Ever feel like you get it a rut?   Not the case at the Strand.  This past week was full of variety and surprises.   We had a return visit from Gambits Disciples.  They put on a great show.    On Saturday night we had a performance by Chiaroscuro.  This is the band of our neighbor Joshua Carlton.   Joshua owns the tattoo parlor at the corner.  His band played very different music from what we have heard in the past.  It was all instrumental and original music.  On Sunday the Shelby Community Band played a concert of “Marches, Musicals & Movies.”    How is that for variety?

On Wednesday night we had poetry reading in honor of National Poetry Month.  This program is put together by Mary Kay, Carolyn & Barbara at Three Sisters Books.   We never know what to expect.   Usually we do the poetry readings on the Cabaret Area.    The music was playing (Chiaroscuro’s CD), and people arrived….and more…and more…and more.   We ended up with 84 in attendance.   John Stevens, the Senior English Teacher at Shelbyville High School encouraged his classes to come and share their poetry.   He had 21 students in attendance.  It was a wonderful evening.    Thank you to Three Sisters for hosting this, and thank you to Mr. Stevens for involving our youth.   The next poetry is in October.   We will make the decision to move to the auditorium a bit quicker if needed next time!

So far so good, our roof is still holding.   The spring rains have dumped quite a bit of water on the 94 year old structure.   We are working to keep the drains clean, and inspecting to catch any problems before they turn into something bad.   We have noticed that our soffit on the facade will take a few steps up the priority ladder.   The old metal that covered the fascia board has come loose.  A very nice family of pigeons has taken up residency.   While we don’t mind pigeons, we just don’t want them nesting in our theatre.   Is there anyone with a 45′ boom truck willing to help?   That’s what it takes to get up to the top safely.  Once there, we can assess the work to be done.

We are planning to get our main speakers replaced soon.  We have the speakers, all we need now is the time to get a crew together to install them.   When we placed the current speakers up high on either side of the stage, someone made the comment “boy, I hope we don’t have to do that again!”    Well, we have to bring the old Altecs down and put the new JBL’s up.   A chain hoist will make is much easier this time.   We will install solid mounting brackets to attach the hoist, then the rest will be easier (notice we did not say EASY).  

Always things to do.  That is OK.  We do it as we can.   The important activity is what takes place on our stage.   We always keep our mission primary in our actions. 

This week we have a Contemporary Christian concert at the Strand.  Jonathan Roberts will perform at 6:00pm on Saturday night.  (warning, spelling talk ahead)  You might notice that the marquee says Gospel Concert.  There is a reason for that.   Rose and Lee McNeely donated the letters for our marquee.   When we purchased the letters we bought a mix of what was common to spell what we needed.   Unfortunately we just don’t have enough “C”s.   We didn’t think that Kontemporary Kristian Concert was appropriate, so we did Gospel Concert instead.   It will be a great evening and will also feature “Gone Fishin“.  

Next week we have two fun events.  Kyle Marlett, a magician from Las Vegas (originally from Shelbyville) will perform two shows.   The Shelbyville High School Jazz Band will present a concert on Saturday night.   More about those next week.

Our schedule is constantly expanding with fun, entertaining and interesting programs.   We hope to see you at the theatre soon.   Thank you for your support and interested in your Strand Theatre.

Post-Rock concert features trio of solely instrumental bands

Music on the edge filled the hallowed halls of the Strand Theatre Saturday night in a post-rock concert featuring three bands who took the crowd on extended instrumental journeys into sounds more often heard in Art-House venues in larger cities than Shelbyville.

This was not your mother and father’s rock concert. It was rather an avant-garde show, in the literal sense of the word, filled with musical advance scouts, searching, probing and exploring the outer regions of rock and roll.

Each of the three bands involved favored and featured essentially different tones, and styles of play, yet remained within the aesthetics of the post rock genre.

“Post- rock is almost always instrumental and goes from very quiet to very violent,” said Joshua Carter, lead guitarist of “Chiaroscuro,” Saturday’s headliners. “It is the music you would hear at the end of the world.”

