The Nimrods and The Vagiants
The Lime Spider
September 6th, 2002
It’s been a long time since The Nimrods last played
and, judging by the large turn out for this show, their presence on the
scene has been greatly missed. I arrived about half way into The Vagiants
opening set and immediately regretted not getting an earlier start on the
evening. This Canadian four-piece rocked the house with some high energy
rock that did a good job warming the crowd up.
When The Nimrods took to the stage it was immediately
evident why they still have such a loyal following. Opening with “You
Irritate Me”, the band sounded like they had never taken a break. Despite
joking about their age, the band played with the same energy and enthusiasm
as always, tearing through a set of old favorites like “You Gave Me a Boner”
and “New Sensation”. The band covered just about all the classics,
including such early songs “Slay the Nuns” and their ever popular cover of
G.G. Allin’s “Drink Fight, and Fuck”.
Although this was intended to be a one time thing, when
I spoke with vocalist/guitarist Dan Halen and drummer Mike Raphone they did
leave the door open for future shows, although sadly no full scale reunion.
So if you missed the show, keep your fingers crossed and you just might get
lucky. (BI)
To see a few pictures from the show, click
here.
Q and not U with Aloha and Party of
Helicopters
Lime Spider
September 8th, 2002
Reviewed by Dave Ignizio
Q and not U believe in quality not quantity. This is
the third time I’ve seen the D.C. group since they began in 1998 and they
have yet to play for more than half an hour. Still, they manage
to put on some of the best shows in my recent memory. They played a
sparsely attended show at Cleveland’s Speak in Tongues in the winter of
2001. Shortly after that tour they lost original bassist, Matt Borlik, and
decided to continue on as a three piece.
Unhindered by their loss, the band tore through mostly
new material from their forthcoming Different Damage LP. The new
material found members Harris and Chris changing instruments between each
song and adding keyboards to the mix. The guitar interplay from their days
as a foursome no longer exists. The new songs seemed more straightforward,
ignited by the tight, rhythmic drumming of John Davis. Most of the songs
were dance oriented, with a couple short hardcore numbers thrown in for good
measure. They did play a few songs off of their excellent first album,
No Kill No Beep Beep and ended the show with a raw version of “Ten
Thousand Animal Calls” that erupted into absolute carnage. After surveying
the damage, the band returned to rock out on “Little Sparkee,“ sending the
crowd home happy.
Kent’s Party of Helicopters opened the show and played
a strong set of songs culled from various releases over the past several
years. They are a local band that has carved a niche for themselves
nationally and are definitely worth checking out.
Aloha are from Cleveland, but spend more time on the
road than at the local clubs. They played a seamless set of songs that
drifted back and forth between power pop and post-rock displaying a crisp,
clean sound heavy on the vibraphone.
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