March 2007 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine

vol.4 no.5 march ‘07
your new orleans music and culture alternative
ONE MAN
MACHINE
BLOWS AWAY THE
SOUND EQUATION
ALSO: NEW ORLEANS CRAFT MAFIA
JOSH NEUFELD’S AFTER THE DELUGE
RJD2 I STEPHEN KING’S THE DARK TOWER
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PHOTO BY MANTARAY PHOTOGRAPHY

vol.4 no.5 march ‘07
your table of contents
AFTER THE DELUGE
N.Y. ARTIST JOSH NEUFELD CHRONICLES THE POST-K
STORIES OF SEVERAL NEW ORLEANIANS_page 12

STAFF
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief:
Leo McGovern
leo@antigravitymagazine.com
Associate Editor:
Patrick Strange
patrick@antigravitymagazine.com
Senior Writer:
Dan Fox
foxart@earthlink.net
Contributing Writers:
J.D. Alfone
doctorjd@yahoo.com
Henry Alpert
henry@henryalpert.com
Andrew Bizer
andrew@antigravitymagazine.com
Noah Bonaparte
noah@antigravitymagazine.com
Liz Countryman
liz@antigravitymagazine.com
Jenelle Davis
jenelle_davis@yahoo.co.uk
Marty Garner
martygarner@antigravitymagazine.com
Lisa Haviland
haves34@hotmail.com
Joseph Larkin
joseph@josephlarkin.com
Dakota M
sil3ntstatic@yahoo.com
Darren O’Brien
darreno@antigravitymagazine.com
Jason Songe
jasonsonge@antigravitymagazine.com
J.W. Spitalny
jw@antigravitymagazine.com
Mallory Whitfield
mallory@antigravitymagazine.com
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FREEFLOATING RAMBLINGS
WORDS FROM YOUR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
To keep with the Saints motif from
the past couple months, here’s
where I am, mentally, with the Black
and Gold: pretty much over the NFC
Championship loss, avidly following the
NFL Combine and paying attention to
every cornerback prospect available while
planning our official NFL Draft ’07 party
(yeah, it’s not until April, but why not get a head start?). Now
that that’s out of the way, let’s get on this issue. On our cover
we have Dan Fox interviewing the guy who can simultaneously
make half a bar crowd throw their hands up in praise while the
other half ponders the wrong turn that got them to the bar
and in front of this giant noisemaking man, One Man Machine.
Yours truly interviews Josh Neufeld, a longtime comics artist
ANTI-NEWS
NEWS AND VIEWS ON AG
NOTABLE UPCOMING SHOWS
4/2: Peeping Tom, House Of Blues
4/4: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Chelsea’s
4/6: Forget Cassettes, Green Space
4/7: TV On The Radio, One Eyed Jacks
4/12: Sebadoh, Spanish Moon
4/17: Adult, The Parish @ House Of Blues
4/20: Brightblack Morning Light, One Eyed Jacks
4/24: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Republic
4/28: Calexico, Fairgrounds Racetrack (Jazzfest)
5/3: Michael Franti & Spearhead, House Of Blues
5/4: Ozomatli, Republic
5/7: Mute Math, House Of Blues
6/1: Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, House Of Blues
6/30: The Police, New Orleans Arena
WHY DID LEO SHAVE?
Last month on this page we had a contest in which we gave five choices
and asked you to guess the correct reason E.I.C. Leo McGovern
shaved his infamous beard. The options were: A) He committed a
heinous crime of some sort, is on the run from the law and shaved
to throw off the authorities. B) With no baby on hand, he wanted to
see what a baby’s bottom really felt like. C) A bird had nested in it.
D) While trimming his beard with a pair of electric clippers, he made
the clasic mistake of taking the guard off the clippers to clean up an
area and mistak enly ran the guardless clippers over his cheek, ruining
his entire beard. E) He was preparing for Mardi Gras and didn’t want
King Cake crumbs to build up around his chin. F) He’s not beardless,
the photo is a Photoshopped fake.
Craig Brumfield e-mailed with the correct answer, saying “Answer
D. If that is the case at least it was facial hair and not the mistake I
made while recently cutting my hair and removed the guard.” Craig
will get a nice stack of swag in the mail for his efforts. Also, honorable
mention should go out to Jeffrey of the blog Library Chronicles, as he
guessed the correct answer in a post.
LETTERS TO AG
Every once in a while we do get notes from readers. Here’s one
regarding February’s piece on Quintron and the Ninth Ward Marching
Band, from Ann Marie Coviello:
While the idea that the Ninth Ward Marching Band is a harbinger of
racial purity in the Ninth Ward seems a little extreme, it’s possible that
the New York Times writer Adam Nossiter may have been reacting
to a whiff of sneering self-congratulations--emanating from so many of
Mr. Quintron’s endeavors—when the band passed him by. Is it just
from Brooklyn, who is working on an online graphic novel
that depicts several New Orleanians’ stories before and after
Katrina (including, in full disclosure, yours truly). Also in this
issue is a feature on the New Orleans Craft Mafia, who recently
returned to duty and is now holding monthly markets at the
Big Top. Our feature review is with Rjd2, whose new album,
Third Hand, doesn’t even come out until the 6th. Boy, are we
on the ball. AG is also presenting a couple of shows this month,
Explosions In The Sky (3/8 @ Republic) and the Walkmen (3/18
@ the Parish), so keep your eyes on our MySpace page, where
you never know when tickets will expose themselves. Keep
your eyes peeled on the AG homepage too, where we have it
on fairly good authority that the date for the next Alternative
Media Expo will be announced soon.
See you out! —Leo McGovern, Publisher
a coincidence that Mr. Quintron used to sport a Hitler mustache
drawn on his top lip with a Sharpie marker? There are core band
members who remain loyal, but there are many out there who have
been bruised by Mr. Quintron’s high-hat treatment of others. In his
perfect world, the Bywater would become a cooler-than-thou contest
of incomprehensible Euro-kitsch and authentic local bounce, minus
the other forms of distressing and distasteful individualism that keep
popping up everywhere in New Orleans. There is no question that the
Ninth Ward Marching Band is one of many, many groups that make
a unique contribution to the Carnival season. But for someone who
professes to love this city so dearly, Quintron seems to miss the whole
point of Mardi Gras, not to mention the true meaning of community.
NOTES AND CORRECTIONS
Speaking of our interview with Quintron, we do have a correction
to make. We noted that Lefty Parker is the owner of the Circle
Bar, which he is in fact not. We learned of this evidently popular
misconception after press time, so let us straighten the record by
stating that Lefty is the manager of the Circle Bar.
NEW NEW ORLEANS DESIGN BOOK RELEASED
Following in the steps of Constance, the design book recently released
by Erik Kiesewetter and AG editor Patrick Strange, is Degrees Of
Separation by Samia Saleem. Degrees features graphic designers who
currently live in, are from or connected to New Orleans. The book
is comprised of thirty-three detachable postcards that are based on
those designers’ experiences and reflections on post-Katrina New
Orleans. Degrees was officially released on March 1st and the first
hundred people to order online will receive posters by Kiesewetter
and Nessim Higson (iamalwayshungry.com) as well as buttons by
Saleem. To order Degrees or to find out more info, go to www.
degreesnola.com.
STUDIO 60 SEES HIATUS MOVED UP, FUTURE
UNKNOWN
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip seems to be on its last legs. The show
was originally scheduled to go on hiatus beginning March 5th, so NBC
could test The Black Donnellys in the prime spot behind Heroes, but as
the network announced that Studio 60 had turned in its lowest ratings
yet it said that it was moving Donnellys up a week to February 26th.
What this means for the future of Studio 60 remains to be seen. The
Matthew Perry-helmed show about a Saturday Night Life-style sketch
comedy show has survived in part because its ratings, while low, is
made up of an affluent demographic that allows the network to still
sell advertising at a high rate. Insiders speculate that if Donnellys pulls a
similar demographic with similar ratings, the network may shelve the
remaining episodes of Studio 60.
04_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

a rose is a rose is...
The crass and provocative ex-lead vocalist for the Sex Pistols and Public Image
Ltd. John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten) was encountered at the Swizzle
Stick on the evening of Friday, February 4. Seated at the Loews’ lounge, which
has become fertile feeding grounds for local stalkers as of late, Rotten and a
fellow middle-aged punk/producer conversed in unbridled cockney accents
about their trip to New Orleans and how “incredibly fucked it all is.” It is
believed that Rotten and his associate were in town on business regarding a
band that was playing a local gig; however, details cannot be confirmed since
Rotten “couldn’t recall the band or the venue at which it was playing.” Patrons
report that Rotten’s preferred cocktail for the evening was the Sea Breeze,
a lovely pink boat drink comprised of vodka, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice
and—you guessed it—a carefully placed swizzle stick. As Rotten warmed up
to his fellow admirers, he jovially ordered “Sea Breezes for everyone” and
took liberties with the young but already betrothed local women who “lapped
at his dirty rotten feet.” It is also reported that Rotten would periodically step
outside to smoke what he called “illegal cigarettes” and to press his “quickly
aging punk rock ass” against the bar’s otherwise clean glass window.
Harry Shearer, actor, writer, radio host and champion of the city of New
Orleans, was seen watching the Krewe of Endymion parade on the Napoleon
Ave. neutral ground on Saturday, February 17. Standing with friends and a
woman who appeared to be his wife and singer-songwriter Judith Owen,
Shearer yelled to the floats and battled “angry and obnoxious suburbanites”
for throws. As a part-time resident of New Orleans, Shearer was not immune
to the territorial impulses of the families that surrounded him, “enduring
angry sneers from those who had claimed public property by erecting large
obnoxious LSU tents.” Evidently, Shearer and his fellow parade goers had
enough of the supplanted chair culture, finally fleeing the insanity that assaulted
them every time they accidentally stepped on the corner of someone’s “blue
tarp or plaid comforter.” An eyewitness reports that as Shearer walked
away from the tense domestic mob, he undoubtedly said in his most sinister
Montgomery Burns voice, “Release the hounds.”
James Gandolfini, prolific character actor and notorious boozer, partied
his way into obnoxiousness on the night of Sunday, February 18 at the Krewe
of Bacchus Ball. Reigning as Bacchus XXXIX, Gandolfini was celebrated
all throughout the parade route by throngs of adoring fans, revealing that
America’s fascination with Italian criminality and womanizing truly has no limit.
After the long procession through Uptown, Gandolfini entered the ball riding
“so high on his high horse” that the roof of the Morial Convention Center
nearly knocked the “silly crown off his super-sized noggin.” After settling in
for more drinking and debauchery, it is reported by several trusted stalkers
that the famed fictional crime boss castigated fellow revelers for no apparent
reason and acted as if “playing make-believe for money granted him royal
supremacy.” To be fair, eyewitnesses do report that Gandolfini repeatedly
praised New Orleans for her character and charm and hence proving once
and for all that “our beloved city cannot be faulted for those who come to
steal her spoils.”
Archie Manning, resident football god in the Saints Pantheon and father
to the “Brothers Manning,” was spotted entering a building on the southeast
corner of Washington Ave. and Prytania St. on Monday night, February 19.
No doubt returning from some wild and illicit Lundi Gras merry-making,
Archie and fellow middle-aged cohorts seemed “spooked by the passing
twenty-somethings” dressed in costume and “gripping large bottles of MD
20/20 and Thunderbird.” Briskly ushering his group through the door of the
building, Archie was actually overheard mentioning “Eli and Peyton” and telling
some “funny quip about his dear ole boys.” The stalker writes that Archie’s
companions looked only “slightly amused, probably befuddled about how one
man can dote on his progeny for oh so long.” Lastly, as the eyewitnesses
walked away one tried to congratulate Archie on his Super Bowl champion
caliber semen, but was “matter-of-factly ignored.”
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_05

