By DAVID DEANS
Big Shout Magazine, July 1991

Normally we reserve this space in the magazine to spotlight an up-and-coming area band with a feature story and the promotion of a local appearance for our monthly Big Shout Showcase. But this month we are happy to say we are doing things a little differently.

The fact is, in July we usually don’t showcase a band at all. As the New Music Seminar falls in this month, all of our efforts are ordinarily bent towards things like worrying about maintaining a booth on the trade show floor, making an endless list of arrangements, and preparing to endure four days of schmoozing and cruising with all sorts of bizarre characters that make up the country’s music industry. But because of high booth prices and a number of other obstacles, we found ourselves staring at the reality of attending this year’s NMS12 as everyday delegates, not as active participants.

Luckily, a few phone calls to some New York clubs changed that. After weeks of persistent phone work, the chance to have a Big Shout sponsored night during the seminar seemed a tantalizing possibility. But as the month waned and as news of seminar plans became more concrete, the chances seemed to dim until Roger Probert, booking manager at Kenny’s Castaways in Greenwich Village, called at the last minute to confirm a date.

On Sunday, July 14 from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., Big Shout Magazine will sponsor five area bands at Kenny’s Castaways on Bleeker Street, during the thick of the New Music Seminar. The magazine will also be hosting a bus trip to the venue on the night of the gig, which will enable supporters of the showcase bands to get to the performance and back without having to worry about New York City traffic and that whole drinking and driving thing.

When the word came down that the showcase was going to happen, we had no more than six hours to book the five open slots. Bands were chosen because they currently had record labels interested in them, a strong presence in the area’s music scene, or both.

More than two dozen bands were considered, and of these, some had already garnered showcases of their own. Among these groups were Flight of Mavis, who will be showcasing on Monday, July 15 at the Danceteria; Beat Clinic and El Kabong, who will both be showcasing at Kenny’s Castaways on Saturday, July 13 at 8 .p.m. and 9 p.m. respectively; the Original Sins, who are rumored to be playing with the Buzzcocks at the Marquee; and the Low Road and Sweet Lizard Illtet have scheduled showcases during the conference, but their dates were unavailable at press time.

The Line Up:

Originally, we had intended to book a wide variety of acts ranging from pop, rap, heavy metal, to alternative, but after sifting through all of the possibilities, the night took a shape of its own. The showcase will offer a sample of some of the area’s more prominent hard rock, metal, and heavy alternative acts. Listed below, in order of appearance, are the five bands scheduled to play this month’s Big Shout New Music Seminar Showcase, which may, in fact go down in history as being the “Mother of All Showcases.”

8 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Napalm Sunday — Members Matt Frederick, Steve Mercanti, Ed “Stumpy” Farnsworth, and Gerry McGoldrick — probably the only alternative act in the free world without an attitude — will be kicking off the show with a set of their own energetic guitar-based alternative pop. The group has made a considerable impact on the Philadelphia alternative scene since their inception in 1987. They placed second in the 1990 Big Shout/Street Beat Readers Poll in the Best Song category for their tune “In My Yard,” they were chosen as a Big Shout Showcase in June of 1989, their latest single “Subtle Infidelity” b/w “She Believes” was picked by WXPN’s Bruce Warren as the single of the week during the first week of last month, and the band is scheduled to open for Gang of Four at the Theater of the Living Arts in Philly just six days before their appearance in New York (that’s July 8, for those of you who have trouble with addition and subtraction).

9 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Dandelion — Currently one of Philadelphia’s more talked about alternative acts, band members Kevin Moore, Carl Hinds, Mike Morpurgo, and Dante have only graced the scene for a matter of months, but in that short amount of time they have garnered the attention of a handful of major labels. They reportedly have a cache of more than 50 original songs that lean in the vein of Jane’s Addiction meets Mindfunk (if descriptions mus be made), and they presently have one of the most exciting live shows in the City of Brotherly Love.

11 p.m. to 12 a.m.: the Killtoys — Sporting a new line up and a new sound, members Gregg Kirk, Mark Kirbly John DiGiovanni, and Augie Parodi will be playing a live wire set of “funk ’til you’re drunk” raucous originals. While cornerstone songs such as “You Treat Me Like a Monster,” which won the 96 Rock “State of the Arts” contest in 1988 as well as considerable airplay on WMMR’s Street Beat and WSTW’s FT2) “All My Friends Are On Drugs,” “Workin’ in a 7-11” and “You Got, I Want” remain in their set, the band has just emerged from Alpha Wave Studios outside of Philly with a slew of new material produced by studio veteran Joe McSorley.

12 a.m. to 1 a.m.: the Rubber Uglies — Members Phil Young, Rick Potts, Troy Tatman, and Kevin Cheeseman are fast becoming Delaware’s foremost postpunk thing. After gaining attention from a number of small labels at this year’s South by Southwest Music & Media Conference, the group is concerting their effort towards the New Music Seminar. Strong songwriting coupled with a killer live delivery make this band one to watch.

1 a.m. to 2 a.m.: Deadlyne — Mike Martin, Matt Frick, Al Gedney, and Jeff Merena form the self-described “progressive metal” band from Delaware. They too did well in garnering label attention at Austin’s SXSW conference with a five-song demo recorded at Newark, DE’s Target Studios.

The group has played an impressive list of gigs ranging from clubs in Ohio, Baltimore, New York, and upstate New Jersey as well as in their hometown. They’re currently on the playlists of a number of different college stations across the country, and they’ve got a strong live show as well.