Athens Music Scene
By Eric Leighton
Athens NEWS Writer
February 14, 2008
I was feeling smug with my fairly substantial woodpile and my squeal-free four-wheel-drive truck as I prepared to leave the farm today. The slush was a bit of a hindrance, and a brief test of the wipers proved that the scraper would be necessary. As I forged through the icy morass, I tugged gently at the wipers to work toward freeing them from their prison. There was a sickening lack of tension in them as they easily broke free and moved toward me a manner that made me say, “Uh-oh.”
A quick flip of the wiper switch confirmed my fears: The windshield wipers were broken. After I took a minute to bemoan my station in life, in the process rendering useless an otherwise working ice scraper, I grabbed the tool box, a spool of wire and got ready to go to town. I was not about to let the lack of wiper blades keep an otherwise fully functioning truck from driving down the road.
In a moment of inspiration, I cut two lengths of wire from the spool and attached them to the ends of the wipers sticking one in the driver’s side window, and the other through the passenger side.
If I couldn’t have automatic wipers, I would have manual. I set off to town to find a roof to work under.
The parking garage seemed to suit my needs nicely, so I began dismantling the wiper unit, after perusing the repair manual – a must for any poor person with an older vehicle. Fascinating things you can learn about stuff when you take them apart; the trick is putting them back together again!
When I got down to where I could see what was going on — generally a partial view with any vehicular repair — I turned on the wiper motor to see what I could see. I was delighted to see a piece that looked detached and forlorn. I was even more delighted when I could get my hands on it and easily snap it back into place. A quick test confirmed my success, and I went about finding all of the screws I removed. After a brief and victorious warm-up session in the heated cab of my chariot, I screwed those suckers in, even improvising a on a design flaw in the cheap plastic that covered the holes by the wipers — a flaw that began this mess in the first place.
If only they had let me take shop classes instead of college prep classes in high school…
Musicians often have to deal with this kind of crap on a weekly basis in the winter just trying to get to a gig. You can help the situation by struggling your way to the clubs to go hear them perform. Happy VD folks! Go out dancing, why dontcha?
Casa Cantina
The Sad Bastards begin a busy weekend tonight for your Valentine’s Day slobberations. Midwest Kid graduated from Folk U and wants to show you their diplomas. TBA manages to get on this bill, even without a booking agent.
Singer/Songwriter Ryan Smith kicks off the night Friday with glorious songs about drinking and fornicating and other fun activities. The Jarts lean into it with some folky, blues-inspired numbers followed by Red Dahlia, who bring a sense of gravity and dark loveliness to the stage. Black Spyral Dancer, who are playing more out of town than in, are happy to unleash their heaviness and new material upon you.
Saturday night offers a Hip Hop Night – the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. There will be a B-Boy battle (or B-Boy Battle will appear) with a throw-down going on between DJ and Beatbox. I’m outta my league here.
Sunday night, the wide-ranging musical group Bombadil drops by the Cantina for a night of worldly inspired music. With a name that echoes my favorite character in “Lord of the Rings” (the book, not the movie), and a penchant for Bolivian folk music, this Durham crew has drawn great praise from a variety of sources: “A drunker, circus-reared version of The Band” being my favorite. The Sad Bastards and the ubiquitous TBA will open the evening.
Jackie O’s
Tonight features an International Valentine’s Day Dance Party at Jackie O’s, and if that isn’t enough foreign boogie for you, Merengue Night returns on Friday.
The Randys will rock you on Saturday night. This eclectic cover band is similar in role to our own Wingnuts, but certainly not in material. These guys have the most diverse and weirdo record collection on the planet, and they cull all kinds of tunes from them: Hawaiian hulas to sambas and Beatles, their singing is fantastic and the musicianship impeccable. I say yes.
Donkey Coffee
A ONE info session is set for Friday night featuring a slew of local musicians covering other people’s songs and raising awareness about global poverty. Laura Nadeau will peruse the Lucinda Williams catalogue, Jake Housholder will take on Michael Jackson, Zach Oden will dare to do the Replacements, and Victor Rasgaitis will become Kanye West.
Saturday night features a dance party with John McVicker and his exquisite musical palette.
The Union
The Union has a V-Day dance party tonight that will serve as a benefit for this year’s Athens International Film and Video Festival.
October Fist bring their “post-contemporary dankcore” to the Union on Friday night along with Mr. Leg, Front Royal, and the interesting and beguiling Russenorsk.
Kevin Devine makes a triumphant return on Saturday night. You can apparently register to win a date with him through ACRN, who is sponsoring the show. He will appear with tour mates AA Bondy and Jealous Girlfriends for a cool night of rock.
19 South
Tonight features a special VD show with music by The Ordinance. The OU Dance Team will perform to tunes played by the band. Go and mingle with their greatness.
Friday night Ace returns to lay his bass-heavy grooves upon you.
Saturday The Dark Lord of Spin comes out to show you that the “Dark Side of the Force is much more fun.” To some of you, his Imperialness may look like TMO. He’ll revert back to his usual self on Tuesday.
Baker Center Theater
Kaslo brings its folky indie-rock show to the Baker Theater on Saturday night with a few friends who have yet to be determined.
Stuart’s Opera House - Nelsonville
Greg Brown is coming back to Athens Co. Friday night when he performs his patented growl-y tunes at Stuart’s Opera House. This guy definitely has a loyal following, and tickets are likely to be hard to come by. Check right now! Opening the night is Bo Ramsey, a long-time collaborator with Brown and Lucinda Williams, Teddy Morgan and numerous other fabulous performers. Sounds awesome.
Rhapsody - Nelsonville
Steve Zarate helps set a romantic mood tonight at the Rhapsody. He does it again Saturday night; fine food and music to boot.
Court Grill – Pomeroy
The Grill steps it up this weekend with a couple of shows. Friday night, Bobaflex returns to ROCK the house down. These boys can tear it up and put it back together again. We are talking a heavy, heavy band.
Brother Nick is hoping the walls are still standing when he brings his crew Without Papers to the Grill on Saturday night to rock and roll you to your heart’s content – or at least until Last Call.
Dale Kulchar runs a nice Open Stage every Tuesday at the Grill. The music begins at 8 p.m.
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