Ron House

Ron House was a local legend in Columbus, OH. You could always find him behind the counter at Used Kids. However, his connection the music scene went way further back than that.

He played for the 80's underground band The Great Plains.

At some point, he crossed paths with Bob Pollard. Pollard told the story at a show once that Ron House introduced him to bands like Wire while hanging out at Magnolia Thunderpussy, another seminal Columbus record shop.

Eventually, House formed Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. They played a handful of shows and had a ton of buzz.

Thurston Moore hand-picked them to play the second stage at Lollapalooza. I missed it because I chose to eat. My siblings saw the set, along with members of Brainiac, Pavement, and Sonic Youth. I ate something fried while Cypress Hill took the main stage.

I did see TJSA a few times around town, including once opening for Guided By Voices and New Bomb Turks.

Ron House once came to my college for a CD swap night. He liked all the pretty girls.

I'd see House for years after that in Used Kids. He always was pleasant. There were even a few times he rounded up a used version of something new I was about to buy, saving me a few bucks. I once saw him come in on a Saturday morning with his baby. That's sort of where the Ron House mystique ended for me.

Either way, Ron House is the Columbus music scene.

The Coctails

Not many people remember the Coctails. They were a band from Chicago who recorded on Carrot Top Records. They largely self-taught musicians who played a ridiculous number of instruments. The songs ranged from typical early-nineties indie rock to a sort of jazzy lounge-type of music.

I saw them on the second stage at Lollapalooza in 1993 and again in 1995. Then I saw them on their farewell tour later in 1995. They sold dolls of the band members along with their Cd's and t-shirts.

Members later went on to form several other bands, including Sea and Cake.

Sonic Youth Opens

I saw Sonic Youth open for another band.

Of course, it was long after they had established themselves as a top, mid-range draw. They had already headlined Lollapalooza. And they opened for Wilco who shared Jim O'Rourke.

Sonic Youth blew Wilco off the stage that summer night in Cleveland.

The Best Wilco Show I Saw

Wilco has generally disappointed me with their live show. They're a much better album band for me. They always seemed sort of stiff and unnatural.

However, they were great one night. I saw them play an outdoor show in Columbia, MO during my first fall in town. It was a place some of the band members used to come in their youth to see shows.

Actually, Uncle Tupelo used to play the Blue Note a lot.

Speaking of Uncle Tupelo, I saw Son Volt reunite at the Blue Note later that same fall.

Back to Wilco...Many family members were there for the show. Either the familiarity with the town or the fact so much family was there allowed the band to be at ease and loose. It was a great show.

Nels Cline

I am not a gigantic Nels Cline fan, but he has always impressed me when I've seen him live.

I first saw him play with Mike Watt at Stache's. That was a pretty awesome set. I was maybe three feet away from Cline's incredible performance.

I also saw him play with the Geraldine Fibbers and Porno for Pyros (with Mike Watt on bass).

The last couple of times I've seen him were with Wilco, a pairing which never made sense to me, but it worked.

I Saw Brainiac a Few Times

I saw Brainiac a few times. There was the time at Lollapalooza on the second stage in 1995. Then I saw them at Stache's maybe a couple of times.

I once took my sister who was in high school to a club in Dayton a day or two after Christmas in 2006. It was maybe a few months after Tupac Shakur died, but that didn't stop Tim Taylor from dedicating a song or two to his memory.

The most memorable show for me was the last time they played Columbus. There was a lot of buzz about the band signing to Interscope. They played hard and completely demolished the place...which literally happened a few months later.

Sadly, Taylor died in a car accident in Dayton. It was before they could ever finish their record.

Dave Doughman Sets Me Straight

I feebly tried to tell a story about Dave Doughman of Swearing at Motorists. He found my post and set me straight. In case you missed the comments, this is what he said...
wow, i had almost forgotten about that story... except, sorry, but i have to set you straight on a few details... the club was a sold out Canal Street Tavern, it must have been 2001 or 2002, because we couldn't get more than 50 people in the room until after we signed to Secretly Canadian... i did not notice this guy walk through the door, nor did i know who he was. and in fact he was not dating an ex-girlfriend, but stalking her (which i was only later told). what happened is:

we had started a song, when a beer bottle came flying through the crowd, just missing my head, but hitting the headstock of my guitar and knocking it out of tune. i stopped playing and started yelling "Who threw the fucking bottle?"
"you got something to say, come say it to my face, don't throw things you fucking coward!"
"Who threw the fucking bottle?" "come up here right now!" so as i am yelling this, some friends and fans who saw this idiot throw the bottle start pushing him from behind, towards the stage. as he
"arrived" at the stage, i resisted the urge to punch him in the face, and instead bent down and calmly asked him why he threw the bottle.
his answer was something like " She loved you, why do you hurt her?" that's when i offered him his money back and asked him to leave. he would not take my money, but started towards the door, yelling threats and more nonsense about my ex-girlfriend. that is when i ran across the table tops after him, knocking over everyone's drinks...
my good friends Rod Boggs and Tom Byrne stopped me from following him out the front door, but once i had returned to the stage, they ran after him, chasing after his car on foot, until he stopped in the middle of 3rd Street, and pulled "something" out of the glove compartment. they then decided maybe it was best to go back inside before he could get out of his car. we later heard he was riding around town, saying he was going to shoot me, but obviously he didn't want to shoot me too badly, as he never came to the after show party...

My brother was one of the 50 or so people at Canal Street that night. It's actually his story and I butchered it. In the spirit of accuracy, I'll leave the original post and this Doughman's account.