I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 3, 2019] Team Dresch

Back in the mid 90s (when things were pretty great), as I was exploring more and more indie music, I was drawn to the Pacific Northwest scene.  There were a lot of great bands fronted by or comprised entirely of women–it was like discovering a gold mine of new sounds and voices.

This led to discoveries like Sleater-Kinney and Team Dresch.

This also led to exploring the Candy Ass record label (run by Team Dresch singer/bassist Jody Bleyle) and the amazing Free to Fight compilation.  As well as the Chainsaw records label (run by Donna Dresch).  They shared a lot of bands.

Team Dresch is one of the great queercore bands and they opened my eyes to a lot of avenues of queer culture that I didn’t know about.  I’ve become a huge LGBTQ+ advocate over the years and I attribute much of that to discovering Team Dresch and all that they stand for.

I remember getting a kick out of the cover of Personal Best, but when I put the CD in and heard “Fagetarian and Dyke” I was blown away.  It was so raw and honest and it rocked like nothing I’d heard before.  They followed that album up with the terrific Captain My Captain.

But Team Dresch disbanded after those two albums.  Singer guitarist Kaia Wilson and drummer Melissa York formed the terrific band The Butchies, while Donna worked on her record label and then started making new music, and Jody started the band Family Outing.

Then in 2004, the original members reunited and did some shows.  They got together again in 2017 and now were touring in 2019.

During the evening, Donna told us that there are officially five members of the band, even though only four were there that night.  Jody Bleyle was stage center playing mostly bass and singing; Kaia Wilson was right in front of me on the left, playing guitar and also singing; Donna Dresch was on the far side of the stage playing mostly rhythm guitar and some bass. Melissa York was on drums.  Their fifth member is Marcéo Martinez who played the West Coast dates of the tour.  I don’t know anything about Martinez’ live playing, but holy crap Melissa York was awesome behind the kit.

So they came on stage and the crowd went bananas.

They launched right into the first song and I couldn’t believe how good they were.  I hadn’t really listened to the record closely in a long time and I forgot how great these songs are and what great musicians they are.  Kaia is an amazing guitarist and both her voice and Jody’s sounded fresh and strong.  And holy crap, Melissa York.  Wow.

I was right under Kaia and she was constantly leaning out to the crowd and smiling at all the fans.  There was so much mutual appreciation going on, it was really cool.

I wasn’t sure if there would be a lot of slam dancing.  There was surprisingly minimal slamming (is that because all of the macho dudes stayed home?) and what there was was certainly respectful.  And everyone around me knew all of the words.

They opened with “Uncle Phranc,” a song I had forgotten all about but was pretty delighted to hear.  They followed it with “#1 Chance Pirate TV“–just watch that clip to see how hard Melissa York pounds the drums.

Then Kaia said she wanted to dedicate the song “She’s Amazing” to Donna since it was her birthday that very day.  I had forgotten how pretty that song was.

Donna then told us her age and I was pleased to know that at least one person on stage was older than me.  Then Donna told everyone (as if we didn’t know) that they had a new single out.  She dedicated “Your Hands My Pockets” to everyone.

Jody told some stories between songs.  Most of them kind of rambled from whatever she was thinking of at the time.  She referenced something that happened in the 90s (I forget what now) which led to her introducing the song “D.A. Don’t Care.”  It was followed by “Freewheel” which was bouncy and fun, with an almost country feel.  Once again the vocals were fantastic.

Something happened during “Yes I Am Too, but Who Am I Really?.”  I’m not really sure what but they all stopped and had to restart.  They laughed about it and then Jody joked about how Melissa says she sounds when she sings the song (like Ethyl Merman).

I love the way the two singer’s voices intertwine on “Hate The Christian Right.”  And we were all in for a surprise as they called out Marlene Melendez @awesomemarlene from the floor to sing with them.  They declared her the unofficial sixth member of the band and she fit in perfectly.

They went back to their early single “Hand Grenade” and followed it with their new song “Baskets” which Kaia said was about her dead dog.

They ended the set with the jagged “The Council” and the fantastic “Remember Who You Are” and then they left for an encore break.

When the break ended, Melissa came out to the front and started dancing in a very silly way.  Jody asked, “What’s that jazzercize move called?”  Melissa replied, “Comedy jazzercize.”  She was quite good at the dancing, too.

The chords to “Fagetarian and Dyke” rang out and Kaia sang those staccato lyrics and it was spectacular.  We waited for the big moment where the verse ends and Kaia screams, “I spent the last ten days of my life searching for YOU!” and it was awesome.

I was satisfied after that song, but they had one more.  The final song on Personal Best is “Screwing Yer Courage.”   It starts quietly but roars to a finish and was over in less than 2 minutes.  And that was that.

I’ve never been to a show that was more welcoming and friendly between fans and especially between the band and the audience.

As soon as the show was done, Jody jumped off the stage and started greeting people–hugging them, shaking their hands.  It was really cool.  More than one person has said that Team Dresch saved their lives–singing about queer issues when they badly needed to hear a friendly voice.   It was clear that the band understand their fans and are happy to give back.

1. Uncle Phranc ©
2. #1 Chance Pirate TV ¶
3. She’s Amazing ¶
4. Your Hands My Pockets [new]
5. D.A. Don’t Care  ¶
6. Freewheel ¶
7. Don’t Try Suicide ©
8. Yes I Am Too, but Who Am I Really? ©
9. Hate the Christian Right! ¶
10. Hand Grenade [single]
11. Basket [new]
12. The Council ©
13. Remember Who You Are ©
    encore
14. Fagetarian and Dyke ¶
15. Screwing Yer Courage ¶

¶ Personal best (1994)
© Captain My Captain (1995)