Lots of Slippery People Making Flippy Floppy at Row Jomah’s Talking Heads Tribute
All photographs by kind permission of John Strojny
I consider myself a wordsmith, and for me the words flow fairly easily. Somehow, though, it has taken me a week to wrap my head — and adequate words — around the titanic event that occurred a week ago (Saturday, October 13th) at Crowbar in Ybor City, Tampa. Bungalow Entertainment put together a sell-out show that packed the bar and the courtyard with spectacular music, spectacular decoration, spectacular everything.
The prime focus of the event was Stop Making Sense: A Tribute to The Talking Heads presented by Row Jomah and friends. We’ll get to that remarkable set in short order, but let’s take the evening step by step.
Early arrivals were treated to Blassafrass on the patio, spinning vinyl for the already-growing crowd. His mix of dance tunes seemed perfect for the evening, as quite a few people commented. There were vendors, tarot readers, and more inside and out.
At 9:15, Twisty Chris, master of ceremonies for the evening, stepped on stage. Delivering the best line of the night, he announced:
“Hello, I’m Jess Phillips! This next band is gonna kick your ears in the nuts!”
So, two things. The second statement was 100% accurate. And Jess Phillips, the brains and work force behind Bungalow Entertainment, was still shooting a wedding and wouldn’t arrive for another hour.
Reality Asylum promptly grabbed you by the lapels and just shook and shook and shook. Their blend of new wave, punk, and je ne sais quoi was mind-blowingly magnificent. What sounded like an eight-piece band was in actuality drummer Seth Gilbert (aka DJ Sugar Bear, who would spin tunes at night’s end), keyboard star Ricky Seelbach, and diminutive vocalist Lauren Gentry, dressed in a cowgirl outfit.
Maybe there were three songs. Maybe four. Whatever, most everyone there wanted more. It was WOW start to finish. Gentry roamed all over the stage and out onto the bass cabinets on occasion. At some point, she had shed the cowgirl outfit and was now in what appeared to be a blood-spattered white dress as she gyrated like a whirling dervish. And the music was powerful and energetic and edgy and really, really great.
The house music of Blassafrass pumped through the speakers during set break as Future Vintage set up. Finally ready, Twisty Chris returned to the stage, and Miss Robyn Alleman was on stage as well. Alleman, vocalist and den mother for Holey Miss Moley, was part of the Talking Heads tribute. After a brief introduction in which Twisty referred to Future Vintage as “my favorite band in the whole world,” he sang “Monster Mash” with Alleman on back-up vocals.
That done, Future Vintage blasted into their original funk tune “Duke,” immediately getting the dance party started. They followed it up with perhaps their funkiest, jazziest, dancin’-est tune ever, “Do It.” Brilliant. Matt Giancola highlighted that Herbie Hancock-style jazz funk, while Trevor McDannel was killing on bass. Drummer Eric Layana got a chance to stretch out, and Giancola returned with loads of synths.
Next they offered a superb and angular “Ole,” then another original. To close their set, Giancola cranked up “PYT,” which turned into another incredible dance jam blown sky-high by McDannel.
As Joe Roma and crew were ready to take the stage, the place was packed like sardines inside and out in the courtyard/patio. Steven Barry and Adam Danger Smith were painting Talking Heads to the right of the stage. All over Crowbar were blacklight-painted objects, and there was a great white screen behind the stage for the light projectionist, who did a fabulous job.
Roma and his Row Jomah bandmates had always included several Talking Heads covers in their repertoire before deciding to play an entire set of that band’s seminal recordings at the Dunedin Brewery Spring Beer Jam to enormous acclaim. They also played several of the songs at WMNF’s US Festival show.
Roma entered with several band members and began the unmistakable opening to “Psycho Killer,” and it was 100% ON, Mel Walsh ripping a superb guitar solo, his first of many. “Born Under Punches” and “Slippery People” were stunning. Vinny ‘Tina Weymouth’ Svoboda (Displace) on bass and drummer Dylan Chee-A-Tow provided the rocket fuel to propel this set skyward, with great help from Dave Gerulat on percussion (shoeless soul).
Over in keyboard land, Austin Llewellyn handled his duties — organ, electric piano, clarinet and occasional synths — while Michael Lyn ‘Bernie Worrell’ Bryant was twisting all kinds of synth and Moog knobs. Roma was perfect in the David Byrne role, wonderfully backed up by Alleman and Gerulat. Those two were simply superb all set long.
This is a good time to remark about the pristine sound, levels and balance, from the house sound engineer. You could hear EVERYTHING. Each member of the collective was heard to best advantage.
This would also be a good time to sing the incredible praises of The Underground Theater, the two performers who danced on the bass cabinets: Alayna Nolyn (left) and Sheona Thuillier (right). Photos do them some justice, videos more, but, as they as, you had to be there. Because WOW!
And I should mention that Roma had at least a couple different clothes changes throughout the evening. See photographic evidence.
“The Great Curve” again showcased various members of the octet, especially Svoboda, Bryant, Gerulat, and Walsh. After “Take Me to the River,” Chee-A-Tow and Gerulat had a nice percussion discussion in “Nothing But Flowers.” “Swamp” was superb, followed by another favorite sing-along, “Girlfriend is Better.” And that paled compared to the next song, “Once in a Lifetime,” with everybody singing. Walsh tore off another tremendous solo.
“Making Flippy Floppy” gave Bryant the chance to twist some more synth knobs a la Worrel, and Llewellyn shone on “Naive Melody.” For “Road to Nowhere,” Llewellyn played his melodica, fed through his synth. Roma then invited Sara ‘Mama Bone’ Phillips to join the band (she was on through the encore), and she helped blast “Life During Wartime” out into the Ybor City streets.
And it’s a darn good thing Crowbar isn’t some old wooden structure, or “Burning Down the House” might have been literal, because they smoked this version, the crowd at near-pandemonium levels. Llewellyn, Bryant and Walsh all had fine solos. Gerulat and Chee-A-Tow again wrangled.
Was it over? Not a chance! (Although, for fans of music everywhere, if you like or love what you hear, let the band really know it!)
You’re thinking: what haven’t they played yet? Answer: “Crosseyed and Painless.” Absolutely brilliant. BRAVO!
Phillips helped moderate the costume contest after the set, and there were many, many fine ’80s outfits on hand. DJ Sugar Bear got the last word, spinning tunes for those not ready to let this magnificent evening end.
[REALITY ASYLUM: We don’t write out set lists. I’m sorry.]
[FUTURE VINTAGE: Monster Mash, Duke, Do It, Ole, ?, PYT > jam]
[STOP MAKING SENSE: Psycho Killer, Born Under Punches, Slippery People, The Great Curve, Take Me to the River, Nothing But Flowers, Swamp, Girlfriend is Better, Once in a Lifetime, Wild Wild Life, Making Flippy Floppy, Naive Melody, Road to Nowhere, Life During Wartime, Burning Down the House; E: Crosseyed and Painless]