Here’s the other demo on the CDR that Brandon sent me. This has some songs I recognize. It makes me wonder if this is the 1992 demo, and the other one is 2002. Hm. There was not a lot of info given with these – no track listing or anything. This one is more like the Bliss I remember
Transfer by: Brandon Moore
I was a big fan of Bliss back in the late 80s- they were a cattle club mainstay and had a very different sound- sort of like some of the more obscure/instrumental SST bands and related- think Always August, Abecedarians, etc. Brandon (guitar) even played on of those Dan Armstrong clear lucite guitars.
I was up at a show in Nevada City a few years ago and someone tapped my shoulder. I turn around and it’s Brandon- instant recognition even though we had not seen each other for 25 years. It was wild.
This demo is a bit later on, after they moved more into the alternative funk/groove direction. They also picked up a new vocalist who I am not as familiar with. Thanks to Brandon for mailing me the CDs of the old demos. I still have the original demo of the late 80s stuff that I need to digitize.
Transferred by: Brandon Moore
Here is the last time I saw & filmed Bliss. Wow, I was totally surprised when I checked this one. They got a vocalist! I have ZERO recollection of this show. I don’t recall them playing much after this. Filmed with the Aiwa CV80 and Sony ECM909 mic tie wrapped to the top.
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment Used: Aiwa CV80, Sony ECM909
2 cam edit made from the video archives of Jerry Perry and Shayne Stacy.
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy and Jerry Perry
The 80’s/early ’90s were an interesting time. You never knew when skinheads were going to come and screw up a show. Well, of all shows they decide to jump on stage during a Bliss show (!??!!) and bark about their hate. Then, during the last song Grant gets into it with the guy and they start rolling around on stage, fighting during the last song. Then chaos ensues and (I think) a team effort gets the skinhead out of the club. Just bizarre- Bliss is a band reminiscent of old SST acts, why would these guys even show up? Anyway, thanks Grant for bouncing.
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Man, I love this era of Bliss’ music. Many songs were instrumentals and they had the psych/SST thing going. I saw them in Nevada City- it may have been at AVM(Miner’s foundry) in August of 1988, and I was hooked instantly. So happy that I got to see them quite a few times back then. Huge thanks to Brandon Moore for sending these my way.
Recorded by: ?
Transfer by: Brandon Moore
Here is the last one from Brandon. I think this is the demo that I have- it was professionally done with a nice cover. SO GREAT.
Recorded by: ?
Transfer by: Brandon Moore
Here is a video from the first time I filmed Bliss, opening for Vomit Launch. We had seen them up in Nevada City a while before this, but they left a great impression. They were sac’s resident SST sounding band, right down to Brandon’s Greg Ginn style Plexi guitar. Filmed with Aiwa CV80 and stock mic. We have a soundboard tape of the show, so if anyone wants to synch them, let me know!
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment Used: Aiwa CV80
***NOTE: Forward the video to about 10min for soundboard audio***
I saw Bliss open up that drunken AVM show in August of 1988 and was hooked immediately- they were reminiscent of the more obscure SST stuff like Abecedarians, Always August, etc. Brandon even had the Greg Ginn style clear plexi guitar!
Me and “Anonymous” went to Club Me (pre cattle club) to check Bliss and Vomit Launch out. We got the OK to do a soundboard.
My friend Sam (Thehappyone on youtube) did the audio synch on these. It is not easy to synch multiple analog sources. Thank you.
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Aiwa CV80 camcorder
Audio: 1st 10min: “Anonymous” Audience recording (Aiwa handheld recorder/stock mic), then “Anonymous” master soundboard.
Sacramento Music Archive 