Opinionist: The Riverboat Gamblers @ CBGBs

First off, I know it's beyond cliché, but before it's too late, go see a band at CBGBs. Put all the history, recent real estate battles and the rest of the bullshit aside, it's a really great place to see a show. The sound is loud, the crowd is right on top of the stage and a good band can put on a truly memorable set. It's not easy these days to find someone playing there that’s worth going out for, but if there ever is again, don't pass it up.

Secondly, if you ever get a chance to see the Riverboat Gamblers play a club show, drop what you're doing and make it your business to be there. The music is more than listenable, but nothing groundbreaking. Respectable, mainstream-sounding punk. The live show, however, is just about the most fun I've had at a concert this year. Singer Mike Weibe treated the rickety old club like his own personal jungle gym, climbing on top of every landing and hanging from every pipe, all with a broken and bandaged left wrist. He spent far more time in or on top of the crowd than he did on stage. Constantly he would lean all the way out into the pack, reaching his microphone out to the screaming kids in the back of the club while those under him happily kept him afloat. Others would spit and spray beer across the room while slamming into each other like human water balloons. It was an absolutely electric experience. If only there were more bands out there that could really do it like this. Surely there are plenty who try, and they're the ones who have made up the underwhelming lineups at CBGSs night in, night out for the last decade, which ultimately led to its demise. To pull it off right takes something special, however, and these boys absolutely had it last night.

I can get 50 shots of every run of the mill indie dude plucking away on his guitar for an hour, but the one time I get to see a band that truly needs to be seen to be believed, I forget my camera battery in the charger at home. Fortunately, Brooklyn Vegan was there and took some excellent shots. The one above is his, and there are lots more posted here. You can also stream their entire album at Myspace, tho hearing it is only a fraction of the experience. Be sure to check out some of the live you-tubed videos further down the page for a better taste of what they're all about.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jeff Baum in Arts & Entertainment on June 1, 2006 1:24 PM

Comments [rss]

maurice

i'm not a pr person and i'm not with that band. people are allowed to use different names and say what they want to express themselves if they want to. it's the internets... i for one prefer to use different names when posting things. it's fun and spontaneous.

J

And I wish Priestess' PR people would stop changing their names and posting identical plugs for their bands in different forums. It makes their band look awful. I, for one, am not going to listen to them because of such ham-handed, dishonest advertising.

(see "maurice's" comment, "they're on tour on the west coast with the bronx and priestess this month! marvelous!" on Brooklyn Vegan)

J

Y'know, Glenn, I hear this argument all the time -- I've made this argument -- but then it seems all these bands come through who say, truthfully, they played their first gig at CB's. (I wish I'd kept track.) Everyone's just gotten used to ignoring their schedule.

But there's some awful shit going down any given night at Tonic, too. And Delancey. And...

And, yes, they let bands play at CB's that no one else would book. But wasn't that the point? It's everyone's club.

Except for Hilly's $ system. That always seems to be a sticking point.

Glenn

How about the fact that the club rarely booked important or exciting shows? Jon points to one problem (and I think overstates the frequency of such shows, not mentioning all the ticket buys labels do at pretty much every show in town) but there are way too many no-name, mostly worthless punk bands playing the club every week. CBGB became out of touch with the city's music scene and failed to bring in the touring bands that mattered. It earned its death sentence.

jon

here's a great reason why CB's should close:

they are totally clueless. For ten years they've been basically a pay-to-play spot for major labor cut-out-bin bound bands.

(for the non-music savvy - this is the music equivalent of straight to dvd.)

basically, CBGB's works like this: labels "book" bands at CB's and then CB's "sells" them blocks of tickets in what's called a "buyout" - like a block of a hundred tickets all at $8 a pop - so the label's A&R people and magazine publicist sorts can supposedly come check out a band.

Of course, these people never show up - and usually no-one even bothers to invite them.

So CB's lets shitty labels and publicity companies pay for shitty bands to play on their stage, in order to whore out the place's gravitas and historical signifigance - all the while shutting out local bands and local promoters and decent touring bands.

*THEN* you get American and foreign tourists going to CBs to see "punk rock" in action - and so a worse-than-it-actually-is myth about NYC's scene ensues and spreads.

x-new yorker

A strong reason why CBGB should survive: For a quality sound system and a cozyness that puts you on top of the action, it's hard to beat.

I saw the Riverboat Gamblers about a year and a half ago here on the west coast and while their music is very much by the numbers generic punk, they've got an exciting presence live that reminded me of the best of the hardcore punk I saw back in the early 80's.