Hoke and Gilmore groove

Walker's is an interesting act and an epicenter for a bunch of "20-something" bluegrass jammers in town. The core of the band is Brennan Gilmore on mandolin or whatever needs to be played, Zack Blatter on upright bass, and Bill Cardine on dobro, but when they perform around here they are usually joined by Steve Hoke on fiddle and a variety of guitar players and other instrumentalists. Hoke, besides being an amazing fiddler (at one point on Wednesday night he was doing harmonic runs with the thumb of his left hand through the highest notes on the instrument, conjuring a beautiful Jimi Hendrix squeal), is given credit for teaching the other guys to play, a job he can be proud of.

Paging Mr. Pollard....

Thursday, 1-20-00 -- The message on my answering machine said not to miss tonight's show at Trax, just five seconds before it self-destructed. Guided By Voices, one of those bands you've heard of but never actually heard was billed to perform so I strolled over to lend them my ears. The place was only half full for the prolific Ohio-based band but I knew I was in for something special since it seemed like the entire staffs of WTJU, WNRN and Plan 9 were in attendance. Sure enough, Guided By Voices delivered the goods: raw american rock ala the Replacements hearkening back to 70's British mod groups like the Jam with goofy punk comic book lyrical concepts spewed by an overweight drunken genius backed by a motley squad of gutter rock heroes. They are a perfect caricature of themselves - almost like an American Spinal Tap - and I caught myself chuckling a few times when singer and main man Robert Pollard would do corny stuff like high kick and then juke around like Robert Plant or twirl the microphone like Roger Daltrey and then fall on the drumset. Soundmen were regularly running on stage to reset mic stands knocked over in this fashion. Despite all of the ridiculous rock cliches, they didn't suck any more than they intended to and ended up cranking out a long set of classic underground tunes which I'm certain I'd have appreciated alot more if I'd been familiar with their stuff.

devon stylee

Friday, 1-21-00 -- Back at Trax the Agents of Good Roots teamed up with devon and Regan for a triple header. Regan opened with her tight pop trio and though I only caught a couple of her tunes they sounded polished and fresh. devon came on next with Dr. Bindu, her band, all decked out with shiny new guitars obtained from various sponsors. They sounded alright but played a long set and were a little mellow, so by the time they finished I was jonesing to hear the Agents play. I was not to be dissappointed. (Hint from the Duck: opening bands should try not to play for more than 45 minutes. Do a quick set of your best tunes and then get out of there, leaving them wanting more.)

I'd seen the Agents of Good Roots at Trax a few years back and remembered liking them, but when they hit the stage Friday it was a revelation. Cool as hell and groovy without an ounce of pretension to them, they are a remarkably refreshing rock band. Three members of the band sing, so they aren't forced to rely on the "lone frontman" factor. The horn player wails and has cool midi-effects for his sax, enabling him to blow guitar leads and synth noises. They had some really well-crafted song-to-song transitions allowing them to settle into deep early Pink Floyd sounding passages and then segue into heavy funky sprawling jams. Little "Zappa-jazz" moments were sprinkled throughout. A highlight came late in the show when devon and Regan joined them onstage for a brilliant rendition of the Floyd classic "Comfortably Numb," complete with almost note-for-note guitar solos and rousting choruses.

I'm surprised more Phish-heads haven't latched onto the Agents. They are a high caliber honest rock band with a good rapport with their fans and they allow tapers at their shows (some of those guys had traveled from as far as Philadelphia to tape Friday's show). Even famous Dave Matthews came out to see them. At one point I looked over and saw him standing unhassled amidst a sea of Agent-heads, bobbing his noggin, rocking to the Agents' good roots.

Saturday, 1-22-00 -- It's always a good diversion to submerge oneself in the subterranean sub-cultural odyssey that is the Dawning at Tokyo Rose, so I wandered down there to rub elbows with the fuzzy folk that frequent it. Visions In Blue opened the show downstairs, churning out thick drum sequences beneath memorable melodies, while upstairs a rag-tag cast of Kiss impersonators and vinyl fetishists wandered around amiably. Bella Morte broke through the gloom around midnight after which D.J. Electrocute sent the crowd into Molly Ringwald dancing frenzies with a set of 80's dance-pop.
-Cripsy Duck

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