Music

Odds & Ends

What good would a 20-year punk scene reunion be without a scuffle?

By Sam Machkovech 

Grandpunks: In late June, we heard that a Summer of '86 Dallas punk reunion was scheduled for August 19 at the Double Wide. Made sense at the time; a Loco Gringos tribute had just taken place the previous week at the Bar of Soap and--shucks--nostalgia's contagious. We knew it was official when someone made a MySpace page advertising the show and requesting old friends far and wide return to Dallas to "remember the Twilite Room/Theater Gallery rivalry, long hot days at the Ramp at Bachman Lake, Zorlac, Whip 'N' Dip, nickel beer nights at Winedale" and plenty more.

But even after 20 years, these punks can't help but stir shit up. Shortly after the announcement, we received a letter from Bar of Soap employee Tanna Gilder: "The organizers have made such liberal use of the Twilite Room name on several different sites that people have been asking if Charlie Gilder, owner of the Twilite Room and present owner of Bar of Soap, is involved. Well, he's not, and he's not too pleased about somebody using the name of his club to lure a lot of old friends into a show at a 3-year-old rival venue that really seems to be nothing more than an attempt to make a good showing for a touring band from New York, Shock Nagasaki."

Sure, Shock Nagasaki and the other punk bands on the bill (Austin's Sweet Skull and Dallas' Dog Company) aren't from our city's mid-'80s punk period (really, are any left?), but Gilder's plea still seems like quite an overreaction. Methinks the target niche isn't going to pull big bucks into the DW on Saturday, and as even Gilder put it, "We don't own the '86 punk rock scene." Let the punks have their one night of fun--or, hell, try to steal it away with a more local punk lineup at BoS that night, including Punk Rock Dinosaurs and Frankie Campagna. Either way, old-school punks are in for a good Saturday night; from the look of the MySpace page, a few are flying in from across the country for the class reunion. Don't forget your skateboards, kids.

In memoriam: Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of two local music icons who have recently passed away. On July 26, one of Club Dada's original supporters in the '80s, Mark Durham, died in a car accident while on vacation in Maui. A longtime associate of the New Bohemians, Durham was probably best known as an avid vintage guitar amp collector; he could be found on countless online discussion groups with counsel and tips on how to build and maintain old amplifier and tube equipment. (One of those sites, 18watt.com, is collecting donations for his family and has posted countless remembrances.) Durham is survived by his wife, Sherry, and daughters Jessica and Marisa. He was 54.

And on August 4, avid Deep Ellum music fan John Lambert died at 53 of pulmonary artery sarcoma, a rare type of cancer. You may remember the Lambert and his long beard from countless Dallas concerts, particularly at the Gypsy Tea Room and Trees, recording bootlegs of groups such as Queens of the Stone Age, Mike Watt, Acid Mother's Temple and every rock band in between. "You know, for probably the last 18 to 20 years, he's been down in Deep Ellum," brother Jim Lambert says, who also says John requested no funeral service. "He was very good friends with Eddie from the Supersuckers...there's been a lot of bands that have been through that John opened his house to and let people stay at. He was just that kind of guy."

Handstamps: Technically, the current incarnation of the Granada Theater hasn't been open for 60 years, but the fact that the building has stood for so long is reason enough to celebrate, right? See Olospo, the Golden Falcons and Rose County Fair blow out 60 candles on Friday night...This is the last time we're doing it. Mix Tapes and Baby Fights, the combination stand-up comedy/local music show, happens too often to receive a tout every time, so see the show's Dallas debut at Club Dada on Tuesday and sign up for their e-mail list to save us any future trouble...If you're up for an out-there show, Thursday night at the Dark Side Lounge will certainly out-out-there you, thanks to the piano-driven dirges of Silk Stocking and the makeup-coated synth blasts of the Undoing of David Wright...Why didn't we give the Devin the Dude concert at Tom Cats bigger billing in this week's issue? Do we doubt that the Houston rap legend will take the stage? Possibly, but we'd like to be proven wrong...Before Denton's Robert Gomez joins the estimable ranks of Bella Union Records, he performs at a special acoustic show at Hailey's on Saturday with Basement Front Records label mate Tico Da Costa. You're up for Brazilian samba on Saturday, right? The Baptist Generals' Chris Flemmons opens.