Concert Reviews: October 1993

Birdman, Rhubarb and Love Bucket
September 16 @ Delta Pub

Love Bucket fucking rules. Seriously old-school punk rock circa 1977 complete with chicken head mask and swimming goggles. The drummer even plays a five gallon spring water bottle and a giant beer can with no cymbals,standing up the whole time, no less. Were there more than eight people in the audience, Delta Pub would have been leveled by crazed pogo dancers.

Rhubarb only made it through two songs of sloppy, drunken garage rock and feedback. Long live Park City!

Birdman seems to be trailing a cult following of some sorts. Maybe it will be called Birdman-ia. It is a conceivable idea once one has witnessed them playing, especially when they are well-rested and have plenty of time to tune, etc. It is surprising how they can go from fragile and melodic to stomping and thrashing so naturally. Get their tape, but catch them live to see what it’s really about.

Hard-Ons, N.S.C and Anger Overload
September 11 @ Delta Pub

Another fine show at Delta Pub with few in attendance, possibly due to the Lake Show being scheduled on the same day, but those who showed up were treated to a night of surprises.

Anger Overload jump started the evening with a spontaneous and totally ripping grindcore song then launched into a powerful set showcasing their forthcoming tape Ugly (which the band just barely finished mixing at 6 a.m. that very day). Put simply, Anger Overload is just plain burly.

I am always happy to see N.S.C., who played next. Catchy punk riffs with dual vocalists and intelligent, insightful lyrics in the sociopolitical vein. Beneath the lovely disco ball N.S.C. charged through a highly energetic set and even indulged the crowd to an extended instrumental number. –Blaine Hopkins 

Lunachicks, N.S.C. and State of the Nation
September 20 @ Bar and Grill

State of the Nation is really good. To me they were impressive, but totally MTV ready. They played with a lot of energy and got really sweaty on stage.

Not the best set I’ve ever seen, N.S.C. played, but it was still tough. I guess they were plagued with illness, but that didn’t stop the bassist from rolling around on stage.

Yes, the Lunachicks are girls! Back with a vengeance on the male population. They ripped through a lot of songs and wreaked mayhem on the bar. They played “Mom,” “Plugg,” “Superstrong” and a personal fav of mine, “Makin It.”

(With other species) they left an impression on me. –Chop

The Offspring, Anger Overload, Voodoo Swing and Chubby Amigos
September 17 @ Logan

Locals to Logan, the Chubby Amigos opened the long evening. I can’t classify these songs—punk rock Chex Party Mix—somewhere in between Elvis, Black Flag and Descendents. They aren’t Mexican, but the church bells never quit ringing the rest of the evening.

Voodoo Swing was all over the stage rockin’ and rollin’, coppin’ and a-feelin’. I thought these small-town punks would reject ’em but instead they just boogied.

From Mars, Jupiter, even stupider. Anger Overload showed Logan their bare asses and rock on rockier pastures. The two guitarists had pantyhose on their heads and a weird type of jockstrap around them so their business wouldn’t poke out. I’ve never seen a fat man so pissed off.

Normally Logan doesn’t see the likes of epitaph bands, but they were lucky enough to line up a show for Offspring. What can I say, they put on a good show! I’ve never seen a Logan crowd go so nuts. I counted two broken noses and multiple other wounds. The Logan fuzz shut the gig down much to everyone’s disappointment, but truly it was a cool evening.

I’d like to thank Eric, Bobby and Stormy: Thanks for not making me travel to Salt Lake to see a good show. –Chopper

Hazel, Meices, Rain Like The Sound of Trains and Season of the Spring
September 15 @ Club DV8

I’m glad I showed up early to this show. The Meices went on stage first, due to the fact that Hazel hadn’t shown up yet. Anyway, what a set. This piece out of San Francisco got my bones moving with their Bay-style punk. It reminded me a lot of early Soul Asylum, say ’84–’86, but with a little more pop and fizz. They will have a new release out within six months. After their short set, Hazel took the stage. What a band— after leaving Portland at 5 a.m. that morning, driving straight to the show and going straight on, these guys did exactly what I expected. 

They played with a lot of energy and kept their stage presence up—being on Sub Pop hasn’t led this band into the grunge hello-shame. If anything, they had a very un-grunge sound: fast and tough, almost a fluid style but with a lot less noise in the guitar and they did an instrumental about a baseball player, which is something you don’t hear at shows much anymore (the instrumental,that is) unless Iceburn is playing.

After Hazel, a lady by the name of Erika Renstein took the mic. I don’t know why she didn’t go on with her spoken word regardless if the fact that a couple of fuckwads decided it was their duty to yell and throw shit before she had a chance to say four sentences. This incident definitely brought people down for the night. I won’t go into the issues that were brought up due to the fact that Renstein was unable to finish. l do know that if you were interested in her, you can write to Fantastic Fanzine.

After this mishap was Rain Like the Sound of Trains. Quite an odd-looking band. With four members, bongos, maracas and a bass section that sounded influenced by the Minute Men and Firehose. This was as jazz/alternative as it gets. Not often does one get a chance to witness such style and smoothness. The Spin Doctors should have taken notes from these guys. Definitely a more listenable band. With lyrics centering around an upscaling awareness of indictments in capitalism and the fact that people out there are getting screwed. They’re definitely a band on a mission to entertain and make themselves heard. A bonus was that the crowd seemed to actually start to move a little when these guys started.

Last up was Season of the Spring, otherwise known as Bad Yodelers. I don’t know if Terrance just wasn’t into it or if what happened with Erika brought the whole bar down or if Rain Like the Sound of Trains is too hard of an act to follow, but the crowd seemed to stop and the band had no energy. They looked as if they wanted to get on and off stage as quickly as possible, so I left due to the reality that l was falling asleep.

Silkworm, Lost Pilgrims and Birdman
September 8 @ Bar and Grill

Quick, what’s the sound of a fine up-and-coming Seattle band playing the Bar & Grill with no one there?

Give up? Well, I guess you weren’t there. Neither was a great majority of Salt Lake’s underground, who missed a coming-out party for Birdman, a four-piece punk-pop band whose In the West will probably kick your ass when it comes out in January.

Despite the poor turnout, these four well-dressed guys (in two-piece sub and ties) displayed equal parts roaring and sighing. Most impressive was “Garden City Blues,” a surprising mix of XTC‘s pop whine and the Treepeople‘s rock crunch. “Inside out,” mixed Husker Du‘s buzzsaw attack with blues.

Lost Pilgrims, a San Francisco–quartet who was misscheduled at the Bar & Grill that night, was also a slight surprise. Their funky punk-pop folk was innocuous at its worst and Willy Wonka and Nothing the Weathermen Knows were witty folk-punk a la Violent Femmes.

Openers Birdman bum their set with poppy hardcore (all featuring a solid rock base). All in all, a great show for those who bothered to show. No wonder Salt Lake has such a bad reputation for shows.
–Jeffy

Read more from the SLUG Archives:
Concert Reviews: June 1993
June Cover Story: N.S.C.