As
soon as TADUYA (don’t ask me what
that stands for) took the Bug Jar stage Thursday night, June 30, one thing was
clear: Al Beaman’s back, baby. With ex-Al Beaman Band guitarist Eddie Nebula
airborne at his side, Beaman dispersed his trademark wry humor and the joys of
being contrary.
Their
extra-cheesy cover of Scandal’s “The Warrior” was actually pretty impressive,
with Nebula hitting all the Patty Smyth high notes better than she ever did.
Bang bang. I know they don’t take themselves all that seriously, but it would
be nice to hear more from these guys.
TADUYA
warmed the stage for The Lobster
Quadrille. Barely a year old, The Quadrille is steeped in faded-lace,
Southern-gothic ethos, superstition, and doom. It’s kind of like a funeral at a
carnival. Songs of cotillions, consumption, salvation, and damnation trickled
out hypnotically and narcotically, woven through frontman Solomon’s
bible-thumping (no really, he actually thumped on a bible) rant. The
three-piece jet-black funeral director suits were a nice touch, too. Nobody in
town is doing what these guys are doing, instrumentally or lyrically. Nor does
any other Rochester band seem truly torn by its own music like The Quadrille
is. I’ve got a feeling demons are being exorcised here.
The
next night I got to judge — lest I be judged — the local battle of the bands for the 2005 MusicFest. Four bands
competed for an opening slot on the bill. For the most part the artists seemed
ill prepared. But what they lacked in content they made up for in sheer, shrill
volume. Rapper Baby Face Figs got
pantsed by his backing track when it jammed but rallied with an a cappella rant
before being joined by musicians from the group StatiQ (his competition, incidentally) who backed him up in a quick
improv jam. That was probably the coolest thing I saw that night. The results
ended in a tie between StatiQ and Black
August.
Strolled
a few blocks south on State to Spy Bar where The Veins were celebrating 10 years of The Veins. The band is
clearly bigger in posture, stature, and volume than the venue could take, but
the gig was a whole lotta fun. These guys write such great songs in the heavy,
well, vein. They’re really fun to watch — no histrionics but awesome
musicianship. You leave humming one of their songs as you walk away, walk away, oh yeah, with your ears ringing. Rock ‘n’
roll that sounds and feels good.
Ducked
out of the show to catch the new and improved Steve McNally beat his B-3 at Milestones, but he had already split
the gig and gone to bed as opposed to kick-starting one of those month-long
benders he has lately sworn off.
Saturday
night, July 2, and it was Reel Big Fish at
Water Street Music Hall. Their So-Cal pop punk had the joint sweltering in a
non-stop pogo. And why don’t more bands have horns anyway?
Next
stop: Joe Beard rockin’ the blues at
The Clarissa Room. The vibe was electric and the dance floor was flooded with
feet. Chris Beard showed up and
worked the room like a diplomat. He looked great and seems to be recovering
nicely from a recent stroke. A benefit is being planned for him at The Clarissa
Room on July 31.
This article appears in Jul 13-19, 2005.
