surely not that.
We are simply The Quixotes, and we invite you all to take a night off from the BS and revel in the glory of the moment.

http://profile.myspace.com/quixotess

River Phoenix/Johnny Depp and the Quixotes

We were all there, Jones, Jabo, Paul, and myself on a band retreat in the heart of the Grand Canyon. Our water had run out and it seemed that the Mescaline had finally started to kick in. Just then, from the top of the canyon we saw him, a strange figure with purple wings and wild hair. After barking at us in a strange doglike language for several minutes he flew down in front of us. He removed the odd mask he was wearing to reveal that it was none other than the ghost of River Phoenix standing in front us in the canyon. He sat us down and told us things I could never repeat here, and as he turned to leave we still didn’t know why he had chosen us to hear his message. Then he turned around, spit twice on his hands, and told us “Quixotes… it’s your time, play the Viper Room, and awaken my soul forever with your distorted power chords and devil may care attitude. When I awoke I realized it was just a dream. Then I received two calls.  The first one was Jones telling we he had had the exact same dream. The second was a voice I didn’t recognize. “Is this Sam?” Yeah asshole who’s calling, “This is Johnny, Johnny Depp, I’d like you guys to play my club next month.”

So there you have it. On Friday May 15th the Quixotes will be playing the world famous Viper Room, owned by Depp, where River Phoenix died. We’re going to need the full support of our fan base as well as the help of those of you out there who haven’t yet made it out to see LA’s drunkest punk band. For the LA crowd who haven’t yet made it, stop being scene-sters for one night and come on out. Similar to the Roxy show tickets cost 12 dollars and we will need to have a strong pre-sell. !2 bucks for 5 bands on the Sunset Strip. Additionally we will be reserving a table at the Viper Room so the first 20-25 people who buy tickets will get “VIP status” and access to that table at this exclusive destination. For you out of towners this is a great excuse to take a cheap Southwest flight out to LA and experience some LA rawness amidst the smoke and mirrors of this burning city. Bring your friends, hell bring your enemies, but tickets are limited. Doors open at 7:15, we go on around 11.
to summarize: the ghost of River Phoenix called upon me in a dream, Johnny Depp recruited us to play on May 15th at the Viper Room, and it only costs you 12 dollars to come and see five bands and possibly receive VIP table service.
See you ALL there.

The Quixotes Burn the House Down at The Joint

The history of Rock and Roll is littered with the legends of fallen heroes, broken bones, and bloody guitar strings. Sometimes a rock star can only go as far as his liver will take him on the eve of Easter in 2009 one such rock star got himself in a little too deep.
The crowd was ripping that night and the music coming off of the stage was raw and powerful and true and simple. It was the gutted down rock and roll that dreams are made of. That is until the fourth song of the Quixotes’ set.
About that time Quixote “Ryan” Jones, famous for his onstage antics along with his progressive background vocalization started to forget things, and we’re not talking about words or chord changes. Simply put he forgot where he was; who he was, and most importantly that he is was in the band that was onstage. After nearly falling to almost certain death off the 12-foot-high stage and trying unsuccessfully to electrocute himself with some exposed wiring on his amplifier Jones rallied for one last song.
The gentleman laughed and pumped their fists while the ladies smiled, and got a little wet no doubt.
Needless to say the club owner was not laughing, or wet for that matter and when the dust settled the Quixotes and their loyal fan base had to make a hasty emergency exit out of the back door before the forces of evil overwhelmed the crusade. Some could say we lost and the battle that day, others might say it was pure rock and roll. One thing is for sure, the war isn’t over the Quixotes’ ride to glory goes on, catch the next chapter next month at the Viper Room, and stay tuned for ticketing information.

