Monthly listings first and then maybe some notes, links, and videos posted about some of the shows. If I don't write anything about your favorite artist feel free to comment. If you happened to be at Lucy's for any of these nights then let me know.
March 5, 1994 looks like an indie rock night probably booked by Mary Mancini. She would typically book the more college rock groups while Donnie Kendall would book the metal and punk acts. It's one reason I think the venue worked so wonderfully. People attracted to maybe one spectrum of the alternative music world would come each weekend night thanks to the low $5 admission charge just to hang out. I can't find any info on Haven's Manor. Mind Station is next on the bill. This is probably Todd Beene's (later with Glossary and Lucero) band. They put out a CD called Train of Thought in 1993.
14-Jan-94 Grand Re-Opening with Ballpeen Hernia, The Slackers, Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot 8PM $5
15-Jan-94 For Kate's Sake, Collin Wade Monk & more 8PM $5
20-Jan-94 Nashville Anti-Extravaganza with Thee Phantom 5ive, Bedwetter, El Lion 8PM $4
21-Jan-94 Nashville Anti-Extravaganza with Who Hit John, Hellbilly, Godplow, Today is the Day 8PM $5
22-Jan-94 Nashville Anti-Extravaganza with Poppy Trail, Lambchop, 8 Bark, Rodan 8PM $5
28-Jan-94 Fingerhut, Tigerlillies, Crop Circle Hoax 8PM $5
You would have thought there would have been a big splashy writeup in The Tennessean about Lucy's reopening, but there wasn't. It did get a little love in the Hot Ticket capsule on January 14, 1994, but like Black Flag sang, "...I need some more!" The first night back brings us Ball Peen Hernia's Lucy's debut, Huntsville, Alabama punk rockers The Slackers, and Nashville's own Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot. The Slackers played Lucy's 3 times including opening for Bikini Kill later in 1994.
The Slackers - The Big Scam
For Kate's Sake, Collin Wade Monk, and more are shown in the listings for January 15th. I haven't been able to find out who the "more" was on this night. A week later begins the now annual Anti-Extravaganza in response to the mainstream Nashville Music Extravaganza which was happening at the same time.
Greensboro, North Carolina band Bedwetter is still in the game which is quite amazing, but back in 1994 they were playing on the first night of the Anti-Extravaganza. Nashville surf monsters Thee Phantom 5ive opened the bill which was headlined by a group named El Lion. If anybody out there in the ether knows anything about El Lion let me know. They are a mystery to me.
January 21, 1994 is the second night of the Anti-Extravaganza. Godplow makes their 7th and last appearance at Lucy's. Who Hit John makes an appearance. Hellbilly makes their 2nd appearance. One of my former bandmates and friend Wes played drums for Hellbilly initially before joining the Teen Idols. He even did some recordings with them. Hellbilly leader Jay McDowell was the episode 5 guest on the Lucy's Record Shop podcast.
Hellbilly
The headliners for the night were Amphetamine Reptile recording artists Today is the Day. They are an example of a Nashville band that made it fairly big in the alternative music universe. Of course, they relocated to Massachusetts during the halcyon days. Main guy Steve Austin now lives in Maine (main guy lives in Maine.....I slay myself) where he runs his own studio. There will be some live video of Today is the Day at Lucy's shared in a future post. Here's their music video for "6 Dementia Satyr."
The Anti-Extravaganza rolls on for one more night with Poppy Trail, the ubiquitous Lambchop, one of my favorites 8 Bark from Chicago, and Louisville post hardcore/math rock legends Rodan closing out the show. I haven't found any live footage of Rodan at Lucy's but here's a good live cut off the Simple Machines compilation Working Holiday that was released in 1994.
Rodan ' Big Things, Little Things
January 28, 1994: Fingerhut, Tigerlillies, and another one of my favorite bands Crop Circle Hoax take Lucy's by storm on this night. Fingerhut which went under various spellings over the years and played over 10 times at Lucy's. I believe the Tigerlillies that played this show were the Cincinnati based indie rockers. There will be a performance uploaded by Crop Circle Hoax when I get to 1995.
The first month back after the up to code bathrooms were installed ends with my friends in Jack, Flat Mass from Austin, Texas, and the first of 15 listed performances by rap/rock innovators Stone Deep. The Stone Deep lineage goes all the way back to 80's when Mr. Zero was burning the roof off the mother. Stone Deep were together from 1992-2000 before reforming around Glen Cummings and Ron "The Beast" Cartwright in 2022. They are so cool (or maybe uncool depending on your views) they even have a website page devoted to their style brand.
