Complete Go Ask Alice article from 2001:
https://web.archive.org/web/20010406051730/http://playgroundsmag.com:80/alice.htm
Go Ask Alice
The big thing in Columbus this month is Riverfest, and you’ll find a few surprises in with a lot of old favorites, although hard rockers may not find much to their taste. James Brown is a sight to see. He was the opening act at Woodstock 99 and put on an unforgettable show! The Clark Family Experience, a hot new country act I saw opening for Reba McIntyre at Lakewood last summer is a definite see. I also highly recommend The Roaches, a Beatle tribute band that is so much fun you’ll feel sixteen all over again! Of course there are a lot of old favorites returning like Memory Dean, Jennifer Nettles, Another Man Down and local faves Cornbread, Skydog Gypsy, 502 and many more. Let’s just hope it doesn’t rain!
Royal 7, formerly Columbus favorite Blue Flannel, are making a big splash in Atlanta where some of them live now. They are finalists in a contest to play on the 99X Main Stage at Music Midtown this year. They need your help—and if you have a computer please take a minute to go and vote at Musicmidtown.com for Royal 7 at the Next Level (bottom right of the main page ) It only takes a second to do this! The other way to help is to come to the Showcase at The Cotton Club on April 22nd where the 5 finalists for the spot go head to head! It would be great if we had lots of Columbus fans at this one, and you can also vote there for Royal 7. The winners will be announced at the end of the night. The band will definitely appreciate it! They also have a gig at Nine Lives Saloon on April 7th.
Went to the announcement party for music Midtown, that featured the jugglers and stilt walkers and henna tattoo artists that will be there, and a live painting demonstration by Michael Angelides, along with an oxygen bar, the latest West Cost buzz to hit Atlanta. You breathe 99% pure oxygen combined with aromatherapies. I tried it and didn’t feel a thing!- Turner South is a partner in Midtown this year and will broadcast a concert Live from Music Midtown for the first time on May 5th. There will be 11 stages this year and about 150 bands appearing. It’s a hot lineup and you might want to get your tickets and round up a place to stay! You’ll have a blast, I promise!
An Auburn landmark, the wonderful Wildman Steve’s Record Store closed its doors for the last time March 24th. Steve will have the same sort of merchandise available online at www.wildmansteve.com and he is starting his own radio show on WAUD-AM 1230 on Monday, April 2nd from 3-7 pm. Of course he is still rocking with 3DK! Auburn was once a mecca for great record store but they have dwindled to the very cool Pass Around Sound. I love their hippie clothes!
I was privileged to photograph the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s
Induction of new members at the Waldorf Astoria in New York and I will tell you all about it next month, with lots of photos.|
There has been a lot of name changing of Atlanta venues this winter having to do with new corporate sponsorships. Center Stage is now called Earthlink Live and Lakewood is no more—now being called Hi Fi Buys Ampitheater, and of course The Roxy has long been the Cocoa Cola Roxy and the Cotton Club is the Planet Jam Cotton Club. Forgive me if I slip up and call them by the old names we are used to.
Stabbing Westward, one of my favorite bands, is about to release a new CD on Koch Records, and I am on their street team and have tons of cassette samplers for anybody who wants one!
Rock Reviews
I saw a really cool band for the first time called the Old 97’s. I love their new CD Satellite Rides, so I wanted to see them in person at Smiths Olde Bar. It was packed like sardines with fans. These guys are from Dallas, thus a country twinge can be heard in their great romantic songs that remind me of Marshall Crensahw’s or Elvis Costello’s. They are very loud—with big guitars (They call themselves a twangcore bar band) and great vocal harmonies and a lead singer, Rhett Miller, who is trying so hard it almost hurts! How can you not love a song like Rollerskate Skinny, where he propositions a
new girl with, “Do you wanna meet up at the Pickwood Bowl? We could knock nine down and leave one in the hole. ” Their energy and wonderful songs will make you a fan! Your butt will be seriously rocked if you go see the Old 97’s! (Roxy April 20) Go!
Weezer invaded Athens Classic Center, and I hadn’t seen them in years. They had the same opening band as Green Day last month, The Get Up Kids. Weezer are still all about cheese. They wear their geeky looks proudly as they bound onstage and speed through their fuzz-tinged power pop songs with great enthusiasm! They are great musicians, each one impressive at his craft. I’m particularly fond of bassist Matt Shay, who is also a major part of one of my favorite bands The Rentals. Lead man Rivers Cuomo is just too cheesy and full of nutsy fun to believe, but then that was always what Weezer was
about wasn’t it? They depend on the audience, who seem to know and sing every word, only playing a few new songs.
Fuel did an in-store concert at Best Buy in Alpharetta, and thousands of fans of all ages took the opportunity to get up very close and personal with the band—who sang new and old songs, wiped their sweat on fans’ clothing returning the drippy garments to grateful little girls, and even hung around for hours signing things for all of those willing to wait. Brett’s usually blond hair is a really weird reddish purple now but he is still adorable and this fine Pennsylvania band is finally getting the notoriety they have long deserved! They have worked very hard for it!
