Lawrence music scene: the next Seattle?
I was sick of the whispered rumors about Lawrence's music scene.
I had heard enough about our city's growing reputation for spawning original alternative rock bands.
It was time to silence the whispers. It was time to answer the question: Is Lawrence really the next Seattle?
Why any city would want this title, I'm not really sure. Seattle, among other things, is known for its mediocre professional baseball team, its dreary and bitterly cold weather and citizens who either live on the edge of fashion or get by with clothes direct from the J-Crew mail catalog.
Maybe that's why Lawrence is called "the next Seattle."
One of the positive things, the fact that the "grunge" sound came directly from that city, has now left Seattle as the place to go for hip clothes and hard-edged bands with an attitude.
Before I embarked on my seven-bar trip to thoroughly examine this burning question, I popped Alice in Chains and the soundtrack from the movie "Singles" in my stereo. I picked out what I thought would be the ultimate Seattle outfit: ripped blue jeans, a plaid flannel shirt and tennis shoes.
Inspired. I headed out the door.
8:00 p.m. It came to me. I would rate each bar for its 'Seattleness' on a scale of one to 10. If I reached more than 50 Seattle points, Lawrence would be the next Seattle. I thought of this while trying to find a place to park downtown, which can be an adventure in itself. After finding a space (finally), I discovered my first location was sold out. Great. So far, this was going to be one cynical article. 0 points.
8:45 p.m. The Timber Rattlers began playing. The members, all male, had the weathered look of a slow, easy-going blues band. The lead singer held a harmonica in one hand and a cigarette, which he periodically puffed between verses, in the other. The drummer had a long, black beard and dreadlocks that draped over his shoulders, and he used an A-team bed sheet to muffle his drums.
"We try to keep it toned down here," the singer said as he introduced the band. It worked. This place served mostly older patrons who wore old sweaters and drank imported beers. This was a place to go and contemplate your life. And from the looks of it, most of the customers' lives had been pretty relaxed.
A little too mellow for Seattle. +3.
9:45 p.m. I was beginning to learn that a scheduled time referred to when the band members started drinking, not when they started playing. But it was going to be Drako Magnet's last show, and this place was ready. One of the band members of Drako Magnet told me, "Our drummer is moving to Florida. It just wouldn't be the same thing." Flannel shirts and torn jeans dominated the scene. A dog, Cody, jumped
up to greet me when I walked in. The place was covered in posters of past bands that had played there.
Gobstopper and Drako Magnet both played a harsher kind of alternative music, the kind Black Flag used to play. And that topped off the visit. This place was definitely Seattle. +10.
10:00 p.m. The L.A. Ramblers were playing at a bar on 23rd street. I walked in and was immediately disappointed. J-Crew was the cloth of choice. Hair either was fluffed for the women or nice and short for the men. Lights bathed the side stage in a pale green glow.
The Ramblers started. Everyone seemed more interested in playing pool than listening to the band. There was hardly any dancing, which was too bad because the Ramblers were great. They had a female lead singer who dressed in black and waved her arms around when she opened her mouth. But their style of music, late '60s Grateful Dead covers, isn't too Seattle. Their sound man even wore a tie-dye shirt. +4.
10:45 p.m. We stopped at a Taco Johns for a bite to eat. Whitney Houston was played three times over the radio. Would Seattle allow this? I don't think so.-1.
11:00 p.m. It was freezing. +2.
11:05 p.m. Downtown again. This time I would stay. And I found a location that was packed. You couldn't move, Or breathe, for that matter. Soul Shaker was on. It played '70s soul with a '90s edge. My personal favorite of the night. And everyone in the bar had a different outfit on. The women wore anything, just as long as it wasn't mainstream. Very cool. Isn't this what Seattle is about? Diversity? I don't think the city
could help it that everyone liked its style and copied it. +10.
11:30 p.m. I walked inside the bar, and everyone, and I mean everyone, was wearing flannel shirts. I even got complemented on mine. Off into the corner, Crap Supper was jamming on a stage outlined by white and green Christmas lights. This band played punk with an edge. The singer even looked like Kurt Cobain, Nirvana's vocalist. The only down side? No dancing. +8.
12:00 a.m. I stopped in a bar that had average clothes, cheesy '80s rock on the radio and disinterested pool players. Would Seattle have a bar like this? I don't think so.-1.
12:30 a.m. My last bar. And what a bar it was! Plaid shirts. Torn jeans. Mopped hair. Love Squad was playing, and if they are this good all the time, the members now have a devoted follower. Everyone was dancing on the floor, moving up and down like they were kernels in a popcorn machine. This probably not only inspired Seattle, but alternative rock as a whole. I stayed there until the bar closed. +10.
That gives us a total of 45 points. And actually, I'm kind of relieved. Do I really want to live in a town that is known as "the next anything?" No. Lawrence can be proud of its music scene. It's diverse. It rocks. And it's cheap. I did all this for under 30 dollars. I had a great time. I don't think Manhattan has this.
The next Seattle? No.
A great college music scene?
Definitely.
Dan England is a Lenxa senior in journalism
February 11, 1994 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN •THE GUIDE TO GOING OUT
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