On Thursday, August 3, three bands took to the stage at The Warehouse Bar and Grill for a night of live music and drinking (can't beat that combination). The headliner, Lowboy, was making up for a last minute cancellation last month due to lead singer Scott Trotter coming down with a mysterious ailment. Their co-conspirators , FSN and Reflex, pitched in as openers to round out the lineup. A rather nice-sized crowd showed up to hear some of Clarksville's best in local original music, considering the storm that tore through a part of the city.
FSN was the first band to play. Vocalist Alexis Brown, guitarist Dustin "T-Bone" Wright, guitarist J.J. Hankins, bassist Jason Owenby, and drummer Ben Ross combine to form one of the most interesting sounds in the area. Although they are still relatively new to the local scene (they played their first show a year ago to the day, and Alexius didn't join the band until November of last year), they are fast making a name for theirselves through their music and their energetic live show. Alexis was her usual dynamic self, taking every possible oppurtunity that presented itself to get the crowd to scream a little love back at the stage. J.J. surprised me a little by letting himself get swept away by the music; his normally calm stage presence was shattered to pieces as he bounced around the stage like a madman. T-Bone and Jason each played tremendously, and Ben is on his way to becoming one of the best drummers around. I don't remember the name of the song, but when Alexis started singing "Do you wanna fight back?" during the chorus I was very tempted to knock the guy in front of me on his ass. I'm glad I didn't though, because he was twice my size. That wouldn't have been very pretty when he got up. The only bad thing that I saw was they let the room get silent a couple times during the set. All in all though, FSN keeps getting better every time I see them. I can't wait to see these guys play in a year or so.
Reflex, another one of the up and comers, took the stage next. The people behind Musicfest 2000 - vocalist Clint Elliot, guitarist Adam Elliot, guitarist Brett Marves, bassist Brad McWhorter and drummer Chris Jerles - began their set around eleven-thirty or so. The crowd made their way in front of the stage as the guys started rocking. Brett was fired up from the get go. He played the hell out of his guitar, and somehow managed to finish the set with all six of his strings intact (last time they played The Warehouse he finished with a four-string guitar). Brad and Chris laid a solid foundation down for the music, with Brad playing his wah-wah pedal masterfully. Jerles was playing on Charley Grubbs'(of Lowboy) drum-kit, and his playing seemed a little inspired. Adam, the youngest of the band at seventeen, played off Brett like a finely-tuned point guard. Clint's vocals were solid throughout the set. In all honesty, the energy level was much higher at the beginning of the set. The crowd was very much into their music for the first two or three songs, but began to lose interest midway. The crowd's reaction started to take it's toll on the band, who finished the show on a down note. Their opening song "Mask" was very tight, and "Flip Side" drew the audience back into their music (at least for the song). I've seen much better from this band, so I know that they will bounce back with a killer performance. Sometimes it plays out that way, though. For every up there has got to be a down.
The time came once again for Lowboy to take the stage as the headliner. Vocalist Scott Trotter, guitarist Brian Williams, guitarist Matt Beadle, bassist Charles Irwin and drummer Charley Grubbs were coming off of one of their worst performances in a while (they played their first show in a month at Exit/In with Sub-Method and Imzadi last Sunday. Needless to say, they were a little rusty); they began their set with something to prove. The crowd quickly gathered in front of the stage as the first song flooded out of the sound system. Scott was a man possessed; his strong vocal ability and gorilla-like stage presence were in rare form as he stomped around the stage growling the lyrics. Matt, in his third show since joining the band, showed signs that he's getting a lot more comfortable on stage. He moved around a lot more than his other two shows and made a lot of eye-contact with the audience. B.W. and his gimp-suit played like a king, as usual. It's simply amazing to me that he can play as well as he does when he gets going (if you've ever seen a show by the band, you know what I mean). Charles continues to impress me with his handling of the bass. When he gets going there is simply no one better in the area. And last of all, Charley. Aside from missing a key point in "Greater Than Something", he was awesome. His drumming drove the set at maximum speed. Aside from a few technical difficulties on the first song and the missed reintro during "Greater", the band disintegrated the aftertaste of their last gig. "Zoo Mob" was particularly awesome, getting the crowd to get as close to moshing as The Warehouse permits. All in all, their performance did justice to their reputation as being an upper-echelon band on the Middle Tennessee scene.
It's hard to imagine that a town the size of Clarksville (population: a little over 100,000) sports a scene as diversified as the one that it has. All three of the bands that played this show are all from the area, and all three of them make my hobby as a writer very hard. I really have a hard time describing them to you guys. Combined with Flood and the influx of Nashville bands, Clarksville has a fledgling scene going that would make a few major cities jealous. FSN is going to be a major force on the scene, and Reflex will bounce back from this show and blow up. Lowboy continues their trek to a major-label recording contract (it's a matter of time before it happens). Someday the world will see the level of talent hidden away in Middle Tennessee.
