Did you ever go to the Tom Festival?
What? You did not attend one of the veritable incarnation of the ’90s alternative Christian music revolution events? Well, I did. I attended them all, until it took a break and then reinvented itself at another location.
Tom Festival was an alternative music festival free-for-all where all genres of music merged into a three-plus day weekend in the Portland, Oregon, area. Held at the Skamania County Fairgrounds in Stevenson, Washington, it housed what seemed like over a hundred bands on multiple stages and it captured magic, dirt, distortion, camping, and fun in one manic-swirled long weekend (usually the Labor Day holiday). It featured moments, like P.O.D. pouring its heart out before the world found out about them, Larry Norman spilling the beans on the Princess Diana tragedy during his concert, the MTV News crew filming Christians arguing at full shout about the legitimacy of the MxPx contract with Tooth & Nail, Stavesacre firing on all cylinders, the members of Tourniquet launching fish and leftover sandwiches over the un-used rodeo stadium bleachers into a slam-dancing audience below, and so many other reported and unreported events.
The thing about the festival that has lasted longer than its days as a surprisingly profitable event is the relationships that began or were cultivated over its hair-let-down, low-pretense playground for us – the fans who lived and breathed alternative Christian rock and its multi-layered culture.
This is the golden gem that Tom Convention set out to capture: hanging with your friends and musical heroes in an unpretentious giant one-size-fits-all green room where fans became equal with the celebrities that made the art and music.
It was not a music festival, but a convention. Like a comic-con where fans got to see the workings and hear the stories behind the stories about the comics they collected, Tom Con got fans, friends, and artists together to hang out. No stages. No festival line-ups. Just hang time.
Well, there were some after-hours jam sessions with Allan Aguirre (Scaterd Few, Spy Glass Blue) and MorZan (Mortal meets Fold Zandura) performed at the end of Night #1; and Kerosene Halo (The Choir and 77s vocalists Derry Daughery and Mike Roe performing as an acoustic duo) and the Us Kids All-Stars playing hits from Common Bond, Altar Boys, Undercover, 441, and more) on Night #2. So, there was that. And that was spectacular. Imagine posting a performance of the Altar Boys early classic, “I’m Into God” to your friends that you experienced that song with in 1984. Yeah, the music was magic.
But it was the conversations, the hang-time, the personal catching up with, and finding out about the real lives of these Christian alternative icons that made the real magic.
(All Photos by “Match” @matchiam)
Mikee Bridges and his very helpful and supportive staff of friends, dreamed all this up and made it happen. Central to the event were several Question & Answer (Q&A) sessions with these iconic and yet oh-so real folks.
I’m not going to call him a genius, but it was a genius move for him and Eddie Harbour to collect and collate the following people into these brilliant Q&A sessions.
Allan Aguirre, Bryan Gray, Josh Hagquist, Dave Mast, Chad Pearson, and Neil Samoy were the panelists for the Tom Fest Veterans Q&A Session. Hosted by Eddie Harbour, we heard stories of the Tom Fest experience. We heard true-to-life road stories on how these guys got to the Skamania County Fairgrounds. We learned why they liked this festival more than so many others.
Jim Chaffin, Edie Goodwin, Robert Goodwin, Bryan Gray, and Justin Havoc were the ’90s Punk Rock panelists, hosted by Joey Svendsen (of the infamous and funny Bad Christian Podcast).
Jeremy Alan Gould (of The Rumors Are True Podcast) hosted what was called the ’00s Heavy Music panel, which Ted Cookerly of EDL, David Mast of Redline and EchoCast, and Neil Samoy of Stairwell and Stavesacre.
Leanor Ortega Till (aka Jeff the Girl from Five Iron Frenzy) hosted the ’90s Alternative I panel, which included Allan Aguirre, Derri Daugherty, Tim Taber of the Prayer Chain, and Matt Johnson of Roadside Monument. Leanor does a great job in front of a crowd and got these guys to keep the fun stories coming.
Yours truly hosted the ’90s Heavy Music panel, which featured Josh Hagquiest of Silage, The Beautiful Mistake, and Ember, Klank, Tim Mann of Focused, Pat Servedio (who played with Klank and SynthPop Lullabye), and Doug Thieme of Vengeance Rising. It was fun to bring up the giant Texas cockroaches crawling across the Marshall cabinet knobs story experienced by Vengeance. They each talked about infamous and legendary gigs they played, and what it was like to make loud, heavy music during that time.
If you end up buying the dvd or digital video project that is in the works for this event, the Label Bosses panel hosted by Eddie Harbour will be worth the price alone. I don’t care how much it costs. This panel was unexpected and world class entertainment that would’ve kept America going during the Pandemic. If you thought The Tiger King was outrageously funny and worthy of a watch for the train wreck of it all, you will understand why this panel was so funny.