The next night I went to the fabulous Fox Theater to see the queen of attitude, Erykah Badu. I love her music and the latest CD Mama’s Gun is no exception. She made a grand entrance, befitting a goddess, completely dressed in white fur, even up her traditional towering headpiece. They wanted us to photograph her from the very back of the theater, so unfortunately I didn’t get any shots of this elegant beauty. The packed house was loving the grooves, and her backing musicians were wonderful. She moves slowly and deliberately and makes art out of every motion. A hilarious and very long rendition of Tyrone brought down the house! It was hilarious! The last song was Green Eyes, the beautiful last song on her new CD, written about her breakup with Andre Benjamin of Outkast, father of her 3 year old son. A lone horn and stately piano, transformed the theater into a smoky jazz club. The crowd was lavish with its love but, Badu remains a diva—never even introducing the terrific band or taking time to say good-bye.
Later that night I went to Masquerade for something harder—Slaves on Dope, Dust for Life, and Union Underground. This bill was designed by some nut who knew nothing about the bands involved or their fans! SOD warmed up the metal-rap loving crowd to a frenzy with their high powered show—highlighted as always by Kevin Jardine’s high leaps! Then came Dust for Life, who seemed terribly wimpy next to these heavier bands and the crowd booed and showed extreme disinterest. Vocalist and impressive guitarist Chris Gavin struggled through nearly acoustic songs that were particularly
unpopular to the rude metal crowd, and ended up in tears backstage after their set ended. I read that the DFL dropped off the tour a few days after this disastrous show, replaced by Saliva. Union Underground was awesome! Loud and proud, each with attention getting hair dos and lots of attitude, this band is just as colorful and kickass as the crowd desired and the kids were happy again!
The following Monday the Tabernacle was filled to the brim with guitar fans of all ages—and noticeably guitarists from many area bands were crowded near the stage for a bird’s eye view of the master, Jeff Beck. His too black hair looks like a helmet and his Iggy Pop face has weathered even more, but the man has no peers when it comes to guitar tricks and leaving his audience slack-jawed! He mixes his psychedelic riffage with occasional electronic twists, and seems to be striving to be stagy and interesting to look at. Jeff prefers playing his new music, though he has tons of older stuff from the Yardbirds and Jeff Beck Group that he could be playing. Nobody seems to
mind, as long as he keeps jamming on that guitar!
The Monkees invaded Atlanta for a fun evening at Center Stage and what a wonderful show it was! Monkee fans ranging from young teens to fortyish folks, were enthusiastically dancing in their seats to all the Monkees hits. All three seem to be excellent singers and they traded off vocals on each of their many hits. Reminiscing about the Brady Bunch and Marcia and other TV references put it all in perspective. Their backup band was excellent and their voices sound just the same. Tork is a whiz on keyboards and Dolenz, the acoustic guitar, while Davy Jones, still kind of cute, is content to run around dancing and singing . Groupies? Yes they still have many, who were there on the front row with homemade signs professing their love for their favorite Monkee and screaming a lot. There were several songs that caused a near-frenzy, like Daydream Believer and I’m a Believer and Last Train to Clarksville. Sure they were a made-for-TV boy band, but they’ve grown to be talented men who can really put on a great show!
The Van Zant brothers, Johnny, the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Donnie, the singer for 38 Special, have made another CD together called VanZantII and decided to do their first tour ever together to support its release. It was a very short tour of only 8 shows but Atlanta got one of the first and it was amazing! I got to go back to see the guys before the show and talk to them both (see page.——) They were having a blast singing together and sheer joy was evident in their faces as they sang nearly every song from this CD and 1998s Brother to Brother, backed by an excellent combination of musicians they had organized on the spur of the moment. What a fun night it was for fans of Southern rock! After this tour both men will be
back on the road with their respective bands for the spring and summer.
Matthew Sweet and the Josh Joplin Band were next at the Roxy. Josh Joplin, an Atlantan, who has been plugging away for years in the area music scene, even playing here at The Loft and at Backyard Boogies, has finally cracked the big time with an amazing song about suicide, Camera One . It’s such a catchy song, you just can’t forget it and every kind of radio station has latched onto it. Josh is as down-to earth as ever and seems to be enjoying the ride! Matthew Sweet is lucky to have had his one hit because his music is just not he type that gets media attention these days. He keeps plugging away with his great guitar and clever songwriting, comfortable just doing what he does so well, and looking much like a teddy bear.