Stone Deep live January 21, 1994 at 328 Performance Hall an NEA performance
3-Feb-94 Lambchop, Versus 8PM $4
4-Feb-94 Staring at the Sun, Ringo Levio, No Remorse 8PM $5
5-Feb-94 Soul Hitch, Clubber Lang, Love Bucket & Slaphappy Superfly 8PM $5
6-Feb-94 House O' Pain Migraine Matinee: Well Away, Rain Like the Sound of Trains 3PM $3
11-Feb-94 Brutus Fly, The Used, Uncle Daddy 8PM $5
12-Feb-94 Necropolis, Impetous Doom. Excruciating Pain 8PM $5
18-Feb-94 Locus Solus, The Grifters, Polvo 8PM $5
19-Feb-94 Daphne's Operation, Liberty Caps, Dump 8PM $5
25-Feb-94 Toy Bean, Tiny Corkscrews, Azalia Snail 8PM $5
26-Feb-94 Pud, My Dad is Dead, Truman's Water 8PM $5
4-Feb-94 Staring at the Sun, Ringo Levio, No Remorse 8PM $5
5-Feb-94 Soul Hitch, Clubber Lang, Love Bucket & Slaphappy Superfly 8PM $5
6-Feb-94 House O' Pain Migraine Matinee: Well Away, Rain Like the Sound of Trains 3PM $3
11-Feb-94 Brutus Fly, The Used, Uncle Daddy 8PM $5
12-Feb-94 Necropolis, Impetous Doom. Excruciating Pain 8PM $5
18-Feb-94 Locus Solus, The Grifters, Polvo 8PM $5
19-Feb-94 Daphne's Operation, Liberty Caps, Dump 8PM $5
25-Feb-94 Toy Bean, Tiny Corkscrews, Azalia Snail 8PM $5
26-Feb-94 Pud, My Dad is Dead, Truman's Water 8PM $5
February 1994 is a very noisy month at Lucy's Record Shop. The first show of the month is probably the most sedate with Lambchop opening for Versus who were making their second visit to Lucy's after playing November 1993. Lambchop was on that bill too. Indie rockers Versus from NYC are masters of soft/loud mix of dream pop with some grunge thrown in for good measure. They understand dynamics.
Versus - Be-9 from their The Stars Are Insane album released in 1994 on Teenbeat
Staring at the Sun makes their 7th listed appearance on February 4, 1994 and it's the 5th time for No Remorse. My research, as limited as it is, shows that Ringo Levio was from Birmingham, Alabama. I would guess they are named after the Emmett Grogan book Ringolevio: A Life Played for Keeps. They have a tune on this compilation compact disc album.
February 5, 1994 has Clubber Lang who would play Lucy's twice in 1994. There was a hardcore band from NYC with that name, but there is also a Florida group with the same name. One bad thing about using a pop culture reference for a name is that it makes finding out information on the group difficult. I believe Soul Hitch was local along with Love Bucket & Slaphappy Superfly. More on the latter in a future post. A Migraine Matinee happens on the 6th with Memphis punk rockers Well Away and a band with one of my favorite names: Rain Like the Sound of Trains. Well Away make an appearance on the XXX: Some Ideas Are Poisonous compilation which would be issued in 1995. I have the embedded YouTube clip set to start at their song "Embodied" as it runs from 10:41 through 13:25. The whole comp is great.
Well Away - Embodied
Washington D.C. band Rain Like the Sound of Trains featured former members of Soulside, Beefeater, and Verbal Assault. I mentioned that before when I covered August 1993, but it's worth mentioning again. Naturally their debut record came out on Dischord. They were post hardcore with some funky elements. Their politics were strident, but perhaps not as immediately appealing such as Rage Against the Machine.
Rain Like the Sound of Trains live in Salt Lake City 1993
Brutus Fly is the lower billed band on February 11, 1994. They were from Nashville and would play Lucy's multiple times. They would put out a 45 EP in 1995 on Potty Mouth Records. Go check out their Bandcamp page where you can get their whole discography for free. Do it! They were a fun bunch. The Used who I wrote about in a previous post and Uncle Daddy rounded out the bill.
Brutus Fly photo I borrowed from their Bandcamp page
Necropolis, Impetous Doom. and Excruciating Pain bring the death and a little bit prog on February 12th. They are all repeat performers at Lucy's. The next weekend brings some Sonic Youth influenced noise rock to the fore. February 18, 1994 begins with Locus Solus. There are multiple artists bearing that name which was the name of a French novel by Raymond Roussel. It was also the name of a short lived literary journal. The literal meaning of the words together is unique or solitary place. I am guessing this Locus Solus is the one that put out the album Waverly on Grass Records in 1994 since they were locals. I think I had it at one time as I was big fan of Grass Records. It's funny that one of the comments at YouTube for the Waverly album says it reminds the commenter of the Grifters because Memphis band Grifters are next on this Friday night. This would be their 2nd and last appearance at Lucy's.