Mardi Gras snuck up on me this year, as was the case with the majority of people I talked
to over that weekend. It’s only going to be worse next year, since Fat Tuesday falls on
February 5th. Save for a day or two, depending on if it’s a leap year or not, that’s as
early as Mardi Gras can get.
I wasn’t feeling it this year, probably because I attended a joint bachelor party in Monterrey,
Mexico the weekend before. The promoter gave me two beers before I even sat down at
the Mexican wrestling match, and if he was trying to get our group drunk and rowdy, he
sure succeeded. Imagine ten Americans yelling at the wrestlers and pounding the mat, beers
overflowing in their hands. The wrestlers seemed to enjoy and encourage our volume, as I
guess it was our way of affirming and buying into their soap-opera drama. Us pounding the mats
wouldn’t have flown in America. Before any of us could have gotten close to the ring to contest
a dirty move, some security douche would have appeared. Of course, the match was held in
an old basketball gym, so they probably didn’t have money for security. They did have a smoke
machine, though.
Considering the minimal sleep, dark soirees, and power tequila drinking in Mexico, it’s no
surprise I didn’t end up at as many Mardi Gras shows this year as I normally do. That wasn’t the
only reason, though. The concerts didn’t seem special enough. It’s fun to see Rebirth, Dr. John,
and Trombone Shorty, but all they would have been doing is playing Mardi Gras songs. I needed
a short break from all that. I wanted a familiar, safe haven from Mardi Gras, and that’s where the
local venues let me down this year.
I understand that the local funk and brass bands are the big moneymakers during Mardi Gras,
but I wish Superfly or another promoter could have brought in a popular national act for some
preferable rock relief. Mardi Gras time shouldn’t be a regurgitation of the same old local acts.
Where’s Ozomatli, Soulive, Common, Jon Spencer and Modest Mouse, Sunny Day Real Estate,
or Busta Rhymes? If the local venues would just take one day out of their schedule to bring in a
large national band, then I think you’d see an even higher demand that they already have for the
established Mardi Gras acts.
A TWILIGHT PURGATORY
The Saturn Bar is open and showing off local music. I went there recently for an awesome show
by The Bad Off and Big Blue Marble. I hadn’t been there in years, but nothing much has changed
except the new performance room. The bar’s still grimy, trashy and cheap, but who would have
it any other way? The place is perfect for bands that can’t expect to draw more than hundredfifty
people. And watching the show from the balcony? Awesome. For a good laugh, check
out this travel article on the bar: chowderheadbazoo.typepad.com/chowderheadbazoo/2005/10/
diveorama_the_s.html
Some cool shows coming up at The Saturn Bar: Happy Talk on March 3rd, 00Alex on March
10th, and Rotary Downs on March 17th.
“THAT’S JUST RUDE.”
Lundi Gras night I checked out Morning 40 Federation, who opened for Galactic at Tips.
I thought the crowd would have more of an adverse reaction to Morning 40, but they were
bopping and rocking, just like those by the barricade in front. There was a funny moment,
though, that highlighted the difference between the bands: in between songs, a woman said, a
little too loud, “This isn’t Mardi Gras music.” Vocalist and guitarist Ryan Scully heard it, and said,
“Who said that? This isn’t Mardi Gras music? That’s just rude.”
REVIEWS IN 10 WORDS OR LESS
The Bad Off: Glitter. Axl whistle. Jagger, Tyler. Dark, dramatic. “All this light.”
Little Freddie King: Roadhouse blues. Matching shoes and tie. 66 year-old pimp.
Good Guys: Menacing, somber. headbang-friendly. poppy. Ennio Morricone. Sunglasses at
night.
Jeff Tweedy: “Shushhhhhhh.” “Sir, that’s not going to work. Never, ever.” Engaging, funny.
The Black Rose Band: Interweaving dual guitars. Anthemic. Raw, beer-soaked. Feel-good.
Harahan.
STOP OVERPLAYING, STEWART!
I guess everyone learned something from The Pixies reunion: there’s more of a market out
there for disbanded modern rock bands than you thought. Van Halen, The Police, Rage Against
The Machine, Genesis and Smashing Pumpkins all have tentative tours scheduled for the summer.
I haven’t seen Van Halen before, and I think with David Lee Roth in the mix I’d pony up money.
The Police are scheduled to play at The New Orleans Arena, and I’ve been checking Ticketmaster
every day to make sure tickets haven’t gone on sale, but no word yet. My dad would go see
Genesis, and as for Smashing Pumpkins — Billy Corgan annoys me with all his diary drama, and I
don’t wan to see a second rate version of the band.
Then there’s Rage at Coachella for a one off. I really shouldn’t have sat on my hands for that
one. Coachella is sold out — both three-day and single day passes. I guess I underestimated the
draw of a reunited Rage. I knew people would flock, but who would’ve thought Coachella would
sell out two months before the event? Rage on that polo field is going to be an insane, maybe the
most insane, moment in rock. If Rage comes prepared it should be the most talked about event
for years to come. Now that I’ve done myself in by talking it up, anybody want to sell me a ticket
at face value? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
06_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

the
by patrick
strange
LA to L.A. (For a Short Time…I Think)
Ever since I made the decision to leave New Orleans for an indeterminate
period of time for an indeterminate number of reasons, the reactions I get
from friends and family are as varied as they are unexpected.
Childhood friends have dismissed me with such ease that it yanks my gut
into knots just thinking about it. Co-workers have looked at me with equal
parts resentment and pride, depending on nothing more than how confidently
I can explain to them my plans once I get to where I’m going. Strangers have
wished me luck while gripping my elbows and have hoped for me to find some
definitive answers or at the very least, hoped that I find the time to sort it all
out. And they say these things with the sincerity you’d only expect from good
lovers.
The truth is that when it comes to leaving New Orleans, if only for several
months, people have very definite ideas about if you should or you shouldn’t
go and there’s no telling who’s going to give you grief or wish you happy
returns. I’ve figured out that to many, taking a break from New Orleans sort
of means refusing those you love and people sometimes can’t help but take it
personally. And it kills me.
Sometimes, all you want is someone to say, “I hope this is good for you.” But
I guess it’s not that easy. And in the end, I guess it shouldn’t be.
A dear friend and a man who knows the meaning of loss as Job knew it
once told me that he stays in New Orleans not because he’s necessarily happy
here or he can’t leave for something better, but because he feels he has a
responsibility to the city he loves. As he puts it, “My people need me.” And
that’s it. That’s all it takes. The decision is made and he carries own with a
clear sense of purpose.
I envy him. And I hate myself for not having the resoluteness that seems to
come so easy for him.
I’m an arch victim of mood and I admit that I’ve taught myself not to totally
trust my own feelings, for better or for worse. However, I’m still not so sure
where the boundary lies between loyalty for your city and naiveté about a
given situation. I’m not so sure when work for others starts working against
you in ways that are unhealthy and unrealistic. When does commitment for
one measly specific point of longitude and latitude (granted, it’s a point where
some of the most wonderful, lovely, charmed people eat, sleep and breathe)
become too much? Or does it even matter if it does?
These questions and self-doubts are just the things that make me feel as if
my brain is nothing more than Swiss cheese.
And of course there’s always a flip side: the exhilaration of the moment, the
satisfaction of the struggle, the fulfillment of helping those who need you, the
allure of a damn fine city, but I guess we’ve been through all that before…
I have a confession to make. I’ve been living out of a duffle bag since early
December and the choice has been all mine. I’ve sold or discarded most of
my belongings and I feel good about it….real good. Now, I don’t know if that
makes me crazy or just a spoiled white kid with nothing better to do with
my time or my one-bedroom apartment full of furniture, but if nothing else it
proves that New Orleans gives us something good that has nothing to do with
material possessions or a place to sleep or even a good paying job. I’ve been
happy to just keep holding on.
And it kills me.
I guess what I mean to say is that there are never any answers to this place.
Never any answers about the right thing to do and when to stay or leave or
come back again. Never any answers to this fantastically God-forsaken city
where living/loving it is hard and easy, invigorating and destructive…utterly
natural and completely insane. So, here I go. When I leave for that metallic
monster by the sea it will be with a heavy heart and I’ll try my best to make
the best of it. I’ll do anything I can just to have some reprieve and to try to just
calm down for a little while because I just don’t know what else to do.
I keep telling myself that this isn’t forever. I keep telling myself that this is
just three months at the most and then I’ll be back. But if the past two years
have taught me anything, they have taught me that nothing’s for certain. I have
a sneaky suspicion that there is always something left to lose when there’s
something left to hold on to.
And I guess that’s just what New Orleans does to you.
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_07

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08_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

SOUND ADVICE
ENTERTAINMENT AND MEDIA LEGAL TIPS
BY ANDREW BIZER, ESQ
Dear Andrew,
I’m going to form a band and I just came up with a great band name. I searched the internet and
I don’t think this band name is taken. Should I get the name copyrighted?
Thanks,
Gary G.
Gary,
Band names do not qualify for copyright protection, but they do qualify for trademark
protection. Please allow me to give you a little intellectual property primer: Trademarks
protect source identifications, copyrights protect original literary and artistic expressions,
and patents protect new and useful inventions. You can copyright your songs, trademark
your band’s name, and patent an instrument or musical device you have invented.
A trademark is a word, logo, or design used by a manufacturer to identify its goods
and to distinguish its goods from the goods of others. The U.S. government protects
trademarks to protect consumers from being tricked into buying the wrong product. If
you like Coca-Cola, you look for the red bottle with the word “Coke” on it and the
government ensures that other soda companies cannot put the word “Coke” on their
drinks. The same goes for bands. Bands trademark their names because they want music
fans to distinguish their band from other bands.
Getting back to your original question, yes, I think it would be wise for you to attempt
to register the name of your band. If you plan on investing a lot of time, money, and energy
in promoting your band, and your band’s name, it is important that you protect that
investment. You do not want another band with the same name to come along and confuse
your audience. However, you do not need to register a trademark to have protectable,
exclusive rights in it. By merely performing under your band name, you will automatically
acquire trademark rights in your geographic area of use. However, there are benefits to
Federal trademark registration. If you register your band’s name with the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), you gain a legal presumption of the ownership
of the name and you gain the exclusive right to use the mark nationwide. Also, if someone
else is using your band’s name, you have the ability to bring an action concerning the mark
in federal court.
The next logical question is how to register a trademark with the USPTO and whether
you need a lawyer to do it. Technically, you don’t need a lawyer to apply for a trademark.
You can apply for a trademark online, at the USPTO’s website. However, the filing fee
is $325.00, and you don’t get your money back if your request is denied. Also, there
are several different classes of trademarks, and you need to apply for the right class.
Therefore, it is wise to hire an experienced trademark attorney (what did you expect me
to say?) to perform a comprehensive search of the USPTO’s records on your behalf. An
experienced trademark attorney knows how to effectively search the USPTO’s records
and more importantly, knows what to look for. Trademark lawyers don’t earn their money
by filling out an application on your behalf, rather we offer assistance before you apply by
performing a thorough trademark search. That way, we can make a reasoned determination
as to whether it makes sense to apply for a particular mark.
Trademark applications are denied when the examining attorney for the USPTO reviews
the application and determines that the proposed trademark is confusingly similar to an
existing trademark. For instance, an application to trademark the band name “the Beetles”
or “Metallica II”, will be denied because those names would cause consumer confusion.
The more unique and fanciful your band name is, the better your shot at getting the
trademark application approved.
Andrew Bizer, Esq. is an attorney admitted to practice in Louisiana and New York. He is currently
an associate at Kanner and Whiteley, L.L.C. He previously served as the Manager of Legal and
Business Affairs at EMI Music Publishing and has worked in the legal department at both Matador
and Universal/Motown Records. When he was an undergrad at Tulane, Andrew Bizer was the
Music Director at WTUL. This column is to be used as a reference tool. The answers given to
these questions are short and are not intended to constitute full and complete legal advice. The
answers given here do not constitute an attorney/client relationship. Mr. Bizer is not your attorney.
But if you want him to be your attorney, feel free to contact him at andrew@bizerlaw.com. Or,
just email him a question and he’ll answer it in next month’s ANTIGRAVITY.
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_09

