Last Weekend: Marcon and More
OK, it's almost another weekend, so I'd better write about last weekend before I forget....
I ended up spending most of my Marcon time in panel discussions, probably half of which were fan discussions about TV shows (lots of Firefly and Buffy fans) and movies, and the rest were about either old Sci Fi books or some issues raised in some Sci Fi. Actually the best part there was starting to get to know some of the people that went to so many of the same panels as I did.
But the highlights of my weekend were walking up High street for some music.
Friday - NSA and some trauma
Friday night I walked about four miles up to Bernie's, and arrived just a few minutes before The Secret Sound of the NSA started playing. As I walked in and the band was finishing their sound check, their guitarist Grant (who used to go to the same laudromat I did) seemed quite excited to see me, so I talked to him a bit before they got started. As the lead singer (wearing a Public Enemy t-shirt) decided that the sound was good enough, I stepped back and they got started.
Their music was great as always, except for a fairly boring "power ballad" called "The Train Home", from their new CD. Their songs are a bit diverse, but mostly pop-rock-ish. Kind of like the Goo Goo Dolls (before that band went soft), I get this straightahead 80s-rock (not new wave, not metal) feel from them that I can't quite place, though there might be a bit of Rick Springfield and Night Ranger in there. They covered Journey's "Separate Ways" for their last song, which was fun. And they're also heavily influenced by the Clash; they played two totally different Clash songs, the reggae-style "Armagideon Time" ("A lot of people won't get no supper tonight / A lot of people won't get no justice tonight") and the more boogie "Brand New Cadillac", and their new CD includes a dub remix of one of their own songs, which fans of the Clash's Sandinista album would like. Also like the Clash, many of their songs take a political bent, railing against some aspect of modern life; as far as I've been able to understand them, these lyrics tend to seem fairly aligned with my own feelings, but I may be misunderstanding...
Oh yeah, they've gained a keyboardist since the last time I saw them play about three years ago. (They had a keyboardist for their first CD, but lost him before I ever saw them play.) This guy really hams it up onstage; he reminds me a lot of a 16-year-old I know, but also reminds me a little of Milan Karcic, guitarist for the band Salt Horse and former drummer for The Media Whores.
Anyway, after the NSA finished playing I bought their new CD, talked to Grant a bit more, and watched the next band set up. Then the NSA's bassist, "Stimey", came over to say hi, which surprised me a little since I don't know him all that well (I don't even know his real name). He starting telling me about how the drummer for the next band is their "enemy", which sounded a bit odd. As he went into the explanation, it changed from odd to traumatic. He said that this other drummer is all anti-war and anti-Bush, "and we're all pro-war and pro-Bush," and that drummer is really uptight about it while the other guys in that band are really laid-back. By this point it was a good thing that the other band had started playing, because I was at a total loss for words, since this "enemy" drummer seemed more politically aligned with me than the great band I'd come to see. And this is a band that's into the Clash and Public Enemy, who I'm pretty sure would both be very much against Bush.
I was truly traumatized.
Saturday - Scrawl Rocks!
Saturday night I skipped the Marcon masquerade to walk the mile or so up to Little Brother's for Scrawl's performance at Ladyfest Ohio. Over a decade past their pioneering heyday, it's still great to see them at every opportunity. This was Scrawl's first full-band show since their drummer moved to Sweden four years ago; since then Marcy and Sue have played a few low-key keyboard-based shows and some solo guitar shows, mostly at Comfest. This time they had a real live drummer -- Jovan Karcic, formerly of Columbus punk legends Gaunt. (Since I never saw Gaunt play, I didn't realize it was Jovan until I happened to ask his little brother Milan who the drummer was.)
Scrawl really made up for the last four years without a drummer. They skipped their quieter songs entirely, except for a rocked-up version of "Sad". (Sue said it was like a new song for her since it was the first time she'd played bass on it.) Despite a couple false starts, they just never slowed down the rock. Joel Treadway of Cringe.com told me it was the best he'd ever seen them, and I'm pretty sure he's seen them even more than I have. It was awesome.
Afterward I stayed long enough to hear the first song of the next band, but that singer couldn't sing well enough for my taste, and I headed for the door. As I squeezed through the people at the back, I was stopped by a woman who seemed happy to see me. Confused and caught off-guard, I looked at her and realized it was Marcy Mays(!), who had just rocked the place. Although I've talked to lots of Columbus band members over the years, and I've gone to see Scrawl quite a few times before, I don't remember talking with Marcy before. It was pretty cool.
