Oakland Underground
So in the mid 90's Oakland had a pretty amazing music scene happening. In some part the East Bay weirdo sphere inspired actor/director Michael Goorjian (who himself was from here) to make a mockumentary movie called "Oakland Underground" about the supposed satanic underbelly of our fine city.
I don't recall the complete origin story, but filming commenced and various friends were involved. One climactic sequence involved an Idiot Flesh gig morphing into full blown ritual of sorts. During this time Jenya organized several Fire Taiko shows. Both fire and taiko drums were natural fits for the general ambiance of such a spectacle, and she was called on to arrange something as visual and sonic accompanyment. I was along for the ride as one of the half dozen people in the group. Of course our Butoh dancer cohorts were brought in as well to further punch up the creepy mayhem.
When time came we all headed to the Vulcan Warehouse and set up all our gear up on a balcony above the stage. Much soundchecking and blocking and planning took place. Pretty soon it became clear that where I was stationed I would basically be out of the shot. Story of my life. So much for my costume and makeup and whatnot. But still we presented ourselves as planned for the people who were actually there to enjoy.
We were at the warehouse all day and night. Idiot Flesh played a normal set for the crowd who then stuck around for the fake ritual part. We did several long takes. It was an exciting but tiring day.
Eventually the movie was completed and premiered at the Grand Lake theatre. Jerry Brown, then mayor of Oakland, was in attendance. I'm not sure he completely appreciated having Oakland represented in such a manner, as evidenced by the bemused expression on his face as the flick ended and the lights came on. It was nice to finally see the fruits of Jenya's Fire Taiko efforts up on the big screen, albeit for only a few seconds during the chaos. Cool beans.
You can see the whole movie, which is quite silly and NSFW, here:
It's worth it just to get a slight, warped hint of what Oakland was like before the fucking dot com boom. There’s a quick flash of the Fire Taiko group on the balcony, with Jenya in front at 55:55.