"riday • March 31, 1995
The Battalion • Page 3
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good ol’ rock-n-roll
Texas Twisters to take 3rd Floor stage with classics
By Michael Landauer
The Battalion
F ew local bands reminisce about the good ol’ days of
playing for frat parties at the little bar on North-
gate called The Cowhop. Most bands do not miss the
days when they could bring Zephyr’s, now the site of
The Tap, to life with classic rock music.
But members of the Texas Twisters have all these
memories and more. Hank Allen, the band’s drummer, grew
up in Bryan-College Station and has seen the local music scene
expand from nothing in the past 20 years.
“When we were young there really wasn’t a music scene,” he
said. “You had to go to beer joints and just ask them if you
could play.”
The Texas Twisters, who are playing tonight at 3rd Floor
Cantina, don’t make the rounds of beer joints looking for gigs.
Rather, they have built a large following by doing frat par
ties and other special events over the last eight years.
Willie Bennett, manager of 3rd Floor Cantina, said he
doesn’t usually book cover bands but the Texas Twisters
are an exception.
“They’re a cover band, but they’re a damn good
one,” he said. “I would say without a doubt that they
| are the local favorites here.”
Wade Myatt, the band’s lead guitar and vocals,
said the Texas Twisters is the longest-running rock
band in the area.
Myatt approached Allen, who was managing an
club on Old College Main, in December 1987 to see
about starting a band. Allen needed someone to play
for a food drive, and in perfect Blues Brother’s
style, they threw the band together.
“We learned the 10 easiest songs we could play,
but they were classics,” Myatt said.
The band faced its biggest challenge when
b lead singer Mark Davenport graduated
with his master’s degree in philosophy and left College Station.
After an unsuccessful search for a new lead singer, the band
became a trio.
“When you put the three of us together it makes a nice har
mony or blend,” Myatt said.
The band rarely practices but they have between 100 and
150 songs that they might play at any gig.
“We get together at the gig and say, ‘How’s the kids? How’s
the wife?” and plug it in and get going,” Myatt said.
Allen, Myatt and the band’s bass player, Lee Martin, are all
permanent local residents who have seen many classes of Ag
gies and even more clubs come and go. They are all middle age,
with Myatt, at 36, being the youngest of the group.
“We’ve weathered through good times and bad, and we’re
still going,” Myatt said. “We may be a bunch of old farts, but
our motto is ‘You’re never too old to rock-n-roll.’”
Myatt said this attitude comes across in their performances
and song selections.
“If you can’t dance to it, we won’t play it,” he said. “When
you come see us, you’re gonna sweat a little bit.”
Since the band members all have careers, they only perform
about once a month. Myatt said that since they play so rarely,
the shows are very energetic. He said it might take about a
week for fans to recuperate.
“Everybody gets pumped, puts their game face on and does a
good show,” he said. “I know it takes us a few days to get over it.”
Myatt, who graduated from A&M in 1976, said the music
scene is only getting better in the Bryan-College Station area.
“I think the awareness of live music is the best it’s ever
been,” he said.
When he was at A&M, he said students were indifferent and, as
a result, clubs would come and go without ever becoming popular.
“We’d play one night and we’d call back to get another date
and the place would be out of business,” he said. “We’ve sur
vived a lot of comings and goings.”
Allen said the band is able to maintain their popularity be
cause one thing has remained true throughout the years.
“People like good ol’ rock-n-roll,” he said.
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KANI/vVS TOP 10
The top albums played for the week ending March 30, 1995
1. Low Pop Suicide — The Death of Excellence, World Domination Records
2. Prodigy — Music for the Jilted, Mute Records
3. Pond — The Practice of Joy Before, Subpop Records
4. Morrissey— World of Morrissey, Reprise Records
5. The Laughing Hyenas —- Hardcore, Touch N Go Records
Collective Soul
6. Collective Soul — Gel, Atlantic Records
7. Steve Vai — Alien Love Songs, Relativity Records
8. Clawhammer — Thank the Holders Uppers, Interscope Records
9. Juicy — For the Ladies, Slow River Records
10. Alex Chilton — A Man Called Destruction, Ardent Records
KANM 99.9 FM Cable is the student radio station at Texas A&M University.
Friday
Bo Andrews, a local folk singer,
will be performing at Sweet
Eugene's House of Java.
Full Circle and 3 Wise Men,
two local rock bands will be
playing at Northgate Cafe.
Peeping Tom, a local cover
band with a few original songs,
will be playing at The Tap.
The Texas Twisters, a local
classic rock cover band, will be
playing at 3rd Floor Cantina.
See related story.
Turning Country will be at the
Texas Hall of Fame.
Pulp Fiction will be shown by
the MSC Film Society at 7:00
and 9:30.
Saturday
Cheyenne will be playing at the
Texas Hall of Fame.
The Killer Bees, a reggae band,
will be at the 3rd Floor Cantina.
King of Hearts, a local rock
band, will be playing at Sweet
Eugene's House of Java.
There will be a rave, with DJ's
playing ambient house dance
music, at Stafford Opera House.
Sudden Death and Foil, two
local rock bands, will be
playing at Northgate Cafe.
Pulp Fiction will be shown by
MSC Film Society at 7:00 and
9:30.
Freudian Slip, improv comedy
by the Aggie players
Association, will be at 9:00 in
the Rudder Forum.
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Bargain Matinees
All Shows Before 6p.m.
SCHULMAN SIX
2000 E. 29th Street 775-2463
‘DOLORES CLAIBORNE *R
$5.00/$3.00 1:40 4:20 7:00 9:40
♦OUTBREAK *R
$5.00/$3.00 1:40 4:10 7:05 9:30
MAJOR PAYNE *PG-13
$5.00/$3.00 1:35 3:35 5:35 7:35 9:35
♦TALL TALE *PG
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♦LOSING ISAIAH -PG-13
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$5.00/$3.00 1:50 4:30 7:15 9:50
* In Dolby Stereo
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OUTBREAK
Try to remain calm.
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© 1995 UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC. ... -.^*7-..-.
‘SPELLBINDING AND GRIPPING! A GREAT FILM!”
-Barry ZeVan, CHANNEL AMERICA NETWORK
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THE UNBELIEVABLE ADVENTURES
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THE MOVIE JESUS IN MANDARIN
SATURDAY, APRIL 1 RUDDER 401 4PM-6PM
SPONSORED BY CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST
SONIC EXPLORHTI0NS
Free Concert of Computer Music
uiitti Paul Lansky, Princeton Uniu.
"Sounds of the W>rld Around Us
Transformed by New Technologies"
Sunday Afternoon - April 2, 1995 - 4:00 pm
Bee Creek Bark, College Station
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IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND THE
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH AT
GALVESTON FOR THE FALL SEMESTER 1995,
PLEASE ATTEND AN INFORMAL
MEETING AT “THE DIXIE CHICKEN “ ON
SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 4 PM. - 6 PM.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL:
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ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER TO:
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1827 AVENUE L
GALVESTON, TX 77550