Goat Punishment

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Goat Punishment illustration

Goat Punishment is a pseudonym that has been employed by Weezer in the past, when the band played small, semi-secret club dates in the Los Angeles area.

Overview

Goat Punishment is supposedly one of many names drummer Pat Wilson had suggested for Weezer upon the band's formation. Weezer first used the name at two club shows in 1998, which consisted solely of Nirvana and Oasis covers, respectively. Pat was either taking a break from the band or out of town at the time, so Mikey Welsh's friend Todd Phillips (formerly of Bullet LaVolta and Juliana Hatfield's band) sat in on drums.

The name was revived in late 2000, and again in late 2001, for a series of shows at small venues. The pupose of these shows were usually to practice a setlist for an upcoming opening slot, or work on new material in front of a live audience.

By the end of the 2001 run of shows, the psuedonym became rather common knowledge, partly because Los Angeles-area radio station KROQ leaked the news on several occasions.

Just one more show was performed under the Goat Punishment banner, and even then, it wasn't an advertised, for-sale show. The May 13, 2002 Maladroit release party show was invite-only, as tickets were given away on the radio, to message boardies, and elsewhere. The band was about to leave for Japan, and since the Flying =W= and other equipment was already on its way to the Land of the Rising Sun, the =GP= lighting rig was used.

To date, there have been nine total shows that Weezer has performed under the name Goat Punishment.

Logos

A Goat Punishment t-shirt was designed utilizing the classic hand-drawn images of the band, which has existed since the early days, and has been changed to reflect the changes at the bass position. The image was altered to show each member as a sort of fictional version of himself. For instance, Rivers Cuomo was given a raised hand giving the 'metal' symbol and devil horns, Brian Bell was adorned with antennae to become an alien (or perhaps bug?) and a Star Trek logo shirt, and Pat was shown as a disheveled bum. Scott Shriner, upon replacing Mikey, was transformed into a Mexican bandito. Also, the words Goat Punishment were depicted in the classic Futura Medium font. Additionally, a mock-up Flying =GP= was designed, a take-off of their classic Flying =W= logo. This in turn led the band to fashion a light-up metal =GP= for the stage.

Shows

Show #1 - November 1998

Location: Hollywood, CA
Overview: Set consisted of (mainly) early Nirvana covers, including several songs from Bleach, plus a track or two from Incesticide and Nevermind. Bootlegged by the band.
Set list:

1. "Mr. Moustache"
2. "Aneurysm"
3. "Breed"
4. "Dive"
5. "Swap Meet"
6. "Blew"

Show #2 - November 1998

Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Overview: The second show was to be well attended, as the word had gotten out to savvy fans, but the police came and kicked out everyone except for about twenty to forty kids. The set consisted entirely of Oasis songs from their first album. Sadly, it seems that no one recorded this show!

Show #3 - mid December 2000

Location: Spaceland, Hollywood, CA
Overview: A short (about 30-40 minutes) set was played at Spaceland in Hollywood as a rehearsal for the band's slot at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas show days (possibly one day?) later on December 17th. It is believed that this set was virtually identical to the KROQ show set, except that "El Scorcho" was definitely played at Spaceland. This is the first (and possibly last?) show at which the band sold official Goat Punishment T-shirts. Karl peddled the now highly-collectible wares at the merch booth for a mere $10. What a steal!

Set list:

1. "My Name Is Jonas"
2. "In the Garage"
3. "Christmas Celebration"
4. "Say It Ain't So"
5. "The Christmas Song"
6. "Undone"
7. "Buddy Holly"
8. "Surf Wax America"
9. "El Scorcho" (Spaceland only; place in the set unknown)

Show #4 - 12/30/00

Location: The Knitting Factory, Hollywood, CA
Overview: A longer set this time (about an hour) which served as a rehearsal for their opening slot at Blink 182's New Year's Eve show the following night. The band was apparently asked to play that particular show by Blink 182, as they are fans. It is believed that this Goat Punishment set was virtually identical to that opening slot. There may have been further sales of Goat Punishment T-shirts at this show. Tickets to the show were a scant ten dollars, and went on sale exclusively at the venue's box office at noon the previous Monday.

Set list:

1. "My Name Is Jonas"
2. "Undone"
3. "No One Else"
4. "The Christmas Song"
5. "Hash Pipe"
6. "Christmas Celebration"
7. "In the Garage"
8. "Say It Ain't So"
9. "You Gave Your Love To Me Softly"
10. "Only in Dreams"
11. "Buddy Holly"
12. "Surf Wax America"
13. "Tired of Sex"

Show #5 - HBO Reverb 10/24/01

Location: The Knitting Factory, Hollywood, CA
Overview: The show was filmed for HBO Reverb, and the broadcast featured about eight songs. The broadcast songs were bootlegged. It was also the first show to debut the giant light-up flying =GP= In the background. Tickets to the show were a slim ten dollars, and went on sale exclusively at the venue's box office at noon the previous Monday.

Set list:

1. "My Weakness"
2. "Faith In The Light"
3. "Diamond Rings"
4. "Change The World"
5. "Smile"
6. "Ain't Got Much Time"
7. "We Go Together"
8. "Fall Together"
9. "Your Room"
10. "Glorious Day"
11. "So Low"
12. "The Dawn"
13. "Do You Want Me To Stay"
14. "Living Without You"
15. "Photograph"
16. "Hash Pipe"

Viper Room Shows

11/06/01: Goat Punishment at the Viper Room, LA #1 Recorded via minidisc walkman by the band. Fair-poor quality results.

11/07/01: Goat Punishment at the Viper Room, LA #2 The band also managed to get a partial minidisc recording off the soundboard, but it sounded kinda bad.

11/08/01: Goat Punishment at the Viper Room, LA #3 The band finally got a halfway decent soundboard recording of "My Weakness" which was released as an mp3.

Maladroit release party 05/13/02

Location: Whiskey A-Go-Go in Los Angeles, CA.

See also

• Weezer