Youth
Sweat and Make Noise in Area Basement
Ministry Kicks Off Rock Show Series with Oberlin-Grown
Band
by Andrew Leland
While
the floorboards of 36 East Lorain Street, more affectionately known
as Ministry, were throbbing and trembling with the energy of live,
real-time rock and roll, my salted and hirsute frame
was pressed flat by the silicon bosom and tendrils of ERES, located
at eres.cc.oberlin.edu. I managed to escape that haughty lover ERES
by 11:45 p.m., catching the last three songs of the show given there
by the Phantom Limbs
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Little
Drummers: First year drum gurus pump up the jam
at the First-Year Talent Show. (photo by Claire-Helene
Mershon)
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Wednesday
night. Luckily, I was able to interrogate a few people who had been
there the whole time, and had seen the entire affair go down.
Lots of people showed up for the show, which was the first in what
will be an ongoing series of rock shows at Ministry. The opening
act, called The Kurt Mask, is comprised of all of the male residents
of Ministry. They were, quite literally, playing in their own basement.
The Kurt Mask reaped the benefits of this home court advantage playing
to a crowd liberally sprinkled with their friends and admirers.
One housemate promised to take the band out to dinner if they played
a particular Operation Ivy cover, and The Kurt Mask wouldnt
have been able to do it without copious musical and lyrical support
from the crowd. The band also played several exciting originals,
and one audience member was particularly struck by senior Joe Kremers
distinctive guitar stylings.
Next up was Population Reduction. The consensus on this band was
that they had more beards and hair than the previous act and a sound
people were quicker to label metal. The lead singer
was allegedly a screamer, although listeners were quick
to point out that the band had a non-threatening, cute and
surprisingly quiet stage presence. Despite their cuddliness,
however, many in the audience pigeonholed the band with the genre
label grindcore.
The third and final act of the evening hails from Oakland, CA and
call themselves the Phantom Limbs. Featuring guitar, two keyboards
(one of which was sometimes replaced with a bass guitar), drums
and a vocalist, the Phantom Limbs began their set without Hopeless,
their vocalist. They played one chord again and again, which a member
of the audience reported as sounding like a jackhammer on
Quaaludes.
After a while of this, singer Hopeless burst violently out of his
hiding from behind the crowd wearing a straightjacket, and their
set began. The combination of the basements exposed bricks
and pipes, dim red lights, sweaty, smoky and beery atmosphere, and
Hopeless cabaret style menace created an
ambience that some agreed was perfect for Halloween.
The crowd devoured their longish set, and most people seemed to
approve of themselves and their neighbors for the way they were
moving and dancing I heard several remarks that the
crowd [was] moving well.
After the show, the Phantom Limbs sold merchandise and cavorted
with those in attendance back on the porch while people began anticipating
the upcoming show at the Bike-Coop on Friday, Sept. 21. The show
will feature the Fleshies, a group who often tours with the Phantom
Limbs. Also present will be a variety of unnamed Oberlin bands,
as well as Oberlin bands that are yet to have names.
The consensus on the porch was that rock shows at Ministry and elsewhere
off-campus offer less pretentious and more approachable alternatives
to the bands that come to the Sco. These are bands that arrive
in rented vans and sleep in students beds; bands you can talk
to without feeling creepy afterwards. One member of the Phantom
Limbs remarked, This was such a great crowd. This was such
a fun show for us. He then smiled and made eye contact with
an OC first-year. Upon witnessing this moment of tenderness, junior
Jason Klauber said, Thats really refreshing to hear,
after seeing so many bands at the Sco who later go on to insult
the very college students who make up their fan base.
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