| Third
Annual Austin Creepout
November 14th through 15th
This was my first year to go to the Creepout at Beerland.
Not knowing what Creepout was all about I surmised that it
had something to do with the Halloween time of year and the
punk/garage style of music that many of the bands seen frequently
at Beerland produce. I later learned that it started as an
annual birthday party for some of the local Scorpio's, most
notably Billy Bishop of Obsolete fame and Dennis Campa. It
sounded like a good time, so I went to check it out. I was
also looking forward to having a few of my current favorite
beer special, 24 ounce bottles of Foster's, which Beerland
has been serving up for three bucks.
Friday
night had the bigger crowd of the two-day event, and it seemed
that the biggest draw was Mike Mariconda's band the Stepbrothers.
I had never seen these guys before and they ruled. All of
the members of the band seemed like well-schooled musicians,
but what struck me the most was how well they played together.
Too many bands have a stand out member or two but don't play
as a total group. The other thing that impressed me about
the band was how much
fun they were having on stage. The fun was totally infectious,
and the crowd grew into a frenzy.
Headlining was the Omens from Ft. Collins, Colorado. To me,
these guys personified what I thought the Creepout sound should
be. Michael, the organ player with the candles and sheep's
head laid down some creepy grooves, and Greggory had some
hip sounds on guitar. They kept the evening going for me.
Saturday night's crowd was a little sparser. I hadn't seen
Jesus Christ Superfly for many years since the days when Cade
Callahan was on drums. These guys have so many catchy tunes;
I wish they would gig more often. White Heat was supposed
to headline but they had to cancel, because some closed minded
authorities think a little grass might make the Creepout to
creepy. To bad, I heard a lot of good things about the band
and hope to catch them soon. Filling in at
the last minute was the Mood Killers who did a yeoman's job
at maintaining the highenergy mayhem of Creepfest. I'm already
looking forward to next year's show.
-Larry Stern |
