The Battalion
LIFESTYLES
Monday, January 22,1990
Lifestyles Editor
Mary-Lynne Rice
845-33'
Analysis: Benefit shows
prove live bands’ loyalty
to Texas Star Tavern
By JOHN RICHTER
Of The Battalion Staff
Last year offered little optimism
for local live music.
A year ago this month Eastgate
Live closed its doors, only to reopen
as the Guitar Shop’s new location.
Last fall the Cow Hop, Northgate’s
mainstay for quality bands, also
bailed out of the troubled live scene.
Parthenon has been replaced by
Club Fahrenheit, a dance club that
owner Randy Hermes says will not
feature live music on a regular basis.
In the midst of the decline of live
music is is the possibility that Hugh
Stearns will lose his ongoing fight to
keep the Texas Star Tavern open.
During the past seven months,
Stearns has fought problems with a
suspended liquor license, a court
hearing about noise and parking
problems and the disintegration of
his partnership with Patsy Fry, the
owner of the Tavern and surround
ing property.
last weekend. The two shows drew
exceptional crowds.
Both Medlow and Trout Fishing
said they were more than happy to
lend their support.
With his back against the wall and
time and money running out,
Stearns got help this weekend from
those he needed it from the most.
Two benefit shows by Tavern fa
vorites Jr Medlow and the Bad Boys
(with guitar great Chris Duarte) and
Trout Fishing In America might
prove to be the panacea for Stearns’
ills.
“This whole- weekend got put to-
f ether by having good friends,”
teams said. “When I needed help
and I asked them, they said, ‘Sure.’
Without these benefits the Tavern
staying open wouldn’t be possible.”
The trouble began in July when
Stearns and Fry moved from the
Brazos Landing (at Northgate) to
the Tavern, previously the home of
Morgensterns, Dr. G’s and Grins.
Because of Fry’s marriage to a
Messina Hof winery employee, a
conflict of interest was cited and the
Tavern’s liquor license was sus
pended.
Since then, the Tavern has been
strictly BYOB, costing it plenty of
money in potential drink sales.
If the liquor license problem were
not enougn, a court hearing about
noise and parking with local prop
erty owner G.H. Alani has forced
Stearns to battle Alani’s move to
have the club removed from its Col
lege Main location.
“The Tavern is a wonderful pla
ce,” said frontman and singer Jr
Medlow. “Hugh is a wonderful guy
and College Station has been a tre
mendous place for us to play.
“We appreciate Hugh having the
faith in us and we’re trying to return
that faith to him.”
Duarte added, “Hugh has helped
us out so much and been a big sup
port of the music here in College
Station. When you see something
like that ... it’s just right to help him
out.”
On Saturday night, Keith Grim-
wood and Ezra Idlet, the popular
duo of Trout Fishing in America,
were adamant in their support for
Stearns.
Grimwood said, “We believe in
this room, this really good room. I
really like Hugh Stearns. We think
he is a good man who is doing a lot...
“This club is working exactly like
it should work. The people are here,
the music is here, everything is
working. I see so many live music
clubs that don’t work, and fold be
cause they’re not successful.
“This one is successful, and to
watch a successful live club go under
bothers me. Something is wrong he
re.”
Guitarist Idlet said, “I’m not sure
of all of the political ramifications,
but I know this is a good live music
club. Hugh is a responsible manager
and a strong community figure. He
must have stepped on the wrong
toes, because there is no explanation
other than political that this club is
having problems.”
Stearns believes that the dispute
could be resolved if the two men
would just sit down and discuss it.
“The fact that I can’t even talk to
this guy makes it real difficult,”
Stearns said. “I’ve called him three
times to try and sit down with him,
but he won’t. He won’t talk to us.
' “The problems he listed in court
were noise and parking. We’ve done
a lot of reinforcement to dissolve the
sound ... and my partner (Fry)
bought the property next door to
improve the parking situation.
We’re making concessions and are
trying to address his concerns to
work this out.”
The final blow for Stearns might
be Fry’s dissension. In a telephone
conversation Sunday, she stated her
desire to have the Tavern moved
and to keep the land and property.
The court hearing and pending li
quor license renewal (Fry claims her
• marriage no longer should influence
the Tavern’s license renewal) have
exhausted her interest in keeping
the Tavern open.
Still, selling the property is an al
ternative she hopes to avoid.
Alani declined to comment on the
situation.
If there is hope for Stearns and
the Tavern, it was received through
the tremendous support he received
Just as demonstrative in their sup
port for the Tavern were the hun
dreds of patrons who attended both
shows. To them the Tavern is a spe
cial place that attracts an older, loyal
crowd.
