Twitter Facebook GooglePlus Vimeo RSS

September 29, 2004 Music » Music Feature

Pin It
Fest finds buried rock treasure
Share

Blackbeard's lost weekend 

Fest finds buried rock treasure

by
Write to the editor
When the organizers of purist rock 'n' roll fest Freaky Tiki started planning this year's event, they knew some changes were in order. Rob Walsh and Todd Colberg, who also play in local group The Spinns, discovered there were too many Tiki-related things going on everywhere they looked. They never received a cease-and-desist order, but knew they were due for a name change. Colberg says, "We had to come up with something more original. We were just gonna call it Lost Weekend, because we thought that was a good garage theme, but we wanted to have a local flavor." So what better analogy for a weekend of lewd and loose rock bands than the nastiest pirate of them all, Blackbeard? This weekend at The Cave, Colberg and Walsh have again set up three solid nights of garage rock. This year, there is a whole new passel of bands, since the two organizers wanted to mix it up. "We didn't want to have the same bands every year, and wanted to give people some variety and options for the weekend." Colberg and Walsh select their lineup every year from those groups that really floored them when they played gigs together. The relationships vary, but there is camaraderie in the music. Take the case of Birmingham, Ala. group Taylor & The Puffs. Colberg says, "We'd brought 'em up before to Chapel Hill, and Josh (Spinns drummer) and I played a Southeast tour with Taylor." Some of the bands are no-frills rock, with their gusto taking the place of any fancy gear or even stellar musicianship. Others go all out in the maniacal, sometimes silly, spirit of the primitive beat. Meet Maximus. "We played with them in Houston, but they're from New Orleans," Colberg says. "They wear togas and sandals, speak Latin between songs, but their music is hard garage, like (British cult figure Billy Childish's project) Thee Headcoats." The Alaskan Pirate & His Salty Seamen would fit right in at Blackbeard's hangout, but are unfortunately unable to attend this year.

As this annual event gains strength each year, the reputation gets out there, and previous experience feeds into new discoveries. A new addition this year, Pernicious Kniffs, is from a scene in which The Spinns find kinship. Colberg illuminates: "We had to get a band from Cincinatti. It's a great town with so much goin' on for the kind of music we're doin', and the several bands doing it. Thee Shams (who played last year's fest) are from there, and they share a member." Atlanta's The Black Lips, another favorite last year, are returning, and bringing Athens friends Coffin Bound. The Lips teeter on the edge of self-destruction on stage, often erupting into wrestling matches and dropping their drawers in the process. Wild, chaotic rock that embodies the same spirit that led Jerry Lee to torch his piano. Colberg describes Coffin Bound simply as "young guys who can write incredibly good songs." Cleveland's New Planet Trampoline will be decidedly retro, comparable to an early Pink Floyd sound, says Colberg, "with farfisa, covering the psychedelic side of the weekend." There is always a strong local showing, and Sunday night gathers The Spinns, Dexter Romweber Duo, The Chrome-Plated Apostles and Killer Filler, fronted by former Southern Culture organist Chris "Crispy" Bess.

That pirate theme isn't just in name only, though, as Colberg confirms, "There will be some pirate decor." When the bands they're digging up are shiny, rough pebbles deep under the surface of dull mainstream rock, the pirate metaphor works wonders. Because it's really all about buried treasure anyway. For more info, check www.demonbeachrecords.com.

Schedule
Friday, October 1
The Lobsters
The Black Lips
Taylor & The Puffs

Saturday, October 2
Maximus
New Planet Trampoline
Pernicious Kniffs
Coffin Bound

Sunday, October 3
Dexter Romweber Duo
The Spinns
Chrome-Plated Apostles
Killer Filler

Music Feature archives…

  • Fest finds buried rock treasure

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this thread:
By Email
With RSS

Add a comment

INDY Week publishes all kinds of comments, but we don't publish everything.

  • Comments that are not contributing to the conversation will be removed.
  • Comments that include ad hominem attacks will also be removed.
  • Please do not copy and paste the full text of a press release.

Permitted HTML:
  • To create paragraphs in your comment, type <p> at the start of a paragraph and </p> at the end of each paragraph.
  • To create bold text, type <b>bolded text</b> (please note the closing tag, </b>).
  • To create italicized text, type <i>italicized text</i> (please note the closing tag, </i>).
  • Proper web addresses will automatically become links.

Latest in Music Feature

Facebook Activity

Twitter Activity

Read indyweek's Tweets

Comments

Stories Blogs Dining All

This article and interview is great, looking forward to this event! But.... I took the photo featured here, which seems …

by Em P Lokkwood on The anarchic face of Savage Weekend noise festival belies an acute curatorial mind (Music Feature)

Thanks for the catch, Jeremy. The text has been corrected.

by Denise Prickett, INDY Editorial Web Director on The anarchic face of Savage Weekend noise festival belies an acute curatorial mind (Music Feature)

Most Read

Most Read Most Shared Most Discussed
  1. The week in music: May 8-15, 2013 (Our guide to this week's shows)
  2. The week in music: May 15-22, 2013 (Our guide to this week's shows)
  3. Herding jazz cats: How D-Town Brass manages 15 members (Music Feature)
  4. The anarchic face of Savage Weekend noise festival belies an acute curatorial mind (Music Feature)
  5. Three months after being hit by a car, Paint Fumes' Elijah Von Cramon laughs on (Music Feature)

© 2013 Indy Week • 302 E. Pettigrew St., Suite 300, Durham, NC 27701 • phone 919-286-1972 • fax 919-286-4274
RSS Feeds | Powered by Foundation