Giorg Tierez has thrown a “Burning Bash” to celebrate his birthday in each of the past for years.
This year, Tierez had big plans for the Burning Bash—but when those plans fell through, the party was nearly cancelled. But after a quick regrouping and some help from Bart Lounge, Burning Bash V is back on, and will take place at Bart on Friday, Aug. 26.
During a recent interview, Tierez—formerly of the now-defunct band Burning Bettie, and currently the frontman of Monreaux—explained why his party is still called the “Burning Bash,” even though Burning Bettie broke up more than a year ago.
“I guess the name just stayed,” Tierez said. “It’s summer; it’s hot; and it’s a birthday bash. So … it’s burning. This year, we took the birthday part out of it and are going more toward an event instead of a birthday bash.”
He originally hoped to throw this year’s party at Sol’s Night Club in Coachella.
“We were going to get a big headlining act and do it really big,” Tierez said. “We were going to charge at the door and have ticket sales, but it fell through, and we couldn’t find an artist that the venue liked. We weren’t even going to do it after that. But I’ve been seeing a lot of Bart advertisements and doing a lot of little things, so I said, ‘Fuck it; I’ll just ask them if they want to do it.’ It happened pretty fast, and within a couple of days, I had Bart booked.”
Despite the late change of plans, Tierez assembled a solid lineup featuring some of the valley’s best musicians.
“I have EeVaan Tre, The Flusters, CIVX, Upper Class Poverty, and I have Derek (Jordan Gregg) from the Hive Minds. It’s actually a pretty big well-known local group of artists, three of whom performed at Coachella, so it’s pretty good. It’s the first time they’ve all been on the same event. I’ve always taken pride in doing stuff like that. It’s a whole bunch of really good bands in one spot, which rarely happens.”
Tierez also managed to collaborate with the producer of the Comic Con Palm Springs to make this year’s bash an official after-party.
“We booked it, and I realized it was the weekend of Comic Con,” Tierez said. “I had already met Chris Spellman, who is producing that. He was a judge at one of the Battle of the Bands at The Hood, and I hit him up. We thought it was a good idea to make it an official after-party for Comic Con. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and pretty big. Even some of the artists are telling me they’re going to dress up in makeup and costumes.”
However, one thing that will not be at this year’s Burning Bash is Tierez’s current band: Monreaux is on hiatus, although the group plans to play a show in Anaheim later during the weekend of the Burning Bash
“Our bass player, Chris Dub, he just had a kid, and his day job is air conditioning. He’s working 16-hour shifts a day,” Tierez said. “Marcus Bush, our guitar player, he also just had a kid, too. He lives up in Anza. It makes it difficult when life catches up with you, and kids come into the picture. It was basic common sense, because we needed a break.”
This year, Tierez isn’t planning on performing at the Burning Bash at all; instead, he wants to kick back and enjoy the show.
“I don’t want to repeat last year,” Tierez said, referring to Monreaux’s debut performance during the Burning Bash IV. “We had a lack of practice and sounded like shit. I just want to be a part of the audience and enjoy my friends performing. The people I have performing are great bands that have their own crowds, so I just want to enjoy it like everyone else and have a good time.”
The Burning Bash will be held at 9 p.m., Friday, Aug. 26, at Bart Lounge, 67555 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Cathedral City. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/events/241482292874098.