Johnny Unite Us @ The Market on 7th

 

The Market on 7^th, located at 1816 E. 7^th Avenue in Ybor City, FL, is a live music venue/pizza joint seemingly surrounded by a tedious cluster of unremarkable dance clubs - the sidewalks were rife with scantily clad women in their club dresses, awkwardly sauntering in their stiletto heels to stand in line for the latest cut of Tampa’s bungling DJs…they were joined similarly by wanna-be thugs festooned in gang colors, shuffling along at the hindrance of wearing their pants far below their waistlines. In the center of all the do-rags and basketball jerseys, was a Punk Rock show in a venue that looked as if it was under siege.

 

The Market is a clean, spacious place that makes a tasty NY-style pizza (whole, or by the slice), along with serving the standard gamut of draft or bottled domestic beer, and a few imports. There is plenty of seating for those ordering pizza - at the front bar left of the entrance next to the ovens, or in several booths to the right of the entrance. The “bar” area is past the ovens on the left, with more than enough barstools, and a pool table to the right served as a merch-table for the bands selling t-shirts & CDs. Between the bar and pool table is a dance-floor/pit area. The stage is raised about 3-feet and centered directly past the open floor area. The staff is friendly and competent, although the sole bartender found herself caught in the weeds a few times & could have used help.

  

Opening the show was Meet Me Overboard (Tampa, FL), playing their first show as a band to a thin but enthusiastic crowd of about 30. They used dropped-D tuning, and the music was a melding of Hardcore, Metal guitar riffs, and quasi-Emo sounding vocals. This 4-piece band has the vocalist playing bass, two guitars, and a drummer. The guitarists also did backing vocals, and the band had a relatively thick sound close to the stage, in spite of the sound-tech doing a poor job of mixing through the P.A. Meet Me Overboard is a decent band with plenty of room to grow.

 

Next up was A Gentlemen Army (Bradenton, FL), a 4-piece Punk band with a new-school sound. The band has a vocalist on guitar, a lead guitarist, a bassist and a drummer. The lead guitarist and drummer also did backing vocals. Strangely, this was the peak of the crowd, and I counted about 50 people - this number slowly (and steadily) declined for the rest of the night. The sound-tech continued to be slack in his duties, and there was no low-end in the mix: I couldn’t hear the bass, and the kick drum was as noticeable as someone softly tapping their foot in the din of the guitars. The drummer of this band really stood out - his outstanding chops were the foundation of this band’s sound, which reminded me slightly of Rise Against’s style. Also nearly impossible to hear was the lead guitarist, who also had some good chops, but was having unfortunate problems with his strap coming off several times; he was also engaging in a little too much posturing for the cute girl in a short dress watching in front of the stage - dude, just play…that’s cool enough; missing notes while trying to strike a pose is not. They closed their set with a respectable rendition of “Saturday Night”, a Misfits song. Overall, A Gentleman Army is a good band who was at the mercy of a sound guy not doing his job - my suspicion is that he was dialing down the opening bands, which is a common and unforgivable practice designed to make sure the opening bands don’t outshine the “headliners”. The problem is (a) there really is no such thing as a headliner in a small venue, (b) it is insulting to the opening bands by creating an obstacle they have no control over, and (c) the closing bands should be good enough that dialing down the opening bands simply isn’t necessary.

 

The third band threw a wrench in the works of a Punk show - but, in a most excellent way. Signals From Satellites (Tampa, FL) is a 3-piece Indie band with a sound that would be right at home with any Dischord Records band. There was clearly some of Fugazi’s dissonance in the band’s sound, although it wasn’t limited to that single influence. I also heard some progressions that brought me back to The Replacements, and an intertwining vocal/musical style that sounded a bit like Robert Nanna/Hey Mercedes with less distortion. The band line-up is Rodney on guitar/vocals, Ric on bass and Phil on drums. Ric’s bass work was skillful and shifting, while Phil’s steady backbone drumming kept Rodney’s simple, yet intricate guitar work grounded. This band also displayed an up-tempo Shoegaze style; plus, some 70s Bowie influence was apparent. Other comparable bands include The Promise Ring and Death Cab For Cutie. One tune that stood out used a 6/8 time signature, and the closing song had a very strong nod in the direction of Fugazi’s “Turnover”. Signals From Satellites is an excellent band that played a brilliant set - part of their forte was an amazing use of dynamics on both ends of the scale. They know how to catch your attention, but they’re also very subtle in their proficient delivery; nothing was too moderate, or too over the top. It was exemplary. As my friend J.R. would say: a very discerning band.

 

Fourth on the bill was Surly (Tampa, FL) - a 3-piece band with Aaron on guitar/vocals, Jimmy on bass/backing vocals, and Justin on drums. The band went beyond just being Punk, and had some interestingly complex melodies & changes. Aaron’s vocal style reminded me of AFI’s Davey Havok. Justin’s drumming style was tight and diverse, and Jimmy’s backing vocals provided nice harmonies with Aaron, whose guitar work often utilized higher-register counter melodies, rather than power chords. The sound-tech had the board dialed in at this point, which supports my theory that he was giving the earlier bands the short end of the stick. I also heard some Hot Rod Circuit influence in Surly’s sound, and they put on a solid set to a dwindling audience.

 

Closing the night was Johnny Unite Us (Palm Harbor, FL) - a four-piece melodic Punk band that has been around since 1997. The line-up is Mike Francisco on lead vocals/guitar, Matt Werhner on lead guitar/backing vocals, Paul Giacometti on bass/backing vocals and David Clift on drums. These guys sound like they love Face To Face. I love Face To Face, so I was right on the same page with what they do. (Side note: When I compare bands to other bands, it’s not a suggestion of someone ripping another’s style - it’s simply a reference. The truth is, nothing can be done that hasn’t already been done in some fashion or another - this doesn’t imply a lack of originality; on the contrary, it implies an extraordinary creativity in creating something distinctive out of an existing method where someone has already been before.). Anyway, back to the review…Johnny Unite Us has great intensity & stage presence without flapping about to manufacture stage presence. The musicianship is tight and skillful, but never flashy - the songs are what matter. At this point, the crowd was down to about 35 people, and Francisco mentioned during an extended break for tuning his guitar “…it’s close enough…this is Tampa, no one comes to shows…” A sad, but true statement - once again, I am compelled to mention the unsettling lack of support for independent music in the mid-Florida area, and how lame most of you are. In spite of this, the band displayed a jovial mood and an affably sardonic sense of humor. Along with the obvious Face To Face influence, there was also some of The Lawrence Arms and Boston’s Street Dogs in their music. Werhner’s lead guitar work was a stylish icing on the cake of the band’s strong melodies & rhythms. The members of Johnny Unite Us are united in their belief that the music is what matters most. They did it right. They have been doing their own thing for 12 years, and they’re not trying to impress anyone - that is exactly what makes them such a great band.

 

Will the dreadful trend of such scant support for Punk/Indie music continue in Florida (with the exception of Gainesville) until a musical devolution sends bands back to the primordial garage? There are still a handful of us willing to do everything possible in vitalizing this gasping music scene overrun with cover bands and homogenized flavors-of-the-week. At the same time: hope comes hard in a listless, spoon-fed environment where the decadent idiocy of Lil Wayne’s lyrics makes him an icon of the clueless, airwaves are flooded with the mind-numbing rubbish of Nickelback, and the disturbingly sweet Hannah Montana sits at the top of the charts.

 

In light of the current deluge of musical crap, the work-ethic and sincerity of Punk is more essential than ever…and as relevant as it has always been.

 

-Marc Ganancias

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