Semisonic brought their incredible new music to center stage, with
opener Dexter Freebish, a charming Austin band that is building a huge following among young teens, especially girls who fall for cute young rock stars. The band has several, and the first single Leaving Town has become a familiar radio favorite —My money is on their next release, Spotlight, which is a real show-stopper about the perils of fame. A really great song! Dan Wilson and Semisonic are big favorites of mine and I have missed them a lot! Sure their music is much wimpier than what I usually love, but their songs are so warm and wonderful and their stage presence with Dan’s kooky guitar playing, hip-swaying style are so much fun, I really love this band! Their new music is great! Almost every song sounds like a big hit—even Get a Grip, about masturbation, got the whole crowd on their feet swaying and cheering! You’ll be hearing All About Chemistry the first single from the CD all over the radio real soon. Dan knows how to write an unforgettable song with a gentle touch! I’m just glad he keeps on doing it!
Duran Duran played not one but 5 Atlanta shows in a row at center Stage. (At $56 a ticket many fans went all 5 nights! ) Yes, a lot of women are still obsessed with Duran Duran after all these years! 99X had a breakfast with the band the day we were there, and many fans said they had stayed there waiting all day for the show. And what a show! Simon Le Bon was wearing pink pants and a black silk shirt and was in the mood to dance all over while singing their surprisingly many hits. Nick Rhodes, the only other original member, stayed pretty still behind the keyboards. It was all Simon—donning a lei and sunglasses for an Elvis impression complete with dance steps, and singing beautiful versions of all their hits without taking a breather. The sound was perfect and the huge crowd of Durannies was dancing in the aisles and having the time of their lives! Many had home-made posters with glittery professions of their undying love for Simon—and still others were on the front row trying to touch Warren, who replaced JohnTaylor —a very buff muscular dude who wears very few clothes, and drives the younger ladies wild. This band always sound so excellent and really put on an excellent show!
A busy Saturday took me to Papa Roach and Alien Ant Farm at the Tabernacle (Orgy had cancelled because the guitarist has mono)What an awesome show! I didn’t enjoy the opener but Papa Roach is the best of the new angry bands and the fact that their first CD took them from total anonymity to selling over 3 million copies! They have just returned from touring Europe and were bursting to hit the stage when I talked with them right before the show. High energy and deeply meaningful rants characterize their music and each musician is a showstopper! Singer Coby Dick, who sprained his ankle during the first song, and although visibly in agony, continued to play non-stop all night—what a trooper! it was an awesome show and the kids who love this band were out in force, filling all levels of the Tabernacle with cheers and singing along with the well-known songs like Broken Home and Last Resort. I would’ve stayed all night, but had to get moving to Masquerade to see Sepultura, Brazil’s heavy metal masters! Dredlocked Derrick is a wild man and their tribal sounding intros and the Andreas badass riffing are the same as always—I was a little late, thanks to Papa Roach, but got into the groove right away! You can always depend on Sepultura to be a bit exotic while throwing it in your face and kicking your ass.
Local Shows
The biggest Columbus bash of the month was the return of local favorite Atlanta’s Shawn Mullins to the Loft. Everyone was there, even some of the movie stars in town, who turned out to be big fans of Shawn’s music. What a great show! Keni Thomas started things off with a solo performance of some Cornbread music and even sat at the keyboards and sang a few, one especially for Kelli. Shawn’s show was just awesome! His gritty vocals and wonderful songs thrilled the two consecutive sellout crowds!
U.S, a Columbus favorite from the Rockmyers days, did a really fun show at the new Tuck’s location, which is a killer place to party! The band was in top form—preparing for their annual Spring Break foray to Panama City and all sorts of local rockers showed up to jam with them, including Tony Thomas, Dan Daly and Buddy Nail. The place was really jumping!
Pfungusamungus, the wonderful South Carolina punks were back at SgtD’s and brought along Brillo’s favorite band, Atlanta’s SexxxyCirkus. This is a funky band that is super entertaining, and does lots of cool original songs and a great selection of covers too. A real party! They will be appearing at Music Midtown on the V103 stage and are about to tour Europe! Pfungus frontman, Brillo, was in a crazy mood—wearing bright yellow plastic overalls and rapping their catchy songs to the eager crowd of Pfungus fans—growing rapidly in Columbus! Colorful and really nutty, this band is unforgettable!
Went to Tuck’s again to check out Clown Dog Riot for a great St Paddy’s Day party. A very cool cover band from Arkansas, the Riot guys know all of the most recent radio hits from Limp Biskit to Fuel and the crowd was dancing and enjoying it greatly. The band also has a CD of originals, though we didn’t get to hear any. The bass player was a wild animal, the guitarist looked preppy, and the long-haired singer is a cutie, but the drummer was amazing—my favorite part!
I missed the Mercy Crush show with CST opening, and will never be forgiven! One more show at SgtD’s to check out—Atlanta’s Salt Circle was a loud and powerful experience! Salt Circle has a wild drummer I couldn’t take my eyes off of and the bass player is a dream. The guitarist has a massive head of long hair that he rarely peeks out from behind and the front man is great—very in-your-face! A crashing, loud band perfect for the heavier crowd.
Plans at Sgt Ds call for a change in the stage, which is being moved
around to face the front of the club. Seems like a good idea!
Well that’s about it for this month! Get out and enjoy some music and call me with your rock news!