THE GOODS
WITH
Storyville lives once again in Louisiana. Only it’s not in New Orleans and it’s
nothing like the seedy “recreational” district of yesteryear.
The newest incarnation to bear the Storyville name is a hip boutique just outside
the North Gates of LSU in Baton Rouge. This new shop specializes in t-shirts by
Louisiana-based brands and designers, including local superstars like Metro Three,
Dirty Coast, Ichabod’s and Defend New Orleans. Storyville is also the first local
shop to carry t-shirts from nationally recognized indie clothing label Supermaggie.
Storyville’s motto is “Wear Your Story” and to that end they are making it
possible to truly wear your heart on your sleeve. In addition to the wide selection
of unique shirts by local designers, you can also custom design a t-shirt to fit your
style and mood. Just pick out your design and the American Apparel blank tee of
your choice, and they will print it for you on the spot for only $22. They’ve even
invented some original fonts and graphics all their own, so you can create a totally
one-of-a-kind tee.
I recently made the trek from New Orleans up to Baton Rouge to check out
the shop and I was delighted by what I found there. Located at 236 Chimes Street,
Storyville has taken over the downstairs of a converted home just a few doors
down from Highland Coffees. When you walk in, you will be greeted by one of
eleven Harvey Durham siblings. The store was opened as a labor of love by this
family team, most of whom are either LSU graduates or current students.
The boutique is bright and airy, and it feels more like you walked into a friend’s
house than a stuffy clothing store. Right now one side of the building is set up
for shopping, leaving the other half as a gallery of a few unique t-shirts and art
by some of the featured designers. In the spirit of creating a truly welcoming
environment for college students and other local customers, the gallery side of
Storyville also houses comfy couches, tables and a TV — perfect for hanging out
between classes.
Storyville was created with both the college student and artist in mind. The
store was originally envisioned as both a place where students could hang out and
find a way to express themselves through a personalized t-shirt, and also as an
outlet for up and coming artists and designers from around the state to showcase
their work. Some of the artists currently featured in Storyville are well-established
independent businesses while others are just individuals, including high school and
college students, who are creating what they love in their spare time. The Storyville
team wants to give both groups of artists a place to sell and showcase their work,
side by side. Their hope is that by displaying products from well-established brands
and budding entrepreneurs next to each other, it will help lend credibility to those
designers who are just starting out.
Two of the more established brands in the store are Supermaggie and
Slaughterhead, which are based in Spanish Town and Monroe, respectively. Both
are run by husband and wife teams, and the two companies often collaborate
to create unique handmade wallets, which are silk-screened by Supermaggie and
then stitched together by Slaughterhead. While original t-shirt designs, as well as
handmade felted scarves and flowers from Supermaggie, can be found in shops all
over the country, Storyville is the first boutique here in Louisiana to carry this local
brand. Storyville also stocks vegan-friendly vinyl jumbo wallets from Slaughterhead.
When I was there the store had only one wallet left from their initial stock. It’s
no wonder these wallets are flying off of the shelves, as they are extremely well
made and durable, not to mention super funky and sizable enough to carry all of
the necessities.
If you can’t make it to see Storyville to check out all of the great goods in
person, never fear. They are set to launch their e-commerce site this month. Just
log on to WearYourStory.com and you can purchase tees from any of the featured
designers. Initially the customized t-shirts will only be available at the brick and
mortar store on Chimes Street, but as they expand the website more offerings will
be available for online purchase, including kid’s sizes and custom track jackets.
Business at Storyville has been steadily growing since the store’s grand opening
bash on February 1st. If things really take off, the Storyville siblings have entertained
the idea of expanding the store to include a New Orleans location and possibly
more shops in other college towns. With plenty of clever ideas and more than
enough passion, the new Storyville is a home-grown business that’s bound to
succeed.
10_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

LEARNING THE CRAFT
WITH THE NEW ORLEANS CRAFT MAFIA
The New Orleans Craft Mafia is becoming a creative
force determined to create a welcoming forum for
crafters of all kinds; a force that is committed to the
city its members call home.
Created in June of 2005 and put on hiatus after Katrina,
the New Orleans Craft Mafia culminated its revival in
December 2006 with its postponed launch party and
Christmas craft fair. Founding member Rachelle Matherne,
proprietor of greenKangaroo, was inspired by the original
Craft Mafia which is based out of Austin, Texas. Matherne
places her impetus for beginning the New Orleans chapter
as the “need to support alternative media and things not
always represented in the art world.” This sentiment is
strongly represented in the work and attitudes of all nine
members.
“It has been a godsend,” says Art by Mags designer
Margaret Coble. Coble, a founding member herself, is a
firm believer of there being power in a union. The influence
of Austin’s Craft Mafia got her and the other founding
members thinking about the power of collectives.
“A bunch of women who do this kind of work — each of
them with their own crafty business — banded together to
help each other out…working in a collective is awesome,”
says Coble.
Heather Macfarlane, another founding member, owns
the successful Magazine St. shop UP (Unique Products)
along with her artistic collaborator and husband. The
couple has found their experience with the Craft Mafia
extremely rewarding. Coble agrees that it was a minor
miracle that they were able to develop a website, print and
distribute promotional materials,
create a mailing list and then host
a launch party all in the span of a
few months and with half of the
Craft Mafia members residing in
other states.
Being a member of the Craft
Mafia is definitely not an easy
ride, though it is a rewarding
one. Most members don’t have
the luxury of being full-time
crafters and most hold one
or two other jobs as well as
attend college. In addition to its
members’ personal obligations,
the Craft Mafia demands a strong
commitment and assigns each
member a specific job within the
group. Matherne insists that each
member has to pull their own
weight within the organization in
order for it to run smoothly and
effectively, which isn’t an easy
task considering the geographical
constraints faced by the group.
However, this essential support
system allows the members to
utilize their individual talents;
some taking care of publicity
and others advertising or graphic
design. In this way, they are all
able to form an efficient business
and creative support group
while helping each other remain
successful in a difficult market.
Members of the Craft Mafia
have used the group to promote
New Orleans arts and crafts on
a national and international scale
while also helping artists find a
way to continue their creative practices within a troubling
situation. Many New Orleans artists are finding it financially
impossible to return to the city after Katrina, including Allie
Siefel, half of MsPlaced.
“A lot of people in the rest of the country…have no idea
about the struggles that New Orleans is going through,”
Siefel says.
Siefel and the other members understand the importance
of explaining the ongoing situation in New Orleans to
outsiders and find it very important to bring awareness to
New Orleans through their jewelry and crafts. The Mafia is
extremely proud to take on this difficult task.
While perusing the crafts offered by the group, a distinct
theme becomes apparent — the fleur de lis. Each member
has his or her own reasons for creating the signature
symbol of New Orleans. However, most agree that the
out-of-state interest in the icon has been outstanding.
Coble believes that it’s extremely important to make art
and craft objects that have meaning for folks in the post-
Katrina world. For her, the fleur-de-lis offers hope and a
way of connecting to the city while it continues to get back
on its feet.
Part of the Craft Mafia’s community outreach is its
Crescent City Art Market, held every second Sunday of
the month at the Big Top. Here, the members are given
a chance to sell their wares in a positive and enjoyable
environment replete with drinks and a DJ. The Mafia also
encourages other local crafters to apply for a table at one
or all of its events. Not only does the monthly event give
the group exposure, it allows them to search for potential
BY JENELLE DAVIS
new members. They’re always on the lookout and have
added new members by finding unique talent at other
markets.
All the members of the group have far-reaching plans
for work and for assisting with the promotion of crafters
everywhere. One member, Mallory Whitfield, takes
care of her own label, dismantled designs, while running
MissMalaprop.com, an extensive crafters blog.
“I spotlight independent artists and designers from all
over, but I try to especially focus on New Orleans and Gulf
Coast-based artists,” Whitfield says.
Whitfield’s activity doesn’t stop there. She’s also kept
busy with CreativeNOLA, an online group on LiveJournal.
com and several monthly charities that are sponsored by
her blog. Other members teach at local craft stores, work
at galleries and run their own businesses while continuously
looking for ways to expand the craft market.
Matherne beams when she thinks of an “exciting
opportunity” with a major local retailer that the Craft
Mafia has in the works. This opportunity is but one of the
steps that will allow the Craft Mafia members to follow
their dreams of one day becoming full-time crafters.
Back row, from left: Allie (Ms. Placed), Elli (MsPlaced), Rachelle (greenKangaroo), Kelly (Claverie Crafts), Jeannie (Jeremy the Alien Designs), Mags (art by mags!); Middle
Row, from left: Heather (Unique Products), Mallory (dismantled designs), Dawn (Dirty Kitchen); Front Row, from left: Mark (Unique Products)
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_11

