Tearing down any home filled with great memories is never an easy thing to do, so Venice Canal residents Steve and Sarah decided that one last party should be had in honor of their 91 year old cottage before it was demolished to accommodate their expanding family.
Starting at 7am friends, neighbors and family gathered while a rock band played a psychedelic dirge during which a bulldozer leveled the 800 sq foot home.
Only in Venice …
From homeowner Steve G:
7:02 am “Guys if the cops show up, don’t stop playing till your handcuffed” Steven Gatto- cottage owner
7:13 am “WHAT THE F___ IS GOING ON HERE” an unidentified neighbor
7:36 AM “That was F*@^ing awesome” Phil Williams Guest Splotch Percussionist
7:46 am “It struck an emotional chord! The psychedelic dirge by Splotch juxtaposed with the demise of the cottage. Did not know whether to cry or cheer. In other words, it was brilliant!” Canal Resident
Demolition on the Venice Canals,
For the 30 or so people who we up early enough on 9/10/09 it was a special morning and for our 91 year old original Canal Cottage it was its LAST! SPLOTCH, Michael Jost – Guitar, Guido Bryant – Bass, Alfred Giacomo Di Maio – Drums and Barry Conley on the Out-Of-Control-A-Tron played a 37 minute Death Jam while this tiny piece of history was being demolished. (All powered by BOGNER amps on loan from Reinhold Bogner himself!) Phil Williams was lucky enough to sit in on percussion with this psychedelic rock band and for myself, they didn’t have a choice, it was my house! I tried to keep up with Michael’s Pink Floyd/Led Zeppelin guitar solos but all I could do to help was play the riff from Black Sabbaths “Electric Funeral” as the Giant excavator ate our house like Godzilla snacking on some Tokyo Businessmen. On the very Canals where Jim Morrison spent his days in the same year I was born, we felt that it was fitting that the only Vocals played that morning were samples of the lizard king squealing, screeching and shouting “wake up” in a distorted reverbed loop as 300 plus canal residents wiped the sleep from their eyes. We were disappointed that the Police did not shut us down but hey its Venice, the cops are never around when you want them. Little Cottage, we will miss you. But for those who were there it was a great goodbye and for those who were not, don’t worry we filmed the occasion with 9 cameras in high def!PS: we also shot a music video in the house prior to its demise- Local Rock Star Michael Jost playing his original classical composition “Nuclear Spinach” Directed by Steve Forner/Dan Sullivan which earned an impressive bronze medal at last weeks “Other Venice Film Festival.”.
