Checkmate . Club Mars . Bakersfield, CA . October 15, 1993
...
Checkmate hailed from Fresno, California and was one of my first real experiences with ska. Bakersfield was filled with a diverse crew of skaters, punks, skins, and more. Somewhat unfortunately, I didn't bring out the camera (or hold onto my negatives) as meticulously as I did after a couple years of college. This would have been in my final year of high school in Bakersfield, California.
When I arrived from Texas, Bam Bam's was the club of choice for the punk shows. It was repeatedly shut down by the city to be reopened under new names: Club Mars, The Zoo. In the meantime Jerry's Pizza still operates hosting shows in the area. I missed out on Muñoz Gym years while I was in Georgia for college.
The bands I wished I had shot in these early years: Voodoo Glow Skulls, Face to Face, The Vandals, D.I., T.S.O.L., M.D.C., Fifteen, Propagandhi, The Chubbs, Naked Aggression, Green Day, NOFX, Lagwagon, Strung Out, Social Distortion, Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, the Offspring, F.Y.P., Bouncing Souls, Screeching Weasel, and many others I'm probably forgetting about that I'll add in later, that frequented my Bakersfield high school years from 1992-1994.
Not to mention the great locals: The Acrylics, Grossman, Number One, Fragments, 88, Shecke, Active Ingrediants, Crosswalk, C.Y.B. (and the great Melted Gumby flyer war), and more.
These images of Checkmate are my only surviving bits of film from the era. One of the few shows I apparently bothered to shoot. Not my greatest, but where I came from.
