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On July 16th, 1994, the first in what was to become a series of festival-like events came kicking and screaming to Chicago's venerable club, the now defunct Lounge Ax. The event was dubbed OOPS! (shortly thereafter OOPS! iNDOORS) and it's raison d'être was to unite some of the most exciting no-wave / experimental / performance damaged / far-left-of-center rock bands of the day under one roof. A chief point of the OOPS! manifesto was a hearty disregard for the growing trend of over-intelectualization of said musics at the expense of "fun". Bands that would perform over the course of the Golden Age of OOPS! included: Dazzling Killmen, Space Streakings, U.S. Maple, Brise-Glace, Lake Of Dracula, Shellac, Melt-Banana, Bobby Conn, Shakuhachi Surprise (the only live show from the Space Streakings / Mount Shasta super group), Colossamite, You Fantastic! and The Flying Luttenbachers to name a few. A complete list appears below.
After the initial Chicago show and a brief tour east, OOPS! settled down into an annual Chicago event for a couple of years before venturing out of the city limits again. In addition to the bands, many of the early OOPS! shows featured skits and "atmosphere" provided by The Oops! Theater Group, a rag tag team composed of various players in the Chicago underground scene. Show organizer Art Ceaser (sic) had this to say on the Oops! Theater Group, "The group gets together a few nights before the show and we all look at the outline for the series events, work on the characters, develop certain points, trash others, everyone involved brings something to it. When showtime rolls around, it's a mess onstage, everyone is underrehearsed, often a little fucked up... despite all of the effort, it never goes as planned - and we wouldn't have it any other way." Later shows would go even further, including audience participation segments, surprise guests and characters planted among the audience to incite reactions. After 18 shows, one high profile outdoor rain-out, a burned audience member and many, many messy clubs, the Oops! Theater Group disbanded and the OOPS! brand was retired in May of 1998.
Fast forward to the summer of 2002, where OOPS! is reborn as an altogether different beast - a massive cross-country tour composed of the core unit of The Locust, Arab On Radar and Lightning Bolt, with a mind blowing roster of special guests appearing on different legs of the tour! Booked by Brian Peterson ( SKiN GRAFT co-chief / delineator of MP shows ) with help from Ben McOsker (of LOAD Records), OOPS! (the tour) is a co-operative effort bringing together a who's who list of bands dedicated to originating challenging music.
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CLASSIC
OOPS(!)
MEDIA:
OOPS(!)
ALL STARS:
( 1994 - 2002 ) ARAB
ON RADAR
The
original series of OOPS
(!) iNDOORS
shows wouldn't have been possible without the assistance of many,
many individuals including: Thanks, Mark OOPS! THE TOUR thanks the following for their help & advice: Ben McOsker, Dave & Derek, Dave Eaves, Weasel Walter, Scott Comeau, Andy Rivera, Rich Sczcepanski and Eorl. Thanks, Brian
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( 1 ) OOPS! ( The SKiN GRAFT iRRiTATiONAL ) S H O R T Y DAZZLING KILLMEN MOUNT SHASTA BRISE-GLACE DENISON KIMBALL TRIO + the oops! theater group Summer / July 16th, 1994 Chicago, IL. @ Lounge Ax N o t e s : This was Shorty's last show. Singer Al Johnson and guitarist Mark Shippy would resurface later that year as U.S. Maple. Hosted by Darth Vader, this first show by the OOPS! Theater Group involved a series of incidents between bands featuring the characters Mummy and Gorilla. Act One displayed a grueling chess match. Act two involved Mummy and Gorilla hesitantly sneaking up to the stage to a large wood plank. With spraypaint in tow, Mummy spraypainted "mummy " onto the plank, then crept off stage right. Later acts involved fire-breathers, hairdryers and heightened stupidity. Sloppy Santa appeared at the end of the show and was the only character to participate in every OOPS(!) Theater show thereafter... ( 2 - 7 ) OOPS! ( The SKiN GRAFT iRRiTATiONAL Tour ) D A Z Z L I N G .K