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 SATURDAY
NIGHT WRAP-UP
by Troy Brownfield
On January 11th, Indianapolis's online source for news,
reviews, comedy and commentary teamed up with the all-ages
venue Festivilla
to present ShotgunReviews.com Saturday Night. Here's what
went down . . .
Why
the hell did we do it?: Simply put, the mighty Shotgun
wanted to bring a diverse and outstanding range of talent
to the younger audience. The largest portion of the Indianapolis
scene focuses on clubs and bars, and rightly so. However,
on this one night, we wanted the axis to turn on those not
fortunate enough to be born before 1982. The younger audience
is the future of any scene. By giving them acts like The Common,
Pop Lolita, Chuck Marten, Ladymoon, The Mystery School, and
The Frank Booth Project, we're at least trying to grow them
up right. Strangely, the crowd featured very few teens, and
mostly members of the Over-21 club. That tells us that we
should keep most of our future gigs in the watering holes,
though we would like to work with the super-swell Smedley
(Festivilla's owner) in the future.
The show
itself was hosted by Sweaty B. of two local bands, the comedic
No*Star and Gabe Harley and the Spent Prophets, and Abby Kidwell,
a lovely local comedienne who sometimes appears as Ms. Abba
Stardust with those malcontents, The Frank Booth Project.
Indianapolis
comic book writer and artist Stuart
Sayger was on hand to sign and sell copies of his critically
acclaimed series, "Shiver in the Dark". Stuart just locked
up a gig inking over the legendary Dick Giordano on Future
Comics's ongoing new series, "Deathmask"! Also,
Corinna from Otakurama,
Indianapolis's brand-new specialty store for Asian comics,
movies and merchandise, passed out free magazines.
The
Bands :
 Ladymoon:
Ladymoon got things started with their jam-happy brand
of bluesy, funky, rock. Sometimes driving with a Latinesque
rhythm, sometimes churning out big ole' rock chords, the guys
in the band displayed a stunning versatility.
The opening slot is often thankless, but Ladymoon put on a
great show and even played over to compensate for the no-showing
Mystery School.
 The
Frank Booth Project: Next came the debut of the new incarnation
of ShotgunReviews.com's official band, The Frank Booth Project!
Showcased were the comedic musical stylings of frontman Captain
Lounge, guitarist Shawn "The Irish Bastard", bassist "Blackie"
Lawlis, drummer/Supreme Dictator of Your Mom Der Kommissar
Bosco, saxophonists Matt Vesuvius and Zoot (who featured on
cowbell), sign
guy Michael Myers and the lovely
Ms. Abba Stardust. Though some members of the crowd didn't
quite know what to make of the musical brotherhood, we can
definitely report that "Mrs. Johnson Likes Little Boys"
and "Hanna-Barbera Lied To You" seemed to go over
well. Captain Lounge also took the opportunity to instigate
a feud with Sweaty B. and No*Star, the payoff of which should
come at Comedy Night at Birdy's on February 3rd!
 Pop
Lolita: Fresh off of a killer bill from Birdy's the previous
evening, PopLo played with energy to burn. Their mod rock
was loud, frenetic, and deadly cool. Lead singer/guitarist
Mike Shimmercore blew out a strand on his twelve-string, so
he simply opted to grab the mike and rock out, "frontman-style".
Sweaty B. noted that Shimmercore "found his inner Ozzy".
The Popsters certainly don't want for rock style; their recently-pared
down line-up packs more of a punch, and their songs are just
as catchy as ever.
 Chuck
Marten: Loud, aggressive, and purely enjoyable, Chuck
Marten absolutely laid it down. Though an impromptu wrestling
match between Gwen and Toni was a highlight, the band drove
hard, even pulling out a new song that had apparently only
been written two days before the show. The group has gotten
some solid media play lately, featured as they were in a great
Indianapolis Star write-up by David Lindquist. They play hard
and often, so definitely check them out if they're in your
area.
 The
Common: The Common got to dress like men again! After
appearing as The Angry Inch in the Phoenix Underground Theater's
production of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" for several
months, The Common closed that chapter of their career on
Friday the 10th by doing one last "Hedwig" show
with the rest of the cast and openers Pop Lolita. Now, freed
of the shackles of dragdom, the men were back to themselves
and cranking out their area-favorite brand of power-pop. The
band had pimped the show hard in the preceding weeks, even
appearing on Fox 59 AM to promote both weekend shows. The
Common were a fine ending to a fun evening.
The
Moral: This was a solid line-up that turned on a great
show. We could have used some more people, but this is also
only our second foray into booking events in Indianapolis.
With a strong group of supporters and a cast of willing and
eager musicians, I'm certain that we'll have larger ShotgunReviews.com
musical events in the future. I'd like to thank everyone who
came out, and I'd like to remind everyone that The Frank Booth
Project will kick No*Star's bitch asses on February 3rd at
Birdy's.
Contact
Info: For more information about this and future events,
contact Shotgun Reviews Editor-in-Chief Troy Brownfield at
psikotyk@aol.com.
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