Music News & Gossip
Feb 5, 2003
Threats & Promises
Music News and Gossip
Okay, punters, here' s the lowdown on all that's been going on while you were still bundled up for your long winter's nap. Remember, I do more before 6 p.m. than most people do before 6 a.m. So Take That!
How're They Gonna Know if You Don't Help 'Em Out: To all local bands who want a little attention (and you know you do because, let's face it, you play in a band...) the time to submit your name and band description for the annual Flagpole Athens Music Directory is NOW. The deadline is the February 7 and it's so easy to do there's no excuse not to and ain't no one gonna listen to complaints if you fail to get it in. You can find the submission form inside the pages of Flagpole and on-line at www.flagpole.com. If you can finger a pick, you can finger a mouse. [Sarah Lee]
Athens, Home of the Almost-Education: In a piece entitled "Spring College Special 2003: Campus Scenes that Rock," Rolling Stone magazine (yes, THE Rolling Stone) announced that Athens, GA is Number 1 on a list of 10 national college music scenes that are ranked by "venue, talent on the rise and total party volume." Beating out such notable cities as Madison, Chapel Hill and Austin, Athens was cited as being the "alpha and omega of the college music scene." Acts listed on the rise were Maserati, Of Montreal and Jucifer, while the 40 Watt Club, Georgia Theatre and Caledonia were listed as "where it's at." Accompanying the piece was a photograph of the B-52's taken by Flagpole's own Chris McKay, while intern Sasha Sarene Morgan and writer Heather Muse were quoted. We at the ’Pole couldn't be prouder of our staffers, the clubs, the musicians and our hometown. If you live here and don't know much about the scene, Rolling Stone is now on board telling you that you should. (Incidentally, Athens also topped the list with the highest fine, $1000, for being busted with two joints at a show!)
Calling All Labels: The regional band Atomic Eyes, who, word has it, are being actively courted by biggies such as Columbia, Virgin and Warner Brothers record Companies, headlines a show with Exit Left on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at Tasty World. The band has apparently toured with Collective Soul, Sugar Ray and Dexter Freebish, so if those acts make you scream "hell yeah!" to the closest fraternity brother, by all means, check this one out. [SL]
It's a Festival of Breasts: Sara O'Brien, the doo-gooder behind the yearly breast cancer awareness rally BreastFest, has informed Flagpole of the confirmed acts for this year's activities and they are as follows: Saturday, March 1, at the Georgia Theatre, Bluegrass BreastFest will begin at 7 p.m. and will feature Stewart and Winfield, Last Minute Miracle Band, Packway Handle Band and String Theory. The following week, the traditional fun starts at two venues, Nuçi's Space and Tasty World, over two days featuring acts such as Tim Conley and back-up singers from AquaLove Acoustic, The Ones, Grand Fury, Summer Hymns and S.O.B. [SL]
At Tha Crossroads of Pulaski and West Washington: Bone Thugs N Harmony, the Cleveland hip-hoppers who somehow fit right in the middle of the East Coast/West Coast war by recording with both Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, will play a private, Greek-sponsored fund-raiser show at the 40 Watt this Saturday, February 8. Sorry kids, it's SOLD-OUT! Their 2002 release Thug World Order (Sony) is the band's fourth album in seven years and is a way for the Bone brothers to "create a thug world order that we'd be running," says Krayzie Bone on the band's website. The band is best known for the Grammy-winning 1996 song entitled "Tha Crossroads," that, incidentally, tied a 32-year-old record set by the Beatles for the fastest-rising single. Word. [SL]
From Athens To Where? Every now and again, a seasoned Athens music veteran packs up and leaves our humble burg. Such is the case with J. Kirk Pleasant who heads the wonderfully esoteric Calvin, Don't Jump. He informed Flagpole this week, "I threatened to leave this past summer and now after all threats have been pushed aside, I promise to be leaving at the end of February." He'll be taking along, of course, wife and playwright Gretchen Elsner and son Julian Pleasant who has the best rock and roll name I've heard in years. He also informed us that the latest album by the band, A Way With Birds, will be released by Florida's Happy, Happy Birthday To Me Records. Kirk, we'll miss you and loved having you around. But you forgot to tell us exactly "where" you're going. Oh, well, guess we'll have to catch you on the news.
