Fatty Lumpkin On Road Tour Crashed, Burned And Had Fun
When the members of Fatty Lumpkin go on tour, you can bet they’ll return home with stories to tell.
War stories, that is.
Life on the road may not have been glamorous, but it certainly wasn’t boring when these four Spokane guys recently hit the pavement with their friends from East Wenatchee - the band Lopez.
Truth be told, their legions of loyal Spokane followers should be amazed they even made it back to town in one piece for Saturday’s show at Ichabod’s North.
Don’t believe me? Hmmm … where to start?
How about the time their van caught fire.
Or maybe the time they nearly got into a fight with “nine jocks on Prozac playing this immensely annoying ska music.”
Or maybe the time they played a less-than-safe travel game called “Ramming Speed” - in which the two bands used their respective tour vans to push each other off the road.
“Only at low speeds,” lightning Lumpkin drummer Dave Kelley insists. “We’re not daredevils or anything, but we definitely dented the (insert appropriate expletive here) out of our door and our wheel cover.”
It wasn’t a long tour - only 12 days with 10 shows - but clearly there was plenty of time for adventure.
Between hazardous stunts, however, Fatty Lumpkin and Lopez delivered their feisty noise rock and monster grooves to Missoula, Oakland, Sacramento and Portland, among other places.
Just outside of Las Vegas, they played a show in the middle of the desert on an enormous concrete slab. “You could see the neon glow of Las Vegas over the ridge,” Kelley says.
For those unfamiliar with this 4-year-old Spokane crew, Fatty Lumpkin is comprised of Kelley along with bassist Josh DeVaney, guitarist Shane Huggar and vocalist Shawn Beightol (known for his Jordanesque leaps into the air).
“We just kind of turn it on, turn it up and let it go, and that’s how it turns out,” Kelley says. In the past year, DeVaney has managed to blow up eight bass amplifiers.
“I don’t think we’ll ever be categorized as a tight band, but definitely a fun and aggressive band,” Kelley says.
It wasn’t all fun and dangerous games during their latest tour - from which they recently returned. Kelley muddled through a 100-degree fever. The guys ended up performing in a Pocatello, Idaho, basement covered with cat … uh … feces.
“One of these huge-sized litter boxes had been dumped over and there was cat litter everywhere and then there was a fan going and it was blowing up all this hellatious cat litter dust,” Kelley says with a grimace. “It really sucked.”
Suffice to say, it would take far more than a Nightwatch column to describe the Lumpkin/Lopez exploits.
Those who want to hear more should show up at Ichabod’s Saturday where Fatty Lumpkin headlines. They’ll arrive bearing copies of their new Lumpkin video cassette titled “The Dingle Cakes.”
The tape is making its way into Spokane cult status with its video clips of Lumpkin live performances meshed with comedy flashes, car crashes, hermaphrodites and many not-so-politically-correct tidbits.
Be forewarned: “It’ll definitely offend - guaranteed,” Kelley says mischievously.
Storytelling starts at 9:30. The Buggers from Spokane and The Ninja Boners from the Tri-Cities open. Cover is $4.
Another welcome back
Cristopher Lucas has traded in the Big Apple for the Inland Northwest - at least for a while.
The New York singer/songwriter returns to his hometown of Spokane for two performances this weekend - at Outback Jack’s tonight and Swackhammer’s Saturday.
“It’s a lot of fun to come back,” says Lucas, 26. “I love to see all my friends. Everyone is really responsive. It’s the best crowd I’ve ever played to.”
Lucas was born in New York but grew up in Spokane, graduating from Lewis and Clark High School.
The son of a musical family, he left college at the University of Idaho to pursue a music career in New York.
“My brother talked me into it,” Lucas says. “He said ‘You can go back to school later.”’
Although it was a tough decision, Lucas has been happy with the road he chose.
He and his brother started a band in New York but then took on separate solo careers. With influences ranging from James Taylor to U2 and Prince, Lucas’s music is a heartfelt acoustic rock with soulful-smooth vocals and hints of folk and blues.
In songwriting, Lucas says he sometimes tries to put himself in other people’s shoes and create a song from their perspective. “Or it could be the most basic of stuff, like a crush on someone,” he says. “But usually it has some quirky little twist to it.”
Lucas returns to Spokane every six months or so for a show. This weekend, however, will be the first home-turf performance in which he’ll be joined by a band.
Brian Trim of New York will join on drums and John McFaul, of California, will round out the trio on bass.
“It has been just me playing solo most of the time, but now I’m going to start playing with (the band) as much as I can,” Lucas says. “They add extra power and it’s just more of a sound.”
Check out that sound tonight at Outback Jack’s. Show starts at 9:30 with Tiana opening. The cover is $5. Lucas and band play Saturday at Swackhammer’s. The show runs from 8 to 10 p.m. Cover is $3.
Music for the 20th century
20th Century Trash, that fine vintage clothing store that provides Spokane with some of the hippest attire around, will be providing something a bit different Saturday night.
Owned and operated by Jon and Heather Swanstrom - themselves members of former Spokane bands the Sissies, the Flies and Velvet Pelvis - the shop will host the band Siren for an in-store appearance.
Hailing from San Jose, the group plays a punk brew with a tinge of the Offspring sound.
20th Century Trash is located at 519 W. Riverside. The all-ages show starts at 7 p.m. Donations would be greatly appreciated at the door.
The Park City, Utah, trio called Fat Paw will bring an upbeat, danceable groove to Outback Jack’s Tuesday night.
These guys have a clean and tunefully psychedelic feel reminiscent of the Grateful Dead and Phish. They have opened for the likes of Widespread Panic, Leftover Salmon and Rat Dog (members of the Grateful Dead.)
Tunes start at 9:30 Tuesday. Cover is $3.
Big Jack Johnson and The Oilers break out a blues-country sound based in Mississippi Delta tradition at Mad Daddy’s Blues Club in Coeur d’Alene tonight.
Johnson served with the Jelly Roll Kings in the 1970s and recently released his album “We Got to Stop This Killin’.” It has since earned him two W.C. Handy Award nominations, for best song of the year and best male contemporary blues artist.
Show starts tonight at 8. Charlie Butts and The Filter Tips open. Cover is $8.
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