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| | Issue #20.28 :: 07/11/2007 - 07/17/2007 | They Built It. We Came.
Art Bar's Live Music Third Year Anniversary Party
| BY KEVIN FOSTER LANGSTON
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| Venice is Sinking |
Art Bar Third Anniversary Live Music Party
Art Bar: Saturday, July 14
It was on July 14 some 218 years ago that French commoners sacked the Bastille prison, liberated its seven inmates (comprised of four forgers, two lunatics and one aristocrat) and pilfered its arms and ammunitions. Four out of five historians agree this moment was the French equivalent to the battles of Lexington and Concord, and thus began a war for independence in earnest.
Turning our attention to more current and local events, July 14 also commemorates the anniversary of the Art Bar formally offering local and touring independent acts a new place to play in Columbia’s Vista.
Three years ago, Columbia’s music community was still coping with the closing of the Elbow Room in Five Points and Senate Park in the Vista. To accommodate a scene that was starved for stage space, the New Brookland Tavern would often book two shows a day — one a matinee and one an evening show. Headliners was and is still a rather large and difficult room for most local acts to fill, so this period also saw the rise of independent venues like The Boiler Room and The Art Garage. The musicians persevered as they always have, but Columbia was sorely lacking a space for the independent and in-between bands.
As I recall, it was Marty Fort and Jay Matheson who saw the potential for the Art Bar to close this gap. Fort and Matheson promised low admissions to shows that would start at a reasonable hour, and they’ve kept their promise these 36 months since. Bless those boys.
Now, the Art Bar has long been considered a hallowed haven for the freaks, geeks, unique and the indie-chic, but once it got back into the live-music game it took a monopolistic hold on Columbia’s party scene thanks in part to social staples like Mr. B’s Goodtime Karaoke Explosion and the now-defunct iPop. The Art Bar has undergone a nightlife renaissance, if you will, and the reintroduction of live music to the club’s weekly offerings was the veritable storming of the Bastille that ushered in this revolution.
To celebrate these three years of taking ass and kicking names, the Art Bar has assembled a four-band bill topped off by Why Johnny Kills and supported by The Unawares, Venice is Sinking and Mr. Gnome.
Mr. Gnome is a guitar-drum duo from Cleveland featuring Sam Meister using the sticks and Nicole Barille using the pick. Barille betrays her precious visage with a powerful voice worthy of sounding the most beautiful apocalypse you could possibly imagine. Guys and girls alike will no doubt be smitten by her looks and chops. Not to be outdone, of course, is Meister, whose acrobatic drumming locks antlers with Barille’s thick, chiming guitar.
The foil to Mr. Gnome’s sonic boom is the hushed chamber pop of Venice is Sinking. When they’re not winning (and breaking) hearts throughout the region, these Athenians (that’s Georgia, not Greece) have found a home away from home at the Art Bar. Lucky us.
If the overwhelming success of The Hold Steady has proven anything it’s that rock music doesn’t always have to be gussied up to have an impact. The Unawares, too, know this and have been spreading the good word of no-frills rock ‘n’ roll ‘round these parts since last December.
As the headliner, Why Johnny Kills is a fitting embodiment of the kind of band that’s found refuge at the Art Bar. Too polarizing and unpredictable for most of Columbia’s establishments, the music of Why Johnny Kills could never be too “out there” for the open-minded clientele that have helped make these last three years of live music at the Art Bar a success.
The show gets underway around 10 p.m., and admission is $3. Call 929-0198 or visit artbarsc.com for more information. | |
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