Rollermania Skids Out Of Control
This past week, KB was contacted by Drew Burleson who is with one of the bands, The Symptoms, who were scheduled to perform at the monthly event Rollermania event last Saturday at Roll-A-Rama, which has been put on by Alliance Plastique. It seems like things didn’t go as planned, and according to Drew, their band and Bright Channel arrived as instructed by AP at 8:45pm, even though they weren’t schedule to go on until 12:30am. Then they were asked to cut their set short when they finally played at 1:00am.
“Here is the real disappointment with the evening,” says Drew. “After arriving (earlier then us) at 8:30 and waiting all night to play, Bright Channel was set up to start playing (1:30) when they were informed that they were being bumped to a 3 am spot on the bill. With there dignity in hand they decided to pack up and head home (as well they should have).”
Mike Beck of AP responded, “Rollermania’s failure is entirely my responsibility. It was by nature an unstable free for all that finally ended in complete chaos. In the future Alliance Plastique will only be working with venues that have the proper facilities and zoning for the type of events that we provide,” he says, speaking of the limitations of holding an event at a roller rink. “I’m actually amazed it went on for as long as it did.”
Even though they increased their staff for the night and made pre-show agreements with the rink, along with arriving 10 hours prior to the event to set up the sound, there were numerous problems. Mike stated that although the rink had agreed to let the bands load in, but when they arrived it was another story, and they were so busy working with the DJs already playing that they didn’t have enough people to put out that fire. Then there was the drinking. “Alcohol consumption finally became a large enough issue that even if I felt like giving it another go, there’d really be nothing that I could do in order to have it continue,” says Mike.
Between those comedy of errors and bands leaving, people who came to see the bands that weren’t playing wanted their money back. But Mike has his hands full, “Most of my time that evening was making sure that fight’s didn’t break out or that people on the guest list were actually getting through the door, and also making sure refunds were given when requested though Roll-o-Rama wasn’t as apt to do so.”
Not everyone got their money back, something that Mike just recently became aware of, “The rink said they couldn’t give a refund and I guess by the time word got back to me and I said that a refund should’ve been given they’d already left. What a mess.”
In other news
Reno Divorce has been rehearsing their fannies off for a number of shows they have coming up with their new line up and new songs, two of which will be included in the upcoming Undead In Denver Volume III compilation. From there they plan for a new release later this year and various tour dates on the West Coast, Midwest, and a possible return to Europe in the Fall.
Last week DORK kicked off their tour out to SXSW and on to California to play the Whisky-a-GO-GO. They also debuted last week as the 13th most played band on XM Radio’s Unsigned channel, adding to the list of CO bands that are getting nationwide exposure. DORK will be back in Denver at the end of the month, playing the Gothic on March 30 with Elektra recording Artists Lucky Boys Confusion and Love .45.
Ben Soto from Hi-Dive and one of their resident DJs, Tim Shady (from their Transmissions night) is working on a local band compilation, which is expected to be out in about a month, and will include many of the bands that have played the venue. This includes his band D Biddle, DeVotchKa, Red Cloud, George and Caplin, Munly, The Royal We, Tintin, amoung others. The CD is yet untitled, but it will come inside a ‘zine covering local music.
DJ and drummer diva Sarah T. and her band, The Little Heads, finished recording their second EP Magic Guts in January, and are just putting the finishing touches on the artwork. Working with Bryan from Thank God For Astronauts and the bassist for The Royal We. Come next week, look for CDRs, which she’ll be passing out around town, “following the vibe to see what the next step is.” You can go to her web site to listen to a bedroom track she made with just her and her guitar. http://www.saratea.com/music/the_little_heads_Never_Knew.mp3
IN NATIONAL NEWS
It looks like vocalists who scream for a living due pay the price for a while. According to a recent press release, “AFI has been forced to cancel the remainder of its current tour for medical reasons. Singer Davey Havok has been advised by his doctor to start immediate voice rest or risk serious damage to his vocal chords.” This means that the show at the Fillmore this weekend, March 19, has been cancelled along with a number of other dates they had planned.
AFI released the following statement: “We have never cancelled any shows and are deeply disappointed to have to cancel these shows. Unfortunately our only course of action is clear. We truly regret any inconvenience to our fans.” BUT, all is not lost. Sodajerk’s Mike Barsch annonced, “We know that many of you were only going to the show to see Planes Mistaken For Stars so we asked them to come over to Rock Island and play our little club!” They agreed and the game is on. “The always amazing Planes Mistaken For Stars hit Rock Island for a very rare Denver appearance.” Opening the show is Evanstar, Stuntdoubles and Lenore.
Brit Pop is still cashing in some fourteen years later as corporate America goes for the real deal to appeal to their target market. This includes Primal Scream’s “Come Together,” which is being used for AT&T’s “&” television ad campaign, and The Gap’s yuppie man pant commercials (the guy’s pretty hot, so that’s okay) featuring Soup Dragons’ “I’m Free” from their 1990 release Lovegod. You go boys.
Buzz Band Stories this week:
— The Compulsions Seek New Drummer
— The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Side of Live Shows
Do you have some news about your music or your band that you would like everyone to know about? Email us at bands@kaffeinebuzz.com!!