Granted, referencing The Tiger King is a completely wasted reference if you take it literally or try to somehow make any correlation between the two. They are completely unrelated, except for the unexpected entertainment value delivered. It was just great comedy that wasn’t exactly expected to be comedy. Here we had Jeff Cloud of Velvet Blue Music, Crystal Lewis of Metro One, Chad Pearson of The Militia Group and Tooth & Nail Records, Tim Taber of Floodgate Records, Matt Wignall of Jackson-Rubio Records, and Jim Worthen of Frontline and Tooth & Nail Records. That lineup alone would make for some great Q&A, right? Yes, it did. In this 75-minute session we were given a glimpse into the record company machinery that delivered the bulk of our favorite music from the window we know as the nineties/ought’s decades.
These stories alone were really, really interesting.
But no one expected the comedy that ensued when Jeff Cloud gave emcee/host Eddie Harbour a mean, dead-panned dig that referenced him not having a clue on how to serve a martini. Harbour took it on the chin and didn’t let it phase him, as he kept the conversations going. But Cloud would not let him off the hook, treating him as if an adversary. Think of the SNL skit with Sean Connery (played by Darrell Hammond) taking aim at Jeopardy gameshow host Alex Trebek (Will Ferrell) while choosing “The Rapist” as an answer instead of “Therapist.” Cloud played it to the hilt, at one later point taking out his martini shaker, shaking it noisily and nonchalantly, and pouring a drink for Crystal Lewis. The impromptu irreverence was palatable, and one could not dare look away for a second, not wanting to miss anything from this genius rhetoric.
Many fun stories from each of these labels origin stories were related and Matt Wignall’s story of rags to riches to rags was hilarious in its own right.
This was just an amazing event to take in. Unbelievably awesome.
Allan Aguirre brought his material from his awesome new solo album (you need to hear it), at times bouncy, times Bowie, and beautiful.
Morzan was minus Jerome Fontamollis from Mortal/Switchfoot, but was electric and on. It was fun to see TOM Fest staff veteran and TOMCON Chief Enthusiast Rafael Archuleta get up on stage and howl the choruses from the great Mortal tune, “Alive and Awake.”
I had the privilege of hosting a panel called Remembering Mike Knott. Joining us for this festive roundtable was Mike’s daughter, Stormie. I bet she loved hearing some many notables talk about the genius talent, quirky behavior, and evangelistic bent her dad displayed. Joshua Lory, who performed with Mike plenty – especially in the last two decades, Chris Brigandi and Kevin Lee, who played with him in early incarnations of Lifesavers, LS Underground, and LSU, and Chuck Cummings, who of course played with him in Aunt Bettys. It was heartwarming, sad, funny, and spiritual.
Jeremy Alan Gould hosted the ’90s Alternative II panel, featuring Chuck Cummings, Rob Gallas of Black and White World, Riki Michele, Rich Moonstomp, and Jeremy Post of Black Eyed Sceva. Of course, it was wonderful to hear Riki talk about working with Gene Eugene. Story after story of how simple and fun those Studio A sessions were emerged.
Leanor hosted the most genius-ly-planned panel of the entire event. It was Women Rock and it was much-needed, frank, and energizing to hear these ladies tell their stories of dominating and taking ground in the machismo man-ruled world of rock and roll. Edie Goodwin of Headnoise talked openly and matter-of-factly about giving her audience Jesus. It was the most important thing and she brought it then in multiple dive bars and on this day in an educational panel. It was so cool to hear from Judita Wignall, Deanna Moody, and Natalie Bolanos of the Halo Friendlies, who toured the Van’s Warped Tour back in those days. Kim Tennberg shared the struggles and successes she and Flight 180 experienced. Riki Michele and Crystal Lewis were the veterans of the group, but their stories of their youth were vibrant and riveting as if they were still teens telling their stories. This panel would’ve killed it in any context – South by Southwest or the old New Music Seminar. Great stuff.
Chris Brigandi hosted the ’80s Alternative panel, which was filled with legends in our book: Mike Stand, Jeff Crandall, Gary Olson, Kenny Riley of Common Bond, Michael Roe, Mini Mendez, and Gym Nicholson. It was fascinating and harrowing to hear about the “big meeting with Pastor Chuck on the lawn at Calvary Chapel, where the Ministry Resource Center label artists were all let go. Only in an inclusive setting like this would you get this kind of information and testimony.
Eddie Harbour was a-okay after the previous day’s panel (in all honesty, it had to be an inside job that they both played effortlessly and professionally) to host the ’00s Alternative panel, which featured Eric Campuzano, Bryan Gray, Orlando Greenhill, Matthew Johnson, and Jyro La Villa. It was another epic panel and it was so fun to hear about all the musical experiences Orlando has had over the years.
Kerosene Halo sounded as great as these two legends would have you believe. The Us Kids All-Stars (carrying the same name as a very cool documentary on the Christian alternative music scene that is in the works) jammed so many fun old tunes from Common Bond, Lifesavers, Undercover, and the Altar Boys. Fun was had as these old rockers let it fly with gusto, grit, and passion.
That’s just a brief overview of what happened. The panels were entertaining and the live performances were as well, but the goal of capturing the spirit of this scene was spot on accomplished. I came away feeling exactly as I’d hoped. Mikee and crew should be proud.
(All Photos by “Match” @matchiam)
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