I ended up spending most of my Marcon time in panel discussions, probably half of which were fan discussions about TV shows (lots of Firefly and Buffy fans) and movies, and the rest were about either old Sci Fi books or some issues raised in some Sci Fi. Actually the best part there was starting to get to know some of the people that went to so many of the same panels as I did.
But the highlights of my weekend were walking up High street for some music.
Friday - NSA and some trauma
Friday night I walked about four miles up to Bernie's, and arrived just a few minutes before The Secret Sound of the NSA started playing. As I walked in and the band was finishing their sound check, their guitarist Grant (who used to go to the same laudromat I did) seemed quite excited to see me, so I talked to him a bit before they got started. As the lead singer (wearing a Public Enemy t-shirt) decided that the sound was good enough, I stepped back and they got started.
Their music was great as always, except for a fairly boring "power ballad" called "The Train Home", from their new CD. Their songs are a bit diverse, but mostly pop-rock-ish. Kind of like the Goo Goo Dolls (before that band went soft), I get this straightahead 80s-rock (not new wave, not metal) feel from them that I can't quite place, though there might be a bit of Rick Springfield and Night Ranger in there. They covered Journey's "Separate Ways" for their last song, which was fun. And they're also heavily influenced by the Clash; they played two totally different Clash songs, the reggae-style "Armagideon Time" ("A lot of people won't get no supper tonight / A lot of people won't get no justice tonight") and the more boogie "Brand New Cadillac", and their new CD includes a dub remix of one of their own songs, which fans of the Clash's Sandinista album would like. Also like the Clash, many of their songs take a political bent, railing against some aspect of modern life; as far as I've been able to understand them, these lyrics tend to seem fairly aligned with my own feelings, but I may be misunderstanding...
Oh yeah, they've gained a keyboardist since the last time I saw them play about three years ago. (They had a keyboardist for their first CD, but lost him before I ever saw them play.) This guy really hams it up onstage; he reminds me a lot of a 16-year-old I know, but also reminds me a little of Milan Karcic, guitarist for the band Salt Horse and former drummer for The Media Whores.
Anyway, after the NSA finished playing I bought their new CD, talked to Grant a bit more, and watched the next band set up. Then the NSA's bassist, "Stimey", came over to say hi, which surprised me a little since I don't know him all that well (I don't even know his real name). He starting telling me about how the drummer for the next band is their "enemy", which sounded a bit odd. As he went into the explanation, it changed from odd to traumatic. He said that this other drummer is all anti-war and anti-Bush, "and we're all pro-war and pro-Bush," and that drummer is really uptight about it while the other guys in that band are really laid-back. By this point it was a good thing that the other band had started playing, because I was at a total loss for words, since this "enemy" drummer seemed more politically aligned with me than the great band I'd come to see. And this is a band that's into the Clash and Public Enemy, who I'm pretty sure would both be very much against Bush.
I was truly traumatized.
Saturday - Scrawl Rocks!
Saturday night I skipped the Marcon masquerade to walk the mile or so up to Little Brother's for Scrawl's performance at Ladyfest Ohio. Over a decade past their pioneering heyday, it's still great to see them at every opportunity. This was Scrawl's first full-band show since their drummer moved to Sweden four years ago; since then Marcy and Sue have played a few low-key keyboard-based shows and some solo guitar shows, mostly at Comfest. This time they had a real live drummer -- Jovan Karcic, formerly of Columbus punk legends Gaunt. (Since I never saw Gaunt play, I didn't realize it was Jovan until I happened to ask his little brother Milan who the drummer was.)
Scrawl really made up for the last four years without a drummer. They skipped their quieter songs entirely, except for a rocked-up version of "Sad". (Sue said it was like a new song for her since it was the first time she'd played bass on it.) Despite a couple false starts, they just never slowed down the rock. Joel Treadway of Cringe.com told me it was the best he'd ever seen them, and I'm pretty sure he's seen them even more than I have. It was awesome.
Afterward I stayed long enough to hear the first song of the next band, but that singer couldn't sing well enough for my taste, and I headed for the door. As I squeezed through the people at the back, I was stopped by a woman who seemed happy to see me. Confused and caught off-guard, I looked at her and realized it was Marcy Mays(!), who had just rocked the place. Although I've talked to lots of Columbus band members over the years, and I've gone to see Scrawl quite a few times before, I don't remember talking with Marcy before. It was pretty cool.