|
#149
Sir Millard Mulch, eclectic musician, possessor of highly skewed alpha waves, and notorious power player within the Ed Furniture corporate structure, also used to be in this really cool punk band called Tepado, along with Nelson B. Johnson and Harold. Tepado called it quits sometime around ’97 (details are sketchy), but apparently either people miss them, or Mssr. Mulch thinks they were way ahead of their time, because an entire gig – taped at Ybor City’s Empire on August 18, 1996 – has been converted to mp3 for your downloadation and enjoyment. Be warned; the file is about 30 megs, “but well worth it, if you want to hear the epitome of a Tepado show, with all the screw-ups, funny improv bells and whistles, and goofy energy”. What’s a meg? www.edfurniture.com/TheMuseum/tepado/empire …in other Mulch news, it was recently discovered that his, er, not-quite-note-for-note reworking of Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ reached the Number Four Most Requested spot on the Other Genres category over at EZCD.com. In addition, that whole Toxic Avenger IV thing seems to be a done deal – Mulch tunes will be included on the soundtrack. As for Ed Furniture et al, they’ve been banned from the annual DragonCon comic, technology and music convention…I recently got my hands on an advance copy of the Pseudo Heroes/Down By Law split-CD; we haven’t run an interview yet because there’s no artwork, and because the disc, to be released by Theologian Records, may not come out for a bit. PH may be the area’s most criminally underrated melodic, punky outfit. Great tunes that break the mold, while remaining energetic and expressive. Good shit. Somebody hook ‘em up with Closure on a weekend bill, if you please. Some sonics are available free of charge at mp3.com/talisk. Oh, and the Down By Law tracks are all covers…Roxx Gang continue to defy the odds, not to mention your hipper-than-thou attitude. Their new disc, Drinkin’ TNT and Smokin’ Dynamite, will hit stores next Tuesday, May 30. Fresh tracks include ‘Who’s Been Driving My Cadillac?’ and ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me’, and the video for ‘Star Trip’, which features strippers, for a change, will debut shortly on the band’s website. Ever notice how the Gang never shows up at the same parties as that other bluesy sex-glam-rawk unit, Mojo Gurus? Hmmmm. Roxx Gang will appear at a super-secret Memorial Day Burnout gig in Tampa this Saturday, May 27 (location and directions are available at their website), and have a gig scheduled for June 16 at Clearwater’s Club More. www.roxxgang.com …The Leonard Croon Band continues its live-set assault on our shores with an Orpheum gig this Saturday, where they and fellow showmongers Sparky’s Nightmare will both be recording their output for possible future release. Croon are also slated to give up a one-off low n’ intimate performance at Yeoman’s Road (Davis Island) on June 9…ah, the Johnny G. Lyon Band. Who hasn’t fallen briefly and hopelessly in drunken lust at some Ybor City watering whole while JGLB cranked out the tunes in the background? Who has never been uplifted by a particularly personal memory kicked in by one of their rowdy covers, not long before it was time to find an unobtrusive place to puke up about seven Mind Erasers? Who never got a crush on one (or two, or three, depending on how many you were seeing at the time) of Johnny’s comely blonde backup singers? Well then, my friend, you’ve never really lived. On Sunday, May 28, the Johnny G. Lyon Band will return to Skipper’s Smokehouse (corner of Bearss and Skipper, North Tampa), the site of one of their first gigs, to commemorate FIFTEEN YEARS of good, solid bar-band fun. Any and everybody who ever jumped on stage with Johnny is encouraged to attend; it will be a night for rock, for friendship, and for reminiscing about the nights most of us can’t remember. By the way, how many of you know that the man auditioned for the Red Hot Chili Peppers – twice? Congratulations, Johnny. Who loves you? The festivities kick off early, at 5 PM. May 26, the JGLB make their sixth Friday Extra Concert Series performance, in Lowry Park
Over the years, JGLB has featured some of the bay area’s premier talent.
