Ploying that funky music
Front Porch’s Folk Fest finds friends in B-CS
By JOHN RIGHTER
Local radicals who believe music
begins and ends in College Station
— Please don’t take offense, but rar
ely do I get really excited about a lo
cal music event. I’m sorry, but I’m in
agreeance with a local opinion that
the music scene in Bryan-College
was buried along with Eastgate Live.
Not that musically good things
never happen here. Thursday night
is a good example of the vitality that
still lingers in the post-Eastgate days.
The Front Porch Cafe’s “Funk Fest”
presented some of the first true blue
ball-breaking acts (besides the bian
nual KANM benefits) since Eastgate
and the Cow Hop Annex closed.
While the crowd was smaller than
the Front Porch’s “regulars” of Fri-*
day and Saturday nights, the enthu
siasm was great.
Beat Temple, an up-and-coming
band from Houston, kicked off a be
lated start with the night’s “rockiest”
set. Fusing a Led Zeppelin-type
grunge with Prince-styled harmonies
and a P-funk rhythm section, Beat
Temple charged out with a lengthy
set of mod-funk metal.
Lead singer Ralz was inventive,
flipping guitarists, stroking mike
stands and venturing out into the au
dience while maintaining a strong
vantage point for Temple’s set.
Ralz says Beat Temple has already
garnered a heavy interest from seve
ral labels, so who knows? Frankly,
their sound requires some maturity
and fine tuning, including an elimi
nation of the Prince-Zeppelin clash.
But, the possibility is there.
Extreme kudos for the night flows
to one Joe Rockhead, a crassy combi
nation of decadant funksters that
hold a wonderful disregard for song
structure. If Beat Temple aroused
the gathering, then Austin’s Joe
Rockhead was responsible for the
riot. Great thrash rapped around in
fectious beats powered by poetic
gems such as “Don’t (expletive) With
Me,” “Sister Twister” (a song about
S&M) and “Tipper Blows.”
Joe’s blissful call to “get stupid”
pretty much summed it up. Oh yeah,
Joe (lead singer Bob Schneider) is
running for governor, so there is a
viable alternative.
Closing the fest was reggae/ska
bashers House In Orbit, another
premier Austin band. Whatever
Rockhead spared, House In Orbit
finished off. Alternating between
Bob Marley/Jimmy Cliff-styled reg
gae and Metallica-inspired riffs,
House In Orbit derived the same
schistic madness pioneered by Bad
Brains in the late ’70s.
Most of Orbit’s material starts off
grooving and tilting to marijuana-
choked rhythms and then errupts
into a dual guitar assault. Bassist and
singer Nick Brophy fills the fat
sound out by tweaking his chords
just hard enough to tag a thick ac
cent.
House In Orbit recently signed on
to legendary indie ROIR, the once
home of another musically confused
crossover, Bad Brains. So, keep an
ear out for House.
I hope the Front Porch sticks with
the Thursday night routine of funk
and reggae. I imagine it will as long
as it maintains its proceeds
relationship with KANM. The Fri
day and Saturday night shows are
Beat Temple guitarist Gary Wade, (above left) performs a solo in the
arms of singer Ralz Mathias during their performance at the Front
Porch Cafe’s Funk Fest. (Top) Bassist Nick Brophy hammers out
the low notes during House in Orbit’s time on stage. (Above) Singe'
Bobby Schneider, guitarist Bruce Salmon and keyboardist R.T.Siiv
nister play all out as Joe Rockhead.
great for the reserved, confident lis
tener, but the Eastgate bastards de
serve an evening of healthy degrada
tion.
One last thing, too many people
are receiving early escorts for slam
dancing and other unreslvained ao
tivity. It’s ridiculous to pay five®
eight bucks to get thrown outonct
the going gets good — so patroni
{ ilease be brotherly and Front Porch
low about a little slack?
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