AFTER THE DELUGE
A WEBCOMIC TELLS THE STORIES AFTER KATRINA
BY LEO MCGOVERN
Josh Neufeld has become adept at
telling graphic stories of a personal
nature — his comic series The
Vagabonds chronicles his and wife
Sari’s travels around the world, his
artwork frequently tells Harvey
Pekar’s unique slice-of-life stories
in American Splendor, and his 2004
graphic novel A Few Perfect Hours
(and Other Stories From Southeast
Asia & Central Europe) won him a
prestigious grant from the Xeric
Foundation. Neufeld’s latest projects
feature both personal and, for the
first time, communal stories. In early
’06 Neufeld released Katrina Came
Calling, a chapbook-style collection
of prose journal entries written in
late ’05 during a three-week tour
of duty with the Red Cross in Biloxi
and Gulfport, Mississippi. In January
’07 the prologue of Neufeld’s new
sequential art project, New Orleans:
After The Deluge, premiered on
SMITH, an upstart website that
celebrates personal storytelling and,
in 2006, published Shooting War, a
highly acclaimed webcomic about
the war in Iraq. After The Deluge
features several real-life people
affected by Katrina (including AG
editor Leo McGovern), and Neufeld
intends to weave those people’s
stories together in an attempt to
show readers that New Orleans
isn’t a city full of statistics; that the
populace of the Gulf Coast isn’t
simply full of people either with or
without the means and/or desire to
leave, return and rebuild; that our
region, even a year and a half after
Katrina, is brimming with grey area.
ANTIGRAVITY spoke with Neufeld
about the reasons he created A.D.,
what he hopes readers take away
from these stories, and how this
project is different from anything
he’s done before.
12_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative
ANTIGRAVITY: For people who weren’t able
to get hold of your ‘zine, Katrina Came Calling,
tell us a bit about why you chose to enlist in
the Red Cross and where you traveled to.
Josh Neufeld: I volunteered for the Red Cross because I was
absolutely compelled to. The feeling I had was undoubtedly
the closest experience I’ll ever have to a religious calling; in
the aftermath of Katrina I just knew I had to do something
to help. Originally I volunteered at my local (New York
City) chapter, helping evacuees who had made it to New
York with temporary resettlement. Eventually I signed
up for disaster training and deployment to the hurricane
zone. Six weeks after the hurricane I landed in Biloxi, MS,
where I drove around in an Emergency Response Vehicle
for three weeks distributing hot meals to local residents.
AG: How did After The Deluge come about?
JN: I’d long been contemplating doing a comic book
treatment of my experiences in the Gulf Coast. Meanwhile,
SMITH Magazine was running a serialized graphic novel
called Shooting War. After that fi nished its run, SMITH’s
Comics Editor Jeff Newelt independently contacted me
about doing their next comic — one about Hurricane
Katrina. The fates were obviously pointing in this direction!
After discussing the project a bit with SMITH editor Larry
Smith, we decided to focus the project on New Orleans
(although it will also touch upon my experiences in
Biloxi).
AG: Why chose real people to use as characters
in A.D., rather than create characters that you
could mold into a dramatic story?
JN: It’s long been my belief as a cartoonist that real people’s
stories are inherently dramatic, and that it’s important to
celebrate real life as much as fantasy/fi ction. (My work as an
illustrator for American Splendor and David Greenberger’s
Duplex Planet Illustrated really cemented those ideas for
me.) With an event as monumental as Hurricane Katrina, I
feel it doubly vital to tell real people’s stories, and remind
readers that the hurricane continues to reverberate in
the lives of millions of folks from that region. And since
SMITH’s motto is “Everyone Has a Story,” that dovetails
perfectly with my goals for the project.
AG: What led you to the people you chose?
JN: From the beginning we felt it important to represent
as wide a range of experiences as possible. We wanted
subjects who covered the gamut: well-off and poor, black
and white, young and old, male and female, those who
evacuated and those who stayed behind, people who lost
everything they owned and those who salvaged almost
everything. The people we ended up choosing came
from multiple sources. Some (like yourself!) presented

themselves early on. Others came via articles, radio
programs, and various personal contacts. We cast a wide
net, did tons of legwork, and, in the end, are taking our
best guess that this mix works — for us, the reader and
the “characters” themselves who make up the mix. It was
only a couple of weeks ago that we “nailed down” all fi ve
main subjects, and got to meet everybody in person on a
short trip down to New Orleans. We felt it was important
to get a sense of people in person, and let people get a
sense of us. The amount of information we took in in
those meetings was truly intense, and we believe will serve
our characters, comic, and readers well.
AG: How close will the comic be to those
people’s actual stories?
JN: I always try to hew as closely as possible to actual events
in my stories. However, there are times when I am forced
to make certain editorial decisions about compressing
events, combining characters, or other relatively minor
details, in order to make a scene work. What’s most
important to me is to remain faithful to the emotional
truth of the events, and to my subjects’ experiences.
AG: How familiar with New Orleans were you
before Katrina?
JN: Well, I had spent about a week there in 2003 visiting
my friend Rob Walker and touring the city. Rob lived in
NOLA for about fi ve years and really loved the city. He
showed my wife and I a great time, talked a lot about the
city’s political and social life, and took us to many offthe-beaten
path destinations. He also wrote a series of
thoughtful essays about the city and the region (which
he eventually published under the title Letters From New
Orleans [Garrett County Press]), which I read avidly. So,
despite my relative lack of expertise about New Orleans, I
felt a great affi nity for the city, which had really imprinted
its character on my psyche. That was in many ways why I
was so horrifi ed by the post-hurricane fl ooding, and was
so motivated to do something — anything — I could do
to help.
AG: A lot of comparisons have been made
between the aftermath of Katrina and 9/11.
You’ve been involved in both. What similarities
and differences do you see?
JN: Hmmm. Without being a resident of the Gulf Coast, it’s
hard for me to make that comparison. Both events were
historical in proportion, and both affected the relevant
urban centers (New York and New Orleans) in profound
ways. But it’s important to remember that 9/11 was the
result of a deliberate attack by a group of terrorists, while
Katrina was the result of a toxic combination of nature and
government neglect and incompetence. Also, as horrifi c as
the attack on the World Trade Center was, the physical
effects were limited to the relatively small area of “Ground
Zero,” while Katrina cut a swatch across thousands and
thousands of square miles. Katrina also directly affected
far more families than 9/11. The burden of infrastructure
recovery and rebuilding is much higher in Louisiana,
Mississippi and the other Gulf Coast states than in New
York. Another major difference between the two events
is the symbolic signifi cance. The attacks of 9/11 were felt
as an attack on our whole country; whereas Katrina laid
bare the realities of decades of poverty, discrimination,
and government corruption within our own country.
AG: How does it feel to be from New York
and tell the stories featured in A.D.? Do you
worry that people might not take it seriously
because you’re an “outsider?”
JN: No, I don’t worry about that — should I? Seriously,
I’m approaching this project in my best journalistic way.
I’m constantly interviewing the subjects, I’ve visited
New Orleans a number of times, done lots of research,
“It’s long been my belief as a
cartoonist that real people’s stories
are inherently dramatic.”
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_13

etc. All the same, as I think I mentioned before, I feel my main
burden is to get to the essence of the story, the emotional/
psychological/spiritual “truth” of it — as opposed to being
obsessed with the literal truth. That said, I am doing my best
to get the basic facts — as well as the details — right.
AG: How does your work on A.D. differ from
The Vagabonds or American Splendor? Is your
preparation different?
JN: A.D. is the first major project I’ve embarked on which
focuses mostly on other people experiences. In my previous
work, I either told my own stories or illustrated Harvey
Pekar’s autobiographical tales. So the burden on A.D. feels
much larger. I really want to “do right” by the stories of the
folks whose tales I’m telling. And given the subject matter,
there’s a lot of extra emotional weight involved. But I’m really
excited to do it: because it will test my limits as a storyteller,
and because it’s such an important story to tell. And, yes the
preparation is quite different from my previous work — from
interviewing folks in-depth about their lives and experiences, to
doing extensive photo research, to weaving multiple storylines
together into (hopefully) one coherent narrative.
AG: What’s the long-term intention with A.D.?
What are the possibilities of a print edition at
some point?
JN: My long-term intention is definitely to publish a book
edition of A.D. For one thing, a graphic novel will reach a whole
other group of readers, and also because I am a die-hard fan of
books and printed materials. There’s nothing that can replicate
the feel of a printed, bound, graphic novel in your hand.
AG: All in all, what do you hope readers glean from
A.D.?
JN: In terms of the form, I’m excited about the platform
that SMITH Magazine has built and we’re playing with:
complementing the web-comic with a blog, podcasts, video,
and a rich resource guide. The net sum is something we’ve
been jokingly calling “American Splendor 2.0.” In terms of the
emotional experience of reading A.D., we’ve really just begun,
and even we don’t know how it will end — so in that sense
it’s hard to say. But I’d like to think that New Orleanians
and other Gulf Coast readers touched by the hurricane will
feel that I represented their story well. I also want the book
to reach the eyes and hands of readers all over the country
(and, dare I say, the world), to remind them that the story of
Hurricane Katrina and the city of New Orleans is not over.
The fact is that the eyes of the world were on the region for
a time in the fall of 2005, but as other news events, both large
& small, enter the landscape, people inevitably begin to forget.
For anyone living in New Orleans, the story of Katrina will
play on for generations. That’s a lot of people, and a lot of
lives, in turmoil. My goal is for A.D. to be a document, however
humble, of this period.
14_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

ONE MAN MACHINE:
DIGITAL SHEPHERD
BY DAN FOX
Sometimes it’s easy to feel like our Scottish junkie friend in Trainspotting,
Mark Renton, who fi nds himself falling behind the sonic curve when
his not-quite-legal girlfriend, Diane, lectures him on the new rules:
You’re not getting any younger, Mark. The world’s changing, music’s
changing, even drugs are changing. You can’t stay in here all day doing a bit
of heroin and Ziggy Pop.” Renton replies, “It’s Iggy Pop.” Diane: “Whatever.
I mean, the guy’s dead anyway.” Renton: “Iggy Pop’s not dead. He toured
last year.” Diane: “The point is, you’ve got to fi nd something new.” While
such a blissfully uninformed diatribe might not lead us all to sell overvalued
rental properties in the UK the way it does Renton, the wake-up call of
the new age is nonetheless upon us. Sound waves are being digitized and
atomized, cosmetically “enhanced,” manipulated and corrected until they
hardly resemble the sweaty stuff that screams from guitar amps and drum
heads or even our own vocal chords. And yet, there is no turning back;
ones and zeroes blanket everything like kudzu. We need a guide, a beacon
in this rapidly expanding universe of sound technology and deconstruction.
We need Bernard Pearce, the One Man Machine, to usher us peacefully into
an era of mutual understanding between man and microchip, to bridge the
divide between dimensions: jazz and punk, Miles Davis and Lightning Bolt, the
trumpet and the effects pedal, even New Orleans, Lafayette, New York, and
the other corners of the nation.
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_15

ANTIGRAVITY: Walk me through your
process for making this first album.
One Man Machine: I bought a bunch of crap, a bunch of
equipment, like a loop station and a mixer, and started
working on songs because I couldn’t put a band together.
Working with the loop station, I was able to create songs
with those loops, have a drum machine and a guitar
going. Really I just wanted to make noise collages. And I
brought them into a studio in Portland (Jackpot!) because
I evacuated [there] after the hurricane. I got my old
friend Jason Robira to come into town from Athens (we
grew up together in Lafayette) and he helped me with
the record there. Some songs came out okay but they
weren’t finished. I took some of those songs to Athens
last October and did another ten days with Jason and
another friend of mine [Jason Trahan] and kind of fleshed
those songs out more and wrote in the studio. A lot of the
lyrics were written on the fly, just trying to be fun because
I have no big ambitions to be a real touring musician.
AG: Why not?
OMM: It’s so crazy. I know, because I’ve owned a club
before and have seen so many bands come and go, bands
that did it forever, like the Poster Children. Like, at one
point they were touring and doing well but just not well
enough. I like to play around Lafayette, go do festivals
here and there, house parties...
AG: But ironically you are good at getting
yourself out there and playing outside of New
Orleans and Lafayette. Do you think you’re
better known outside of Louisiana?
OMM: I don’t know if I’m better known but I played
this festival, Pop Montreal, with Interpol and Beck… and
One Man Machine as part of the festival. It’s the equivalent
of playing Voodoo but the guys at Voodoo — I’m not
even on their radar. But I can send music to Pop Montreal
and they’ll be like “Oh, this is great. You’re from New
Orleans, wow.” I went on a tour in June of ‘04 and played
ten shows in New York, the Knitting Factory [and] shows
in Brooklyn. I think it’s easy for anybody to get out there
and do that shit. I think anybody can book shows... Now
I’m thirty-two and I’ve been doing this for half of my life
and it feels good to just play music. Ten years ago it used
to be like, “Oh God, I want to get on a label; I want to be
in a band and tour and do all that shit.” If that happens,
it’s great. Making a great record, touring the world and
playing festivals, that’s great. But if I play the local bar in
my hometown and have an amazing show, that’s awesome
to me too. I will do it for the rest of my life. Somebody
like Ray Bong... however you feel about Ray Bong, he
loves what he’s doing; he gets a lot out of it.
AG: Equipment and technology are spawning
a lot of one-man bands. Do you find it hard to
“Making a great record, touring the world
and playing festivals, that’s great. But if
I play the local bar in my hometown and
have an amazing show, that’s awesome to
me too.”
stick out at all?
OMM: Well, I’m moving away from the whole thing
now. It started out to be a noise idea and I was going to
have all these drum machines and I did that for a while but
it gets lonely, you know? I don’t think I’m a one-man band
anymore; it’s just not fun.
AG: What gets you in “that place” when you
play live?
OMM: This drummer Endre, he is an amazing drummer.
We never rehearse but because I use loops a lot and the
shit’s so repetitive, it’s easier for him to play along. I like
that; I like repetition. Then you get that kind of hypnotizing
thing going on. John Lee Hooker would play the same riff
again and again and on top of that riff things would change.
That’s what I’ve been working on and am really happy
about... I want to incorporate like forty record players for
a performance. I’m moving away from the idea that I’ve
written songs and now I’m going to perform these songs
live. I am already this artist where I have songs that I’ve
created in the studio or in my bedroom and you can listen
to [them]. And then live I’ll just do whatever I can do live
and it will be totally different from the recorded stuff.
AG: What’s your musical training?
OMM: I took piano lessons for ten years, and then I was
in band in junior high and high school. I learned trumpet
and tuba in elementary school. I enjoyed some of the stuff
because we had a really cool band instructor [in Breaux
Bridge] and we would do a Prince Song or “Doin’ the
Butt;” all this crazy-ass R&B stuff. But my piano teacher
was crazy, out of her mind. She had fifteen cats and every
time you’d get a piece of dust in your eye she’d pray over
it and speak in tongues. When I was a kid I did piano
competitions but it was a drag. I would write crazy songs
when I was a kid, just making noise and I always really
liked it. In Lafayette I started this band Frigg-A-Go-Go and
they had a cult following around New Orleans, Lafayette,
16_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

