What: Punk Night
When: Sunday, June 4
Where: Garfinkel’s
Most parents recoil at the thought of their child entering the life of a rock and roll career. Lock them up, throw away the key and don't let he or she out until they are registered into a university to study a respectable profession and land a "real" job - one with stability, regular income and respect.
Mike Maggot of Nelson's punk band Circle the Wagons cringes at such a future for his three-year-old son. Although Damian Marshall hasn't reached his official Maggot status, Mike's tyke is already putting in his two cents worth on the drums.
"He comes to Wagon practice and sits on the merch box and rocks out," Mike said. "He'll grab a drumstick and help the drummer bash on the cymbals. I will be horribly disappointed if he becomes a doctor, lawyer or pro-athlete. That will be a real letdown."
A small voice is heard over the phone in the background. Damian is singing the Alphabet Song.
"Sing it again buddy," Mike says holding up the phone. Damian stops.
"Come on. Sing it again. No?"
A rebel in the making just taking after his daddy. And daddy will join two other punk bands for the Pre-Punk Night warm up Sunday, June 4 at Garfinkel's. With the closure of Punk Night's original home, the Boot Pub, music ringleader Lindsay Shedden moved Whistler's ultimate anti-club night to a new weekly home at Garfinkel's. The official launch party is a five-band line up with Boys Night Out June 20 at Garfinkel’s.
Punk Night will open with another Nelson band, Wantmonster, followed by Circle the Wagons and Vancouver cohorts Married to Music.
"We all have our own different styles," Mike explained. "Wantmonster is somewhere between death metal and punk rock with really snotty vocals. We are really heavy, fast old school punk and Married is super-tight, riff-based, razor-sharp music with super high vocals. From someone nice on the ears to really harsh on them, it all comes together in one night. All of the bands are super-energetic. There won't be much shoe gazing."
Circle the Wagons have toured their self-described Motorhead-sandwiched-between-Black-Sabbath-and-Poison-Idea sound with the likes of punk luminaries Nomeansno and D.O.A. The two hair-bag frontmen are familiar sounds around these parts as the duo behind the infamous BC/DC band that regularly visits Whistler.
Circle the Wagons' partners in sonic abscess Married to Music also boast good company, including tours with SNFU, Removal and the Hanson Brothers.
Both bands are busy promoting their new albums, released earlier this year: Circle the Wagons' Forbidden to Eat Worms and Married to Music's Sweet Kicking and Screaming.
"Dark humour is the best way to describe the project," said Married to Music frontman Byron Slack of the new album. "We try to say something enlightening and try to play on metaphors so as not to make it so blunt and in your face."
Maybe not in your face lyrically, but loud, fast and in your face musically as demonstrated on Circle the Wagon's Forbidden album.
"We are stupidly fast and chaotic and we could probably fit our entire record into one King Crimson song," Mike said.
All three punk rock upstarts combine for an evening of screaming guitars and shredded vocal cords, promising chaos around every bend.