He's an Unknown but He's my Idol: There's been a buzz about the local guy that's advanced through the audition process of Fox's American Idol (Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m.) to be one of about 30 contestants on the new season of the show. 24-year-old Patrick Lake of Athens (who apparently can be seen around town at the hair-metal karaoke shows that the band Knight Seeker like to host) has beaten hundreds of hopefuls just by making it on the show and advanced to the next round on Wednesday the 29th. Lake, who lists his influences as Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi (but has David Bowie's Disturbed in his CD player) says he picks Paula Abdul as his favorite judge, "Because she's so cute." Never wanted to watch the show personally, but now I think it's worth a look. [SL]
Solid Double Bill If Ever There Was One: Mark your calendars for March 12, folks. That's the night The Glands will open for Yo La Tengo at the fabulous 40 Watt. Why am I letting you know so early? Because the anticipation makes it sweeter.
It's Not A Million Bucks, But Pretty Good: Word has come down from Atlanta that Elizabeth Elkins of Alastor has been named the Grand Prize Winner (in the "rock" category) of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Shit, hell fire! That's pretty damn big news. Even my Grandmother knows who John Lennon was. At any rate, her song "Deception Bay" was the tune that scored her the honor and for that she's gonna get a little cash money, a load of new equipment and an advance on a publishing deal with EMI. Congrats, Elizabeth. But remember, EMI was the label that dropped the Sex Pistols, so watch your back. Get more info on all Alastor news over at Alastorweb.com.
Please Confirm: Rumor has it that during a showing of the WB Network's new bizarro show "The Surreal Life," whose assistant editor just happens to be former Flagpole scribe Mark Pilvinsky, a snippet of a track by I Am The World Trade Center was being played. I didn't see it so I don't know. That's just what I heard.
Um, Okay: Former Athens band Hazel Virtue have reformed (who knew?) and relocated to Charleston, SC. Apparently they've been stinking it up over there for a couple of years now and winning a bunch of local awards and what not. I once spent some time around the Charleston scene and, folks, lemme tell you: it's a monster only understood by those inside of it. One cool aspect is that the entire town seems to not realize that the rest of the world exists, but that also leads to worshipping some god awful homegrown stuff. I'm not including Hazel Virtue in this group, though, since I haven't seen them in years. Get more info on what they've been up to by going to hazelvirtue.com.
Riding on The Metroscene: Atlanta favorites Metroscene will be hosting their "anniversary" show on February 7 at The EARL. The band, which has been able to draw crowd of hundreds in Atlanta while drawing flies in Athens, promises to fill the set with "crowd favorites" and sing-along covers. Their most recent show at New York's Mercury Lounge was a sell-out and apparently got rave press up there. Folks, it's time for the Atlanta-Athens rivalry to end. There's no reason these guys shouldn't be getting more love out of us. If we don't watch it, the rest of the world will get in on the South's best secrets before we even know they exist.
Additions and Corrections: Call it a blank-out, call it anything you want, but forgive me for not having mentioned that Martyr & Pistol will also be one of the opening acts for Mission Of Burma's show on February 20 at Atlanta's Echo Lounge. Previously I reported that only Heros Severum would be opening. My flogging begins at midnight if you wanna come by.
Bootlegs? We Don't Need No Stinking Bootlegs!: Atlanta will be seeing the return of Pearl Jam on April 18 at the behemoth known as The Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre. As luck would have it, Sleater-Kinney (!) will have ended their run as opening act exactly one night before in Nashville, TN. Pearl Jam also will be releasing, yet again, live double-CDs of each show on this tour as well. Why anyone would have 423 live Pearl Jam records is beyond me, but I guess you gotta spend that Christmas money somehow.