and Austin. And I always loved crazy rhythms; that always
interested me more than these boring-ass pop songs —
it gets old. That’s why I love Stereolab. Those guys are
pretty amazing.
AG: When you think of someone listening to
your album, what do you envision?
OMM: This new record I think will make people fuckin’
dance. There are some tracks that are straight up dance
songs. As a matter of fact, I was working on some shit in
Athens. The engineer really loved the record and brought
it to his show at the 40 Watt. I happened to be going
through Athens (months after I worked on the record);
he’s playing my rough mix at full volume and I’m in there
like “What?!” and people are dancing and bopping their
heads. But I don’t listen to a lot of pop, like Outkast.
That shit’s psychedelic and out there but I don’t own an
Outkast record. I don’t listen to any Cee-Lo; I listen to
Dischord.
AG: Talk to me about that train song, “New
Orleans to Chicago... Chicago to L.A...”
OMM: It’s kind of about two different women that I was
engaged to, about twelve, thirteen years ago. I took a train
trip to see this fiancée of mine who ended up dumping
me and moving to China and becoming a lesbian! (We’re
still friends.) There’s also this woman who lived in San
Francisco and it’s kind of about her, too. I wrote it in the
studio while I was recording in Athens. That’s basically the
route I had to take to boarding school in Santa Fe, New
Mexico. The only way to get to New Mexico from New
Orleans by train is to go to Chicago first.
AG: Oh man, I thought it was about touring or
something.
OMM: Well, kind of because I actually made that trip
from L.A. to San Francisco last summer with Morning 40
Federation. I was on tour and I got to see my friend who
I hadn’t seen forever, since I first met her. So it’s kind of a
mix-up of experiences I’ve had going out west.
AG: Hey, weren’t you in Wail? What the hell
was that?
OMM: Well, it was Yanni Papadopoulos, the guitar
player from Stinking Lizaveta; Andy Preen, the drummer
from Suplecs; Joe Lally, the bass player from Fugazi and
myself. What happened was, I was setting up shows for
Stinking Lizaveta during Jazz Fest and his band couldn’t
make it. Yanni still wanted to come and I was encouraging
him to just play by himself because he’s really a virtuoso
guitar player and it would be cool for him to do a noise
set. And he has enough fans in New Orleans who would
come out just to see him play... Yanni was the guy who put
the band together. He grew up with Joe [who] had never
played with anyone else but Fugazi. And I’m a big, huge
Fugazi fan and met them back in 1996 when they were
doing one of their last tours. Joe was so nervous; it was
kind of crazy. He was more nervous than I was; I don’t
know, he was almost scared — and I’m not scared to play
music... They were kind of giving me shit the whole time,
they were really nerding out about the shows! I was all
punk rock, having the time of my life, screaming like that
guy in Mangina, just having fun. And these old guys were
really Metallica about it... these little shows at the Hi Ho
Lounge!
AG: When’s the reunion?
OMM: Probably never. Like I said, Joe was so nervous
the whole time and I don’t know if I would do it again. I
love Yanni but to play with him was so... It’s kind of like
playing in a band with your older brother and it’s not so
cool.
AG: What was it like growing up black and
being into punk rock?
OMM: In October I played at the CMJ Music Festival and
I was pretty excited about it. I actually played this Afro-
Punk showcase. This guy, James Spooner from New York,
made this documentary called Afro-Punk: The ‘Rock and Roll
Nigger’ Experience. He grew up in the scene being the only
black kid going to see punk shows. He went around the
country and interviewed other black punks. And I saw
the film for the first time in New York at this club called
the Delancey. It was pretty amazing. I was almost in tears
watching his movie because he interviewed all these kids
who had all the same experiences: “I was the only one. I
was the only one...” You get a hundred different people
saying the same thing.
AG: What were some of those experiences?
OMM: Growing up, I remember being in junior high and
I got in fistfights with other black kids because I didn’t “talk
like a black person was supposed to talk.” Because I used
diction, I got in fistfights. My dad died when I was really
young but he left this great record collection. It had all
this great Miles Davis stuff and all this great John Coltrane
and I was discovering Bitches Brew. There was a lot of
rock energy in that record, or Jimmy Smith, that funk and
rock. Around Lafayette there was no great second line
jazz scene like there is in New Orleans but there was this
rock music that was fresh and original and I started to
discover bands like Fugazi and The Minutemen and all this
amazing, original music. Even the Cure was amazing to me
to because it wasn’t this tired-ass... I never really got into
KISS, you know? So, being black and loving that music was
definitely a challenge. And I had to get in fights about it. I
literally had to beat people’s asses! They would not leave
me alone about that shit... It’s so funny, isn’t it? Race and
music... for some people it’s everything and for me it’s
nothing.
One Man Machine with Mark Bingham
of Piety Street Recording
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_17

ILLUSTRATIONS
18_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

SNAP JUDGMENTS
Marvel likes to tout The Dark
Tower as a sort of new
Harry Potter—not necessarily
as a book that appeals to
children but as a franchise that
appeals to a wide and built-in
audience, a group of patrons
that will flock to anything new
that has to do with said franchise. The Dark Tower definitely
has that rabid following, but they won’t find anything new
here. While The Gunslinger Born is a good jumping-on point for
readers interested in just seeing what The Dark Tower is about,
existing fans may be disappointed that this first limited series is
but a comic version of Wizard And Glass, the third Dark Tower
novel. Also, don’t be fooled by the logo—Stephen King didn’t
technically write this comic, he simply created a plot treatment,
though he does have final say in what appears in finished
product. Instead, comic veteran Peter David and longtime King
expert and The Dark Tower: A Complete Concordance author
Robin Furth script the series. David and Furth do a great job
in recreating the tone and pacing of the Tower novels, and they
easily weave in the words and phrases that are such a large
aspect of the last Gunslinger’s story. Because Born starts early
in Roland Deschain’s life, the reader loses a bit in the setup of
who and what the Gunslingers are. By the time this story is told
in Wizard And Glass, the reader already understands the scope
of the Gunslingers—in a world where technology has long
failed and the earth has returned to a state more like the 18th
century than the 21st, the Gunslingers are a Jedi-like force that
use pistols and an innate ability to scheme in their attempts to
keep peace. Roland’s fighting ability and penchant for violence
are well known by Glass, which makes the love story featured
there and in Born all the more striking. If you’re a regular reader
of comics and already familiar with the artwork of Jae Lee
(Inhumans, The Sentry), the artwork here is everything you’d
expect. If you’re a Dark Tower fan coming to comics perhaps
for the first time, Lee’s artwork is what you’d hope for—clean
and well laid-out, making for an easy-to-follow storytelling
style. All in all, The Gunslinger Born is a solid comic, but the real
excitement will come when new Dark Tower tales roll around.
—Leo McGovern
This volume, like volume
two, jumps around in time
quite a bit, and while there’s
a lot I like there are a lot of
elements I wasn’t crazy about
either. The sideways-arranged
story of the Druid got annoying
enough that I didn’t read it,
and Grist again teased more of
Jack’s past, but stopped short of providing answers. On the
other hand, the Becky Burdock/Bramble & Son story featuring
vampires, vampire hunters and vampire-worshiping cults was
a whole lot of fun, the Claw’s short-circuiting of a young thief
absolutely hilarious, the Alan Moore-looking mystic Morlan a
lot of fun and the unexpected resolution of the German super
soldier story quite enjoyable as well. Overall, this is a great
read with nice art, although again it’s the kind of thing that
really reads much better in trade paperback. I miss Kane, and
I’d like more answers on the backstory in Jack Staff, but this is
still a really great read. —Randy Lander
With the promise of
weird war tales, I
looked forward to reading
Who Fighter, especially when
I saw that it also included
an adaptation of Heart of
Darkness, the novel on which
the fi lm Apocalypse Now was
based. Not that I have any huge fondness for the novel or
the movie (I haven’t read the former nor seen much of the
latter, although it’s on my list to watch someday), but it
was an interesting idea. As it turns out, while Who Fighter
is plenty readable, it never fully engaged me. Takizawa has
a love for historical detail but at the same time he assumes
his reader already knows the history and, as someone who
doesn’t follow military history, I don’t really know any of it.
The fi rst story is the best, which is about a Japanese pilot
who runs afoul of alien technology, but it never really gets
into truly creepy or mind-blowing territory like I’d hoped,
and instead it plays out more or less along expected lines.
Heart of Darkness is interesting but lacks the edge of madness
that I always picked up from Apocalypse Now, and it makes it
a bit bland. The last story, an eight-pager about tank warfare,
doesn’t really have an impact either. All of these have nice
artwork, particularly the impressively detailed tanks, planes
and other technology of war, but the stories never connect.
—Randy Lander
While the fi rst trade
paperback of DMZ
was good, it was uneven.
There are no such troubles
with volume two, which really
takes everything good about
the fi rst volume and raises it
to a new level. On his blog, writer Brian Wood said, “By the
second DMZ arc, I had realized what sort of book I wanted
it to be,” and after reading it, it’s easy to see what he means.
The political machinations and general danger of Matty Roth
and his newfound celebrity journalist role, not to mention
the various factions working at cross purposes and the
constant worry of betrayal, all come through in the “Body
of a Journalist” story. Riccardo Burchielli’s artwork, as always,
is fantastic, bringing the images of a war-torn, third world
version of Manhattan to all-too-vivid life. As a bonus, the
book also includes the “Origin of Zee,” one of my favorite
DMZ stories to date with art by up-and-comer Kristian
Donaldson. It closes out with issue #12, which has Brian
Wood working more in the collage underground format he
used for Channel Zero. While it wasn’t a wholly satisfying
single issue read, it makes a great extra to fi nish out the
trade and packs the whole thing with lots of information
about the world and characters of DMZ. I like the fi rst DMZ
trade, but I love volume two. —Randy Lander
And so ends an era for
Grimjack. Though original
artist Tim Truman had already
moved on, John Ostrander
stuck with John Gaunt for a
little while longer, until the
stories reprinted in this issue,
where he and new artist Tom
Mandrake put him through Hell with another doomed love
and then sent him to his fi nal reward. Or so it would seem. It’s
funny, I bet reading this in single issues was amazing, because
who would have guessed they would do what they did to the
main character? True, the next iteration wasn’t as good as
the original, and in many ways this is the end of the best of
Grimjack, but there’s still plenty of good stuff to come, and this
was a particular high point, taking the grim noir tone of the
series to its logical conclusion. —Randy Lander
Joe Casey and Charlie Adlard
both have a history of AIT/
Planet Lar, although most of
my favorite projects from them
have come from Image (Godland,
The Walking Dead, etc.) Rock
Bottom is an interesting story
about a musician (and a bit
of a womanizer) who fi nds
himself turning to stone. The how and why leads him to dig
into his own history and analyze his life, and the same happens
with his best friends, a lawyer and a doctor. It’s an interesting
“real guys” type of story with a science-fi ction element as
its driving focus, and probably the best thing to recommend
about it (besides Adlard’s terrifi c clean-line artwork) is the
excellent writing of human relationships that really makes the
story work. —Randy Lander
Lucifer was never my favorite
Vertigo series, and by the
end I mostly felt like I was
reading out of completeness
sake. But the final volume really
hits some high notes, especially
with Elaine’s last tale, at once
heartbreaking and uplifting and
human, which is surprising given the godlike scale that the book
always operated on. Carey’s magnum opus, moreso even than
Gaiman’s Sandman from which it sprung, seems like a book that
would reward re-reading all together, and that’s something I’ll
have to do at some point. Even not fully remembering everything
that had gone before, Evensong makes a pretty satisfying ending
for a long-running Vertigo series. It also features some great art,
and finally they get around to reprinting the one-shot Lucifer:
Nirvana with art by Jon J. Muth which was one of my favorite
stories in the book’s run. —Randy Lander
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_19

