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The beat goes on. Aestheticized, the promotional consortium (okay, so it’s really just Jack) that’s brought you the best in contemporary fringe – most recently that wonderful Him show just this past week – continues to deliver. Noisy, heartfelt postwhatever locals For Your Girlfriend will join Camden, Ben Barnett (of Kind of Like Spitting) and Insound for an October 6 show, before Isobella supports Low and Ida when they return on October 13. Oh, and onelinedrawing, the latest project by the mind and mouth of Far, will be in town on October 18. Other good shows coming up on the Spatafora tip include Sweep The Leg Johnny (October 21), Pedro The Lion/Death Cab For Cutie (October 26), The Slackers (November 4), The Dismemberment Plan (December 1), and Atom & His Package (December 9), so save up. All the aforementioned shows will go down at Orpheum… Last issue, readers were teased about some pending big news regarding Blue Flame Combo; of course, they spilled their guts publicly, like, twenty minutes after we told you we couldn’t, so just about everybody knows by now. In case you haven’t heard, the Bay area’s favorite gothabilly trio has struck a deal with quasi-legendary British twangcentric label Nervous Records (The Polecats, Restless, Three Blue Teardrops, Taggy Tones, about a million others). The imprint will repackage and re-release the band’s disc Rockabillies Go Home, which Canadian stable AMP Records just put out about a month ago. Hopefully, the new edition will be available for holiday gift-giving, but in any case, the AMP version will not be reissued, making what’s out there now a limited run, and thus something of a collectible. The gentlemen are currently gearing up for tourage… Pour some liquor on the curb – the Leonard Croon Band has gone on to that barnyard kegger in the sky. After seven years, numerous lineups, and a stylistic evolution that took ‘em from an MC5 concert home to somebody’s front porch, LCB (final lineup – founder/singer/guitarist Dave Korman; bassist Michael Hoag; drummer Dave Corbett; vocalist Jocie Hackney; guitarist Mark Warren) played their final show at Dave’s on September 2. All of the band’s remaining scheduled shows have been cancelled. Warren and Hoag will continue to play in Barely Pink (whose in-the-works third album has been optioned for Asian and European release by JVC/Victor), and have another group already in the works with Hackney. As for Korman, who couldn’t give up music entirely if he tried, we expect him to reappear before too long(check the classifieds for audition notices), as well. We wish everyone involved the best of luck in their future endeavors… Speaking of Barely Pink, the pop quartet (rounded out by vocalist/guitarist Brian Merrill and drummer Stan Arthur) supported Canadian roots-pop (?) outfit The Mike Plume Band , September 28, at Orpheum. Those puzzling over the flyer’s proclaiming BP to be one of ‘the Bay’s premier roots outfits’, or whatever, needn’t worry – the Pink is still purveying their trademarked Cheap Trick/Big Star/Matthew Sweet-inspired power pawp. It’s just that the Leonard Croon Band was originally booked to play this gig, and some cataclysmically inept soul got a little lazy about revising the promos. Plenty of Pink trackage is available at their mp3.com site
…Songwriter Bob Anthony recently returned from his combination vacation/mini-tour, and has a couple of solo sets slated: October 1 will find him at the new Blue Coyote Café (1219 Florida Avenue, Palm Harbor), and he’ll be one of the performers at the opening installment of this year’s ‘Fall Concert Series’ at The Lutz Train Depot (US 41 and Lutz Lake Fern Road). Naturally, nobody knows exactly when that kickoff is scheduled. At least, we don’t, and Bob’s press release isn’t telling…Lucious P. Slugworth, former frontman for the now-defunct White Devil In The Trailer Park (the world just wasn’t ready, and frankly, neither were they), will be “pouring his heart into another issue of his highly acclaimed poetry fanzine Restless Youth” sometime around mid-October… THIS JUST IN: Hankshaw, The Dakota Coastline, and Gasganno will be playing at Orpheum on Monday, October 2. The ‘shaw will be performing the music they recently composed as the score for a friend’s film project…The Chase Theory have parted ways with guitarist Chris Cantwell, who reportedly left the band, on amicable terms, because of family and career priorities. The band will continue, for the time being, as a three-piece. They finished their anxiously-awaited second disc, an EP, before Cantwell’s departure, but there’s no word yet on when it will be available, as the guys are currently reviewing their release options
