Grass Valley, Calif. -- On Saturday, March 23rd, 2002, the Nevada County Fairgrounds hosted a large, all day, eleven hour event titled the NorCal Fighting Championships which included a wide range of features and attractions including twelve heavy NorCal Underground bands, fighting matches, and a large fire breathing dragon that spouted flames from its nose throughout the day.

The event, organized in part by eighteen year old Chas Jacquier, was a benefit for his eighteen year old friend, Justin Engel, who has been diagnosed with cancer. The proceeds from this event went towards Engel's ongoing treatment. With the size of the crowd on hand by the end of the night, both Jacquier and Engel had finished up a successful, all day event which several hundred people attended for both the music and the matches.

Skribble live during the day long festivities at the NorCal Fighting Championships in Grass Valley, CA

Held at the Fairgrounds in the small town of Grass Valley which is located about twenty minutes outside of Auburn, CA (and about an hour north of Sacramento), the Main Street Center, which was located right at the front of the grounds, hosted the actual event. Inside the building, the layout was split in half, with one side of the floor space occupied by a large floor mat roped off by caution tape and the other end providing the expansive stage for the bands to perform. In between the stage and the floor mat was about forty yards of open floor, which provided the audience the ability to watch either activity simultaneously.

For the most part, the fighting took center stage with the majority of the attention centered around the floor mat where each competitor fought, but the music was not ignored as the bands provided the day's soundtrack to the fighting. Typically throughout the day, as a band hit into their set, the next match would begin, with usually several rounds of short time periods.

The Fighting

This was easily one of the longest, most violent, and bizarre heavy NorCal shows to hit the schedule, but, in retrospect, easily one of the coolest events to be organized. True, one of the featured attractions of this day was two people punching, kicking, and hurting each other, but the setting was done in a highly professional method with referees monitoring each match.

The official label for the matches was "full contact pankration bouts". Dating back to ancient times, Pankration was a sporting event in the ancient Greek Olympic Games that was first introduced in the games of 648 BC. The rules to this style of fighting are simplified, with only a few moves and techniques illegal (like eye gouging) and the winner is determined by knockout or submission.

Chas Jacquier (left) engaging his opponent in the first of his two victories of the day. Jacquier was one of the primary organizers of this event.

The matches throughout the day were varied with a whole host of people stepping into the ring. Some of the victory's resulted in injuries (like broken ribs for one of the fighters), but the full contact nature of these bouts drew large responses.

There were two distinct highlights throughout the fighting including:

• Sacramento-based Shovelfist, who performed first to start the entire day, sent their vocalist, Charlie, to the ring in one of the only all female bouts. Charlie fought an event attendee and battled to an eventual victory as these two women seriously went toe-to-toe in a highly emotional fight and one of the crowd pleasers throughout the day.

• The biggest highlight of the night was two of the last fights of the day as event organizer (and talented fighter himself) Chas Jacquier stepped into the ring and beat two opponents through submissions, drawing probably the largest response from the crowd through the entire day.

These bouts were some of the most violent and yet exciting attractions at any show with the violence only spilling over into the crowd one time throughout the day (and was quickly subdued). It was only fitting that some of the heaviest music to come from the region was being performed and acting as a backdrop to this event.

The Music

At the other end of the building was the continual day long music showing that saw twelve bands, mostly from the Sacramento area with a few exceptions, grace the stage and perform their sound to the audience. The attraction was obviously the fighting, but the music drew some attention in different spots throughout the day. For those not paying attention, these were some of the musical highlights from the stage:

• Shovelfist, in the unenviable task of opening this long show, brought their heavy, full toned sound with their raspy, bark then sing vocals to the still arriving crowd. The band came off well even if the sound was still being worked out for the better part of their set. Their vocalist, Charlie, brought more attention when she stepped in the ring later in the day.

  Brand X Savior performing their set earlier in the day during the NorCal Fighting Championships

• Brand X Savior performed a solid set, avenging their last appearance on these pages when they had some technical difficulties (during a show at the Boardwalk). The band also performed with their brand new bassist Travis Story who recently replaced Andy Rusanoff who was forced to leave the band after being diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel. Their streamlined, accessible, mix-it-up talented sound is seriously starting to gain some momentum.

• Hostility, who is just about set to hit the studio to record a brand new disc, caught the audience off guard for the most part. Because they hail from the Santa Rosa region, much of the crowd had no idea who these guys were and when vocalist Greg Haran and company blasted into their highly aggressive, in-your-face style during the early part of the day, much of the onlookers seemed to take a step back from the stage to regroup. Powerful set from a highly charged band for sure.

