Das Booty (2000 - 2005)

Last night, at Seattle's Tractor Tavern, we said goodbye to Das Booty. Incestuous, yet all-inclusive, Das Booty had been entertaining Seattle audiences with their special blend of semi-competence, chaos, and enthusiasm for almost five years.

They were formed on a whim, when the late Willis (later the late Actual Tigers) were booked to do a show at the EMP and were told they could have whomever they wanted as their opening act. They told their friends to form a band, and thus Das Booty was born. From the beginning, it was an anarchic venture--everyone was welcome to join, write songs, perform, or contribute however they saw fit. And everyone shared the rewards. At the first show, Booty members raided the green room and doled out the stolen "booty" at a party at which all were welcome.

As the band's following grew, so did its cut of the night's earnings, so that the parties became increasingly ostentatious--multiple kegs, expensive liquor, large quantities of sticky, hot tubs, and mariachi bands. Such decadence is the stuff of great rise-and-fall stories, but Das Booty did not so much fall as dissolve; their decline was the result of entropy, not hubris.

We will miss Das Booty. We will miss seeing Nick, host of many Das Booty parties, have to pull a sheet of paper out of his pocket because he forgot the lyrics to his rap. We will miss Yianni's Das Booty bling and jerseys. We will miss the band performing "Feed the World" every Christmas. We will miss the band performing "Fuck the World" with Lillian and Coqui leading. We will miss seeing Das Booty rise to every occasion, from the inaugural show, to the Reid/Secrest Olympics premiere, to last fall's fundraiser, "Booty vs. Bush: Four More Beers." Most of all, we will miss the love.




Sometimes Nick had difficulty remembering lyrics.



What would you do if I sang out of tune?



Approximating musical competence (and attempting to eat a cello?)



Playing in bubbles can be exhausting (note the Das Booty bling).



Matt and Matt (of Hot Atmosphere fame) with a cardboard elephant.



Awash in tinsel, fake snow, smoke, lights, and love--and joined by, among others, a robot holding a 40--Das Booty brings it "all the way live" for the last time.


Click here to listen to Das Booty's signature song, "Yo ho ho"