Well, this is ... something. It is sort of awesome. And embarrassing. But mostly awesome. Actually, it's definitely awesome. While digging around the Scene archives looking for scraps about an obscure Southern indie band (The Glands: They're awesome, they're from Athens and they're playing at the Stone Fox on Valentine's Day) I stumbled across one of the best typos in Scene history. Ladies and Gentlemen,
our review of the very first White Stripes gig in Music City:
The White Stripes, The End Without a whisper of The Strokes’ promotion, this Detroit duo’s first Nashville appearance generated a buzz just as heavy, and the crowd per square foot may have even been denser. All I remember is unbearable heat, a pungent miasma of smoke and sweat and unbrushed teeth, and white-hot white-boy blues that avoided either Jon Spencer Blues Explosion buffoonery or Led Zep bombast. Plus Jim White simply nailed the self-abnegating pleading of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” while his drummer Meg White walloped her kit like Bonzo in pigtails. Heat and all, it was the club show of the year. —J.R.
Yep, Jim White. Of the Detroit Whites. You know, Peg's husband. You know, he likes to wear the clothes that match. Dapper fellow but a little too eccentric to
make it in this town. As the author, none other than El Jefe himself, editor-in-chief Jim Ridley, said in email Thursday afternoon: "Who'd've ever thought we'd hear from that guy again?"
But the hilarity doesn't stop there! Let's revel in the relative innocence of 2001 after the jump!
Scope this nugget of Nashville in its self-effaing, pre-It City glory:
Well, we didn’t get Liz Phair circa Exile From Guyville, or Belle & Sebastian circa If You’re Feeling Sinister. But we did get The Strokes circa The Strokes, and in November a sold-out crowd waited 50 minutes in line to see their 40-minute set.
And then J.R. for the hat trick:
Stunned by the capacity-crowd turnout for two relatively obscure Athens, Ga., bands — on a weeknight, no less — Glands singer-guitarist-songwriter Russ Shapiro said, “We don’t get this kind of reception back home.” Isn’t that what Nashville bands usually say in Athens?
Can you imagine being in a band and not having audiences want to slather you with praise and fame for nothing more than the zip code you live in? Must have been unbearable. And another funny thing? The singer for the Glands is named Ross, not Russ, but whatever. It was the turn of the century, they didn't have the Internet like we do now. It was slow and made funny noises. It was no fun. Also, I should probably stop throwing rocks inside this beautiful, typo-ridden glass house of mine. But yeah, LOL, Jim White.
COSMIC CHOOGLE-LY KISMET BONUS: William Tyler, Jim ... damnit ... Jack White's opener at the enormodome Wednesday night and a former Scene freelancer, reviews Dave Cloud at the Springwater. He uses the word "saccharine" and writes "Cloud is a Nashville institution, either loved or misunderstood". Those might be the truest words ever written.