…Spacious International is rumored to be booking a show for sometime around October 20; one can only speculate regarding the presence of one Gerald Hamill… Yeah, I know we keep going on about this whole “Fore, formerly Honeyweed” thing, but shit, they keep sending us blurbs. The quartet will be at Drew Street Station this Friday, September 30, and don’t forget to peruse their mp3.com sounds…uber-informative e-newsletter SwingNews is still going strong, in case you were wondering. The setup has been revised, giving you a buttload of information in an orderly and concise fashion, and, as always, is extremely comprehensive. If it even remotely inspires you to dress nicely and/or spin somebody around, it’s covered here. There’s way too much information to go into all of it here, but we pulled a couple of concert dates to list below (the e-zine also covers contests, lessons, workshop nights, theme nights, and damn near everything else), with the suggestion that if you are at all into the scene, you need to check out www.SwingNews.com , and sign up to receive the newsletter via subscribe@SwingNews.com . This is only a smidgen of the shows and other information available from these guys.
October 14 - Johnny Varro Swing Seven w/Frankie Manning @ Coliseum, St. Pete
October 19 - Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers @ Magnolia Building, Lakeland
October 21 - Bellevue Cadillac @ Clearwater Jazz Holiday
October 27 - Oldies Stomp w/The Sevilles @ Coliseum, St. Pete
October 27 - Rocket 88 @ Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa
November 3 - Jerry Lee Lewis & Dion @ Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
At the end of the month, Saint Petersburg’s city council will vote on the issue of instituting a curfew. To paraphrase that dessicated, Alzheimer’s-ridden former actor the NRA loves to put on my TV at about four A.M, “if kids going out after midnight is outlawed, then only outlaw kids will be out after midnight”. Or something, whatever. Bruce and the rest of the Refuge crew are getting together a anti-curfew petition for voting-age pundits to sign; Skaught should have the pertinent info up on their website ASAP. www.skaught.com … Sarasota coed rawk conglomerate Swallowed will be at the Neptune Lounge in Tarpon Springs this Saturday, September 30. Anyone who hasn’t made the trip up there for a show is advised to do so at their earliest convenience. Great place, always full of new and interesting and/or irritating people, the beer is cheap, the sound is pretty good, and Eddie Neptune and the crew are good people. And if that doesn’t get us another show up there, I’m out of ideas…The Lemmings’ CD Release party at Tahiti Joe’s was reported by the band to have done pretty well, according to the band they sold something like 100 cd’s. Think maybe free food helped?…Rude Squad will be live in the studio at 1340 AM tonight(okay, I know it already happened), Thursday, September 28, to do a little of that interview and ‘unplugged’ thing from nine until ten PM. They’ll be sure to plug their upcoming appearance at the next RockAIDS shindig (October 14, Jannus Landing), and mention that they’ll be in the studio recording a full-length CD in November, no doubt…that big Stop The Violence two-day concert over in Palm Beach that was cancelled last month has been rescheduled for November 11 & 12 at Orlando’s Florida Fairgrounds. Information and set times are posted at www.stv.net , and local trio KimMystry are still set to participate…Flood are currently wrapping up some demos for industry shoppage. The foursome has been laying low lately, but expect a barrage of shows once they finish mixdown…the Bushhounds recently drove straight up to Cincinnati for a set at WBEN’s Hog Jam 2000, only to witness a rainout, complete with tornado accompaniment, after the first two bands. The ‘hounds retreated to a nearby watering hole in order to, you know, get drunk, and the house band was gracious enough to let ‘em climb onstage for a half-hour set. Of course, they get to do the whole thing again in three weeks, when the Hog Jam is slated to recommence. They’ll be at Planet 9 Ball (11236 Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa) this Saturday, September 30, along with Stone Ginger…Budious Maximus will throw a special Prom-O-Ween edition of their Tuesday Night Old Wave Extravamaganza on October 31. We’ll elect a King and Queen. We’ll do New Wave Karaoke. We’ll dress like The