Prevention Is The Best Medicine: Nuçi's Space will host the Athens date of the Too Young To Die Tour 2003: Preventing Youth Suicide Through Education & Music. The tour, sponsored by Deep Elm Records, The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention and Hot Topic Stores, will feature performances by Brandston, Red Animal War, Desert City Soundtrack, Settlefish and David Singer. Obviously, this is a really good cause and I encourage everyone that's able to attend. Get more info over at deepelm.com
Wallabies Are Huggable Beyond Belief: Athens band Rock Star Wallabies have some demos available over on their website rockstarwallabies.com. The band also has a full recording from a January show over at the 40 Watt so hunt them down and get you one.
And the race is on. Remember to let us know what's going on with you. Keep warm and send the shiznit via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-2360; via fax at 548-8981; or by post at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.
Gordon Lamb
How're They Gonna Know if You Don't Help 'Em Out: To all local bands who want a little attention (and you know you do because, let's face it, you play in a band...) the time to submit your name and band description for the annual Flagpole Athens Music Directory is NOW. The deadline is the February 7 and it's so easy to do there's no excuse not to and ain't no one gonna listen to complaints if you fail to get it in. You can find the submission form inside the pages of Flagpole and on-line at www.flagpole.com. If you can finger a pick, you can finger a mouse. [Sarah Lee]
Athens, Home of the Almost-Education: In a piece entitled "Spring College Special 2003: Campus Scenes that Rock," Rolling Stone magazine (yes, THE Rolling Stone) announced that Athens, GA is Number 1 on a list of 10 national college music scenes that are ranked by "venue, talent on the rise and total party volume." Beating out such notable cities as Madison, Chapel Hill and Austin, Athens was cited as being the "alpha and omega of the college music scene." Acts listed on the rise were Maserati, Of Montreal and Jucifer, while the 40 Watt Club, Georgia Theatre and Caledonia were listed as "where it's at." Accompanying the piece was a photograph of the B-52's taken by Flagpole's own Chris McKay, while intern Sasha Sarene Morgan and writer Heather Muse were quoted. We at the ’Pole couldn't be prouder of our staffers, the clubs, the musicians and our hometown. If you live here and don't know much about the scene, Rolling Stone is now on board telling you that you should. (Incidentally, Athens also topped the list with the highest fine, $1000, for being busted with two joints at a show!)
| |
It's a Festival of Breasts: Sara O'Brien, the doo-gooder behind the yearly breast cancer awareness rally BreastFest, has informed Flagpole of the confirmed acts for this year's activities and they are as follows: Saturday, March 1, at the Georgia Theatre, Bluegrass BreastFest will begin at 7 p.m. and will feature Stewart and Winfield, Last Minute Miracle Band, Packway Handle Band and String Theory. The following week, the traditional fun starts at two venues, Nuçi's Space and Tasty World, over two days featuring acts such as Tim Conley and back-up singers from AquaLove Acoustic, The Ones, Grand Fury, Summer Hymns and S.O.B. [SL]
At Tha Crossroads of Pulaski and West Washington: Bone Thugs N Harmony, the Cleveland hip-hoppers who somehow fit right in the middle of the East Coast/West Coast war by recording with both Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, will play a private, Greek-sponsored fund-raiser show at the 40 Watt this Saturday, February 8. Sorry kids, it's SOLD-OUT! Their 2002 release Thug World Order (Sony) is the band's fourth album in seven years and is a way for the Bone brothers to "create a thug world order that we'd be running," says Krayzie Bone on the band's website. The band is best known for the Grammy-winning 1996 song entitled "Tha Crossroads," that, incidentally, tied a 32-year-old record set by the Beatles for the fastest-rising single. Word. [SL]
From Athens To Where? Every now and again, a seasoned Athens music veteran packs up and leaves our humble burg. Such is the case with J. Kirk Pleasant who heads the wonderfully esoteric Calvin, Don't Jump. He informed Flagpole this week, "I threatened to leave this past summer and now after all threats have been pushed aside, I promise to be leaving at the end of February." He'll be taking along, of course, wife and playwright Gretchen Elsner and son Julian Pleasant who has the best rock and roll name I've heard in years. He also informed us that the latest album by the band, A Way With Birds, will be released by Florida's Happy, Happy Birthday To Me Records. Kirk, we'll miss you and loved having you around. But you forgot to tell us exactly "where" you're going. Oh, well, guess we'll have to catch you on the news.
