 |
 |
|
Big D & The
Kid's Table, The Flaming Tsunamis, Caught in Cleavage, Professor Plum,
and some other unidentified local band. Last Saturday (at the time I wrote this) I hopped into my beloved beast of American machinery, grabbed a map, and headed down to the Madison Arts Barn. Given that I have no directional sense, the fact that I reached a location more than an hour from my house without getting lost was a feat in and of itself. The drive from West Hartford is surprisingly easy - 84 to Route 9 to 81 to 95 for about two minutes, for those who are interested - and seeing the old bridge in Middletown at 2 am is an amazing sight. While Toad's Place is still my favorite spot to see a show, the Madison Arts Barn is the quintessential summer venue. The Barn is, quite literally, a tiny little barn/pool hall on the Madison Town Campus near Hammonasset State Park. It hold a slightly smaller crowd than Toad's, and is definitely more intimate and cleaner than the Webster Theatre. The first band: I don't remember their name or any songs. Decent ska, frontman/trombone player who was working too hard. Professor Plum: Hailing from New Jersey (home of the most godforsaken stretch of highway on Earth), this quartet has a surprisingly full sound. A tenor sax player, who balances his duties on the sax with the lead vocal parts, fronts the group. The reason Professor Plum sounds so good - and they do - is the high quality of the horns. While smaller local bands sometimes try to compensate for lack of talent with numbers, Professor Plum played an entire set of original songs and easily gave the most polished performance of the four opening acts. Aside from the occasional banter with one or two audience members, the band did little to work or move the crowd, resulting in a very mellow performance. (On a side note, if you listen to the end of 12341234 by Catch 22 off Keasby Nights, after the band members have done individual thank yous, they mention Professor Plum as a group the entire band thanks. New Jersey scene-love at its best). Caught in Cleavage - If you're watching a band called "Caught in Cleavage," you're probably not expecting a pompous rock opera. The merchandise guy for this band, the brother of a band member and maybe all of 13, was giving out shirts to anyone who could get girls to flash him. Not surprisingly, once they got on stage, CIC was not the most professional effort. They did offer an infectious blend of fast original songs and awful sloppy covers. If Professor Plum was lounge music, Caught in Cleavage would be great for a drunken party. Their set wandered after 30 minutes, but you couldn't watch and not have a good time. The Flaming Tsunamis - The Flaming Tsunamis would have headlined the show if Big D and The Kid's Table hadn't been booked. Another local band from the Madison area, the Tsunamis best balanced the musicianship of PP and the infectious energy or CiC. They ripped through a series of original songs, including a great bit about Britney Spears, before breaking for a minute to address the crowd. The lead singer and the trumpet play professed their admiration of Big D in the Kid's Table, before launching into an amazing cover of "Draw the Line." I love Big D (whoops, gave that one away), so I was very skeptical when they started, and it definitely takes balls to cover a song by your favorite band when they're going on right after you. Big D and the Kid's Table (or: why everyone was there) - Big D and the Kid's Table is one of the best live bands I've ever seen, and this show was no exception. Aside from being fucking amazing, this band is made up of some of the nicest guys around: they placed wiffleball with audience members when the show started late. After one or two songs, the lead singer of the band explained that he had only one responsibility before each show - making a set list - and he'd failed to do it. So, he wondered, what did we want to here? People began screaming requests, and they played almost every single one. The material was a fairly even mix from their Shot By Lami split w/Dexter (Fork In Hand Records) and their Good Luck EP (Asian Man Records). Notables included GLD, 51 Gardner, Fat Man, Conserve (which I was screaming for), and Jeremy. They also played two new songs and briefly made fun of Canada (where, it seems, they are now banned for a year). One nice oddity for the night was a ska-infused cover of Iron Maiden's self-titled song, right down to the 666 at the end. All in all, an awesome show that was definitely worth the drive. |