“The only preconceptions I’m going in with are an underlying philosophical conviction that rock music has something to do with theft and repetition.”
– Jim Greer
On that note, this has been an uneasy few weeks for some of the more prominent members of the local scene.
Like Saigon Kick, who had a major shake-up in their lineup and had to redo their second album as a trio. The album, Water, has now come out to mixed reviews, and the band has hit the road with two additional members.
Over in Tampa for Livestock, the two-day camporee festival in a cow pasture, the band was off to a rocky start. Hitting the road on a Wednesday, their two new tour buses were both involved in accidents. Then they got rained out in Orlando on Friday, after the opening acts – a pep rally and a marching band – did their thing.
Now it’s Saturday in Zephyrhills and it’s once again pouring down rain. Also on the bill are local faves Forget the Name, national bands Nudeswirl, Animal Bag, Pride, Green Apple, Quickstep, Tribe After Tribe and Anthrax. The rains remain all day, turning the pasture into a mud flat and drenching the Bartertown campers, all 25,000 of them.
Well, it is the “Water Tour.”Saigon has recruited former DJ Glenn Richards to run its merchandise concessions, and already Richards is learning how hard the rigors of touring can be on the body.
“Everything hurts,” he moaned. “But the shirts, especially the profane ones, are selling really well.”
The band hides out in the bus most of the day; bassist Chris McLernon and new guitarist Pete Dembrowski make a few rounds of the soggy grounds, hair stuffed up under baseball caps.
Saigon’s main complaint is they feel the South Florida scene has turned against them as reports of their Slammie award being smashed, poor reviews of the new album by Dade papers and speculation about the reasons behind former lead singer Matt Kramer’s departure have filtered back to them. Is it jealousy? Is it justified? It’s hard to say, and it depends who you talk to.
I have mixed feelings about the album. I’m not crazy about the Bowie cover or the single I Love You, but the gospel singers lift the title track much higher. It sounded better live, without the eerie guitar line. Best track on the album is The Way, a bluesy love song with strong raspy vocals. The harder crunching songs work better, and the band experiments with drum machines, odd Caribbean riffs and political commentary. It’s an odd stew this Water swims in because it is a real transitional album for the band.
Live they are a whole new experience, and the Tampa crowd was clearly with them. It will be interesting to see where the flow takes them.
One other Livestock note: A new band look seems to be taking a cue from White Zombie, as members of Animal Bag and Tribe After Tribe are sporting waist length white-boy dreadlocks, like bands of wild motorcycle-riding desert rats.
The town is still mildly buzzing with the recent disqualification of Nil Lara from the Tanqueray Rocks contest for covering 30 seconds of a Pink Floyd song in Spanish. Regardless of who instigated the complaints, it was still dirty pool. Ugly business all around, and I say shame, shame, shame.
Set fillers
There’s a new label out of Gainesville called TIG Records and one of its first releases is a winner. Robert Guess’s five-song CD, Indecision, is filled with some beautiful songwriting and top-notch instrumentation.
—- Sandra Schulman has been staying up to catch the last band for years. Her column appears every other week. Send info to The Local Scene, Entertainment Dept., Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33301.