• Mynalter, who hails from the Central Valley, were performing their first of two shows for the day, with their second scheduled for later that night in Modesto, CA. These guys also came off well, even if for the most part they fell victim to a large bout happening and therefore had a reduced audience paying attention. They also unveiled some new material as well, which sees the band folding in some serious melody to go along with their healthy straight off the streets groove.

• Skribble stepped to the stage and were one of the definite highlights of the night as they slammed through some new tunes (that sees the band pumping through more of their brutal heavy ended style) as well as attracting some good attention to the stage. These guys are seriously growing into one of the top flight bands in the NorCal Underground and definitely not showing any signs of slowing their momentum. Always a treat to see this band perform for sure.

• Get Livid brought with them their stage show and pyrotechnics which was set to their aggressive, rolling flavor metal and bark in key vocal approach. This four piece band also features, among others, former drummer of The Council Ed Young. Get Livid drew some solid attention from the diverted audience for sure and lit up with their solid groove based heavy music. Chunky flavor was the theme of this set for sure as Get Livid brought it forward in solid fashion.

• Phrenik also had the unenviable task of performing during a large bout so their attention was well diverted away from the stage as well. Still, dB, Amp, Otto and company pumped through their smoothed out, healthy accessible groove well, drawing some listeners to the front of the stage by the end of their set. This band is still relatively new, but their sound has already brought them a quality following.

  Get Livid performing their set during the middle of the day during the NorCal Fighting Championships

• Nine Even was one of the late additions as the East Bay act, the Domeshots, canceled in the weeks prior due to other commitments. Nine Even features former members of the Sacramento-based act Hollow Point and, while this was only their second show on stage, the band was cohesive, well structured and had the beginnings of some strong live chemistry. Their sound ranged from some limited areas of straight heavy chunk ridden material to much more of a high flying, melody sing feel with a definite bounce groove overall appeal. These guys seemed to have command of their music and their presence and will no doubt begin to draw together a strong following due to their somewhat accessible style. Always interesting to see a band in their very early stages.

• Logicseed stepped to the stage and brought their heavily hip hop flavored full toned sound and actually had a good amount of listeners as this popular act energized the stage with their lively performance. These guys have former Mahalah drummer Salem behind their kit now as well and his heavy background certainly amped their style. While this band had a much different delivery than each of the other bands, they, too, came off very well.

• Luxt, who is steam rolling towards a brand new disc slated to be released in the coming months, brought their typically strong, heavy turned electronic feel to the rather full audience who were paying attention to the stage with the absence of a fight during this set. Their set list included much of their live favorites, closing with the popular tune "Vulgar Monkey Love". This band, much as the following two bands, do the live thing very well with vocalist Anna up front utilizing her trademark sing turned raspy bark style in line with the tempo behind her.

• The Beat Officers, who have been tucked away in the studio trying to complete their debut full length disc, surfaced for this show and brought their all out, flamboyant stage show to the good on hand crowd. Other than the host of newer tunes they performed, the band also pumped through a cover of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" and closed with their popular tune "Lower Level". With their colorful stage clothing, painted florescent faces and high energy, bouncy sound, the Beats are a live show first and foremost and are pure performers in the truest sense.

• The final band of the evening, the powerhouse Sacramento act The Council, stepped to the stage and actually had to compete with some of the biggest bouts of the night. Still, their thrash induced, heavy as hell, pure sonic power sound lit up the stage with their lights and limited pyrotechnics in tow as well. At one point, the band invited the Beat Officers guitarist Jesus Chrysler and vocalist Chester to the stage to help perform "Smile for the Camera", topping off a long day with a special track. The Council slammed through their material right up until the final moments of the event, providing the last bits of music before the long eleven hour event closed up shop.

The music, for many of the people on hand, was the definite highlight with some of Sacramento's largest acts and a few out of area bands thrown into the mix making for a show that brought so much talent to one stage.

The fire breathing dragon that sat stage right and shot flames from its nostrils at selected times during the day

The Dragon

Sitting stage right was this massive, metal, bronze colored dragon that, at times throughout the day, would flare up and large flames would come pouring out of its nostrils. This creature appears at select events and definitely drew plenty of attention whenever it shot the fire. With a fully mobile head and neck, the dragon would move its head from side to side, open and close this bear trap of a mouth all while the flames were spraying fire.

Having that creature on hand was the icing on the cake, applying that last bit of frosting to a treat that was already enticing. A fire breathing dragon certainly put the "metal" stamp on the entire event.

The NorCal Fighting Championships was a marriage of the strangest and yet seemingly good fitting events, folding together loud, aggressive, heavy music with violent fighting. Considering the proceeds went towards the aforementioned Engel's treatment, this day long full of activity was both well received and, for those on hand all day, exhausting. A one of a kind experience that will certainly be the subject of conversations and discussions for months and years to come.

Many more pictures will be (are) in the Picture Gallery.

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