15th October 2010

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Guest Contribution: Scion Garage Fest in Lawrence, Kansas Part Two

Yesterday, we brought you part one of our coverage of October 2nd’s Scion Garage Fest. The one-day shit-show featuring all (well, most … a lot) of your favorite garage-punk assholes tearing up Lawrence, Kansas was free, but, since it was in Lawrence, Kansas, what the hell was I supposed to do but hope someone else would go and write something up for me? Enter Leigh. When we last left her, she was headed over to catch synthy weirdos Digital Leather…

I walked in and was greeted by the comforting and familiar sight of a flying-V, some heshy long-hairs, and a lady in denim cutoffs. As a fan of evil sounding, synth-heavy punk bands in general, I was especially looking forward to this (especially since their singer now lives in Berlin). My only complaint was that they stopped too soon. I heckled them for it while clapping along with a friendly drunk who noted that they looked far too clean. Digital Leather was one band that stood up to their venue but their drone and hammer would’ve penetrated the crowd far better had they been relegated to The Jackpot with the Cola Freaks. That said: go buy Warm Brother on Fat Possum and Sorcerer on Goner and thank me later. Baboom.

Hunx & His Punks were due on-stage after Digital Leather but if I missed Thee Oh Sees I would have spent the rest of the night trying to dive under a bus, so I split for the last and only unconquered venue (and the only one not on Mass Ave): The Bottleneck. There was a line stretching out the door and down the block but the other thing a “media” pass (ahem: wristband) gets you is the balls to do cut-sies (if hearing the band you’re most looking forward to playing from outside the club doesn’t do that for you already). I stepped in, got yet another wristband, and made my way to what those of us in the biz call “DA PIT” (copyright Limp Bizkit).

Thee Oh Sees, of course, have that special crowd-simmering party voodoo that makes the kids just lose their shit. They’ve got all the necessary elements: caveman rhythms; driving, swaggering, twangy gee-tar; and those delayed vocals that sound like the B-52’s’ tougher heirs yelping through a megaphone. With the organ rounding it all out it comes together sounding like the house band at sexy fireside exorcism. If you’re not dancing, give up. And somehow, I ended up crawling around tambourines and (the always well-dressed) Petey Dammit; almost losing my few scraps journalistic integrity for the sake of a stage dive.

They finished up, and finally having gotten what I’d hoped an event called “Garage Fest” would offer me, I ecstatically sprinted the three blocks back to The Granada to wrap up my night with the Hunx, Clean, Oblivians triple-threat. Standing out front talking was Sean Spits who I immediately accosted: “DID YOU GUYS PLAY LAST NIGHT?” he informed me that they had and that they’d be playing again tonight in-town but that he didn’t know where. I flew the “Come to Philadelphia!” flag and scrambled back inside the theater and up front to watch Hunx and his Punkettes shake their moneymakers.

Hunx did not disappoint. The man himself alternated sauntering around sexily with either a guitar or a set of giant stuffed-handcuffs slung around his neck and along with his backing band for the night (Shannon & The Clams), donned a mask of black eye make-up ala the Lookout! Records bandit (which, intentional or not, was a perfect homage to 3-chord pop music about talking on the telephone and boyfriend-upgrades). They ruled. Showmanship and hooks always prevail and they slid on down like a delicious Garage Fest dessert.

Next up were kiwi-pop legends The Clean. Kids around me announced their excitement and other bands started lining up side-stage to watch. They played the hits and made the appropriately wry remarks, “is this garage?” while heads nodded along attentively. Though, overall, the set seemed like a bit of a sleepwalk, never reaching a rolling boil. But, you know, they’re not really a ‘boiling’ band anyway.

Well, that’s it for today. Check back tomorrow for part three, the conclusion of our coverage of Scion Garage Fest, featuring The Oblivians, The Spits, and Human Eye. Find more from Leigh at her Flickr and LeighMetzler.com. Find more, damn it!

Tagged: digital leatherhunx and his punksthee oh seesthe bottleneckscion garage festthe granadathe cleanobliviansshannon and the clams