Best: Dive Bar Rock Show
By Nathan Fisher
Managing Editor
Friar Tuck's, on Foothill across from the Burger King, is what Robert Venturi et. al. would refer to as a "duck" in their ovarial work Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form. Why, you ask? Well, it's shaped like a castle-a beer-filled castle-and inside, well, it's not thematic (you don't drink "ale"), it's not medieval kitsch (the $6.50 pitchers of Bud Light come with plastic cups), and it's not faux-dive: it's dive, through and through.
Having recently come of age, my bar rock experiences in the Inland Empire had been limited to the Blackwatch Pub. But wow. The show I saw on Saturday night at Friar Tuck's rocked so hard that at times I could have sworn I had died and gone to rock heaven (Cleveland). The line-up consisted of the Manatees, Hangmen Come Quickly, the Durty Bombs, the Living Science Foundation, the Manifolds and the legendary Rattlesnakes.
I was so wasted by the time the Manifolds came on that I was standing in the Burger King drive through line, about to throw up, so I can't tell you anything about them or the Rattlesnakes, but hey: they come to Pomona periodically, they're pretty good, and you can request them on any KSPC underground show. The rest of these bands, well, you can't. Not yet, anyway.
The Manatees aren't really a band so much as a side-project of guitarist Peter Cook '03, who spends most of his time editing this section. The other members are lead singer and guitarist Colin Platt '03 and the six-foot six-inch drummer Josh Shipper '03, who makes do with half a drum kit. Since this was their first public performance, it was really something special to watch. The original songs showed promise and the Pavement and Pixies covers were impeccably raw and the way in which they all ended the songs at different times only added to the spirit of the night. Seriously. Rock is not about technical ability or flawless execution, although these things are certainly not mutually exclusive with rock. And I'm not saying that the Manatees can't play their instruments-they most certainly can. Nay, rock is about something else, something intangible, something that music theory cannot teach. It's almost the opposite of theory I suppose; perhaps we might call it "heart," in the spirit of that final element that combines with the others to create Captain Planet-you know, that short, aborigine fellow from Australia with the yellow ring. Well, the Manatees certainly have heart. That, and a lead singer who is really, really influenced by Steve Malkmus.
Hangmen Come Quickly are a fast-paced, straightforward rock group that clearly enjoys just playing music and allowing their audience to experience the Dionysian aspect of rock and roll after a hard week of Apollonian bullshit.
Drummer Adam Goldwyn '03 is clearly insane. Marshall Clyde '03, Dusty Baker '87 and lead singer Nick Smith '03 are all slightly less insane. Smith's voice was nearly gone and the act of screaming his vocals caused him to throw up blood later in the evening. Some might tell you that this is what it's all about. Not me. Jesus not me.
The rest of the show blended together, but in a pleasant way. Living Science Foundation can rock extremely hard and loud. These bands all sort of defy precise description since, you know, rock terminology was crafted by drunken, high frat boys in London and sometimes there's just not much else to say about a band except: "they rocked."
I have to say that I wish these sorts of shows happened more often. If you have a chance to see any of these bands, the Durty Bombs included, then do us all a favor and go. Check out the Rattlesnakes and Katie the Pest tonight at the Smell in Downtown Los Angeles. The cover is only $5 and these two bands are really sincere about what they do, not to mention talented.
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