The Bevis Frond take 'Sco back to the old days

The Bevis Frond's only Ohio appearance unfortunately slipped quietly past most students, but on Monday at midnight an entirely different generation of rock fans were getting down and dirty at the 'Sco. The British rock group that formed over two decades ago attracted more dinosaurs of the indie rock world than yearlings, but the band was hip, the crowd was into it, and the extended guitar solos rocked.

Fronted by singer/guitarist Nick Salomon, The Bevis Frond spun out the type of songs that fall into that psychedelic/prog-rock category: often lengthy, and very, very deep.

Every song performed Monday was in true '70s guitar rock style. Had the few Obies in the audience disappeared for a moment, the whole set up could have easily taken place 20 years back. The ratio of students to visitors was about one in 20, mostly made up of 40-year-old men with long hair and leather jackets. But no matter: Monday's crowd was not at the 'Sco by chance, but for a purpose. They had come to relive a blast from the past, and The Bevis Frond delivered.

Most tracks featured long segments of difficult fingering and screeching into the most piercing of solos, but on-lookers just nodded their heads along and shook their fists in the "devil dog" gesture, banging along to every drum fill.

Despite The Bevis Frond's stubborn refusal to let go of the past, they did include some more modern rock-sounding songs in their set as well. But maybe they shouldn't have: their hearts seemed to be rooted in hard-driven guitar rock and psychedelic lyrics. The band covered Pete Townsend, and you could tell they were true fans themselves. Salomon delivered his lyrics with sentiment and passion, even during his band's loudest moments.

Though the group's 90 minute set droned on with, for the most part, interchangeable tracks, the crowd never died out in spirit. In fact, they seemed more supportive the longer the set continued. The set ended with a bang, with full distortion and screeching feedback after Solomon's extended solo, clocking in at over ten minutes long. But after enough applause, Solomon took the stage solo, finishing off the late night with a few mellower numbers and a clean finish.

Pennsylvania natives Brother JT and Vibrolux opened the evening with straight guitar rock combined with occasional gospel-like lyrics, all delivered in a very in-your-face mannerism toward the audience.

The crowd was very small and timid when Brother JT took the stage, and the band pondered aloud, "Well, it's a Monday night; I don't know if you guys want us to try and rock out," but they did. That's what it was all about Monday - straight rock. It's just too bad that more students didn't take the opportunity to rock along with the rest of the geezers. They could have learned something.

Dinosaur Sr: Nick Salomon of The Bevis Frond taught students a lesson in guitar rock last Monday at the 'Sco. (photo by Mike Kabakoff)