Back in the early punk rock days, it took a special kind of nerve to to post your flyers around. You’d be asking for trouble if you got caught putting ‘em up without permission (which you rarely got). Flyering a gig was a stealth operation. Maybe if you were lucky, the hippies at the local record store might take a stack. But you’d better be prepared for some wisecracks.
Still, it was worth the hassle. Nowadays it seems obvious, but back then the idea that a few bucks and a copy machine could net you legitimate brand identity was a real revelation. Guerilla marketing and D.I.Y. show promotion attracted a lot of us to punk in the first place. Some bands spent more time on the flyers than they did on their music.
The original Meat Puppets flyers were all handmade. We’d just tear pages out of our notebooks, scrawl in the show pertinents and pass ‘em around. Very few of these have survived. After we exhausted our notebooks, we had to come up with a new strategy. Soon, we worked out a system that allowed us plenty of room to collaborate and enough flexibility to keep things fresh, fun and eye-catching.
By the mid nineties, hometown gigs became a rarity as we began to spend more and more time on the road. But during the lean years, we had to play in town every couple weeks just to keep ourselves in groceries. We couldn’t have survived without places like Hollywood Alley, the Mason Jar and the Sun Club. This collection is as much a tribute to them as it is to our own skill with scissors and rubber cement.
Derrick,
Is the August 1980 gig the first time you met Non and Monitor? If so, it would seem that it commemorates a turning point in your career.
Thanks for posting these.
Matt
Left by Matt on July 19th, 2011
You’re welcome Matt.
The August 8 show is from 1981. We met Monitor and Co. the previous fall.
Left by Derrick Bostrom on July 19th, 2011
Duh! If I could read I’d of noticed that. Sometimes I get so excited over a discovery that I make it something it isn’t.
Left by Matt on July 19th, 2011
Somewhere on this site, another article seems to purport that the meeting took place the day after the Nov 5 1980 show. See what a wealth of research I provide, free of charge?
Left by Derrick Bostrom on July 19th, 2011
This is beautiful!! I want them all in my bedroom!
Thanks so much for the hard work Derrick. I wish I could’ve attended at least one of them.
cheers!
Left by Andres on July 23rd, 2011
Derrick, I went to so many of these shows. Great memories. Did you guys make all of these yourselves? Oh, and if I may, who wrote “Nail it Down”?
Left by Jim S. on July 31st, 2011
All of the flyers in this gallery were produced by the band. Curt wrote “Nail It Down.”
Left by Derrick Bostrom on August 2nd, 2011
big fan of the AZ “local” (PHX, Mesa, Scotts, TUC) shows- I caught many of these when I had the coin. Esp remember the CRASH show from 1988- wasn’t there a “cover” of an NWA song as LE decided to participate? Remember dodging trouble and tearing off in an old Bug… good times, thanks for sharing these- my flyer collection like my cassettes are long gone.
Left by rb on October 31st, 2011
I still have some from 80s/90s Colorado gigs somewhere. Plus a couple that Derrick used for stationery when sending a missive.
Left by Jackson on November 8th, 2011
I had just moved to Phoenix was at the Big Surf show. My first and only concert at a wave park. I think the Chili Peppers headlined that show.
Left by Rob on November 17th, 2011
Hey Derrick, off topic here, is there any way i can get Today’s Sounds’ “The Sounds of Today” album?
ON
Love the flyers, love early Puppets. I can’t believe so many people don’t know about your first recordings. It was a really special (and insane, in a good way) world you had created by yourselves.
Left by Raimundo on November 29th, 2011
This collection is simply wonderful. Thanks for continuing to dig up treasures to share.
Left by Daniel Alward on December 1st, 2011
I really need to post “Sounds Of Today” one of these days!
Left by Derrick Bostrom on December 1st, 2011
Alright, man! Thanks!
Left by Raimundo on December 2nd, 2011