The Quixotes On The March

No reason to slow down right? The Quixotes, fresh off a performance at the Roxy, which if not spectacular, was certainly worthy of the historic stage, have set up a string of shows well into the summer. First on that list is next Saturday, the 11th of April at The Joint on the west side of Los Angeles. The show is 21-and-over and will cost 10 bucks at the door. We will be playing with a few pretty talented bands, The Will, and Relax To Paris. If you buy tickets before the show they are only 7. The Joint is a little more relaxed than the Roxy and has much cheaper drinks and little more mellow of a vibe. The doors open at 8 and the Quixotes go on a little after 10.
In May we will take our act back to the Sunset Strip and hit the Viper Room on the 16th. We’ve also been offered a chance to open for the widely popular LA punk band the MIG’s sometime in June at the Key Club. Hope you can all make it out next Saturday, especially all you west siders and UCLA types, it’s only a short little cab ride. Again if you want to save the three dollars on admission let me know via facebook/phone call/email.

The Rock Show

We’re still not entirely sure why they even let us play there, but nevertheless the Quixotes did indeed grace the stage of the historic Roxy. It was a wild night on the Sunset Strip and by the time we got up on stage we were blitzed, probably a little more than we should have been. There was spilled beer, blood, a broken Bass, and 30 minutes of pure rock and roll. The crowd was close to 150 by the time we were done, with several of our most loyal supporters getting the boot after the second song. When all was said and done we had sold close to 80 tickets, and enough money to make shirts for the next show. More importantly the Quixotes made a statement about just what type of rock and roll they profess. Stay tuned for the next gig, it won’t be for a few weeks, so save up your liver cuz the ante is about to raised.

New Year’s Quixote Style

For those of you who didn’t know, March 27th is the Hindu holiday of Ugadi, celebrated throughout the southern part of India to recognize the new year. In honor of this day The Quixotes will be streaming our show live from the Roxy into millions of homes throughout southern India. So if you needed any more reason to come to the Roxy on the 27th, you can say you are celebrating the Hindu New Year and the beginning of the Quixote Age, the next great chapter in Rock history.

Head Wounds, Vomit, and Notes From The Van Nuys Practice Studio

Thing were ratcheted up a notch this weekend. With the show looming the phrase of the say was stage presence. Hangovers and all we came up with a new way to practice that basically involved playing harder, faster, and wilder than we ever did before. The afternoon was not with out its victims. Quixote Jones struggled from the outset but a quick vomit run halfway through the second song helped him out immensely. Quixote Brown, in an attempt to take his lead guitar abilities to the next level twice jammed the sharp corner of his Gibson Blues Hawk into his forehead, bleeding on both occasions and forcing him to spend the night sitting at the Beauty Bar with one beer in his right and another in his left held up against the wound.
But it was raw and there was fire and LA’s most fearless Punk is ready for what comes next. In other news we are going to web cast the show at the Roxy. This will be a great way for those of you who can’t make the show to see just what the hell we are all about. So set a little reminder for yourself at 10:40 PM PST, that’s pacific standard time, the Quixotes streaming live from the Roxy.

Booking The Roxy

I did my best to keep a straight face while this man gave me 100 printed out tickets that had my band’s name, and the “Roxy” on them. Still I couldn’t help but let out a little smile while I fought the urge to ask stupid questions like “so they have their own sound board and stuff there right?” or “what time should we get there?”
For his part the promoter, who undoubtedly realized this was a big step for us was a nice guy who treated like a professional. And you know what a lot of bands play the Roxy. For every legend like a Lou Reed there are a few dozens poser emo-bands that basically buy the place out. That being said when I walked out of that place I was clutching the 100 tickets that was charged with selling like they represented all my rock and roll dreams. Do they? Probably not. Even if I sell all of them (which of course you can all help out with) we won’t make but a fraction of the amount of money we’d need to get a real Demo together. At the same time the Quixotes aren’t about any of that junk anyway. Would I like to be a pop star? Sure. Who wouldn’t? But for now, we are gonna keep drinking, keep ripping, and keep burning mad rock and roll.
Oh yeah, want a taste of the Quixotes on their fearless (and not entirely undelusional) ride to rock glory?
Check it at the Roxy, Friday March 27th, 10:40 PM, doors open at like 7 and your 12 dollar ticket is good for like 5 bands. 18 and over are admitted and there will be a booze distribution table.

“The courage to be great lies deep with each of us”
-Fortune cookie from Wah’s Golden Hen in East LA