present a
Double Header
Big Easy v. East Texas Bombers
Tyler. TX
Big Easy v. Green Country Rollergirls
Tulsa. OK)
X
20_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

PROJECTIONS
The Lives of Others’ upset
victory over Pan’s Labyrinth
for Best Foreign Film honors
on Oscar® night was one of
few surprises at the World’s
Longest Televised Fashion
Show. After all, Pan’s Labyrinth
had already claimed three
statuettes for Art Direction,
Cinematography and Makeup; surely a fourth was a mere
formality. As Chris Berman would say, “That’s why they play
the games.” But the biggest shocker of all is that The Lives
of Others is the better fi lm. Set in the German Democratic
Republic (former East Germany), The Lives of Others centers
on a Stasi (German Secret Police) Captain assigned to spy on
an acclaimed playwright and his actress girlfriend. The task:
gather evidence proving the dramatist is an enemy of the
State. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck delivers
a taught, psychological thriller as Stasi Captain
Gerd Wiesler, brilliantly played by Ulrich Muhe,
becomes increasingly drawn to the artists he
monitors. The nearly colorless palette resonates
the bleakness and paranoia that passes for daily
life under dictatorial rule. The simplest sounds
— a door opening, footsteps on a tile fl oor —
thunder as though heard through a hound’s ears.
Comparisons between Pan’s Labyrinth and The
Lives of Others are inevitable. History has forever
bound them together, for better or worse.
But whereas Pan’s Labyrinth could retreat from
the horrors of war into fantasy, in The Lives of
Others there is no escape. A better companion
piece is Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Downfall. Similar
techniques are used to great effect in both
pictures to educate as well as immerse the viewer
in situations so horrifi c that even the idea behind
them seems unreal, despite clear evidence to the
contrary. Films that fully engage the senses as
they delicately slide from the fi gurative to the
literal, whilst employing historical truths to fall
upon, are as rare as the political atmosphere that
allows them to be created. The Lives of Others is
not to be missed. —J.W. Spitalny
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_21

REVOLUTIONS
THE OFFICIAL RECORD STORE OF ANTIGRAVITY
MUSIC, DVDS & MORE SINCE 1969
10am–MIDNIGHT
7 DAYS
1037 BROADWAY
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70118
504-866-6065
IT’S WORTH THE TRIP
BUY-SELL-TRADE NEW + USED MUSIC + MOVIES
YOUR ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
HEADQUARTERS
RJD2’s third album
marks a departure
from his previous
albums in that singing
replaces sampling and the tone more closely resembles
surf than hip hop, a shift in temperament that can
be traced back to Since We Last Spoke, the sequel to
Deadringer, his debut. The Third Hand strikes a fairly even
balance between quieter, subtle songs and complex, uptempo
offerings reminiscent of RJD2’s early work, with
the experimental nature of his music being one constant.
The retrospective-feeling “You Never Had It So Good”
grooves along into “Have Mercy,” whose layered sounds
invoke synth nostalgia overlaid with the tingling effects
and tempo change-ups that characterize the disc. The
production is smooth — at times, too smooth; toward
the middle of the album, the songs blend almost to the
point of becoming indistinct and older fans may feel
lulled, rather than stimulated. “Sweet Piece” snaps back
to a more diverse soundsphere that is also light and
airy. This stripped-down style constitutes an asset and
a disadvantage, as it requires more of both artist and
audience, but, on balance, it works. —Lisa Haviland
ANTIGRAVITY: The Third Hand is certainly
a departure from the hip hop sound that
characterized Deadringer and, to a lesser
extent, Since We Last Spoke; what prompted
this shift?
RJD2: It’s hard for me to — I can’t say it’s moving away
from hip hop — that’s kind of a grandiose statement, but
I can break that concept down piece by piece. Everything
I’ve done as a solo artist has revolved around making good
songs — clear, precise songs — pop songs, if you will.
With Deadringer, I was making a pop record using samples,
not just beats. With this record, from a conceptual
standpoint, it’s the exact same thing; what’s changed is
how I do that. This album is all live instrumentals, so the
drive has changed.
AG: The Third Hand features some of your
own vocals, as well; how did that come about?
22_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

What sparked your interest in singing?
RJD2: I started doing vocals because I was going to
use them as demos that I was going to get in the hands
of people who could actually sing. In assembling the
album, it sounded weird to go from me singing to
other people singing. It sounded like a compilation
album and I was going for a unifi ed, organic feeling
— to make it sound like an album and not a collection
of songs. Basically, it works much better with just
me singing. I’m sure there’re tons of people on this
earth that could do a much better job singing every
motherfucking song, but I was going for cohesion with
this — and my other — albums.
AG: Do you follow any particular method
in constructing a song, such as building
around a beat, lyric or sample — or does
the technique vary?
RJD2: That’s basically how it exactly happens. At any
given time, I’ll be building drum techniques without
having any strict pattern, except for single hisses or
drum sounds. A lot of times, I’d come up with the riff,
I’d go through the drum programs and see which one
sounded best, and just kind of build on that, writing
the verse and chorus, integrating scratch vocals or
melodies, then redo the set. I’m still coming from a
perspective where the meat of the organic whole
is the harmonic content. I have a very easy time
listening to foreign music. My favorite band right now
is Swedish. Words aren’t the hottest premium to me
— sound, chorus and arrangement are my focus. It’s
not that I don’t care about the words; it’s a question
of emphasis. Bob Dylan would be an example of a
writer — the Beatles, too — where the words are
much more important.
AG: What other musicians have you
been influenced and informed by? And,
broadening the spectrum a bit, has your
work been influenced by other creative
genres, such as film, literature or art?
RJD2: I don’t even know where to start with musicians;
there‘s so many! Since we’ve been talking a little about
writing, I can say that I do get a lot out of literature; I
read a fair amount of Orwell, Jules Verne and science
fi ction. I get a lot out of movies, books and stories
because of the way they unfold and the importance of
time in these works. Books and music both work in a
timeline. Does that make sense?
AG: Yeah, timing strikes me as crucial to
both mediums. It‘s funny that you mention
science fiction because the first time I
listened to “The Horror,” it felt very sci-fi
to me.
RJD2: Yeah, yeah, I can see that. There’s a parallel
between stories and songs for me because a concept
such as foreshadowing or repetition is also always
achievable with sound. The fi rst sixteen bars of the
intro to a song are probably the most important
part because that’s what either attracts or loses the
listener. Timing in a song is critical, basically, as well as
how time is utilized throughout a song.
AG: Looking back, what do you feel are the
strengths and weaknesses of the first two
albums?
RJD2: They’re so special to me — everything I’ve
ever done holds a special place in my heart. Now,
looking back, I tend to critique the audio fi delity of
my previous albums, like “Oh, man, I could do so
much better” because of the things that I’ve learned
since then. “Through the Walls” from Since We Last
Spoke is arguably the least favorite song I’ve ever done
— granted, there are elements I like and the things
that I’ve learned in that process are invaluable, though
there’s the realization that, “Man, I could never do
that again,” because I’ve already done it and am proud
that I did. I am strictly out of samples now.
AG: What motivated you to stop using
samples? I know many legal issues have
arisen around samples…
RJD2: There’s that, the legality issue. There are also
inherent limitations with samples in terms of what can
be achieved. There was a time I was fumbling through
— I didn’t know then what could be done and so
it’s also kind of, “Been there, done that.” I’ve done
it enough that I know how to do it and the whole
process becomes a little less fascinating. The big issues
in music are the things that don’t ever change for me.
The sample is just another tool in my arsenal.
AG: In referencing “big issues in music,”
what specifically comes to mind?
RJD2: Writing songs, creating arrangements. No
matter the form, I still have to make choices on how
to get into the verse, how to get out of the verse,
what the chorus sounds like.
AG: What direction do you see your music
traveling in the future?
RJD2: I don’t have any idea. I’m going to just keep
doing what I do. One thing I’m toying with is separating
acoustic and electronic — doing one album that’s all
electronic and another that’s all acoustic, so that I’m
experimenting with form again.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
created a buzz in 2005 by
self-releasing their self-titled
debut album via the Internet. By the time David Bowie and
David Byrne reportedly watched the band perform live, Clap
Your Hands had signed with Wichita Recordings (a UK label
whose notable acts have included Bloc Party, Bright Eyes,
and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs). With the release of their second
album Some Loud Thunder, the band delivers a mixed bag. At
their very best, these East Coast rockers are a masterful band
that accomplishes complex sonic dynamics with much subtlety.
At their worst, they delve into lazy faux-Strokes lyricism that
lacks the punch and originality of Brooklyn-based counterparts
TV on the Radio and Interpol (think Thom Yorke without the
neuroses). On “Five Easy Pieces,” a wordplay mantra is uttered
in different pitches while instrumentation in the background
follows basic folk-rock chords that culminate into a distorted
guitar rave-up. On other songs like “Goodbye To the Mother
and The Cover,” an electronic metronome-like rhythm runs
counterpoint to a complex Pink Floyd-like progression.
Unfortunately, tracks like “Some Loud Thunder” and “Emily
Jean Stock” are interchangeable. —JD Alfone
W
hile there are certainly
indie parallels one may
draw to the Portland-based
Shins, the group’s sound is
solid and distinctive enough
to transcend the usual comparisons and analogies of that
particular universe. Wincing the Night Away, while working
within a consistent pop-rock framework, is characterized by
diverse songwriting, ranging from the earnest subject matter
and varied pacing of “Sea Legs” to the deep and distant
echoes of “Black Wave.” These musicians are imbued with the
ability to match melody to both tone and lyrical content so
that each song functions as a short story of sorts, with James
Mercer serving as narrator and the music itself refl ecting the
overall journey’s highs and lows via tempo changes and rising
and falling riffs that are complemented by strong supporting
harmonies and effects. Given this structure, it’s no surprise
that the band’s music has been prominently featured in fi lms
— most memorably, Garden State — and television (though
it was put to not-so-good use for that Gap ad). Despite the
album’s whimsical quality, it does not tie up neatly at the end
and instead it remains unraveled and ambivalent; the fi nal line,
“There is a numbness in your heart and it’s growing,” does not
read as dark or self-indulgently emo, however. In keeping with
the rest of the story, the fi nal chapter, “A Comet Appears”
explores the complexity of navigating and negotiating the
universe with bright yet honest brushstrokes and leaves the
door open for future travel. —Lisa Haviland
The standout moments of
Bloc Party’s 2005 debut,
Silent Alarm — songs like “She’s
Hearing Voices,” “Banquet” and
“Like Eating Glass,” which were
characterized by both melody and energy — seem like very
distant memories after listening to this album, much as Gwen
Stefani’s solo offerings seem to disassociate us altogether from
her work with No Doubt. There is an unfi nished quality to A
Weekend in the City that doesn’t translate as edgy or intimate,
but, well, unfi nished and this quality is perhaps most immediately
obvious in the vocals. In the chorus of “The Prayer,” singer
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_23

