VILE BLUE (FUCKING) SHADES

Writing about the Vile Blue Shades is as nearly a fruitless endeavor as you're really probably ever likely to get yourself into. Here's why: You either come across like an absolute dipshit in trying to explain their uh, oeuvre or you risk overstating what makes them so damn unique and awesome and kind of spoil the fact that they're not terribly well known outside of Salt Lake and Missoula. That's the dilemma I'm staring down, okay.

So now that you know that, here goes: Back in 2007 Total Fest was a mere toddler. Not quite in kindy-garten yet. Wet behind the ears and all that. Missoula lacked spots to hold big underground deals with lots of weirdos. Jay's had closed. We'd pissed off the neighbors and had the cops show up at the Legion. Weren't a great fit with the Other Side...

So, we were in desperate need of a location that wouldn't come with all the goddamn hassle. And we found it in the Missoula County Fairgrounds, smack to the east of Malfunction Junction. The Llama Barn, to be exact. We didn't get hassled by neighbors that year, but the price of renting the place was too high, and we had to carry our own event insurance, so when it came to dividing what we'd earned from passes bands should've gotten paid a lot more than we ended up paying 'em. Coulda-woulda-shoulda in retrospect, lots of things to have done differently, but those are the main facts. That we're still friends with most of the people that played that year I think is a testament to what makes Total Fest a unique deal. We've come a long way since then. Have a better home in downtown Missoula, and have grown steadily since that year.

Ryan Jensen, picture by Maddie Magdalene.

Anyhow, that year, while it came with its challenges, Total Fest V was the Missoula debut of Vile Blue Shades and it would mark a pretty regular, probably semi-annual trek that the roughly 12 or 13 members of the band would make up to Missoula to blow our minds with their enveloping, rhythmic sex-boogie whateveritis. That pretty regular trek up to Missoula ended just about a full five years ago, at some point in 2008 with one of the few out of town shows they played behind the John Thursday California Adventure LP that Wantage put out.

Vile Blue Shades at Total Fest V.

That they'd lasted that long always kind of baffles me. The sheer logistical challenges of getting together the 12 people (several drummers, bassist, guitarists, singer, dancer) that make up the band always seemed to be looming as the most likely reason they'd end. Luckily, with members like Eli from the Wolfs and the 8ctopus record label, Terence from Red Bennies and Shane, the band seemed actually to function pretty well for a decent chunk of time. They recorded an amazing piece of work in their John Thursday LP and a couple of other good full-lengths and singles, put on some incredible shows and blew all kinds of minds in the process. The lyrics are foul,they've got a dancer named Meg who's typically underdressed. Ryan's a wild man. It's just a whole spectacle of a deal, and I think better to kind of leave it with this. When we saw they were doing a reunion show this fall at the Urban Lounge in Salt Lake, we decided we'd give Eli a call and try to convince them to com up to Missoula to hang for Total Fest. Lo and behold, voila, etc.: Vile Blue (fucking) Shades. Big ol' thanks to Zombie Tools for some extra-special sponsorship on this one.

WHAT DO SWAMP WOLF, ZOMBIE TOOLS AND TIDAL HORN HAVE IN COMMON?
Other than we're talking about 'em here, and they've got something to do with Total Fest this year? Yes, that's the full question. Well, let's start at the begining: I was gonna say "metal" but I just read in the Missoua Independent that Tidal Horn don't consider themselves "metal." Well, Tidal Horn, that's tough, you're kind of what we'd (very flatteringly) call "party metal." You've got the riffs, you cover Dio. You gallop. That's the evidence. That's enough to us. Won't get all into the degrees of metallitude here, but that's what we'd call 'em. And they're a damn fine band, all that explanation of what they play aside. 

We're in for a dark, heavy, black treat with this Swamp Wolf addition to tonight's show. Check this shit out. Man, I need a shower after listening to this. It's like getting spit on by Cronos or something. How does Flagstaff continue to do this?

Finally, the bros of Zombie Tools, a first time Total Fest sponsor, are a feral lot. Often seen with black under their fingernails from working on the forge, bowler hats ala Clockwork Orange, and you know, (pretty good) scotch on their breath. You see, Zombie Tools to the uninitiated is Missoula's own full-on, un-ironic hand-crafted sword company. These guys take this shit so entirely seriously, it's actually pretty incredible. Their whole m.o. is based around the idea that when the shit goes down, eventually you'll run out of ammunition, and will need a reliable, simple weapon, that will effectively be your tool for surviving whatever harshness the world's throwing your way. Not terrible, if a bit err fatalistic, logic. They've got some great youtube vids of their katanas in acton, hacking the shit out of Pabst cans mostly. Thanks Zombie Tools.