This show aptly opened with “Sonoro(us),” a four-piece band from Fort Wayne, whose introductory song rolled from the stage with a slow hypnotic, semi-symphonic sound as bassist Travis Wilcoxson, stood, as he would for the remainder of the set, with his back to the crowd. This approach is another facet of the Post-rock genre, which seeks to some extent to focus on the music rather than the personality or glamour of a rock star.

This facet aside, the other musicians of “Sonoro(us),” drummer Matt Taylor and twin guitarists, Jon Parent and London Williams, soared musically and their instrumentally surreal melodies cascaded around the acoustic temple that is the Strand.

The six-song set of “Sonoro(us)” was a sparse almost minimalist excursion that was cerebral, ethereal and mystically imbued with sonorous feedback that soared into space and through time like some sort of cosmic music of the spheres.

Rising from haunting to sonic soaring sounds these musicians evoked moody and tonal emotions via strings and percussion alone, especially when playing an electric guitar with an old-school bow.

Most of the music and songs were like celestial tone-poems that seemed hypnotic and soothing as they swelled, contracted and expanded like breath in both time and space. It was through these tone poems, reminiscent of Richard Strauss, that  “Sonoro(us)” explored emotion via pure sounds.

In short, “Sonoro(us)” is  a band which aptly shadows the meaning of its name; its music is sonorous, if nothing else.

The next group “Metavari,’ is a three-piece band, also from Fort Wayne, which succinctly fuses the sounds of physical instruments with synthesized music from lap-tops scattered about the stage.

This trio comprised of keyboardist Nate Utesch, drummer Ty Bruneman and guitarist Andrew McComas played on a darkened stage with a video backdrop to enhance the effect of sightless sounds.

This band, in fact, was reminiscent of a fusion of acid jazz, trippy psychedelic rock and synthesized classical-style music all filtered into an ominous dithyrambic sound.

Their set was filled with songs that flow like water filled with musical eddies, waves and deep under-currents. It was a curious and compelling mixture of dubbed tacks, synthesized rhythms, beats and instruments played by musicians concerned with the feel and scope of music.

“Metavari,” in short, is a pleasingly different band whose often esoteric music brims with counterpoints and an instrumental poetry of songs as changing in tone as the sky on breezy day.

The final, headlining act of the night was Shelbyville’s own “Chiaroscuro,” the heaviest sounding of all of Saturday’s bands on this thought-provoking night of music.

This five-piece ensemble consists of Carter, guitarist Matt Rubodue, bassist Jeremy Hall, drummer Sean King and cellist Heidi Chestnut who recently released their debut album.

Like “Sonoro(us),” “ Chiaroscuro” is band that lives up to its name.  The word chiaroscuro is an old-school Renaissance Italian drawing term literally meaning a transition from light to dark and this in fact describes the musical tone of this band.

From mellow openings this band builds and then explodes into tight Expressionistic rhythms, twisting and contorting sounds on just about every song as they journey from the melodious into a maelstrom of hard-edged monstrous sound.

Another interesting feature of their music is that the band often builds its songs from variations on chords that begin simply and then cascade into tumultuous swirls of frenetic fury that haunts your head like a horror-show soundtrack. Repeatedly these chord structures build like a tempestuous leitmotif and avalanche upon the crowd like an apocalyptic storm of rhythm.

Emotionally, “Chiaroscuro” also creates moody, brooding and sometimes angst -filled tone poems of purely instrumental sound that at times can overwhelm the crowd: it is a nuanced journey into the abyss. The music pregnant with dread, suspense and dark shadows grows out of essentially soft melodic riffs like the masterful charcoal sketches of some demented artist.

Overall, Saturday night’s post-rock concert was a thought-provoking  , often moody and intensely melodramatic excursion on the frontiers of music. It was an evening that flooded the soul with sensation, provoked a myriad of emotions and conjured up many strange thoughts and experiences.

(editor’s note:  The Strand is pleased to welcome guest writer Steve Talbert)

Once again, Three Sisters Books & Gifts will celebrate National Poetry Month at the Strand Theatre on Wednesday at 7 p.m.  Always a fun time, this year’s evening of verse features Dan Carpenter, columnist for The Indianapolis Star.