Grifters - Teenage Jesus released in 1993
North Carolina's finest purveyors of noise rock with a bit of shoe gaze thrown in Polvo headline this night. They were my friend Bingham's favorite group, but I didn't really like them back then. However, after a couple of decades I finally grasped their brilliance. I've either gotten mature or regressed. Suffice it to say Polvo rocks! They reunited in 2008 which is cool because their sound is timeless. Here's a real treat for y'all. I couldn't find any footage of them at Lucy's, but someone who goes by the handle 0hno0 has posted video of them playing the Pantheon in 1992!
Polvo at the Pantheon 1992 "Can I Ride"
My friend Bingham, who loves Polvo, gets to play Lucy's Record Shop the very next night on February 19 with his band Daphne's Operation. So, if you happened to miss the Polvo show from the previous evening you'd get to hear a group that sounded a lot like Polvo if you happened to be at this one. My band would end up doing at least one (maybe more) gigs with Daphne's Operation and I have nothing but praise for them. Just like with Polvo, I didn't quite get where they at musically in those days, but have since come around to enjoy their clamorous sound.
Daphne's Operation
The Liberty Caps were a ska band who would put out an EP on Darwin Records in 1994. They would play Lucy's 5 times per the listings. They were much liked by all. Unless you happened to hate ska. Why would anyone not like such a great genre?
The Liberty Caps EP #1 1994
The February 19th headliner was Dump. I am just guessing on this one, but I bet it was Yo La Tengo band member James McNew's Dump.
Dump (James McNew)
February 25, 1994 has Toy Bean, Tiny Corkscrews, and Azalia Snail. I believe Toy Bean was local. Some of them would play later in the year proclaimed as part of the Trance Syndicate group. Tiny Corkscrews was something put together by Nashville drummer Chris Davis. He is really into experimental music and runs the FMRL (Ephemeral) group so go check that out. It's the only appearance at Lucy's of Los Angeles artist Azalia Snail. She's been making cool music since 1989 and is still out there in 2024!
Azalia Snail - Into Yr. World released in 1994
The last listed show on February 26, 1994 with Pud, My Dad is Dead, and Truman's Water. I believe Pud would be the California punk band. My Dad is Dead is basically Cleveland, Ohio native Mark Edwards post punk musical project. This would mark his only appearance at Lucy's. This is also the one and only time at Lucy's for San Diego art noise merchant's Truman's Water.
4-Mar-94 Power Trip, Crisis Under Control, Act of Faith 8PM $5
5-Mar-94 Havens Manor, Mind Station, Crop Circle Hoax 8PM $5
6-Mar-94 House O' Pain Migraine Matinee: Hoover, Hammerhead 3PM $5
11-Mar-94 Ball Peen Hernia, Locus Solus, Mule 8PM $5
12-Mar-94 Gizzard, Garden Variety, Dazzling Killmen 8PM $5
13-Mar-94 House O' Pain Migraine Matinee: Crain, Don Caballero, Laughing Hyenas 3PM $5
18-Mar-94 Muff Weasel, Thumbnail, Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot 8PM $5
19-Mar-94 Cannibal Holiday, Bert, Horace Pinker 8PM $5
23-Mar-94 Supreme Dicks & more 8PM $3
24-Mar-94 Tiny Corkscrews, Hum, Prisonshake 8PM $5
25-Mar-94 Collin Wade Monk, Lambchop, Papas Fritas 8PM $5
We start March 1994 off with a punk show on the 4th. Power Trip is back for the second time. I believe this is a local group with a name that has been used by multiple bands with varying degrees of fame. Straight edge group Crisis Under Control was from Duluth, Georgia. They have a Bandcamp page so check 'em out. Act of Faith was most likely the hardcore punk band from Atlanta. There is a setlist.fm entry saying the band Crain played Lucy's on March 1, 1994, but I can no find nothing to corroborate that.
Crop Circle Hoax headlined this night. I'll have more on them later. They played Lucy's multiple times all the way to the 2nd to last week of its existence. Here's the video to their tune "Warmup Set" filmed in and around Nashville probably the summer of 1993.
Crop Circle Hoax - Warmup Set
We return to loud and aggressive music on March 6th with Hoover and Hammerhead playing the Migraine Matinee. Hoover was a short-lived Dischord Records recording artist. They were pretty intense.
Hoover performing "Father" at the Washington Peace Center 1993
Hammerhead were from Minneapolis, Minnesota and were just as noisy as Hoover. They had already put out several records on Amphetamine Reptile so you know they're good. I believe they would have been touring to promote their latest release Into The Vortex. Somebody captured them on video just 20 days later in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Hammerhead live in Fort Collins March 26, 1994
Locals Ball Peen Hernia and Locus Solus open for Mule on March 11, 1994. Mule were from Detroit, but had a swampy country punk blues sound. Go figure. They put out 2 full length albums on Quarterstick Records and they are quite good.
