Shana Falana and Mike Amari. (Photo by Monik Geisel)
Hello everyone and welcome to a new installment of Kingston After Dark.
I have been busy hoping that Sanders and Warren supporters will start working together more soon to form a more united front, as I believe those candidates have the best chance of stopping the autocratic mess we are in if they manage to team up, instead of staying divided.
What else? I also adopted a beautiful little gray chonker of a cat named Baby Girl from the local SPCA, so have been getting her used to my apartment. My girlfriend is not giving in to my Star Wars obsession and allowing me to re-name the cat Ahsoka Tano the Grey Jedi, but that is probably just as well. She definitely bolts over to me as soon as I say “Baby Girl,” so I guess it’s gonna stay. She’s a super cutie and loving it here so far, so I am happy. Please always adopt before you shop.
This week is going to be lucky for local dream pop and indie genre fans as Shana Falana road test their pending South By Southwest 2020 appearance with two local warm up shows at Tubby’s on Broadway. I caught up with Shana to find out the scoop on the dates at the boutique bar and performance space.
“It’s the first time we’re ever playing SXSW, so we’re doing 2 warm up shows at Tubby’s. Thursday, March 5 with Top Nachos and Friday, March 6 with Gold Dime of Fire Talk Records,” she tells me. “We’re going to play a stripped-down set, no backing tracks, projections or lights and are working on something new for SX. It should be pretty raw, and Mike Amari will be singing!”
Darkest Light, Shana Falana’s October 2019 new Arrowhawk Records release, was probably my favorite output from the band yet. The title track shimmers like hallucinatory water ripples as bells and melodic haze compliment a PJ Harvey-esque bluesy vocal. The group’s popular cover of the Depeche Mode classic “Stripped” is also on the release along with a usual bevy of sonic gems waiting to reveal future favorite moments. “Right Now Is All We Know” is also very cool and worth shouting out, with a sort of rubbery Butthole Surfers-esque agitated-but-dance-friendly edge to it that somehow meshes very well with some smooth and catchy hypnotic vocal layering.
The Tubby’s shows have 8 p.m. doors both nights with a Fugazi-friendly $5 cover price. Shana and Mike have been such an important component in keeping our regional music scene a viable force over recent years and I hope everyone comes out who can make it and celebrates these shows with them with maximum love and appreciation. You’ll even get the gift of inspiring original music back in return. Remember that stuff?
Also of note coming up on the punk rock influenced front, Split Squad will join local melodic punkers Pajamazon (who have been around since the ’90s) on Saturday, March 14 at BSP Kingston. The Split Squads includes members of Blondie, The Plimsouls, and The Fleshtones, for interested parties. Clem Burke, dude! You don’t want to miss it. Also appearing is The Adam Hendricks Experience who are all current or former students at our area’s premiere music program, The Rock Academy. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 DOS. (Editor’s note: That’s “day of show” not “disc operating system” — when’s the last time in your life you saw a DOS prompt anyway?) The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and is an ideal way to ask spring to arrive in style.
As always, thanks a lot for reading and may you all stay warm, hopeful, active and inspired out there in Kingston-land.