Kele Okereke monotones, “I will charm, I will slice, I will dazzle
them with my wit,” but any ironic contrast of content and tone
falls short because Okereke simply sounds devoid of energy.
The faux rah rah of “Like drinking poison, like eating glass” is
much more effective in terms of juxtaposition. The music, too,
feels more like background than the proverbial beef, resulting
in an unfocused experience for the listener. In other words,
simultaneous repetition on both the electronic and lyrical fronts
in tracks like “Where is Home?” and “On” make this second
album a double snoozer. There are some interesting effects,
such as the layering of the background vocals on “Kreuzberg,”
but Weekend is regurgitation, rather than innovation — sort of
a watered-down Pet Shop Boys. —Lisa Haviland
After several years of putting
their money where their
mouth is with risky touring
fi nanced in large part by themselves and former indie label
Merge Records, …Trail of Dead got their big break in 2001
when major label Interscope signed them. Unlike the majority
of twenty-something bands that fi ll the pages of Alternative
Press as they dispassionately rock out (think the boy band
in the Lindsay Lohan starrer Just My Luck), …Trail of Dead
play like their survival depends on their music. So Divided gives
the listener a fully-blown musical experience in the guise of a
winding concept album, and tracks like “Caught in A Wasted
State of Mind” assert that Keely sings not like he is trying
to connect verses but as though he is singing for his life. On
“Naked Sun,” the band vamps it up by kicking out Jimmy Page/
John Bonham jams. “Life” seamlessly blends out of the prior
song creating a Beatlesque “I Am the Walrus” vibe. The band is
currently promoting their new album while on tour in Europe,
and …Trail of Dead is a living testament, prompting those
voices in the wilderness to never quit. —JD Alfone
With a full instrumental
sound, unrepentant
experimentation, and distorted
guitar/vocals popularized by
fellow Philadelphia rockers Bardo Pond, Asteroid #4’s East
Coast roots are undeniable. Nonetheless, in what seems to
be a refreshing trend among other alt bands like Brothers and
Sisters and Pretty Girls Make Graves, the band extensively
utilizes soaring harmonies most commonly attributed to bands
trying to reap the “California” sound. Comparable to West
Coast bands Brian Jonestown Massacre (who are thanked
in the band’s liner notes) and Black Rebel Motorcyle Club,
Asteroid #4 contributes to the psychedelic rock pantheon with
the amazing album An Amazing Dream. Much like those bands’
repertoires, The Asteroid #4 uses overdubbed, haunting
harmonies and sensual cooing that essentially pay homage
to the Beach Boys & Mamas and Papas that are meshed with
lyrics that sometimes betray a dark, jaded and usually cryptic
veneer on songs like “Into the Meadow.” Take, for example,
these lyrics: /Into the meadow, I chased my baby with a rifl e/
Into the meadow, I chased my baby because she hurt me/ In
this writer’s estimation, the lyrics belie a disconnect not to be
taken literally between the lyricist and his lover, a disconnect
that hopefully this album can mend. —JD Alfone
24_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

PREMONITIONS
NEW ORLEANS
The Big Top
1638 Clio St., (504) 569-2700
www.3ringcircusproductions.com
Cafe Brasil
2100 Chartres St., (504) 947-9386
Carrollton Station
8140 Willow St., (504) 865-9190
www.carrolltonstation.com
Checkpoint Charlie’s
501 Esplanade Ave., (504) 947-0979
Chickie Wah Wah
2828 Canal St., (504) 304-4714
www.circlebar.net
Circle Bar
1032 St. Charles Ave., (504) 588-2616
www.circlebar.net
Coach’s Haus
616 N. Solomon
D.B.A.
618 Frenchmen St., (504) 942-373
www.drinkgoodstuff.com/no
Goldmine Saloon
701 Dauphine St., (504) 586-0745
Green Space
2831 Marais
Hot Iron Press
1420 Kentucky
The High Ground
3612 Hessmer Ave., Metairie, (504) 525-0377
www.thehighgroundvenue.com
Hi-Ho Lounge
2239 St. Claude Ave. (504) 723-3113
House Of Blues / The Parish
225 Decatur, (504)310-4999
www.hob.com/neworleans
The Howlin’ Wolf
907 S. Peters, (504) 522-WOLF
www.thehowlinwolf.com
Le Bon Temps Roule
4801 Magazine St., (504) 895-8117
Maple Leaf
8316 Oak St., (504) 866-9359
Marlene’s Place
3715 Tchoupitoulas, (504) 897-3415
www.myspace.com/marlenesplace
One Eyed Jacks
615 Toulouse St., (504) 569-8361
www.oneeyedjacks.net
Republic
828 S. Peters St., (504) 528-8282
www.republicnola.com
Sip Wine Market
3119 Magazine St., (504) 894-7071
www.sipwinenola.com
Tipitina’s
(Uptown) 501 Napoleon Ave., (504) 895-8477
(Downtown) 233 N. Peters
www.tipitinas.com
BATON ROUGE
Chelsea’s Cafe
2857 Perkins Rd., (225) 387-3679
www.chelseascafe.com
The Darkroom
10450 Florida Blvd., (225) 274-1111
www.darkroombatonrouge.com
North Gate Tavern
136 W. Chimes St.
www.northgatetavern.com
Red Star Bar
222 Laurel St., (225) 346-8454
www.redstarbar.com
Rotolos (All-Ages)
808 Pettit Blvd.
www.myspace.com/rotolosallages
The Spanish Moon
1109 Highland Rd., (225) 383-MOON
www.thespanishmoon.com
The Varsity
3353 Highland Rd., (225)383-7018
www.varsitytheatre.com
Friday, 3/2
Antenna Inn, Fay Wray,
Metronome The City, Howlin’
Wolf
All Time Low, Cute Is What We Aim
For, The Parish @ House Of Blues
No One Goes Home, Run Home Jack,
Ashton, Cities Killed Starlight, South
Of Nowhere, Darkroom, 7pm, $10
Why Are We Building Such A Big
Ship?, Dragon’s Den, 10pm
We’re Only In It For The Honey,
Sustenance, Runoft, Keystone’s, 9pm
Isis, Jesu, Torche, Spanish
Moon, 10pm
Hot Club Of New Orleans, d.b.a., 6pm
Mem Shannon & the Membership,
d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Saturday, 3/3
Afroman, Howlin’ Wolf
Bonerama, Mid-City Lanes
Landmines, Baby!, Dear Azazel,
Darkroom, 7pm, $10
The Hate Moms, Excuse My French,
Riverboat Jones, Eldon’s House
The Great Belated Portrait Show &
Mail Art Exhibition, Green Space, 7pm,
FREE
I, Octopus, The Brown Stripes,
Rambis, Hi Ho Lounge, 10pm, $3
Guff, Justinbailey, Spanish Moon, 10pm
Hip-Hop Throwdown f/ Simple Plan,
Dragon’s Den
Good Enough For Good Times f/
Mercurio & Raines of Galactic, d.b.a.,
11pm, $5
Dearest Azazel, Darkroom, 7pm, $10
Afroman, Howlin’ Wolf, 10pm
Sunday, 3/4
Mista Alien, Worldtalker, Impulss,
Dumo, Young Killa, Dough Boy,
Howlin’ Wolf, 10pm
Fleur de Tease Burlesque, One Eyed
Jacks, 9pm
Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle, Dragon’s
Den
Linnzi Zaorski, d.b.a., 6pm
Doug Trammell, d.b.a., 10pm
Monday, 3/5
Ratzinger, Brain Rex, Tchoupacabara,
Dragon’s Den
Maria Taylor, Spanish Moon, 10pm
Metal Monday, One Eyed Jacks, 9pm
Rick Trolsen & Gringo do Choro,
d.b.a., 10pm
Tuesday, 3/6
Sip ‘N’ Spin, ANTIGRAVITY
Edition, Sip Wine Market,
6:30pm
One AM Radio, Silent Cinema,
Blair Gimma, Eldon’s House,
7pm, $5
Diecast, Legion, Sevendust, House Of
Blues
30 Seconds To Mars, Howlin’ Wolf
Billy Joel, New Orleans Arena
Drop w/ DJ Proppa Bear, Dragon’s Den
Johnny Vidacovich Duo f/ Robert
Walter, d.b.a., 10pm
Wednesday, 3/7
The Lymbyc System, Relay, Spanish
Moon, 10pm
Dancehall Classics w/ DJ T-Roy,
Dragon’s Den
Walter Wolfman Washington, d.b.a.,
10pm
Soul Rebels, The Zoo, Howlin’ Wolf
Thursday, 3/8
Charalambides, Green Space, 7pm, $5
Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers, House
Of Blues
Geno Delafose & French Rockin’
Boogie, Mid-City Lanes
Jon McLaughlin, Matt Wertz, The
Parish @ House Of Blues
Explosions In The Sky,
Republic
Fast Times ‘80s Dance Night, One Eyed
Jacks
Friday, 3/9
Glasgow, The City Life, The
Eames Era, Howlin’ Wolf
Match Castashadow, Broken Smokes,
Minivan, Big Top, 8pm, $5
Lights Below, Thru It All, Darkroom,
7pm, $10
The Trippin’ Commissioners, White
Colla Crimes, T-Shirt Rebellion, Green
Space, 7pm, $5
The Howlin’ Hex, One Eyed Jacks, 9pm
Just Chillin’ Birthday Party, Dragon’s
Den
Ingrid Lucia, d.b.a., 6pm
Brian Seeger & The Gentilly Groove
Masters, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Throughwhatwas, The Planning Fallacy,
Love and Reverie, This Night Will End,
High Ground, 7pm, $6
Project Color 3, Smiley With A Knife,
Margot, Julie Odell, Tarantula Arms,
10pm, $3
Saturday, 3/10
AllThatFall, Helen Gillet, B.
Killingsworth and T.Smith, McKeown’s
Books, 8pm, FREE
Greg Vendetti, Will Hoge, Howlin’
Wolf
Eric Lindell, The Howling Hex, One
Eyed Jacks
Scouts Honor, Mayhew The Traitor,
Wally Dogger, We Need To Talk, The
Robinsons, Green Space, 7pm, $5
Colour Revolt, Terror Of The Sea,
Spanish Moon, 10pm
Below C-Level Presents w/ DJ Skitty,
Dragon’s Den
John Boutte, d.b.a., 7pm
Peelander-Z, The Microshards, One
Eyed Jacks, 9pm
HR, Tipitina’s, 10pm, $12
Sunday, 3/11
Silence Is Violence, an Anti-
Violence concert, with Hot 8
Brass Band, Free Agents Brass
Band, Glen David Andrews,
John Boutte, Mid-City Lanes
Elvis Perkins, Patrick Watson, The
Parish @ House Of Blues
Lion Of Judah, Jude Fawley, Green
Space, 7pm, $5
Noisefest Fundraiser, One Eyed Jacks, 9pm
The Brent Rose Trio, Dragon’s Den
Linnzi Zaorski, d.b.a., 6pm
Schatzy, d.b.a., 10pm
Monday, 3/12
Hopewell, Birds Of Avalon, The
Moaners, One Eyed Jacks, 9pm
15 Minutes, Melissa Ferrick, Howlin’
Wolf
Castanets, Audrey Ryan,
Shapes & Sizes, Big Blue
Marble, Green Space
Silversun Pickups, The
Rosebuds, Spanish Moon, 10pm
The Broken Bottle Band, Ratty
Scurvics & The Invisible Gambling
Jews, Dragon’s Den
Tuesday, 3/13
Dark Meat, Brainworms,
Heart Attacks, Recovery
Period, Green Space, 7pm, $5
Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society,
House Of Blues
Kylesa, Stinking Lizavetta, Ghengis
Tron, Child Abuse, One Eyed Jacks,
10pm
Mary Timony, Red Star Bar
Daughters, Pelican, Russian
Circles, Young Widows,
Spanish Moon, 10pm, $12
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_25