| |
| |
It's Not A Million Bucks, But Pretty Good: Word has come down from Atlanta that Elizabeth Elkins of Alastor has been named the Grand Prize Winner (in the "rock" category) of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Shit, hell fire! That's pretty damn big news. Even my Grandmother knows who John Lennon was. At any rate, her song "Deception Bay" was the tune that scored her the honor and for that she's gonna get a little cash money, a load of new equipment and an advance on a publishing deal with EMI. Congrats, Elizabeth. But remember, EMI was the label that dropped the Sex Pistols, so watch your back. Get more info on all Alastor news over at Alastorweb.com.
Please Confirm: Rumor has it that during a showing of the WB Network's new bizarro show "The Surreal Life," whose assistant editor just happens to be former Flagpole scribe Mark Pilvinsky, a snippet of a track by I Am The World Trade Center was being played. I didn't see it so I don't know. That's just what I heard.
Um, Okay: Former Athens band Hazel Virtue have reformed (who knew?) and relocated to Charleston, SC. Apparently they've been stinking it up over there for a couple of years now and winning a bunch of local awards and what not. I once spent some time around the Charleston scene and, folks, lemme tell you: it's a monster only understood by those inside of it. One cool aspect is that the entire town seems to not realize that the rest of the world exists, but that also leads to worshipping some god awful homegrown stuff. I'm not including Hazel Virtue in this group, though, since I haven't seen them in years. Get more info on what they've been up to by going to hazelvirtue.com.
Riding on The Metroscene: Atlanta favorites Metroscene will be hosting their "anniversary" show on February 7 at The EARL. The band, which has been able to draw crowd of hundreds in Atlanta while drawing flies in Athens, promises to fill the set with "crowd favorites" and sing-along covers. Their most recent show at New York's Mercury Lounge was a sell-out and apparently got rave press up there. Folks, it's time for the Atlanta-Athens rivalry to end. There's no reason these guys shouldn't be getting more love out of us. If we don't watch it, the rest of the world will get in on the South's best secrets before we even know they exist.
Additions and Corrections: Call it a blank-out, call it anything you want, but forgive me for not having mentioned that Martyr & Pistol will also be one of the opening acts for Mission Of Burma's show on February 20 at Atlanta's Echo Lounge. Previously I reported that only Heros Severum would be opening. My flogging begins at midnight if you wanna come by.
Bootlegs? We Don't Need No Stinking Bootlegs!: Atlanta will be seeing the return of Pearl Jam on April 18 at the behemoth known as The Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre. As luck would have it, Sleater-Kinney (!) will have ended their run as opening act exactly one night before in Nashville, TN. Pearl Jam also will be releasing, yet again, live double-CDs of each show on this tour as well. Why anyone would have 423 live Pearl Jam records is beyond me, but I guess you gotta spend that Christmas money somehow.
Prevention Is The Best Medicine: Nuçi's Space will host the Athens date of the Too Young To Die Tour 2003: Preventing Youth Suicide Through Education & Music. The tour, sponsored by Deep Elm Records, The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention and Hot Topic Stores, will feature performances by Brandston, Red Animal War, Desert City Soundtrack, Settlefish and David Singer. Obviously, this is a really good cause and I encourage everyone that's able to attend. Get more info over at deepelm.com
Wallabies Are Huggable Beyond Belief: Athens band Rock Star Wallabies have some demos available over on their website rockstarwallabies.com. The band also has a full recording from a January show over at the 40 Watt so hunt them down and get you one.
And the race is on. Remember to let us know what's going on with you. Keep warm and send the shiznit via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-2360; via fax at 548-8981; or by post at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.
Gordon Lamb
Threats & Promises RSS Feed
Share This Page 
View the Paper in PDF
Past Issues
