The Nolan Factor
by The Real Jeff Nolan
In an effort to bring more attention to the often ignored art scene here in Detroit my future columns will have more of a focus on all of the fabulous art happening here and now (the major publications here have at most one writer, in some cases having to all cover art, music, and cultural events singlehandedly).
I always have my ear to the ground and seem to hear about most things going on down there (underground so to speak) and for my first foray into writing more about art I will tell you two places in metro Detroit where you can go out today or tomorrow and see portraits of yours truly hanging about. First, go to Royal Oak's Five 15 on Washington and buy a delicious, fresh-brewed coffee to sip while enjoying Heather Hansma's solo show Bunderland. If you examine the walls and shelves carefully you will see a small painting of yours truly in bunny form, complete with sunglasses at night and my name in huge letters as a backdrop. Finish your coffee, get back in your car (or on your bicycle) and head to the Robert Kidd Gallery in Birmingham. Here you will see the newly opened Bods show, a collection of figure based works featuring the likes of Vincent Desiderio, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Ed Brown. As you wander about, you will notice a large scale Robert Schefman painting with myself as a contemporary representation of Michelangelo's trustworthy assistant.
Ok, so evidently Pitchfork beat me to the "scoop" as so far as breaking the news to the unsuspecting public, but not only was I actually there to see and enjoy it, at the MCB we have more integrity than the peons over at Pitchfork (corporate sponsors = manipulation and lies). To sum it up, Jemina Pearl is sort of a cunt. I saw her previous band of high school aged miscreants, Be Your Own Pet, a few years ago at the Stick where they played to a crowd of emo girls barely old enough to drive. I was there to see the Whirlwind Heat, the opener, who were
mostly ignored by the children in attendance
.
Fast forward about three years and I found myself in front of the stage of Jemina Pearl's current Turbo Fruit/Be Your Own Pet mashup. Overall the sound could be described as fly-over country in the land of punk rock. Iggy Pop and Thurston Moore appear on her album; I don't care. You may have read this somewhere already but its been a little bit since I have posted to MCB
Normally I would not fill my space on the interwebs with dribble about a sparsely attended show on a weeknight, except that during the final song of her *yawn* set Jemina Pearl violently attacked a rather vocal attendee. Throughout the show he had been calling out tracks by her previous bands, much to her dismay. The result was her throwing down the mic mid chorus and pushing him over a table, causing empty glasses to fly and shatter, resulting in a bloody laceration to his neck. This was not enough to satisfy her vengeance, next she dragged him by the hair to the front of the stage where she hit him repeatedly in the face with the microphone, with an amplified pop ringing out on impact.
Unfortunately, as entertaining as the melee was, it simply underlined just how unremarkable the rest of the show was. I almost missed the little bit of action because I had been idly texting friends and making eyes at the sexy bartender.
Perhaps I have become jaded or arrogant after going to several shows a week my whole life, but the White Rabbits show at the Stick last week was also a bit of a snoozefest. I do not mean to say that they didn't perform well or that they are untalented songsmiths, there were moments that really kicked, but after the set I felt that I would have been upset had I not been on the list. (Thank you so much to the uber-friendly staff!)
Local rocker Sean Shea (Macrame Tiger, Polar Opposites, and occasional Marco Polio stand-in) attended the show with me and after the set we ventured backstage for a little meet and greet. The brief and awkward conversation was about as dull as their matching flannels, an odd fashion choice for 2009 to say the least. The White Rabbits seemed more interested in gossip about their horses (WTF?) and their hometown of St. Louis than anything about anything. Nice guys I guess but they were not too interested in having me write anything of interest about them, so congratulations, this is what you get.
On a side note, the folks at the Magic Stick/Majestic seem to be doing a better job than ever with what they are doing, and it is easily the best place to see a live show ever since Scrummage University fell of the face of the Earth.\\
1st emailer @ the address listed to the left gets the WR new vinyl
the band mailed us a handful so good luck
if you are reading this monday some guy in france already won....
he is sending a prepaid envelope - MCB doesnt mail shit to other countries