Stinking Lizavetta, Kylesa, Ghengis
Tron, One Eyed Jacks, 9pm
Porsches On The Autobahn, Hooray
For Earth, DJ Proppa Bear, Dragon’s Den
Sip ‘N’ Spin, Sip Wine Market, 6:30pm
Johnny Vidacovich Duo, f/ Mike Dillon,
d.b.a. 10pm
Wednesday, 3/14
Sondre Lerche, Willy Mason,
The Parish @ House Of Blues
Infected, Yellow Belts, Green Space,
7pm, $5
Taylor Hicks, House Of Blues
Magic Markers, Hi Ho Lounge, 10pm
Deerhunter, 2CV, Spanish Moon, 10pm
Zoroaster, Noxagt, Titan, One Eyed
Jacks, 9pm
Dancehall Classics w/ DJ T-Roy,
Dragon’s Den
Walter Wolfman Washington, d.b.a.,
10pm
Fight Amputation, Gunna Vahm,
Arcadius, Checkpoint Charlie’s, 10pm,
FREE
Zoroaster, Noxagt, Titan, One Eyed
Jacks, 9pm
Thursday, 3/15
Modern Skirts, Ogden Museum Of
Southern Art
The Bombshelter w/ DJ Bomshell
Boogie, Dragon’s Den
Fast Times ‘80s Dance Night, One Eyed
Jacks
Gal Holiday & the Honky Tonk Revue,
10pm, $5
Friday, 3/16
Astronautalis, Club Of Sons,
Spanish Moon, 10pm, $10
Eric Lindell, Chelsea’s Café
Rebirth Brass Band, That One Guy,
Howlin’ Wolf
Soilent Green, Goatwhore, One Eyed
Jacks, 9pm
Soul Rebels, N.O.madic Belly Dancers,
Dragon’s Den
Hot Club Of New Orleans, d.b.a., 6pm
New Orleans NightCrawlers Brass
Band, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Saturday, 3/17
VAST, Howlin’ Wolf
Diplo, Club Of Sons, Bonde Do
Role, Republic
Aaron Lewis, Sugarmill Room
Jason Isbell (Of Drive-By Truckers),
Spanish Moon, 10pm
The Presets, Lo-Fi Fink, One Eyed
Jacks, 9pm
Medicine Women Roots Ensemble,
Dragon’s Den, 7pm
MC Battle w/ Impulss, Dragon’s Den
John Boutte, d.b.a., 7pm
The Iguanas, d.b.a., 11pm, $10
Alabama Thunderpussy, House Of
Blues
Sunday, 3/18
John Digweed, MSTRKRFT,
Ampersand
A Life Once Lost, Norma Jean, The
Chariot, The Handshake, House Of
Blues
ANTIGRAVITY Presents:
The Walkmen, Ferraby
Lionhart, The Broken West,
The Parish @ House Of Blues
The Good, The Bad & The
Queen, Republic
Aa, Pony Pants, Hot Dish, Green
Space, 7pm, $5
Afterhours, One Eyed Jacks, 9pm
Fat Frog, Dragon’s Den
Linnzi Zaorski, d.b.a., 6pm
Skip Heller, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Monday, 3/19
STATIC TV PRESENTS:
Panther, The Buttons, Jude
Matthews, Saturn Bar, 10pm,
FREE
Rjd2, Anti MC, Busdriver,
Happy Chichester, The Parish
@ House Of Blues
Cold War Kids, Aqueduct, Delta
Spirit, Tokyo Police Club, Republic
26_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative

Sunday, 3/18
ANTIGRAVITY PRESENTS: The
Walkmen, The Broken, Ferraby
Lionheart, The Parish
@ House Of Blues
Over three excellent albums
(ignoring here a recent misstep
of a cover album), the Walkmen have
channeled a feeling between rage and
ennui for young adults who can’t seem
to find their place in the world, except
for maybe on a barstool. With hoarse
vocals and laid-back, jangly guitars that
are equally capable of a punk-rock
attack, the newest release, A Hundred
Miles Off, wanders around Boston and
DC. But it starts off in “Louisiana,” the
lovely and lackadaisical lead-off single
that should go over well here. Three
members have been playing together
since they were Catholic schoolboys in
DC’s the Ignobles, later morphing into
Jonathan Fire*Eater, and somebody’s
somebody’s cousin. So, expect a wellpracticed,
natural performance of band
members who’ve had years to figure
each other out. —Henry Alpert
Hella, The Dirty Projectors, Spanish
Moon, 10pm
The Peculiar Pretzel Men, The Casual
Lust, Dragon’s Den
Jeff & Vida, d.b.a., 10pm
Nakatomi Plaza, Kiss Kiss, Paul
Anthony Thibodeaux, Brain Rex, Green
Space, 7pm, $5
Tuesday, 3/20
Six Parts Seven, Apes,
Antelope, Spanish Moon, 10pm
Abiku, Mose Giganticus, DJ Proppa
Bear, Dragon’s Den
Sip ‘N’ Spin, Sip Wine Market, 6:30pm
Johnny Vidacovich Duo f/ James
Singleton, d.b.a., 10pm
Wednesday, 3/21
Public Enemy, House Of Blues
Antelope, A Living Soundtrack, Phelan,
Green Space, 7pm, $5
Say Hi To Your Mom, Bishop Allen,
+/-, Spanish Moon, 10pm
Dancehall Classics w/ DJ T-Roy,
Dragon’s Den
Walter Wolfman Washington, d.b.a.,
10pm
Wednesday, 3/21
Yip-Yip, Green Milk From The
Planet Orange, One Eyed Jacks, 9pm
Brian Esser and Jason Temple’s brand
of electronica is something like a mix
between the Buttons, Quintron and Glorybee,
which means it’ll make you want
to dance and simultaneously ram your
head into a wall. If that eclectic and eclectric
combo isn’t enough to pique your
curiosity, Yip-Yip dress up like ninjas
(sometimes wearing all white, sometimes
checkerboard tights) for their performances.
—Leo McGovern
Thursday, 3/22
Copeland, Switchfoot, House Of Blues
The Bombshelter w/ DJ Bomshell
Boogie, Dragon’s Den
Fast Times ‘80s Dance Night, One Eyed
Jacks
Paul Sanchez, d.b.a., 10pm
Friday, 3/23
Barisal Guns, Craig Paddock, The
Royal Family, Howlin’ Wolf
Blair Gimma CD Release, One
Eyed Jacks, 9pm
Zydepunks, The Juan Prophet
Organization, Dragon’s Den
Ingrid Lucia, d.b.a., 6pm
Corey Henry & The Young Fellas,
d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Saturday, 3/24
Whiskey And A Revolver, Howlin’ Wolf
The Public, Blacklist, Rescue Mission,
One Eyed Jacks, 9pm
N.O.I.S.E. (New Orleans Independent
Sound Experience), The Big Top, 4pm
Why Are We Building Such A Big
Ship, Dragon’s Den, 10pm
The Independents, Boogdish, Angry
Banana, Green Space, 7pm, $5
Ralph’s World, House Of Blues
Tab Benoit, Mid-City Lanes
Why Are We Building Such A Big
Ship?, American Gravity, Dragon’s Den
John Boutte, d.b.a., 7pm
Anders Osborne, d.b.a., 11pm, $5
Sunday, 3/25
Gov’t Majik, Dragon’s Den
Linnzi Zaorski, d.b.a., 6pm
Honeydrippers Rhythum & Blues
Band, d.b.a., 10pm
Monday, 3/26
The Leah Quinelle All-Stars f/ Happy,
Ed Gray, Circle Bar
AnBerlin, Bayside, Jonezetta, Meg &
Dia, House Of Blues
Metal Mondays, One Eyed Jacks, 9pm
Sista Otis, Chappy, Dragon’s Den
Joe Krown Organ Combo, d.b.a., 10pm
Tuesday, 3/27
Drop w/ DJ Proppa Bear, Dragon’s Den
Sip ‘N’ Spin, Sip Wine Market, 6:30pm
Johnny Vidacovich Duo f/ Brian
Coogan, d.b.a., 10pm
Wednesday, 3/28
Dancehall Classics w/ DJ T-Roy,
Dragon’s Den
Walter Wolfman Washington, d.b.a.,
10pm
Thursday, 3/29
Corey Smith, The Parish @ House Of
Blues
The Bombshelter w/ DJ Bomshell
Boogie, Dragon’s Den
Fast Times ‘80s Dance Night, One Eyed
Jacks
Palmetto Bug Stompers, d.b.a., 10pm
Friday, 3/30
Babes In Toyland (Fashion, art and
music spectacular), Spanish Moon, 9pm,
$8
By The End Of Tonight, Green Space,
7pm, $5
The Fad, Stuck Lucky, Fatter Than
Albert, High Ground, 7pm
Impulss, Psychic Origami, One Eyed
Jacks, 9pm
The Shadow Gallery, Dragon’s Den
Coco Robicheaux, d.b.a., 6pm
COOGS, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Saturday, 3/31
Whiskey And A Revolver, Howlin’
Wolf, 10pm
Pete Yorn, House Of Blues
The Bally Who?, Dragon’s Den
John Boutte, d.b.a., 7pm
Juice, d.b.a., 11pm, $5
Sunday, 4/1
Flyleaf, Skillet, House Of Blues
Monday, 4/2
Peeping Tom, House Of Blues
antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_27