“It would be a great tragedy to
lose this place,” said Tavern patron
Larry Hickman. “It’s a great source
, of live music <.. it’s irreplaceable.”-
Longtime patron Liz Porter said,
“We’d nave to go Austin or Houston
for our live music without the Tav
ern. We’ve been coming here since it
was Morgensterns and it would be a
great loss to have it close down.”
All Stearns can hope for is contin
ued support from patrons and
bands alike. The Texas Twisters and
The Kerouacs are scheduled to per
form benefits early next month. A
regular weekend performance
schedule will begin soon.
This weekend might have been
the first step for Stearns to settle the
Tavern issue. A great turnout and
two wonderful performances can
only gather support for him.
But Stearns also realizes that a lot
remains to be accomplished before
the Tavern can be self-sufficient.
“It’s going to happen,” he said.
“I’ve been working on this too long
and too hard for it not to. It’s not
going to be easy, but with the kind of
support we’ve been getting it’s got to
happen.”
In his support of keeping the Tav
ern open, Medlow said, “It’s like our
song ‘Worst Kind of Way.’ You have
this love for another person or thing
and the knowledge of how devastat
ing it would be to lose it.
“Not saying you have lost it or you
will lose it, but saying that the poten
tial for loss is there, and what you
would do knowing that something
you cared about that deep was
threatened.”
Apparently, Hugh Stearns knows.
Ashburn’s straightforward philosophy
blends focused ambition 9 relaxed fun
Editor’s note: The following is
the first in a semester-long series
of features about local bands.
By JOHN RIGHTER
Of The Battalion Staff
“Our philosophy is based on
three rules,” explains guitarist
of t
Chip Patterson of the local band
Ashburn. “We never practice be
fore 11 in the morning. We’ve al
ways got to have beer at the prac
tice ... and what’s the third one?”
“You’ve got to turn the amp
down if someone is talking,” of
fers singer and rhythm guitarist
Phil Wattenbarger.
“No, the third one is basically
we have to sound-proof every
thing,” concludes drummer John
Klement.
“We play too loud, extremely
too loud. It drives the neighbors
crazy, so we’ve had to staple card
board all over the kitchen.”
Patterson, Wattenbarger, Kle
ment and bass player Teddy Swi-
gart already have learned the first
rule of amateur music: Never
take it too seriously.
Seven months and countless
performances at Kay’s Cabaret,
Double Dave’s, the recently-de-
funct Cow Hop, Texas Star Tav
ern, Waivers and Mama’s Pizza
have developed a definite per
spective for the alternative-
minded Ashburn.
Nothing has fazed this group.
Not local apathy, or an early
group member change (Klement
took over as drummer after the
band’s first show). Not even an
accident that left Swigart with a
broken collarbone and Ashburn
out of action for two months.
And not a run-in with a local res
taurant owner after a boisterous
performance.
You know most of
the bands in this town
have four times the
talent we do, but they do
covers. We’re not
talented at all, but we do
what we want. It’s why
we’re happy and most of
the other bands aren’t.”
— Chip Patterson,
Ashburn guitarist
“We take it all in stride,” Wat
tenbarger says.
“We don’t mean to sound cas
ual ’cause we’re not,” Swigart
adds. “It’s just we’re having fun
doing what we like.”
Patterson claims, “You know
most of the bands in this town
have four times the talent we do,
but they do covers.
“We’re not talented at all, but
we do what we want. It’s why
we’re happy and most of the
other bands aren’t.”
Photo by Scott D. Weaver
Ashbum’s lead singer Phil Wattenbarger (left) and bassist Teddy Swigart jam at Kay’s Cabaret.
self-parody
bashing.
and enthusiastic
Talented or not (and I disagree
with Patterson), the group has en
deared itself to a regular follow
ing. People come back to listen as
much for the group’s spontaneity
and rapport with the crowd as for
its mixture of original material
and diverse cover songs.
Ashburn has a characteristic
stage attitude that magnifies their
hyper, unrestrained personali
ties. Swigart and Wattenbarger
are especially demonstrative,
jumping and swaying through ev
ery song, while the whole group
joins in walking on a line between
The group has grown from be
ing primarily a cover band to one
that performs almost all original
material. The band’s satisfaction
with its growth in songwriting
inspired them to record a demo
last week at Austin’s Lonestar
Studio.
The five-song tape is still in the
packaging process, but the band
hopes to release it soon.
Saturday night’s show at Kay’s
Cabaret featured a few cuts from
the demo, along with other origi
nals (some never performed live
before) and covers from a diverse
range of influences.
Tracing the band’s influences
would reveal a hybrid of groups
slightly to the modern left
(R.E.M., The Replacements and
Hothouse Flowers) and a sprin
kling of ancient psychedelia.
