The Buzz
By Matthew Toledo - 4/23/2004
You may have heard some rumors that School Kids Records located on Court street was closing. Well, the rumors aren't entirely true. It seems that they're no longer going to sell new and used DVD's and records in order to focus on selling new and vintage clothing as well as novelties. There is no confirmed date for the switch over. If you are a local artist selling your CD's on cosignment then you might want to get your cash from any CD sales sooner rather than later.
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A few weeks ago, Athens lost another local bar and part-time music establishment, the West End Tavern. Located on the west side of town near Lacuna and Steward MacDonald, the West End Tavern was a "working man's" bar that sometimes hosted local bands. Most of the patrons were blue-collar townies who loved to hang out at their favorite watering hole after a hard day's work. The landlords closed the bar in the middle of the night due to constant noise and smell complaints from the tennants renting apartments above the bar coupled with six months overdue rent Nobody knows if they accidently sealed a passed-out patron in the bar.
Speaking of LACUNA, they are holding their "grand opening" show this Saturday, April 24th starting at 5:00 PM. They've already had a few events at the art-space and concert venue including a very successful all night rave of sorts. The voulenteers at Lacuna have been busy this week painting, cleaning and building in an effort to transform the one time industrial building into a useful community space. Bands on the bill include: Liz Pahl, Dan Dreifort, Red Dahlia, Joey Joe Joe, and Heroes of History.
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In our last installment of The Buzz, the folks at ACRN had announced they were looking for bands to participate in an ACRN sponsored battle of the bands. The contest has transpired and the winner was the local punk rock group, Love And Squalor, who are known around town for their energetic live performance and excellent practice ethic. Congratulations guys. The received airplay and a showcase performance at the Front Room.
The Blue Gator is making a strong vie for your attention Wednesday nights. For the past few months, The Union has been holding a "two-buck variety show" every Wednesday which featured various local bands of all genres. Not to be outdone, the new booking manager at the Blue Gator decided to hold a one-buck Wednesday night and feature local bands of all genres as well. They are even serving $1 Pabst Blue Ribbon beers much like the union. However, that special price is only good at the Gator on Wednesday. If you walk in on a Friday, PBR's are a buck fifty. Is this an attempt to woo the local hipster crowd to a new venue? Only time will tell.
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Casa Nueva's Cantina has expanded! Well partially expanded. They've knocked out part of one wall thus making Casa a giant "L" shaped bar. The rest of the reconstruction will continue over the next few months. I've personally checked out Casa's new layout and I have to give it 2 thumbs way up. Once the construction is completed, Casa will be able to hold nearly 3 times as many patrons plus they will serve food from a special late-night menu at the bar until close. They will be the only venue as of writing this story that will serve food during a show--all night long. If you ask me, that's genious. People who start getting their munchies at about midnight no longer have to leave the bar. They can enjoy music, drinks, and food until the bar closes.
Back to the Gator. The Blue Gator has enacted a somewhat leiniant "lockout" policy. In an effort to keep local acts from overbooking themselves in the same town, the Gator is strongly recommending that any act playing a show at the Gator should not play anywhere else in town for 7 to 10 days before AND after your Gator gig: seven days if you are playing a weekday show, 10 days for weekend shows. The buffer is designed to ensure that there is demand from your fans to see you play. It seems like a reasonable policy however your band could end up not playing anywhere else in town for nearly a month. So, if you try to play once a month at the Gator, that's pretty much the only place you can play. Or is it? They did say that exceptions can be made for benefits and other circumstances. For example, The Story Of recently played a Planned Parenthood benefit at the Gator on Wednesday and then played a gig on Saturday that same week. Slim Pickin's played the Gator 3 nights in a row just this month. As far as the AMN can tell, no band has yet to trully test the new Gator booking policy. If your band catches some flack, let us know.
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Congradulations to the now ex-Union soundman Cullen Beach. He recently became the bassist for the nationally touring, detroit based rock band, The Paybacks (get hip records). He is replacing John Hentch who is also in the band The Hentchman. Cullen can be seen on tour with Southern Culture on The Skids. We wish you the best of luck Cullen. Break a leg.
Spring time is traditionally music festival time. This year proves to be no exception to the rule. There are three large-scale fests occuring very soon.
Lets start with one of the most anticipated anual music festivals of the year--Blackout Fest!
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Blackout Fest is enjoying it's nineth year of existence. Almost a decade ago, the festival was a simple one day showcase during normal show hours. Over the years the fest has expanded to multiple days and has featured many well known, nationally recognized underground rock, punk, and college rock bands--bands that have been favorably reviewed in magazines like Rolling Stone, Spin, Newsweek and others. This year Blackoufest's marks the transition from national festival to international festival thanks to the inclusion of the group Mother's Anger (formerly One Way Heart) from Israel. It will be held at The Union from Thursday April 29th until Saturday May 1st. The lineup is insanely good and features fantastic local, national, and international groups. Here is just a partial sampling of the bands: The Real Kids, Lost Sounds, The Demolition Doll Rods, Viva L'American Death Ray Music, The Crack Pipes, The Sirens, Thee Shams, The High Strung, Grafton, This Moment In Black History and The Tough and Lovely. Some of the local bands on the bill include Geraldine, The Dragline Brothers, Dirty Johnny and the Makebelieves, We March, and Red Dahlia. There are many more. Check the upcoming AMN feature for more details.
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There is a new music festival in town. One-Fest is an all-day, outdoor music festival to be held on May 8th 2004 at the Ervine’s "Big Red Barn and Field" on Stage Coach Rd. They wanted to provide a line-up of what they consider to be Ohio’s finest up and coming hip-hop and Rock music. The longtime dream of F.A.M. Productions founders Dominic Petrozzi and Tim Kehoe, One-Fest will feature some large name regional acts. Guest and Red Wanting Blue are two groups on the bill that used to call Athens home. All the other acts are non-locals from Columbus and beyond. This show has the potential of replacing the old Senior Fest shows that have been absent from Athens for years. It's really nice to have an outdoor show in town again however, as someone who helped put together a failed outdoor show in Lancaster filled to the brim with large name regional acts, and as someone who's seen countless other "big" outdoor events fail time and time again, I hope they don't regret not having booked some trully local acts on the bill. With such a strong local music scene in Athens, and with so many local bands with large followings most likely playing that same day within walking distance of town, it might be trouble for One Fest.
