by Ruth Milne
Or so says this AP story on the RCJ homepage.
Here’s my confession: I won’t watch.
Not just because awards shows are what they are, but also because I hate every single Police song I’ve ever heard. Especially “Roxanne,” which is like nails on chalkboard. Even Sting isn’t hot enough to make that noise okay.
Police fans, feel free to bring out the flamethrowers now.
By Ruth Milne
With our bustling music scene, it’s rare that I find myself with nothing to do on a Saturday night. But that was the situation last weekend.
So I ended up at Paddy O’Neill’s, checking out Afferent, a band I’ve heard of but never seen play before.
Afferent was bass-less, as Mike Reardon doesn’t play in smoky bar-type places, but it was still a nice show. The music was primarily acoustic, two guitarists and a drummer, with a loose, laid-back, rock ’n’ roll feel, like if a Foo Fighters song hung out with a Sublime song and they had a couple beers and decided to make sweet acoustic love.
Afferent did some covers, standard fare for bars and the reason I don’t usually go see bar bands, but they did some solid originals too, and they were funny and chatty between songs. Good atmosphere.
They have a CD of all original tunes, recorded when Afferent was just a two-man act.
You can listen to some of those songs (and see a list of upcoming performances) at their MySpace page, but they told me they don’t feel the album really captures the feel of their live show.
Afferent does plan to record a new album with the full band one of these days.
What do you think of “bar bands� Are they really more than just background noise to shout over? And are there any local bands in the bar circuit that you specifically recommend? After Saturday, I recommend Afferent; because they’re acoustic, they aren’t hard to shout over. (I kid, I kid. I genuinely would like to see them again.)
I won’t have a Saturday open for a while – next week is Punk Rock for Puppies, the Humane Society benefit, at 7 p.m. Feb. 3 at TREA. The following Saturday, Feb. 10, I plan to be in Deadwood checking out the fantastic local band Bonefish at the Deadwood Tobacco Company, and finding out once and for all what “cowpunk†is really all about.
Hope to see you there.
By Ruth Milne
I’ve been a little under the weather lately, so I was only able to catch a little bit of last night’s show at the Dahl. I was disappointed I missed the Jonbenet, after all that drama, but it looked like there was a good turnout, especially for a Monday.
I did catch the first act, local folk singer Seth. He’s Seth Beaton on the flyer, Seth Brian on the CD, so we’ll just call him Seth until I get a chance to ask him what nametag he prefers.
Seth’s set was memorable at Rock Against Violence back in December, and I enjoyed his performance again last night. He plays killer guitar; apparently nobody ever told him acoustic folk is supposed to be mellow and pretty.
And here’s the good part: after he finished, Seth sold copies of a five-song demo out of a trick-or-treat pumpkin at the back of the room. He doesn’t have a MySpace, as far as I can tell, so this is the first recorded work I’ve heard from him. The recording quality is decent – it sounds just like he does live, a kid with a guitar – and it’s gutsy and fierce and unlike anything else I’ve heard in Rapid City. The first song, “Number Seven Hero,†is catchy stuff and the best one by far.
***Edit: He does have a MySpace, looks brand new, and you can hear a few songs from the demo there.***
His singing is blunt and youthful, the kind of uninhibited, emotional shouts that make you feel like you’re a teenager cutting class, driving a little too fast, on a sunny day. Everything’s a little faster and brighter and newer when this CD is playing.
The cover of Seth’s demo.
I also heard a bit of Radio in Red, another local, rock ’n’ roll with stand-out drumming. I’d like to see them again sometime.
If anyone took photos of this show, feel free to forward a couple to me or post a link to them, because I didn’t take any this time. I bet the bands I missed were fantastic.
They always are.
Seth A. McConnell, who is also named Seth but who is not a folk singer, took some nice pics of the bands. They’re posted here on his LiveJournal.
by Ruth Milne
Early Social Distortion bassist ID’d in wreck
PLACENTIA – Officials on Saturday identified Brent Liles of Fullerton, former bass guitarist in one of the region’s most influential punk rock bands, Social Distortion, as the bicyclist killed by a big rig on Thursday.
Liles played bass on the group’s groundbreaking “Mommy’s Little Monster” recording in 1983 and went on to play with other well-known Orange County punk acts such as the group Agent Orange. He was 43.
It seems like we’re posting a lot of deaths on the blog lately, doesn’t it?
By Ruth Milne
Loveless Booking presents The Jonbenet, The American Black Lung, Blues, Seth Beaton, The Kickback and Radio In Red in concert tonight in Rapid City.
The show starts at 7 p.m. at Dahl Arts Center downtown, next to the library. Admission is $7. It’s all-ages and alcohol-free.
The show was supposed to be at the Elks Lodge, but that changed after my interview with the Jonbenet was in Friday’s paper. (I’d link to it, but the article isn’t online.)
See, I got a call from someone from the Elks on Friday. He started off by saying it was a nice article — I could tell that’s not actually what he meant. Then he got to his real point: because of the words I used to describe the music (loud and vicious were two he pointed out specifically) and the fact that the band’s previous show here had underage drinking issues, they weren’t going to have the concert there after all.
So now it’s at the Dahl.
It’s tough to completely reschedule a concert, and I feel bad about the part I inadvertently played in getting it moved. To everyone involved, I’m sorry. But at the same time, the Jonbenet is loud, and I wasn’t aware of the problems at the last concert until the band told me in the interview for the story. Scaring venues is not something I want to get in the habit of doing, and I’ll be more conscious of it in future.
I do hope the show has a good turnout, despite the last-minute venue change. There are some excellent bands in the lineup, and it should be one of the best shows we’ve had in a while.
***Edit: The article on the Jonbenet is now online***
