A Taste of CBGB's

It’s tribute/benefit time again, this time with a Big Apple twist. While we’re still waiting for the Slim Whitman tribute (fingers crossed), the pool of great artists to honor by having handfuls of local acts play their tunes has shallowed, so some have found interesting (and broader) angles to explore. Saturday at Downtown’s Poison Room, the world’s most famous dive bar, New York’s renowned (and soon to be gone, at least from its current, historic location) CBGB’s, is the “guest of honor,” as several locals tackle songs by artists who helped make the club the ground zero of the Punk/New Wave explosion in America. Instead of guest bartenders, the club will host guest urinaters, who will pee all over the Poison Room’s bathroom floors throughout the night, to fully capture the CB’s ambiance. (That last part might or might not be a lie; wear well-insulated shoes just in case.)

The idea for the tribute hatched when Shawny Scott of local Pop rockers Chaselounge and Adam Schoen (formerly of the band Homunculus and currently head of YesYeah Productions, which works with Chaselounge) were mulling over tribute show concepts after coming off of a Poison Room Beatles tribute at which they both played. Scott works at The Trinity School, which serves youngsters (kindergarten through eighth grade) with special needs, and was planning his annual benefit show for the school. The two landed on the CBs concept, which would appeal to a broader base of fans, as well as participants.

“We came up with CBGB’s and loved the idea because of how many different bands played there and influenced the club — and just how many of those bands influenced so many other bands today!” Schoen enthuses.

While the club is most closely identified with the pioneers who called it home in its early years (The Ramones, Talking Heads, Television), Schoen’s says they opened it up to other important acts who played the venue to keep it more accessible. The preliminary list of artists being covered includes the aforementioned, as well as XTC, The Cars, The Police, Elvis Costello and The Replacements, artists not as inexorably linked to the club.

Local acts scheduled to play the 10 p.m. show include The Stapletons, The Times, Chaselounge, Ruby Vileos, The Walkoffs (with former members of Homunculus), Bulletproof Charm, Peter Adams and The Hiders. All proceeds go to The Trinity School (thetrinityschool.org)

Rumors, Lies and General Misunderstandings
· Electronic-based music? In Cincinnati? Yeah, there’s tons of it. If you don’t believe me, head over to the Main Street Entertainment District this Friday, when the monthly “Exile on Main” (showcasing original local music in the cover band/DJ-happy area) goes electro, presenting local (and some national) acts across five stages. Dubbed “Electrofest v2.0” (the first Electrofest took place at the Southgate House last year on a smaller level), the event presents a diverse range of electronic sounds, with everything from Trip Hop and Hip Hop to experimental, Goth and Electro-Rock represented. Local acts include Hungry Lucy, Diet Audio, Da Muttss, (in)camera, Roesing Ape, 2 Turntables and a Saxophone, Abiyah, 4 Track All Stars, DJ Late Circuit, Embers is Sammy, Elation and Entheos. Cruising in from out of town are Echostream (from New York City), BloodWIRE (Oakland, Calif.), Oxymoronatron (Dayton), Chiasm (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and DJ Flash (Des Moines, Iowa), plus Columbus-based performers Liquefaction, Cale, Pop Filter, Delete-Complete and Anna Ranger. The venues participating are alchemize (two stages), Coopers on Main, Coutryard Café and RBC’s. A $5 cover gains you admittance to all of the venues; proceeds go to the Save the Animals Foundation, a local no-kill animal shelter. For a full rundown of performers and further info, go to electrofest.hungrylucy.com.

· The very promising outdoor Indie Rock festival, Desdemona, has announced several local artists that have been added to the lineup. Taking place June 23-25 at Sawyer Point, Desdemona promises 30 bands on three stages for a mere $24 three-day pass (check myspace.com/desdemonafestival for news on tickets). Joining the already announced national acts (Rogue Wave, Forget Cassettes and Apollo Up! were recently added to the national lineup, alongside The Walkmen, Radio 4, The Stills, Annie, The Fiery Furnaces and others) will be locals The Turnbull AC’s (see interview, page 31), The High And Low, Diet Audio and wil-o-ee (locals Heartless Bastards were previously announced as main-stagers). Several more acts are to be announced soon.