Keyboardist / vocalist Robert Stoney (JGLB 1988-90) wrote the Warren Brothers’ hit “She Wants to Rock (but I Gotta Roll). Bassist Manny Yanes (JGLB 1989-90) tours with Patti Labelle. Vocalist Susie Martian now fronts her own band, Ramona Hates Pink. Vocalist Gloria Higgins tours with her
brother, Bertie Higgins. Bassist Jeff (Count) Artabasy and saxophonist Mike (Craze) Flore are among the most sought-after Tampa players. All former
members are invited to Skippers’ May 28 to perform with JGLB one more time.
(Undoubtedly, a few will have better things to do!)
…Fornikulture’s “bizarre and experimental” side project, Truckermouth, has just posted a track, ‘I Don’t Know’, up at mp3.com/truckermouth. I can already hear the roll of the mouse, the click of the, uh, clicker-thing. Fornikulture and Noble Jones will be at Clearwater’s Gasoline Alley on June 9…Home will be home tonight, and appearing at the Screw Music Forever showcase at Orpheum. Dumbwaiters, The Boats, Spacious International, and Funkruze will also appear. This evening of, er, music is brought to you by Jack Spatafora, the Man Who Hates It When You Rawk (heh, heh, just kidding, man). Other upcoming, preconception-wilting giggage is as follows.
Friday June 2
The Gloria Record
National Skyline
Isobella (formerly Akasha)
9pm, $5, All Ages
Orpheum
Saturday June 3
The Mercury Program
Polline
Versailles
9pm, $5, All Ages
Orpheum
Monday June 12
The Blacks
November Foxtrot Whiskey
Pagan Saints
9pm, $6, All Ages
New World Brewery
And don’t go getting all into a snit about how the above shows are all, like, separated and highlighted and shit – I’m just trying to fill up the pages, dude…and on that note, hey, who went to Tropical Heatwave? Not me, damn hippies…heavy-ass and extremely entertaining Lakeland-based live act Low2theleft have been making some impressive noise out here where there are no cows. Ever seen an emotionally volcanic groovecore outfit with a couple of female backup singers who bookend the fray? Well, there you go. The band sold out of their first CD, Nowhere Going Fast, within three months of it’s release, and was recently featured as Pick Of The Day over at talk radio’s 104.1. They’re not planning on re-ordering their first disc, and will instead be heading into the studio to record their second any day now. Props to vocalist JR for taking it upon himself to distribute Focus out in Polk County…Tommy G & High Seas just finished their second disc of original material (like anyone would go and spend good money recording somebody else’s songs – oh, apologies to George Michael, N’Sync and the like). Titled The Sea of Life, it was made whole over at Panda Studios by George Harris. Their big release hoo-raw is at Clearwater’s Pier 60 on May 28, beginning at five bells…Pasco pop-rock diehards Harry Dash will be at Club More tonight, May 26, along with Leroy Driver; the first 100 pundits through the door will get a free copy of the Launch Interactive CD-ROM, which contains tuneage from Dash, among others, as well as an interview with Matchbox Twenty, perhaps shedding light on exactly why letters evoke more credibility than numerals. Even cooler, however, is HD’s May 28 gig at Ybor’s Tahiti Joe’s, a post-Starfest affair where the blokes will support Tonic. Pick up a copy of Harry Dash’s latest, Modern Life, and be sure to request them at Star 95.7, who have been known to spin a Dash cut or two of late…they’re calling it Donkeyfest. I have no idea why, but on June 2 and 3, a buttload of DIY bands, including Sagoh 24/7, Further Seems Forever, Denison Marrs, Never the Less, Catch Phrase, Pilots v. Aeroplanes, Slushball Derkins, Gunwale Under, A Better Name, 11th Hour, My Hotel Year, Yahoo, Lower Class, The Remnant, The Swifties, No One Denied, The Visitors, A Brave New World, Inspector 42, and T.O.S., will convene at Tampa Bay Christian Center (3920 S. Kings Avenue, Brandon) for a two-day indie-a-thon. This is a Refuge/Powerhouse Productions coup. Advance tickets are nine bucks, and door tix are ten for both days, six for one. For more information, call 813.689.9497 or go to http://go.to/donkeyfest …in other Refuge news, it appears that the June 23 Value Pac show is indeed going to come off (with support from Lightswitch, Next Season, and Daily Use), the only question is where. Keep up with details at www.skaught.com to stay in the know, or call 727.894.3034… Much buzzage surrounds ska/reggae/jazz/world-beat conglomerate Rocksteady @ Eight, and with