Rockin’ Nonstop

Twelve bands. Twelve bucks. Twelve hours.

That’s the plan for Edgefest ‘99, to be held Saturday in Simi Valley. Headlining will be smooth Christian rockers Jars of Clay, but also on the bill is the good-natured ska punk of Five Iron Frenzy, swing from the W’s, acoustic music and lots more.

This is a serious rock show and good family fun to boot. Here’s the lowdown according to event organizer James Craft.

“I just got tired of waiting for something to happen around here,” Craft said. “We want to have as many people as possible come out to our family event, and we’re expecting to have over 10,000. This is the fourth and largest Edgefest yet. Before, we had three or four bands, but this year we have a dozen. We just decided which bands we wanted, and then we went after them.”

In addition to the nonstop music, there will be nonstop skating at a concrete skate park, due to be constructed the day before, reportedly with cement that dries in eight hours. If not, look for the slowest skaters in the world. There will also be lots of food for sale.

Five Iron Frenzy is a Denver-based seven-guy, one-girl band doing that ska punk thing that is so popular with those crazy kids these days. These serious road dogs are about to release their fourth album, “Proof That the Youth Are Revolting.”

Frontman Reese Roper discussed the latest news concerning his favorite band during a recent chat.

So how’s the Five Iron Frenzy biz?

It’s fine, but right now we’re in Florida at a retreat for the bands on the record label.

Retreat from what?

From the constant touring. We’ve been on the road since early September, and we’re going into November with just six days off for Thanksgiving. Basically, we got a free vacation in Florida.

So you guys are sitting around in Florida drinking beer?

No beer. Our label doesn’t approve of that; in fact, they don’t want any of their bands drinking when we’re on tour. Personally, I don’t want some kid seeing me drink while I’m on stage, then maybe thinking that drinking is cool or that being an alcoholic is cool. I have a lot of alcoholism in my family, and it scares me.

Florida vacations aside, how do you survive these grueling road trips?

We have a really tight relationship. All eight of us are friends--we’re like brothers and sisters. We fight once in a while, but it’s nothing serious.

Where did the name come from?

Everyone asks that.

Then you must know the answer.

We used to have this roommate that wasn’t in the band but who was totally paranoid. He thought the guys down at the gas station were out to get him, so he used to carry around this golf club under his trench coat. It was a five iron--we thought it was pretty funny.

So who goes to your gigs--lots of golfers?

I don’t think most people who go to our shows even know what a five iron is; although once in a while, we come across someone who gets it. We get a lot of high school and college kids and a couple of older people, maybe 60% guys and 40% girls. If we played heavy metal, it would probably be all guys.

So are the 40% in danger of being killed in the mosh pit?

No--it’ll be all right. We have a girl in the band and she watches out for the girls in the crowd.

How do you account for the continuing popularity of ska?

I dunno, but I think at one time it was the flavor of the month. I think this generation of young people is more in tune with their grandparents. Our parents were into taking drugs, and I think this generation would rather do something positive. Also, I think ska is upbeat and positive music. That’s my take on all that.

What’s the coolest thing about being in a band?

I think that would be getting to talk to the kids--talking to the people that come to the shows. It can get old talking to the same eight people.

DETAILS

Edgefest ’99 with Justin McRoberts (10:30 a.m.), Silage (11:20 a.m.), Ghoti Hook (12:10 p.m.), the Insyderz (1 p.m.), Plumbline (2 p.m.), Dogwood (2:45 p.m.), Justin McRoberts (3:30 p.m.), the W’s (3:40 p.m.), Stavesacre (5:30 p.m.), Jennifer Knapp (6:15 p.m.), Five Iron Frenzy (7:35 p.m.) and Jars of Clay (8:55 p.m.) at the Ronald Reagan Freeway and First Street, Simi Valley, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; $12 advance or $14 at the door; 581-1628.

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The Tubes, one of the most outrageous bands of the ‘70s, are expected to shock new and old fans alike during tonight’s Ventura Theatre gig. That’s because after leaving for a few years, frontman Fee Waybill has definitely returned to the band.

In the late ‘60s, a couple of Phoenix bands--the Beans and the Red, White and Blues Band--were pursuing their rock ‘n’ roll dreams, but nothing much happened until 1972, when they combined to create the Tubes. Fronted by the theatrical Waybill, the band concocted a show so outrageous they were eventually banned in Las Vegas.

The vintage Tubes’ shows consisted of wild sets and outlandish characters doing things unmentionable in a family newspaper, particularly one segment featuring Waybill as Quay Lewd, the stoned-out rock star who sang one of the band’s most famous songs, “White Punks on Dope.” Another first album song, “Mondo Bondage,” often resulted in feminists picketing Tubes’ shows.

“No one understood the satire,” Waybill said. “Everyone took everything literally--they thought I was ‘Quay Lewd.’ We were too convincing.

“And then Las Vegas--total hypocrisy. I think it was around 1982, and we just did our regular show, not trying to top Vegas or anything, and they thought we were lewd. They offer clean, wholesome, family sex, but we were lewd. We’ve been totally misunderstood from the beginning.”

In the early ‘80s, the band became less of a satirical cult band and more of a hit-making machine, scoring with such tunes as “She’s a Beauty” and “Talk to Ya Later.”

Then Waybill got tired of it all, especially the no money part, and quit the band for an acting career. In the early ‘90s, Capitol issued a greatest hits album, and the band re-formed with Waybill, touring Europe, but with no theatrics.

Now, 11 albums later, the Tubes are alive and well and the stage show is back for the first time in 14 years. If you go, you’ll find out where Marilyn Manson came from and hear better songs, too.

DETAILS

The Tubes and the Sonny Mone Band at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., 8 p.m. today; $22; 653-0721.

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Forget those Africanized killer bees--music lovers will be seriously stung right in the wallet at Santa Barbara’s Arlington Theatre on Saturday night to the tune of $90 or $110 for Sting tickets. So how much are T-shirts, $50? And does this price include Sting himself coming over later to do the laundry?

It should. It won’t.

Economics aside, Sting is one of the commanding figures of the rock era, earning a dozen Grammys since the Police made their debut in 1978. After the Police called it quits, Sting became an actor and released a number of solo albums including his latest, “Brand New Day.”

According to his new bio: “I feel the millennium is very much a part of this record--and as my strategy in life is to be optimistic, in art I want to be the same. We need to look positively toward the future and not be sucked in by the lunacy that this is the end of the world or that everything’s going to fall apart--trouble, strife, plague, all that stuff. All that becomes self-fulfilling. So my strategy is to be optimistic, naive maybe. But maybe that’s my job.”

Meanwhile, are you planning to take a date? Better mortgage the house. . . .

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Sting and Aswad at the Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St., Santa Barbara; $90 or $110; 963-4408.