CheckOneTwo

Yours truly did indeed venture out to Whitewater on Friday, looking forward to seeing Silverton, The Moving Front, and Doug McKean and the Stuntmen.   The Tavern was packed with a distinctively different clientele this evening.  Lots more ballcaps and rugby shirts, noticeably more hairdos and cleavage….made me wonder if there was some sort of IFC meeting going on.  Seems that the memo has gone out to the frats that WWT is a great place for cheap beer and live music.   Congrats to Matty and the crew on expanding the crowd, but this is going to take some getting used to. 

Maybe I can help ease the transition a bit.

 TIPS FOR THE WHITEWATER FIRST-TIMERS

1.  This is not a sorority party.  Dress however you want, but making snotty comments about the way the regulars are dressed is likely to result in you getting dealt with.  Save that shit for the River Market or your spring social.

2.  Dancing is encouraged.  However, if you try to go all Tawny Kitaen in front of the stage, expect to be laughed at.  By us and by the band.  By all means dance your little heart out, but don’t be surprised if it gets you some attention that you weren’t counting on. 

3.  If you are trying to get to the bar, it’s really OK to just say “excuse me.”  No need to push people out of the way.  Your Abercrombie shirt and backwards baseball cap looks reeeeeallly great on you, and I’m proud that you are a star at intramurals, but it’s not going to get you past me.  Settle down and we can probably even be friends.

4.   Last tip:  it’s really about the music at WWT.   Give the bands a chance to play, and quit looking annoyed that they are interrupting your conversations.   If you’re occupying the first couple of rows in front of the stage, and you have your back to the band for an extended conversation with your friends, man…..come on.  Kind of rude.  Maybe it doesn’t piss a lot of you off, but it pisses me off.  Save that area in front of the stage for the folks who care about the music more than they care about what happened in Western Civ today.

5.   Welcome!  We’re really glad you’re here.  Next time, bring a few more friends. 

Now about the music:

SILVERTON 

Silverton  is a young, local band that somehow crammed 7 performers onto the tiny WWT stage and then went to work.  I really dug their set a lot.  Heavy on the harmonies, with a lead singer who sometimes channeled a young Yusef Islam, Silverton brought a country-rock vibe nicely accentuated with keyboards, double back-up singers,  and a barefoot tambourinist.   The songs were short and loosely performed–the phrase “happily shambolic” comes to mind, and I mean that in a good way.  Silverton seemed to enjoy each other’s company, which goes a long way with me.

Word around the campfire is that Silverton plays Juanita’s next month (Sat Feb 23, 9:30 p.m., $6).  Based on the strength of their WWT performance, I’ll plan on checking it out. 

THE MOVING FRONT

Next up was TMF, with a strong mix of material from their “S/T” album and new material yet to be released.   TMF is a crowd favorite and did not disappoint.   Let’s just note that before this set was a third over, there was quite literally blood on the keyboards (somebody send Jeremy Brasher a band-aid) and a lot of new fans for TMF.   I personally observed more than a few folks who knew the lyrics and were lustily singing along. 

DOUG MCKEAN AND THE STUNTMEN

Based largely on their association with the GC5, I anticipated this set would be heavily on the punk side, or at least a little more fierce.   Two songs in, though, a fellow concert-goer put it well:  “This sounds like they were influenced by John Cougar Mellencamp.”  Nailed it.  Perhaps the lead singer’s cowboy hat should have been a giveaway.  The set lacked the anger, passion, and drive that I was hoping for, and unfortunately the crowd settled in for a role as passive spectators rather than active participants. 

The headliners stayed to do another set on Saturday night.  I did not attend, but would welcome hearing from any of you who did. 

Sibilance,

Glen