Teenbeat’s 20th: Night One Redux
Posted on March 7, 2005 at 10:35 am | No Comments
An updated look back at the first of three Teenbeat Records 20th Anniversary shows down in DC a couple weeks ago…
The 20th anniversary shindig put on by Teenbeat Records couldn’t have started off any better: Colin and I decided to get to Arlington, Virginia’s Galaxy Hut a little bit before the listed 8:30pm start time, and as we walked into the smaller-than-expected club, a trio was up against the window getting ready to go. I focused on finding a good spot by the bar, overlooking their identity until Colin said “Isn’t that Mark Robinson up there?”.
30 seconds later, Unrest launched straight into ‘Suki‘, one of my favorites from their brilliant Imperial f.f.r.r. album. Instant and complete happiness. It was Bridget, Phil, & Mark, cruising through a loose set that also included ‘June‘, ‘Imperial‘, ‘I Do Believe You Are Blushing‘, ‘Make Out Club‘, ‘Light Command‘, and a closing combination of the instrumentals ‘Vibe Out!‘ & ‘Hydrofoil’, and there were only about 20 or so early arrivals there to see it. I think most people assumed that the poster listing “DJs Unrest” meant that B, P, & M would just be spinning discs between sets (which they did), not actually opening up. Glad they chose to pull off a practice in public… what a total treat.
So here’s a few songs from Unrest’s first performance in a whole lotta years…
Unrest
live at the Galaxy Hut
February 23rd, 2005
Light Command (live)
I Do Believe You Are Blushing (live)
June (live)
Vibe Out! / Hydrofoil (live)
It was pretty much impossible for the rest of the night’s lineup to live up to a start like that, but there were some really nice moments throughout. Tape-Op guy Larry Crane, who was the bassist in former Teenbeat band Vomit Launch, played a few V.L. songs for us, and here’s one of ’em…
Larry Crane (Vomit Launch) – ‘Stillness‘ (live)
Tracy Shedd made hanging around until the end so worth it. She was a real discovery for me, her voice reminiscent of Lois Maffeo (as Colin pointed out) or maybe early Liz Phair. I’m pretty psyched to check out her recorded stuff, but until then here’s…
Tracy Shedd – ‘Inside Out‘ (live)
Tracy Shedd – ‘Falling On Ice Hurts‘ (live)
Tracy Shedd – ‘New Song‘ (live)
The acoustic recordings are a little hissy due to their quietness (although I tried to remove some of it), and may occasionally be marred by small-club conversation and bag-shuffling, but still worth a listen.
Lots of familiar faces in the club that night, probably about sixty Teenbeat friends and fans gathered together to kick this thing off, including the long-time-not-seen Archie Moore (Heartworms/Velocity Girl) and Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto. I meant to ask Archie if he’s been making any music lately, but spaced it. Anyone know? Colin & I spent some time hanging with Frank & Matt of Shumai (who played a post-fest party on Saturday night), along with Kevin from The Lil’ Hospital.
I picked up the just-released deluxe edition of Unrest’s Imperial f.f.r.r., along with the new solo disc from their drummer, Phil Krauth. For the curious, here’s the tracklisting for that expanded Imperial…
1. Volume Reference Tone
2. Suki
3. Imperial
4. I Do Believe You Are Blushing
5. Champion Nines
6. Sugarshack
7. Isabel
8. Cherry Cream On
9. Firecracker
10. June
11. Loyola
12. Electrico
and these extra tracks…
13. Hydrofoil One
14. Full Frequency
15. Isabel (12”)
16. Cherry Cherry
17. Wednesday & Proud
18. Empire
19. Rip-off
20. Chdemo
The next morning, after a slow rise at my sister’s Arlington pad, Colin wrote and quickly recorded a new song called ‘The Whole Weekend To Go‘, pulling together bits of conversation overheard at the Galaxy Hut. ‘Cuz that’s what Colin does. Enjoy.
More sounds & pictures from the nights two and three, including live mp3s from Versus, Tuscadero, Flin Flon, +/-, Unrest, and many more should be up shortly…
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