Newspaper Page Text
Flagpole • Oct.5, 1988 Page 12
The package that can't
be stolen
The Athens Music Scene has always
carried hushed intonations. The
unspoken word carried via underground
by rumor patrol has been a source for
much of the mystery and a catalyst for
much of the magic which emanates from
virtually every live performance of
original material here.The spontaneous
Squalls gig in the snow, the first Club
GaGa show, r.e.m. at Tyrones, Vic
Chestnut in the parking lot, every all-
star 'Louie,Louie' jam, and everything
that ever went down at 'Stitchcraft were
unbelievably hot because not one
individual, but rather everyone
together generates an excitement in the
air, an aura of expectation that
something is about to happen. This
atmospheric static on a steamy summer
night becomes a holy hurricane on the
dance floor whenever any band member
announces softly, ’Here's a new song',
or yells out to somebody in the crowd,
at the end of the
night, when we
were tearing down
the sound system,
a boy walked up
to the front of
the stage and
asked who could
tell him why he
didn't get a
special surprise
'Hey, c f mon up here and play guitar on
this one!' Everyone in the club is
anxious to figure out the first few
chords, and by the end of it, everyone
is joyously drenched in sweat, dancing
their feet off, playing lead. It's wild
and real. It's beautiful.
It's also elusive. It just happens
and it doesn't just happen.You've got
to know what you're doing,you've got to
trust yourself to try, and you've got
to follow through. Alot of people went
out to the Athens Fairgrounds on Sunday
because they v/anted to feel that magic.
And it was there. The bands delivered.
But at the end of the night, when we
were tearing down the sound system, a
boy walked up to the front of the stage
and asked who could tell him why he
didn't get a special surprise. I looked
around to Starr Wright, Chris Edwards,
and Paul Boutchard, the people who were
waiting for the equipment to arrive at
sunrise, and the very last to leave the
stage that night. Very responsible
people, but they weren't responsible. I
looked down at Little Cindy Lou Who
asking why the Grinch stole Christmas.
I wished I'd had an ice cream cone or
something to give him.
I told him that all this talent
together in one day was special. And
that any one song that was beautiful
beyond belief was special. He hung his
lip a little and said he knew, that he
loved all these bands, and that he'd
really had a wonderful day, it had been
sunny and peaceful and everybody
jammed. But he had read on the schedule
that after Love Tractor played, there'd
be a special surprise. It didn't matter
what it was, it could have been one
cover song with bass, guitar, and drums
from three different bands, and it
could have been all off-key, but he
could have driven back to the state he
lives in and tell his friends and smile
and know he'd been there.
I had some serious questions about
this event before it happened. Like,
who was in charge, and where was all
the money going? And was Dale not
possibly in the wrong by threatening an
extremely territorial, legally blind
man with a chair leg? For some reason,
Dale dropped the charges so we may
never know if Ron might have
successfully pleaded a case of self-
defense .
I took my questions to Michael
Collins, the man finally hailed on
stage after Love Tractor as being
responsible for all this. He told me
that Dale's name had been dropped from
all the press releases, although that