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A sampling of music-related stuff happening in October

By Jim Fester

Fort Wayne Reader

2011-10-06

Here’s just a few cool music events happening around town over the next couple weeks.


Metal Mayhem at Sweetwater

Former FWR music columnist Ben Larson is, on the surface, an unassuming graduate student studying English Lit at IPFW.

But Ben is also a guitarist, and though his tastes and knowledge run to a wide range of styles and genres, deep in his heart he loves the metal.

For those of you like him, or for those of you who wear their metal love on their sleeve (or perhaps have it tattooed on their arm somewhere), you’ll want to check out a couple of workshops Sweetwater is hosting in October.

The first happens Thursday, October 20, and features Chris Broderick and David Ellefson of Megadeth highlighting their new Jackson signature bass and guitar models during clinics that feature scorching performance demonstrations, group discussions with Q&A sessions, and signings by two of today’s fiercest shredders.

The second happens Monday, October 24. This is a Pearl Drum clinic with Gene Hoglan, a respected drummer whose creative work with Devin Townsend; Death; Dark Angel,; Dethklok,; and Testament (among others) has earned him the nickname “The Atomic Clock.”

Both workshops start at 7 PM at Sweetwater’s headquarters — 5501 US Highway 30 West.

The workshops are free and open to the public, but you do have to register. You can do that at sweetwater.com.

And also at Sweetwater… Bill Bruford

It’s not a clinic, so no skins will be beaten in complicated time signatures, but legendary drummer Bill Bruford will be at Sweetwater Tuesday, October 18 to talk about his four decade career in music, including stints with Yes, King Crimson, and as a solo artist. He’ll talk about his approach and attitude towards music, as well as the perils of playing percussion in public. Like we said, no drumming at this one, but questions are welcome, and books will be on hand for signing.

The talk is presented by Tama and begins at 7 PM on Tuesday, October 18 at Sweetwater at 5501 US Highway 30 W. It’s free, but you do have to register. Go to sweetwater.com.

Take On Me — An 80s Showcase at The Brass Rail

On Friday, October 14, local artists Unlikely Alibi; I, Wombat; Lee Miles; and Jerome Schooley gather at the Brass Rail to pay musical tribute to that much maligned decade, the 80s.

The description of the show: “Each band will be performing an entire set of their favorite 80's tunes,” says press for the show. No specific artists, no specific genre, no restrictions whatsoever...just awesome 80's tunes.”

Will the world finally be treated to I, Wombat’s take on “Like A Virgin”? Or Lee Miles tackling “The Reflex”?

“I’ve never heard ‘The Reflex’,” says Lee Miles. “I’m going to look it up … I remember this song. This is everything I hate about the 80's!! Now this atrocity will be stuck in my head all day!! Thanks!

“I can't stand most 80's music, so when I was asked to play, I thought it would be a good chance to expand my boundaries,” Miles continues. “Then I realized that some of my favorite songs were from the 80's. So, I'll be covering Springsteen, The Traveling Wilburys, The Smiths, and a couple other acts that I have a lot of respect for. I think it's going to be a great night with a ton of variety.”

The show was organized by Unlikely Alibi (who we’re sure could do a mean take on the English Beat’s “Mirror In the Bathroom.” Or would that be too obvious?). “We've toyed around the idea of an 80's show for quite awhile now,” says Unlikely Alibi’s Todd Roth. “We've been known to throw some reggae/ska versions of 80's tunes in our regular set, but there's so many awesome 80's tunes out there, we wanted to play more.”

“We're always trying to do something new, something different at our shows,” Roth continues. “We've never really done a ‘hoot night’ kind of ‘theme’ show, so we thought that would be that something new/different to bring to our crowd.”

The artists all compared setlists to make sure no one picked the same tunes. Surprisingly, no one did — Roth says there’s a pretty eclectic mix of great songs from The Cars, The Talking Heads, The Police, Men at Work, Van Halen, Foreigner, Billy Idol, The Boss, Tom Petty, Huey Lewis, Phil Collins and a many more. “Plus Jerome (Schooley) is gonna be spinning 80's vinyl between bands too,” says Roth. “Our fans have already given a lot of positive feedback since we've been promoting it. It should be a blast.”

You’ll have to see for yourself who does what. Once again, that’s Take On Me; an 80s Showcase at the Brass Rail — 1121 Broadway — on Friday, October 14.

Peter Case at Columbia Street West

On Sunday, October 9, folk/alternative icon Peter Case performs at Columbia Street West supporting Harmony for Humanity and benefiting the Rescue Mission Meals Program. End Times Spasm Band opens the show.

Case comes to Fort Wayne courtesy of Fort Wayne Cultural Affairs’ new division, Asylum Club Promotions. Case comes to Fort Wayne courtesy of Fort Wayne Cultural Affairs’ new division, Asylum Club Promotions. “T y p i c a l l y , o u r p r o d u c t i o n s a r e f r e e , a l l - a g e s e v e n t s t h a t t a k e p l a c e i n p u b l i c p a r k s a n d p u b l i c s p a c e s ,” explains Gary Doan. “ T h i s v e n t u r e c o n t i n u e s o u r m i s s i o n o f i n t r o d u c i n g n e w m u s i c a n d n e w a r t i s t s t o t h e a r e a w h i l e c r e a t i n g a n o t h e r f o r u m f o r p r e s e n t i n g e v e n t s . ”

After first breaking out in the late 70s as a member of the power pop trio The Nerves (they did the original “Hangin’ On the Telephone,” covered by Blondie), Case went on to form 80s alternative icons The Plimsouls (“A Million Miles Away”). For the past couple decades, he’s been a solo artist, releasing eight albums, earning three Grammy nominations, and having his songs covered by folks like John Prine and Lucinda Williams.

The Case show i s p r e s e n t e d a s a n o f f i c i a l , r e g i s t e r e d p a r t i c i p a n t o f H A R M O N Y F O R H U M A N I T Y - D A N I E L P E A R L W O R L D M U S I C D A Y S . A portion of the proceeds for the show w i l l b e d o n a t e d t o t h e F o r t W a y n e R e s c u e M i s s i o n ’ s C o m m u n i t y M e a l s P r o g r a m t o a s s i s t w i t h t h e i r a n n u a l T h a n k s g i v i n g m e a l s e r v i c e , w h i c h t r a d i t i o n a l l y f e e d s t h r e e m e a l s t o o v e r 2 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e .

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door of Columbia Street (135 W Columbia) or through Brown Paper Tickets (brownpapertickets.com).

Once again, the date is Sunday, October 9 at Columbia Street, with support from the End Times Spasm Band.