Wedding Singer. We’ll, you know, get drunk. DJ Marcus Butterfingers spins the downer Old Wave hits you cried along to on that Prom Night so very many years ago. Because nobody asked you to go. Because you were a loser. Only Morissey, and possibly Robert Smith, understood…Singe are at this very moment cashing in their prize from that Big Fat Studios contest, and the resulting 8-song disc should be available by October 4 or so. They’ll be at Gasoline Alley on Friday, October 13, and at the Neptune Lounge on November 11. www.singeonline.com …on Sunday, October 15, the Globe in St. Pete (532 1st Avenue North) will host The Sinner’s Gospel Brunch, a show/event/fundraiser for Ashes of Grisum’s impending trek to CMJ, from one until five PM. There will be two ‘services’, one at two and one at four, and each ten-dollar ‘donation’ gets you two drinks from a very special list of consecrated beverages. Come, and be saved. AoG also have some startlingly good new tracks up at their mp3.com site. Well, not that startling, really, when you consider that all their stuff is pretty fine. Anyway, repent, convert, you know, get drunk…Rick Rose Rude, who is recovering nicely from injuries sustained in an automobile accident, has parted ways with his longtime manager/sometime confidant/never really a close friend David MacKay. MacKay was recently quoted as saying “managing Rick was like babysitting a two year-old kid who also has a drinking problem”, and has gone to great pains to let it be known that he will not, repeat, NOT be responsible for Rude’s debts. Rude, apparently, just thinks that MacKay is a jackass. http://homepages.go.com/~rickroserude/index.html.
Ask, ponder, fret. Has Crossbreed sealed the deal? Has another local heavy act been offered one? Who could it be? Is the benefit show conceptualized, brutalized, gossiped, praised, bashed, and blown wholly out of proportion on the Coffeestain graffiti board going to become a reality? Is it really true that there’s no such thing as bad publicity? What aging local songwriter has worn one tinted contact lens for several years now, in order to hide the fact that his eyes are two different colors? Hasn’t he ever seen a picture of David Bowie? Was a former member of one of the Bay area’s first rap metal acts (circa ’96) recently arrested for brawling outside a tavern in downtown St. Pete? Is a certain large Bay area venue suffering under a constant struggle between various interested, uncertain, forceful, and ambitious parties, none of whom really give a shit about music? Is Gold Star cooler than Tamiami? Will the show quotient of the club rise or fall? Most importantly, does it sound better in there?
This past Tuesday, Gainesville’s City Commission voted to outlaw “flyering” within the city limits. While it might be going a bit far to assume that the cops are going to arrest kids for discreetly handing out bills person-to-person, you can bet that posting flyers, and activities such as leaving ‘em under the windshield wipers of parked cars, will now be treated as among the most heinous of civil disobedience. At the risk of editorializing, this is obviously a crock of shit, but unfortunately, it’s not the worst news from G-ville. This is: the city has determined that Ordinance Number 3975, which states that “no person shall engage in or manage any business, occupation or profession for which there is an occupational license tax required by this article, or any other ordinance of the city, unless that person shall first procure a license to conduct the same from the Director of Finance”, applies to creative artists. Translation: artists and bands are defined as businesses, and therefore must buy an Occupational License if they want to play (“engage in or manage any business”) at any event involving, or sponsored by, the city. It has not yet been made clear whether or not this will affect the bookings at clubs. But that’s really not the point. The point is that the city of Gainesville intends to willfully compromise an entire community’s freedom of expression. A meeting was held earlier this week to decipher exactly how this ordinance will affect local artists, and we’ll pass along more information when we get it. In the meantime, let me ask you this – how much money have YOU made playing original music at the local level? To what degree has your city afforded you exposure as a creative artist? Enough that you would find them justified in taxing your civil right to express yourself? Personally, I don’t fucking think so.
Weakfish@compuserve.com
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