I L L M E N MOUNT SHASTA BRISE-GLACE DENISON KIMBALL TRIO JIM O'ROURKE solo (NYC only) Summer / July 19th - 24th, 1994 Washington DC @ 15 Minutes / Philadelphia, PA @ Khyber Pass / Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East / New York, NY @ The Knitting Factory / Buffalo, NY @ Mr. Goodbars / Cleveland, OH @ The Grog Shop N o t e s : Shorty was scheduled play on this tour, but broke up on stage two nights earlier at the Chicago show. No OOPS! Theater. ( 8 - 9 ) OOPS ( ! ) iNDOORS 1st Night S H E L L A C SPACE STREAKINGS MOUNT SHASTA BRISE-GLACE + the OOPS! theater group 2nd Night SHAKUHACHI SURPRISE MELT-BANANA U.S. MAPLE YOU FANTASTIC! JIM O'ROURKE solo + cheer-accident and the OOPS! theater group Summer / July 14th - 15th, 1995 Chicago, IL. @ Lounge Ax N o t e s : This and the following year saw SKiN GRAFT really go for broke (and we mean that literally). The first night's theme was "Odd Couple 2000" and involved a narrative skit featuring Mintacula (a minty green Dracula) and his noisy neighbor Sloppy Santa. The first night was the hottest night on record in Chicago, Lounge Ax's air-conditioner was broken and even Shellac's participation couldn't pack this steam room. The second night was titled "Pickle Cult". The voice of the Pickle was provided by Killdozer's Michael Gerald. Two cyclists pedaled stationary bikes on each side of the stage for the entire two night stand and Cheer-Accident played "Filet Of Nod" at the entrance nonstop during the second night. Hosted by Eagle Man. How hot was it? - So hot that Bluey Nelson's face melted all over the stage and Space Streakings elected to sleep in the basement. ( 10 - 11 ) OOPS ( ! ) iNDOORS 1st Night U. S. .M A P L E BRISE-GLACE w/ Azita THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS COLOSSAMITE + the oops! theater group 2nd Night M E L T - B A N A N A MOUNT SHASTA YOU FANTASTIC! LAKE OF DRACULA + the oops! theater group Fall / November 1st - 2nd, 1996 Chicago, IL. @ Lounge Ax N o t e s : First night "A Trial In Error". Second night "Camp Skin Graft". Characters included Straight-Edge Santa, C-3PO and The Tin Man, The Massengals, Dirty Bird, Dirty Dog and The Mummy, The Mommy Mummy, Grampa, The Peg-Assed Pirate, Now Wave Dave, Now Wave Frog, The Irritator, Demo Dan, The Camp Skin Graft Counselers, Sloppy Santa and The Karate Chimp. EVENTS: Wrestling With Thymme Jones, Celebrity Kissing Booth, The Potato Lounge, Mintacula Drink Special, etc, etc, etc. Hosted by Danzig (with bodyguard). ( 12 - 13 ) OOPS ( ! ) iNDOORS U. S. .M A P L E. (Minneapolis only) COLOSSAMITE THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS YOU FANTASTIC! ZEEK SHECK + the oops! theater group Winter
/ March 15th - 16th, 1997 ( 14 ) OOPS ( ! ) iNDOORS THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS BOBBY CONN ZEEK SHECK + the oops! theater group Fall / September 5th Ypsilanti, MI @ The Green Room N o t e s : This show was the raw version of the show that followed the next night. Jeff Day performed his Pete Panty role sans costume. Sloppy Santa goes StraightEdge with this show. ( 15 ) OOPS ( ! ) iNDOORS U. S. .M A P L E THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS YOU FANTASTIC! BOBBY CONN ZEEK SHECK + the oops! theater group Fall / September 6th, 1997 Cleveland, OH @ Speak In Tongues N o t e s : Theme was "X's and Oh's". Show included the Mighty Fucking Robots, Pete Panty Monster, The Swami, Pengu, Now Wave Dave, Now Wave Frog, The Karate Chimp & StraightEdge Santa (formerly Sloppy Santa) in a morality play involving "Preppy Detergent". Weasel led a "Start Your Own Now Wave Band" Seminar. ( 16 - 17 ) OOPS ( ! ) iNDOORS C O L O S S A M I T E THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS ZEEK SHECK + the oops! theater group Fall
/ October 17th, 1997 ( 16 - 17 ) OOPS ( ! ) iNDOORS C O L O S S A M I T E THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS ZEEK SHECK U.S. MAPLE YOU FANTASTIC! (Hosts) + the oops! theater group Fall
/ October 18th, 1997 ( 18 ) OOPS ( ! ) OUTDOORS THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS MOUNT SHASTA ZEEK SHECK + the oops! theater group Fall
/ October 24th, 1997
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