Scene Report: All Ages

By Duncan Barlow

Hello and welcome to yet another glorious edition of the Louisville Music News All Age section. The shows are few and far between lately, so I will begin by talking about what shows I did attend last month.

I guess the first show of the month was Guilt, Evergreen and Raze at the Grand in New Albany on December 17. Raze opened the show with a very nice set. The band had definitely improved since I last saw them. They have a style of music that draws from both the Seattle and Chicago music scenes, as well as some slight local influences also. I think it will be interesting to see what becomes of this band in the future. Evergreen played next. Evergreen is a band that changes so frequently that it seems at times like they alienate their audience. Whether or not this is a goal of the band I do not know. Evergreen played no shorter than an hour and, to be honest, I think a couple of the band members were too drunk to be playing a show. Over all, Evergreen is a good band with an incredible amount of potential, but I think there should be something said about responsibility to your audience. I know for a fact that many people came to see Evergreen and left disappointed. Perhaps it was merely an off night for the band; I could not really say. The night was closed out by Guilt and once again I cannot really say how Guilt sounded because I am in the band. But I will say that I felt very secure about our performance. Over all I think this was one of the best shows Louisville has had in a long time, because it had a really positive feeling.

I suppose the biggest news as far as shows go, was the final Endpoint show at the Brewery on December 30. The first band of the evening was Sunspring, who performed their set with all of the original Sunspring members playing. This was a very nice thing to see; I think everyone would agree. It was just a reminder of how fun the band used to be. Crain followed Sunspring with a very tight and very good set. It was good to see Crain play again; it has been quite a while since they have played an all-age show. The night was closed out by Endpoint. It was really weird being on stage with Endpoint for the last time. I thought I might get out of the building without crying, but I guess I was wrong. Endpoint has done so much and had so many good times, it was hard to say goodbye. But it is always better to go out by choice rather than fade with mediocrity. I know a lot of people were uncomfortable seeing Endpoint at the Brewery, but it was the smallest "big" club that we could find and still have control over the security. Over all I thought the show went really well and I appreciate anyone who helped or attended. Okay, enough of that.

The final show I attended this month was actually an invitation-only party, but it involved a local band, so I am going to include it in this article. Amaroq played its first show at this party. Amaroq is a new band with members of Enkindel and one singer from the group Endpoint. Amaroq was very intense and, more important, very sincere. Expect very good things from this band in the future.

Those are the only shows that I witnessed this month, due to prior engagements. To other bands that had shows that I missed, I do apologize and please keep me informed on up-and-coming shows, so that I may attend.

Falling Forward has made a jump to Doghouse from Initial, for reasons that have not been disclosed.

Guilt will be signing to Victory Records this spring, upon deciding that they did not want to sign to a major label.

Metroschifter has also decided to do a record with Doghouse.

Rumor has it that Amaroq will release something on Initial sometime this year.

Us Versus Them is a new punk-only record store that will be opening on the 20th of January behind Home Skateboards on Baxter Ave. The store will provide underground and punk records that are harder to get in other record stores due to the lack of distribution. Stop in and check them out while you are out shopping.

Endpoint recorded five songs that will be released sometime in the next month or two, so you should keep your eyes peeled.

Rachels, which consists of members of Rodan and Hula Hoop, have just recorded for Quarter Stick Records.

Wino will be releasing a seven-inch in the next couple of months.

The Enkindel and Guilt CDs should be out in the next month.

And finally, remember that Kinghorse has released some material on Slamdek, so be sure to pick it up.

My final commentary is on "Sell Out Louisville Style," a show that comes on WQMF TOO at 10 p.m. Sundays, directly after the local music show. I hear a lot of negative scene commentary on this show. People are saying that it is selling punk out. Well, honestly, it's only WQMF realizing how large our scene is and trying to accommodate it. You should be proud that you are a force that has to be reckoned with. Besides, where else are you going to hear Black Flag and other punk bands on the radio? Thanks for your time. If you have anything you would like to say, please write: P.O. Box 5159, Louisville, KY 40205.