Culture e other-press lub Review , I called ahead and talked to the marketing people at the - ARFLY club so they would know I was coming to review them. I erry Evans arrived at the door and the two bouncers asked me what I [ture Editor wanted, in a somewhat rude manor. There were only about 6-8 guys in line and my friend and I looked all right, I think. Anyway, I told the guy I was from the Other Press representing Douglas College and that I was to meet Nicole, their marketing manager. The one guy, who I’ve had words with before basically said “so what”. However, the other,guy sent me in, no cover charge, to meet Nicole. My friend and I circled the joint and decided to get a drink and find a seat. We snagged a table in the upstairs section looking over the club. I heard my name called over the speakers to come to the DJ booth. That creeped me out and I think I blushed but went over there anyhow. Nicole was there and she was fantastically welcoming. She organized photo ops, bought us some drinks, and fre- quently checked back with us. But what did I observe, you ask? Oh there is so much to tell. First of all, every girl there was wearing low-rise jeans except my friend and me. There must have been a sale but no one told us. Granted the low-rise jeans are popular but "not attractive on all girls. By 11:00p.m. the women’s washroom floor was covered with broken beer bottles. I know the club has a no-drink policy for the washrooms, but I guess they can’t catch everyone. But let’s get serious. Is there anything more dis- - gusting than taking an open drink into a airborne germ- * filled washroom? I think not. I did tell the bouncer about it up. Kerry and Somy Hip-hop filled out ears as their advertisements had promised. The DJ was good: new music with enough old school to mix it up. Only trouble was that the dance floor was too packed too dance. So we stood along the edge and observed. There was a crazy girl on the dance floor. She was giving it her all in a really undesirable way. Okay we were laughing a bit because it was really funny. But then : the: broken glass, and he immediately got someone to clean © October 16, 2002 she came right up to my friend and was an inch from her face. She asked what we were laughing at. We just kept laughing and then she stood there for about two minutes then went back to the dance floor. That was the most entertaining thing that happened all night. One promotional thing they have going on is people walking around with video games hung around their necks. There were four of them, and they had two con- trollers each. They were letting people play some hockey game, and then they would get a prize. It was kind of cool but I didn’t get to play. I am not even sure what the prize was, but they were hanging things around people’s necks, so maybe you got a medal. I would love to have a medal for something. Okay, I read on a website that the ratio was ten women to every one man. And they weren't lying. Chicks every- where and not a whole lot of options for the ladies. There was that one guy though. You know the one that you watch at the club all night but you wouldn’t dare speak to? He was tall, dark, handsome and had amazing biceps. Very lovely eye candy. His only flaw...he was holding hands with a chick hotter than me. But who likes chicks that hot anyway? Too high-maintenance, right? Thursday is college night. Before 11:00p.m., if you show your current student card, you won't have to pay cover. On the flipside, unless you get there before 9:30p.m. the faux line will have you outside with the snarly bouncers forev- er. In honour of college night Barfly has cheap drinks. If you drink highballs that is. The highballs are $1, but I was drinking Mike’s Hard Lemonade, which was $6.50. Jeez, with a tip that is $8 a drink. I can get four from the Liquor store. Good thing Nicole bought us some drinks. I left at 12:00a.m. to hit Studio 54 for a while. Don’t get me wrong, Barfly is a nice atmosphere but I found that it was too packed and the crowd was a little snobby—plus no guys. I would go back, but with a group of people, and I would drink before I went. D Review om Mellish The String Cheese Incident could possibly be the “jam P Contributor band” that takes over where Phish left off. Think Grateful Dead circa 1980s: on the road, scraggly beards, and quirky grins...following the American dream pipe. The String Cheese Incident formed in 1993 in the small ski town of Crested Butte, Colorado. Michael Kang (electric man- dolin, acoustic mandolin, violin), Michael Travis (drums, congas, djembe, talking drum, percussion), Bill Nershi (six string acoustic guitar), and Keith Moseley (five string elec- tric bass, four string acoustic bass) were ski bums; jamming at night and making turns all day long. They traveled down valley to Boulder, where they found Kyle Hollingsworth (piano, organ, Rhodes accordion). Of note, there seems to be this thing with hula-hoops going on, an attractive refer- ence to winsome ideals that can be found in the “hooper” character that adorns the SCI wares. Birmingham, AL (Alabama) is a three disc live album recorded at the Boutwell Auditorium on the 19th of April this year. It is the 13th album in the “Incident On the Road Series,” part of the Spring 2002 tour which winds its way across North America. Supposedly, Vancouver will be the 10/16/02 and 10/17/02 album of the Fall 2002 tour. Birmingham, AL —Incident Mn the Road Series The String Cheese Incident abel: Sci Fidelity Records Though Birmingham, AL has all the heart and energy of a live Dead show, it lacks the production quality of a stu- dio. The sound quality is not all that bad, and there is def- inite response from the audience. Though the instruments are strong, the impassioned vocals are gruff, trying for har- mony, and lacking clarity. I have a soft spot for them; these guys are having fun, and they love what they do. “Wassup, freaks?” starts off the first CD, a dead giveaway to the influences and fan-base of the band. Track 1 quick- ly enters into improvisational folkfest of wanking instru- mental solos and veers off into soundtrack propensity (‘Sweet Melinda’ for example, or any of the other jams). On disc 2, track 4, there is a cover of Paul Simon’s ‘Under African Skies’. Track 8 of the third disc ends the album with ‘I Know You Rider’, a bluegrass version of an old Dead tune. The three CDs are entrenched in free-ambient music-to-get-stoned-to. At times, the band flirts with jazz, hillbilly bluegrass, funk flavours. All in all, it’s good ol’ foot stomping tunes to grow your hair by. Check out to down- load mp3s and tour dates. page 11 ©