Athens Music Scene (10-29-09)

Adagio was a pale, lanky man with waxy skin, slow and steady in his manner, except when he took his hay fever medicine, Allegro, which made him zip right along.

He never saw the sun; it bored the daylights out of him. That led him to become a musician, a singer/songwriter with a wide range of interests, from Count Basie to Count Dracula. It wasn't his fluttery battiness that put people off; it was that he was a vampire. That's right, he sucked.

Regardless, he had legions of werewolves that followed him everywhere he went (around London, anyway). They mooned over him fully, howling their approval - Ahh ooh! A memoir was ghostwritten for him by someone named Casper (weird fella, kind of insubstantial, always smiling; a phony, you could see right through him). The book revealed a number of skeletons in Adagio's closet.

He had a manager for a spell, she was a real witch, and that black cat that helped with the booking was always crossing his path. When his manager told him his career was undead, he took it like a stake through the heart. He felt cold inside, bloodless, like this was the final nail in his coffin. It was a grave situation to be sure, so he decided to try and relax and listen to something on his iGor; maybe the Zombies, or the Silver Bullet Band.

He decided to give it one more concerted effort. Midway into the first number at his show, the song began screaming in terror. It was as if its individual notes were being rent asunder, spread to unnatural lengths and bent into 13ths and flat 9s with total disregard for the time signature. He was murdering the song right there on stage, draining its life force.

He was arrested and brought up in front of a jury of his peers and found insane and unable to stand trial. He was sentenced to an experi-mental asylum on an island out at C. Dr. Frankenstein gave him shock treatment to try to make him paranormal again. When that didn't work, they locked him up and threw away the key for a change. He was in module 8.

All right, boars and ghouls, enough of that madness. It's time to check out what music there is to enjoy this weekend in the Athens Music Scene.

Casa Cantina

Tonight the Casa is happy to work with Blackout Productions to present Night One of the seventh annual Halloween Creepout. This year's freaky fest is populated with the talents of the blood Red Army, the spooky TV Ghost, the poisonous Five Deadly Venoms, and the grizzly She Bears.

Friday night we get the exciting return of The Ragbirds. They are receiving well-deserved accolades from all corners of the globe and even toured Japan last summer. Welcome them back, along with another band working overtime this weekend, Graveyard Shift.

Saturday night, receive respite from the Block Party by ducking into Casa to check out the recently elusive Southeast Engine. These folks have made great headway in the troublesome world of music, and we are happy to have them represent our fair town. The Bad Chemicals feature the fine songs of Mike Elliott, one of the best songwriters around. Scubadog is new on the scene; check 'em out! Scuba-dooba-doo.

If you are still playing through on Monday night, stop in to enjoy the old-timey jams of Rattletrap.

Jackie O's

Graveyard Shift keeps it creepy with their take on classic country music at Jackie O's tonight. The Half-Handlers come out of a Tebbs-induced retirement and hit the more bluegrass-edge of country music. Great stuff.

The kings of the trash-grass heap return for a triumphant night of bluegrass in Jackie O's Annex on Friday night. The Rumpke Mountain Boys just keep getting better, and their following continues to grow. You can go hear why.

Supermassive is one of the most interesting and accessible reggae bands to work in this region on a regular basis. They will lay down the super-fat grooves for you to dance the night away Saturday night in Jackie O's Annex.

As you power through the weekend clear into Monday, be sure to check out the Open Stage with someone that looks like Junebug hosting.

The Union

Tonight is the last installment of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show." You can expect to see scantily clad young women and men looking their trashy, transvestite best and singing along to the show. Dance of Die follows, and the whole evening is a Halloween costume contest.

Friday night the Union hosts Night Two of Blackout Productions' seventh annual Halloween Creepout. Several of everyone's favorites are going to swing for this show including This Moment in Black History, We March, Grafton and the newish Weird Science.

Saturday night's Night Three of Creepout show is FREE. That's right, FREE! Not only that, Spooktober will be releasing their new album - just in time - Wheels on Fire will channel Monster College, the Dragline Brothers will melt your face off, and Seascapes will bring a wave set of pounding rock and roll.

Save a little of yourselves for Monday night's mayhem. Lover! is one of the incestuous projects from that creative pool of musicians (Reatards, Preacher's Kids, Lost Sounds) that hole up down South. Bass Drum of Death is from Oxford, Miss. They're rocking their tunes on Fat Possum Records, a great label. Bottled Violence cracks one open with a set from Minor Threat. 1/2 Man features members of Wheels on Fire and most likely rocks, and funnyman Dirty Johnny will crack wise and lower the bar for the club.

Smiling Skull

John Goettge brings his skills as an old-hand open stage man to the Skull tonight. He has a great songbook, so go sing with him.

The Bootleg Band returns to Athens Saturday night for their annual Halloween Blowout. These guys are a boot-load of fun, and the Skull is one of my favorite places to spend a Halloween Saturday night.

Wednesday nights Beetle handles the Karaoke duties at the Skull.

Court St. Grill

The Mudfork Blues Band makes one of their rare-ish appearances Friday night at the Grill. They are a fine blues band. Good times.

The Ghastly Ones will haunt this Saturday's annual Halloween Costume Ball at the Court Grill in Pomeroy. The grill would be a great destination for a Halloween weekend.

Fur Peace Station

The Fur Peace has a scary show for you on Saturday night - scarily awesome! Too bad this show SOLD OUT four months ago! Let me tell you some reasons why. My good buddy Larry Keel goes solo and brings his American Mountain Music to the foothils of those very mountains. He is fluid, fast and an increasingly interesting songwriter. He usually performs with his band Natural Bridge, so this will be a nice and rare opportunity for those of you with tickets. Beyond that, you have the amazing David Bromberg, master of many things and one entertaining dude. But wait, there's more! Station Master Jorma Kaukonen will be on hand to conduct good vibes and fine picking. I wish I was going to be there. Oh Great Pumpkin, hear my pleas

Lakeview Tavern

The Lakeview Tavern gets into the spirit with a Halloween Rock Show Friday night. Rip-rockers Five Foot Forward will play all of your favorite tunes. Special guest George Hertzel will astound you with his inventive talents. There will be costume contests.

Athens' Halloween Block Party

If you didn't already know, you might notice that there are a few more people milling about Athens on Saturday. The 34th(?) annual Halloween Block Party takes place on Saturday. Some 30,000 of your closest friends will descend upon our town for one wild night of wahoo! There will be kid's activities on Court Street, a beer garden near College Green, and two stages of music, one on either end of Court Street. With the flu making the rounds, I think a surgeon costume might be a wise choice.

The music begins at 5 p.m. on the North Stage, down by the BP Station (where bees go to the bathroom!). My Favorite Pony will kick things off followed by Elemental Groove Theory, The Wallabeez, Shankbone, Empirian and Graveyard Shift. The Ragbirds were scheduled to close this stage but had a conflict and had to cancel. I am not sure who has been added to the bill here. The music on this stage ends at 12:45 a.m.

The South Stage's music begins at 5:30 with local country-rockers Broken Ring followed by Circle K, Ordinance, Midnight Drivers, The Makebelieves, Rumpke Mountain Boys and The Werks. This stage wraps up the evening by 1:15 a.m.

Happy Halloween, may you skirt dirt and be a danger ranger, safe and clean! Giggity!