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Update: 6/16/08

More Dennis Love

Our house's Dennis Richmond tribute was recently featured on SFist.com, but we didn't know until just recently. You can see it here. They said they loved our tribute! Gee, thanks - we love you guys, too. There's also a picture on flickr.com.

Another concert in Dolores Park is in the works for June, so get ready to rock soon. More details to come. Sai!!

Update: 6/7/08

Dennis Richmond Retirement Party and More

The Mission Festives recently celebrated the retirement of Dennis Richmond, who was head anchorman at the Bay Area's KTVU Channel 2 evening news for 40 years. This man is a legend and we all grew up getting our news from him without any bullcrap. He did his job well, and we wanted to celebrate Dennis's contribution to the community in style. So we all got together and painted pictures and a big sign for Dennis, and even invited KTVU to the house to film the fun. We had a huge party and watched Dennis's last broadcast, and we were even mentioned on the news! You can see more on KTVU.com. You can also hear our recording of "Goodbye, Dennis Goodbye" (Josh Cook) here.

I'm happy to announce that many updates have been made to the site today, including the Dennis Richmond song, a lovely new poem by our friend Harmony on the "words" page, new events added to the "shows" page, and the addition of new pictures throughout the site. We hope you enjoy them and can't wait to see you again real soon.

Update: 5/7/08

The Mission Festives Manifesto

Sitting here on a Sunday, I feel the satisfaction of so many months of hard work and dreaming finally coming to fruition before my very eyes. Ever since I was a young soul, my dream has been to make great music with a family of friends and create a movement that would help define my generation, which has (until now) toiled in obscurity for lack of accomplishments and suffers from a general apathy towards the world in which we live in. It's no secret that we are thoroughly engrossed and distracted by our cell phones and cpu's, and everyone has been more than happy to sit back and let American Idol tell us who our next promotional sacrifice will be. In a way, we have reverted to a sort of digital Mayan madness, and it won't be long before the next Cortez rolls onto the shore to obliterate us while our spirits are at their weakest. Before you know it, we will be possessed with the Demon of Possession himself.

But that's not how it's going to go down. I still believe that America has a fight left in it. I still believe that we can gather ourselves in time to find a new meaning for the world we live in, and it has to start with the purest of intentions in an almost militant form. In short, it's going to take a revolution to get back what we have left behind. It seems like everyone I talk to these days wants a world where commercialism doesn't define our tastes, where people return to what was originally so refreshing and wonderful about the music, art, and expressions of the past. Cultural icons rush to the mind, such as Dylan, Hendrix, Keruoac, and Ginsburg, just to name a few. A revolution begins with the sound of a primitive drumbeat, and it follows a path through the creative arts into the souls of all people who long to escape the confines of their oppressors. And it cannot be stopped.

Nowadays, our own government is our worst enemy. Political debauchery on all levels has made a lot of people realize that it's not going to just take the change of a president to make things good again. It's going to take some rock and roll. Things are going to get shaken up, and it's going to come first from the progressive cities where living conditions are the worst and there is the most desperate need for immediate change. A revolution does not necessarily include physical violence, but a great change requires a violent upheavel from within, and that can only be manifested in so many ways. No one can be sure how it will occur, we cannot control that aspect of the revolution.

My good friend Bill Cramer has recently seen this change. He has been possessed by his own need to be free, and what he has seen is what he now shares with us all. He knows that upheavel is on it's way, and has taken control of his destiny and decided to help kickstart the revolution himself, despite the many criticisms and doubts of others who are afraid to do the same. He has gathered around him a core group of talented, inspired people who have also forsaken their immediate material needs for the sake of the greater good of mankind. And it's giving them energy and momentum that cannot be stopped. They are called "The Mission Festives Artistic Collective", and you may have seen them celebrating the Rock and Roll Revolution down at Dolores Park every Sunday for the past month.

Or perhaps you have seen them walking the streets of the Mission, talking in bars or playing shows any given night of the week, making their solidarity and unity known to everyone around them. And perhaps you have you been invited to join them. Perhaps you have said yes, because you need something more in order to give something more. It's all happening in San Francisco, and for all I know it's probably happening in Pittsburgh and Miami and Memphis, too. It's definitely not happening at South by Southwest, though. Guess what - it's not going to happen there, or at Burning Man, or at any preconceived spot on the planet. It's going to happen everywhere all at once. In the backs of schools, on big grass fields, in your garage, on your neighbor's roof. Anywhere that isn't already somewhere, because that's the only place we can still be free.

I've seen a lot in the past few months, and it has opened my eyes to what is happening around me. For once I feel a part of the collective conscience, and for once I have something to give that is appreciated and welcomed by all. I am finally on to something, but what really gives me satisfaction is that I'm not the only one. Chris Guthridge of Ride the Blinds has been recording some amazing music, and Ride the Blinds is playing their first show again since last November. My good friends Josh Cook and Nick Cramer are working on the first Kidd Cook demo right now, and it's something that I have been very fortunate to be a part of. Charles Gonzalez is making great records on his own and with Sto-nar (Brenton Forrest) and Willow Willow. There is so much talent in this town, you're crazy if you think the music scene is dead right now. And it's not trendy - everyone is playing their own music, no one is trying to sound like anyone else. We are all free from the shackles of peer pressure here.

And that's how the Summer of 200GR8 (pronounced 'two thousand great') begins. Who knows how it will end, or if it ever will. In the meantime I'm going to release some albums and play some shows and be at the places where people gather to do their thing. Because I believe in the revolution, and I believe that we can make a great change without relying on Barak Obama or anyone else to do it for us. If you want to complain about how crappy our president is, go ahead. You'll probably also tell me how Darren is going to be the next American Idol and how Cindy is definitely going to marry Chad for money on the Bachelor for sure. Meanwhile, you will go on living the same way you always have because it's good enough for you. But if you ever change your mind, you know where to find us. I know you can, and we'll all be happier when you do. And if you can't make it there physically, you can listen to us on Pirate Cat Radio 87.9fm or buy our records, and use it as the inspiration to start the revolution in your hometown. The choice is yours, don't be late. The Festives await your arrival.

With Pride, Courage, and Humility:

Chris Jones