For now, the band takes its mu
sic day by day. All four members
agree that they do not need to
look too far ahead. For the mo
ment they seem content to play
the College Station circuit as
much as possible.
“The scene here is pretty much
‘throw them in there and get
some entertainment to sell more
beer,’ ” Klement says. “We don’t
mean that personally against any
of the owners, ’cause we’ve gotten
great support from most of
them.”
Swigart adds, “It’s really kind
of cool because it gives us a lot of
freedom.”
Still, the band has its sights on
playing elsewhere. They have
hired a new manager (John Tot
kelson) and are anxious to pro
mote their demo in Houston,
Austin and Dallas. But foremosl
among their priorities is to keep a
focused yet casual perspective.
“We want to play elsewhere
when the time is right,” Watten
barger says.
“Reunion Arena called us, but
we’ve decided not to do that,"
Klement says to much laughter.
SALE
“Yeah, they wanted us to pick
up popcorn,” Swigart adds to
more laughter. “You’ve got to
start somewhere. Who knows?
might be fun.”
I
Strong performances
not enough to salvage
unrealistic premise
of ‘Internal Affairs’
By TODD STONE
Of The Battalion Staff
The filmmakers advertise, “Trust him...he’s a
cop.”
Instead, trust me...it’s a flop.
Despite strong performances by Richard Gere
and Andy Garcia, “Internal Affairs” collapses
under the weight of a murky and unrealistic plot.
“Internal” uses the conventional “good cop-
bad cop” plot. In an effort to find a different an
gle to this overused story device, the film tries to
shock you with unrealistic relationships and
events.
The film starts out well enough, introducing
some potentially interesting characters and plot
schemes.
Gere stars as Dennis Peck, the bad cop. He is
the leader of an entire cocaine network operated
by police officers. He trades favors within the po
lice department to get officers to ignore his suspi
cious activities.
The system has worked well for this guy. Peck
has three ex-wives, each owning $2-3 million in
real estate assets, all provided by Peck.
He drives a classic Corvette and seems to run
the show at the police department. No one has
noticed for quite some time, until...
Enter good cop, Raymond Avilla, played by
Andy Garcia. Avilla has just joined the Internal
Affairs Division of the police department, and it
is his job to make sure all police officers have
their halos on straight.
INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Starring Richard Gere, Andy Garcia
Directed by Mike Figgis
Rated R
Through small-scale investigations of other of
ficers, Avilla discovers Peck’s illegal enterprises
and the corruption throughout the department
that is directly linked to Peck. Avilla also suffers
marital problems as he tries to juggle his mar
riage and career.
Garcia works hard as Avilla and gives the film
some much-needed intensity at moments. How
ever, screenwriter Henry Bean doesn’t provide
Garcia with much to say to express Avilla’s trou
bles and doubts. Avilla gets mad a few times, but
never says anything revealing.
Gere seems to have fun with his cold-hearted
character. He is often effective in portraying
Peck as the typical ’80s bad guy — he’s resource
ful and intelligent, with hints of being completely
wacko.
However, the moment you want to take Peck
seriously as a threatening villain, Bean again
comes up with a twist that has you saying, “Come
on, you’ve got to be joking.”
In one scene, Avilla is trying to capture a per
son who can reveal Peck’s crimes. Suddenly, the
SWAT team shows up shooting at everyone, in
cluding Avilla, even after he identifies himself.
I just hope there wasn’t some bonehead in the
theater thinking, “Wow, that Peck guy sure can
do what he wants with the police. I’m shocked.” • j
Sure. That’s right. Get one cop with a cocaine '
ring going, and he can control an entire police
force. No probleio. There isn’t anything wrong |
with a far-fetched plot ... until the success of thel
film depends on taking it seriously.
Further problems with the film include throw
ing in several sexual relationships among the
characters, most of them involving Peck. Perhaps
the filmmakers wanted to add a twist of perver
sion to make up for the police-corruption plot’s
shortcomings, but it all makes the story seem
more of a farce.
It’s a shame the movie doesrt’t work any better
A few tense and suspenseful moments follow a
promising beginning, but the plot falls apart,
leading to a contrived climax that comes out of
nowhere.
Gere and Garcia are great with what they are
given. Unfortunately, they aren’t given much.
Director Mike Figgis seems to do the best he ,
can. He gets about as much suspense and in
trigue out of the story as he can, but he cannot ;
overcome its shortcomings and lack of character |l
development.
At many moments, action was completely lack
ing, and even the shoot-’em-up scenes were bor
ing. The editor also must have taken the day off,
because the film was an unnecessary two-hours- !
plus long.
“Internal Affairs” fails to deliver as a suspense
ful cop-thriller, but if you need a good laugh, go
see this movie and try —just try — to take it se
riously.