September is high music festival season in Central Oregon. Last weekend was Bend Roots Revival, this weekend welcomes the inaugural Bend Oregon Speedfest, and Sisters Folk Festival is right around the corner.
Roots Revival cofounder Mark Ransom told music writer Ben Salmon in 2023, “The reason we started the Roots festival was so that we could play a lot of music. We wanted to be at the center of our own little universe. And … all of a sudden we had a bunch of other people whose rock ‘n’ roll fantasies were being fulfilled as well.”
That got Ben and I thinking how rad it would be to curate a festival specifically to our personal tastes. Just to be crystal clear, this festival is never going to happen, because disorganized people like myself have no business curating a kitchen pantry, let alone a music festival.
But if you’re going to dream, and only dream, you might as well dream big: This is a no holds barred, the space-time continuum be damned dream lineup. That means some bands that couldn’t possibly reform in order to play Droppinginapalooza, so you don’t need to tell me Joe Strummer and Joey Ramone died.
With that, I present the inaugural Droppinginapalooza lineup.
Cheap Trick. In a perfect world, more people would realize the greatness of the band that gave the world the power pop classics “Surrender,” “She’s Tight” and “I Know What I Want,” along with one of the finest power ballads of all time (I know they didn’t write it, don’t @ me), “The Flame.” They were my first concert ever, in 1982, and they have killed every time I’ve seen them in the decades since, including at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds several years back.
The Clash. The only band that mattered, indeed. I never got to see them live, and I wore out my copy of “From Here to Eternity,” the excellent live collection released in the late ’90s. I sat alone in a Portland International Airport restaurant and wept when I read an Oregonian article about Joe Strummer’s death in 2002.
DEVO. There’s no way I can do Ohio’s finest justice here. I finally saw them two years ago on what I thought was their farewell tour — I hadn’t anticipated their showmanship being honed to a fine point after their decades together — but they keep playing shows. “Through Being Cool,” “Gates of Steel” and more-important-than-ever “Freedom of Choice” are anthems in the circles I move in.
The Alarm. So earnest they made early U2 look like cynics, this Welsh band was among my favorites when I was 16. Singer Mike Peters died this year, but in a perfect world, he’d be alive and singing “68 Guns” at Droppinginapalooza.
Misfits. The band that merged B-movie fandom with punk rock. I’m partial to the 1981 era of the quartet, when they released my favorite of their albums, “Walk Among Us,” which includes one of my favorite songs of any genre, “Astro Zombies.”
Fugazi. I don’t think this will ever happen, but I saw them in 1991, and right about now I think the world could use some of Ian Mackaye’s idealism. I also wouldn’t mind seeing his pre-Fugazi hardcore band Minor Threat, come to dream of it.
Radon. One of the earliest punk bands from Gainesville, Florida, a town that spawned Against Me! and other more famous bands. Their reunion albums have been fantastic. Their classics were “Facial Disobedience” and their own anthem, “Radon.” They’re on Spotify. Check them out.
Big Black. Backed by a drum machine, did this short-lived trio shred before they called it quits in 1987. Guitarist and vocalist Steve Albini went on to form another excellent band, Shellac, as well as do sound engineering for the likes of Pixies and Nirvana.
Ramones. As you can see in the logo for this column(ist), Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy meant a lot to me. They were four regular dudes from Queens, New York, who in an era of turgid 10-minute prog-rock songs, took it back to basics with ripping fast pop. I saw them in ’87, thanks to my friend Brent, who dragged me with him. R.I.P. to the members of the band.
The Secret Machines. I didn’t say I hate prog rock, and about 20 years ago, these prog-rockers reeled me in with songs like “Alone, Jealous and Stoned,” “Lightning Blue Eyes,” and “Daddy’s in the Doldrums.”
Archers of Loaf playing in Portland in 2023. They’ll probably be on the bill for the second Droppinginapalooza. (David Jasper/The Bulletin)
Jesus and Mary Chain. A groundbreaking band (really Scottish brother Jim and William Reid) of the ’80s and ’90s that released great record after great record, my favorite being 1987’s “Darklands.”
Teenage Fanclub. Nearly 20 years ago, Ben Salmon got me to finally listen to this long extant Scottish band. I don’t mind being late to a band when they have so much good music to comb through, and they’re still making great records.
Wire. After being aware for years of these British punk legends via covers such as Big Black’s “Heartbeat,” and R.E.M.’s “Strange,” I have been swimming in their deep catalog. The space-rock of “Unrepentant” from just five years ago is what got me slightly obsessed.
I’m out of space and haven’t mentioned Archers of Loaf, Beach Boys, Nada Surf, Weezer and a gazillion others. There’s always next year. Even fake festivals need curating.
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