8A ee ET AOR. TE OE FOOLS OLAS A FA

page six

entertainment

 

The Other Press

February 19, 1981

 

 

A-Mimo singer, Robi Hansen sees the light while Philip
J. Staines [foreground] bangs away on the drums at
Gary Taylor’s Rock Room Monday.

Photo by Maureen Bader

Hardcore 81

by Philip J. Staines

Approximately 300 people
gathered together at the
Laundramat, Friday and
Saturday night to pay tri-
bute to Punk Rock, and
wallow in punk decadence.
Hardcore 81 drew a crowd
of mostly punks, although
many were there just to see
how the other side lives.

The groups playing con-
sisted of local punk bands,
and a couple from San
Fransisco, and Reno.

Friday night opened with
““7, Seconds’’ who appeared
to be a bunch of drunk, blue
collar rockers who’s sound
and presence were pathetic.
Face it, even punk music
requires some refinement,
but these guy’s had nothing
to offer but garbled, ago-
nizing gash.

The second band calling
themselves ‘‘Bludgeoned
Pigs,’’ weren’t even as ta-

lented as their name im-
plied. The only good thing
about them was ex-modern-
ette, Mary Jo Kopekne, who
played bass for a few mi-

This duo fronted the Rocket Norton All Stars

nutes, then disconnected
her cord, and stood back-
stage and watched the Pigs
make idiots of themselves.

The third band was ‘‘No
Alternative,’’ from Reno.
They were a 3 piece band
who’s music wasn’t as
coarse as routine punk.
They must have been in
Reno for too long because
they reminded me of an
Elvis Presley impersonation
show turned punk.

Then came Black Flag’’
from San Fransisco, but
unfortunately pandamonium
broke out amongst the
crowd and I had no chance
of viewing them.

Last but not least, was
Vancouver’s notorious,
household band D.O.A.
They were quite obviously
the drawing power of the
event, and the. most enter-
taining band of the evening.
It’s really funny to think of
D.O.A. as a hardcore punk
band because they have no
threatening visual ingredi-
ants. Their stage apparell
reflects the west coast grea-

   

     

A-Mimo highlight

GARY TAYLORS TRIPLE

by Tom Schoenewolf

The Spyders, Zipper and
A-Mimo played a triple bill
at Gary Taylor’s Rock Room
Monday night.

A-Mimo proved to be the
highlight, providing over an
hour of diverse music to the
enthusiastic crowd.

The three-piece group
consists of Robi Hansen,
guitar/vocals, Douglas Col-
lege student Philip J.
Staines, drums/vocals and
Brian Adolf, bass guitar.

A-Mimo didn’t have a
polished, commercial sound
like Trooper and Prism
(thank god!) which enabled
them to maintain the raw
energy of their ultra-pop
style of music.

Songs like ‘Fresh Dream,’
‘Writer,’ and ‘I’m Almost
Happy’ maintained a defi-

nite style that has been
influenced by English
bands such as XTC,The

Who, Iggy Pop, Pink Floyd
etc.
otne

rhythm section is

Premier

Coquitlam band

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constantly fluctuating; it is
never stable or repititous in
arrangement. Hansen’s
creative guitar style utilizes
the simple melodic structure
of the music.

Despite A-Mimo’s unique
sound, the band is just in its
beginning
The band handled them-
selves well, but lacked the
experience of stagecraft.

According to Staines, the
bands philosophy is to by-
pass the club scene by
means of recording studio
tapes.

““We’ll play clubs like the
Rock Room for the simple
fact of exposure. We don’t
want to get caught playing
Top 40 because it’s strickly
Stagnating to your music
ability,’’ Staines said.

The band has recorded a
demo tape but Staines said
it has since been ‘‘out-
dated.’’

“It was A-Mimo’s first
time in the studio and since
then many things have

A-Mimo are shown here rehearsing .(Lto R) Philip

Staines ,Robi Hansen and Brian Adolf .

ser fashion.

Rhythm. guitarist Dave
Greg looked as though he
had just been raped. He
jumped into the crowd and
slam danced around the
floor. The crowd expressed
their feelings by doing all
they could to inflict some

pain on the masochistic
punk,

On the whole, D.O.A.
created energy without

damaging anyone’s hearing.

They played all their favo-
rites including ‘‘Nazi Train-
ing Camp,‘‘The Enemy’”’,
and ‘‘Let’s fuck’’.

The most ‘accomplished
musician of the whole event
was D.O.A. drummer Chuck
Biscuits, who’s speed and
energy is phenomenal.

Saturday evening proved
to be much more civilized.
The sound was tame in
comparison to _ Friday’s

more collegiate.

Making an appearance
that. evening was Vancou-
vers ““Insex”’.-. The. age

brackett must have ranged
from about 15 to 20, the
group looked much younger
than the other bands, and
they were much more intel-
ligent.

The most positive ingre-
dient of the group was their
music wasn’t nearly as re-

stages.

changed.”’

The band is planning to
re-mix a few songs from the
demo and record some some
new songs.

We want to_ record
again,’’ said Staines, ‘‘be-
cause we've learned basic-
ally how to refine a product
so it is exceptable without
sacraficing the complexity
and individuality of the
group.

Opening the show at
Taylors were the Spyders
from Victoria who played a
good set of fast rock. The
band’s highlight was their
rendition of the Beatle’s
classic ‘When I Saw Her
Standing There.’

Zippers followed and pro-
ved to be a Powder Blues
clone. The only difference
was that the _ volcalist
changed costumes before
almost every song. He even
appeared in drag and sang
some be-bop song about a
boy-friend. Rock and horns
just don’t mix.

volting as the rest. They
had imagination and a well-
blended sound. Their sin-
ger sported an absolute look
of insanity as he paced back
and forth utilizing some
threatening even though his
intimidating style had little
impact.

The Insex in collaboration
with D.O.A. managed to
make Hardcore 81 toller-
able.

The difference
between you and a
person who's fit

is that anything
you can do

he can do better.

oO

PARTICIPACTION D

The Canadian movement for personal fitness.

opening of the VIP Lounge at Gary Taylor’s Rock Room
recently. photo by Greg Heakes .

 

show, and: the crowd was