The 40 Watt

11/30

Tonight I went to the famous 40 Watt, where bands such as R.E.M., Pylon, Pavement, Run DMC, Flaming Lips, Elf Power, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Sebadoh, and Bright Eyes have all earned their wings. There's usually a cover due to the fact that there are bands playing here almost every night of the week. For some shows you can even buy tickets ahead of time.

The venue has a decent range of beers at decent prices, especially if you're from the NYC area. It's nice to spend $3 on a beer that isn't PBR. As for well drinks...stick to the beer. That's what the locals seem to do, and that's what I should have done. I ordered a rum and coke and I got a coke with some sort of alcoholic floor cleaner. Not good.

Tonight's band is actually a conglomerate of two Athens locals, Dark Meat and Ceramic Duck. Neither wins for best band name, clearly. With the combined bands there are somewhere between 10 and 15 members. There are 2 drummers, 2 electric guitars, one acoustic thrown in for good measure. There is also a horn section, which makes me automatically love the band a little more. The horn section is made up of 2 trumpets, a clarinet (not actually a horn), saxophone, and a trombone. That's right, a trombone. There are three attractive female back up singers, who play the tambourine, marracas, the citar, and an obie. Yes, this band(s) has an obie AND a trombone. Amazing, I know. The lead vocalist, a mostly incoherent male, is entertaining to say the least.

As far as appearances and cultural genres, Dark Meat is a mix of hipster meets hippie, which also forms the majority of the general population here in Athens. The band is high energy and creative and incorporates lots of spontaneous dancing; they take their music seriously but not themselves. Dark Meat also know how to do more than play a list of songs, they offer an all-round show with dancing, costumes, and projection screens. The lyrical abilities of the band's members are really the only thing in question, due mainly to the fact that most of the lyrics were incomprehensible. But still, I did do the white girl shuffle and wear a goofy grin. That's a sure sign of musical talent. Overall, the band left a pretty favorable impression. The members clearly spend a lot of time working on the songs, it can't possibly be easy coordinating that many members and so many instruments. Plus, every single last one of those members seemed genuinely excited to be on stage performing, something you don't find much of on the NYC music circuit. Even without the talent that they clearly do possess, the band's energy, enthusiasm, and character make them a band worth hopping on a Greyhound all the way to Georgia.