Dan has published poetry and fiction in Illuminations, Pearl, Poetry East, Southern Indiana, Review, Maize and other journals.  Dan’s writing has won dozens of awards. His first book, Hard Pieces, is a collection of his past columns. His latest book, More Than I Could See, is a collection of his poems, which was published by Restoration Press.

After the Indianapolis native reads some of his favorite poems, members of the audience will be invited to read two or three of their own poems.

Admission is free. Concessions will be sold. Poets of all ages are encouraged to attend.

Gambit Disciples rock the rap at Strand Theatre

                Two regional bands rocked, rolled and rapped Friday night at the Strand Theatre in a concert loaded with energy that threatened to musically and physically burst from the stage.             
                Opening act, “Nuclear After Party”, a five -piece band, made its Shelbyville debut and “Gambit Disciples,” closed out the evening in a high energy encore performance on the Strand’s stage.

                Driven, and at times it seemed led, by drummer Warner Swopes, “Nuclear After Party” is a band filled with a youthful enthusiasm. Their performance has elements that are really good, in particular, the bass lines of Heather Kinney, the keyboards of Tiffany Swopes and the guitar playing of lead singer Brett Hiatt. The entire band, however, often seemed to lose musical focus and drift through songs, especially with theatrics that distract from the music.

                 Instrumentally, this is very sound band that should and will grow stronger as they continue to perform live and hone their evident skills. Vocally, Hiatt seemed to sing better when he shouldered his guitar and concentrated on his voice. Similarly, Tiffany Swopes’ hauntingly Cranberry-esque voice reached spellbinding proportions when she stepped away from her keyboards. Both of the singers have fine voices that merely need to be stylistically refined in further performances.

                Musically, “Nuclear After Party” peaked Friday night as Steve O. Suits, of Gambit Disciples joined them on stage as his natural intensity seemed to enliven the band, who in their last song did achieve a full, driving sound.

                All the band members, should in fact, study the stage performance of “Gambit Disciples,” a band with a strong stage presence exuding a raw energy while singing and playing within music designed and written to assault.

                Fronted and centered upon the creative intensity of Suits, “Gambit Disciples,” is a talented quartet of finely honed musicians who play with an unbridled energy and full, fat riotous sound.

As a group, guitarist John Graves, bassist Steve Webb, keyboardist Charity Osborne and drummer Montez Thomas played with a furious tempo that made one want to hop about, skank  and slam dance up and down the aisles. This is a very skilled, highly honed band that performs with a hard-core musicality which gleams and glitters like sharp edge of finely – tooled samurai sword.

Vocally, Suits sings, growls and raps out his original lyrics with a natural poetic cadence and an infectious intensity in a tight, controlled fury.

 Even the slower melodies of “Gambit Disciples” are played with a rough, primal fury that seemed poised to explode off the stage. Musically, the band fused heavy metal, rap, jazzy folk riffs and funky beats with a vocal bravado that recalls hard-core poetry slams. Repeatedly the musicians rolled out instrumental barrages like an audio army written and performed to enhance the emotional carousel that is the music of the “Gambit Disciples.”

 From the opening song until the final number, the “Gambit Disciples,” set of frenetic musical mayhem was a tight, controlled storm of sound that would have made James Brown proud. Even the audience was sweating under the sheer musical intensity, vocal bravado and pure infectious, yet hard-edged joy this band brought to its live and lively performance.

“Gambit Disciples” is a band with an attitude: one earned through creative passion and the ridiculously hard work of live music. They do not shirk either responsibility and should and do flaunt a well-earned Punk-poet swagger in the grand surly tradition of Sid Vicious.

The Shelby Community Band performed their Spring Concert at the Strand on Sunday April 25, 2010.   “Marches, Movies and Musicals”  was the title of the program.  Under the direction of Russ Smith, the band rehearses on Monday nights at 7:30 at the Shelbyville High School band room.  All are welcome.

Chiarascuro performed on the Strand stage on Saturday April 24, 2010.   They were joined by Metavari and Sonoro(us). The music was all instrumental and well received.

Gambits Disciples performed on the Strand stage on April 23, 2010.   They were joined by Nuclear After Party.   These two groups put on a great show.

Gambits Disciples

Nuclear After Party