good reason – the band features members of The Strangeways, Magadog, Meadowlark, Pork Pie Tribe, Crash Mitchell, and Amandla Tunesmith, to name but a few. Hefty credentials. They’ll be at Sarasota’s Monterey Deli (their new location) on June 10, and often come as participants in the Riddim Collision and Groovewell series packages… Elston Gunnn are out of town this weekend, performing in Austin, as previously reported, for a bunch of Sony Music guys. Details will be available at their constantly-updated web page just as soon as they return, just in time to perform as part of this month’s Writer’s Night lineup at Orpheum, as also previously mentioned. Come to think of it, I covered everything in this damn press release last time… Mr Bella’s page has been updated; where do these bands find the cash? Drummer Josh Young (FYI – NOT the Josh from Audiolab, got it?) seems to be fitting in well – see for yourself on June 3, when the quartet travels to Sarasota for a Beach Club (Siesta Key) soiree with Midhaven, Tao, and the oh-so-excellent Chase Theory (who recently contributed a track to the Deep Elm Records ‘The Emo Diaries’ compilation series)… While we’re on the subject of Sarasotans, new heavy band Left Hand Black has been making regular appearances at Focus and Coffeestain’s respective graffiti boards, as well as a few clubs’ audition nights. They’ve got a three-song demo, recorded by Rick Duncan at Paradox City, making the rounds; expect a review in the not-so-distant future (but likely well before next Sunday A.D.). Meanwhile, you can catch ‘em at Light Painter Gallery this Saturday, May 27… Not Exactly Localized: Slack Season, Gainesville’s much-ballyhooed loud n’ earnest pawp purveyors, are currently up in Chicago, working with indie-deity producer Keith Cleversley (Flaming Lips, Urge Overkill, the Verve, Hum) on the tracks that will comprise Left To Right To Left, their follow-up to the acclaimed Post Party, a disc that got them into CMJ a while back, where their performance drew raves. The closest SS are coming to our neck o’ the woods in the next few months is Orlando’s House Of Blues, where they’ll appear on June 13 as part of mp3.com’s summer tour lineup. www.slackseason.com … The Gita, drunk with power following the successful kickoff of their G-Spot concert series last week at The State, have instructed their legions to rise up against the oppression of lazy webmasters, and email strangeart@hotmail.com (first clue that your web design guy might not be all that he seems – he uses a free email server), demanding that their site be completed. Apparently, thegita@digitalchainsaw.com has been a work-in-progress without much progress. They’ll be at St. Pete’s Cockney Rebel this Saturday, May 27…hey, Harvest, quite a few people are waiting in line to throttle you because of the tapeworm program embedded in that press release a few weeks back. At the risk of sounding vulgar, what the fuck is that?! Get your own fans – people who receive your email without ever having heard of you ARE NOT going to get curious and come to your shows. They’re going to get PISSED, and if they do come to your shows, you’re going to be unhappy with the results. Weak, kids, very, very weak…five-man rawk juggernaut Sage and three-man pop circus Greed Engine pulled some strings, getting the normally Clearwater-evasive Cocktail Honeys and newly-renamed Singe (formerly Gutterfly) onto a bill with ‘em at Gasoline Alley on Friday, June 2. Spiller, who were originally slated to perform as well, aren’t allowed to come out and play until they finish their CD. Actually, John McNicholas is going to be out of town…rumor has it that Big Empty auteur Scotty Ogden has some cool new local-origination show action in the works.
Ask, ponder, fret. What killer bass player, currently in about nineteen bands, is rumored to be calling it quits so he can spend more time planning to raise a kid genetically engineered for professional athletic stardom? Will any Bay area bands be scoring slots on Warped Tour Dates in Florida? Is it in the bag? Why couldn’t The Spills do the Memorial Day Incident? Are The Loose Ends paring down to a three-piece? For how long? Is a certain smart-ass local writer currently in hot water over a few ill-chosen words? Is he currently entertaining other offers, rendering the above point moot? Does anybody really, and I mean really, give a shit? Has the next Joe Popp “farewell show” been booked yet?
Weakfish@compurserve.com
THE END
|