Mule at Sneaky Dees in Toronto summer of 1994
It's Gizzard, Garden Variety, and the Dazzling Killmen on March 12, 1994. Gizzard was from Jacksonville, Florida. They were an interesting punk band with saxophone and flute played by the now deceased Brian Hicks. The great NYC producer and performer Kramer even produced some of Gizzard's stuff. This was their only appearance at Lucy's Record Shop.
Garden Variety was a Long Island, New York indie/punk outfit. Lots of cool photos of them are available at their Instagram page. Their music sits in that middle ground of punk and alternative.
Garden Variety - Complete Discography teaser
St. Louis, Missouri's Dazzling Killmen were top of the bill with their math/noise mayhem. Many math rock bands veer into some ascetic progressive territory that emphasizes their musical acumen, but the Dazzling Killmen were more about atmospheric smog laced power. Smoke in an alley.
Dazzling Killmen - Medicine Me released in 1993
The Migraine Matinee for Sunday March 13, 1994 is an epic one. Crain is at Lucy's on this day along with Don Caballero and Laughing Hyenas. Crain was a pretty popular group from Louisville, Kentucky playing post punk math rock style tunes. Their very first 45 was produced by the late Steve Albini. It is their second listed appearance at Lucy's.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania group and Touch and Go recording artist Don Caballero is next on the bill. They are an all instrumental band that hates the term math rock. So don't call their odd time signature pieces that. Just call it music. Laughing Hyenas from Ann Arbor, Michigan closed this matinee out. They were already almost legendary in the punk rock/alternative music world by this time. They were also on the Touch and Go label. They had a dirty aggro sound that I love. Larissa Stolarchuk's guitar sound will either kill all the bugs in your house or maybe attract more.
Laughing Hyenas - Everything I Want released in 1990
March 18, 1994 is Muff Weasel, Thumbnail, and Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot. I can't find anything on Muff Weasel. Thumbnail was from Knoxville, Tennessee and they had a record coming out on San Diego, California based label Headhunter Records. It may have already been out at this time. They have a nice Instagram page full of old photos. They sounded like they belonged on Dischord Records.
Thumbnail - Foreign Language Class off their debut album released in 1994
Cannibal Holiday makes their 5th listed appearance at Lucy's on March 19, 1994. Bert got some love in the fourth installment of these Lucy's Record Shop posts so click on the link and scroll down to August 1993 for info on them. Horace Pinker headlines this one. It's their 2nd of 3 listed Lucy's appearances.
March 23, 1994 was a Wednesday night and the listing is simply Supreme Dicks and more. I don't know what the more was, but the experimental indie rock Supreme Dicks were from Amherst, Massachusetts. Per the Discogs entry on them they were massively influential on many great alternative bands of the 90's. I checked out some of their tracks posted to YouTube and I wish I had been at this one. I can hear why they were noted as being influential. Jagjaguwar has been rereleasing their albums. I'll add them to my always expanding list of music I want to buy. I wish I was at Lucy's on this night.
Supreme Dicks - The Fallout Song released in 1994
However, I was at the next Lucy's show on Thursday March 24, 1994. Tiny Corkscrews were back with their 2nd and last appearance. Champaign-Urbana, Illinois group Hum played next. They would have a hit tune the next year with "Stars" garnering quite a bit of radio play. Here's a live performance of the tune on MTV's 120 Minutes in 1995.
Hum live on 120 Minutes in 1995
I went on this Thursday night because I had to see Scat Records artist Prisonshake. I had gotten into the whole Ohio Scat Records deal somehow and the Cleveland band's The Roaring Third would become one of my favorite records of 1993. I'm pretty sure I had it already or I wouldn't have bothered to go that night. It was a sparsely attended show, but they rocked with a vengeance that night. I would buy a t-shirt and one of their other records that night. It was their one and only visit to Lucy's Record Shop.
Prisonshake - 2 Sisters from The Roaring Third released in 1993
Future indie pop darlings Papas Fritas from Somerville, Massachusetts are the star attraction on March 25, 1994. Colin Wade Monk opens with his 10th listed appearance which is also his last. The ever present Lambchop serenade the attendees too. Papas Fritas would release a single in 1994 on the Sunday Driver label which would also put out a Lambchop 45, but beginning in 1995 they would begin putting out some great albums on the Minty Fresh label.
Papas Fritas - Friday/Angel 45 released in 1994
March 26, 1994 will wrap up this Lucy's Record Shop calendar post. Hellbilly opens, Sugarsmack plays the first of their 2 times at Lucy's, and Poppy Trail is at the top of the bill.
I hope you've enjoyed this look back at the first 3 months on 1994 at Lucy's Record Shop. I'll be back at some point in the future with April 1994 through June 1994. My band Dragula will make 2 appearances during this time. There will be many returning artists and lots of new ones from all over the USA. I would love to hear any comments if you have them.
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