All Words and Photos by Nick Balleza
After three days of Halloween parties in the District, I thought it might be a good idea to spend All Hallow's Eve in Charm City. Actually, I was most interested in seeing The Chain Gang of 1974 headline a show, which was what was supposed to happen at TAXLO's Halloween party at Golden West Cafe.
I had missed them when they opened for Naked and Famous at the 9:30 Club a few days ago, purposely, since I wanted to see them headline. (It was a sold out show anyways.) So I enlisted a few cohorts, and we drove up to Bmore. Got there early, had a few beers at the bar, tried their Frito Pie, and waited as the promoters set up. I noticed Kamtin Mohager, the prodigy behind The Chain Gang of 1974 at the end of the bar, playing pinball on the machine there. Oh ok, we're set, he's here, and we're gonna enjoy a good live show.
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WRONG. 11:30 eventually rolls by. More people show up, plenty of costumed individuals danced to indie dance hits of the past few years and enjoyed $0.25 Natty Boh's and PBRs served by cross-dressed/tattooed bartenders,. I start to wonder… this show should have started by now, what gives? I went and spoke with the promoters, and I noticed that Kamtin was on the decks. "When is Chain Gang going on?" I inquired. "Oh the band decided to just DJ the party instead." Whomp-whomp.
Whoa, not cool. I drove up to Bmore to hear a band that I've listened to religiously on Spotify non-stop for the past two months, just to hear them play music that was not of their own? I went up to the DJ table, waited for Kamtin to finish his mix, and introduced myself, and told him of my disappointment. He was very nice, and appreciative of my dedication to see him and his band, and gave me the lowdown.
Apparently the venue (cafe) was not prepared for their needs to input 14 instruments, they could only handle 8. Also with the other venues in the area booked with other events they were not able to source another input device at such short notice. In the end it would have required them to change the sound of everything and just wouldn't make for a good show. I accepted this answer, knowing he probably was as annoyed by the situation as I was. He promised to make it back through DC, so I guess I have to wait for whenever that is. So… I made the most of it, took photos, partied with a slightly different breed of hipster I'm accustomed to, and enjoyed a few cheap drinks. Aaand with it being a school night and all, eventually headed home. Blasting "Wayward Fire" all the way down 95 South.
Previously in Live DC:
- 5/23: Report: Soundbites 2012
- 5/22: LiveDC: Spirit Animal @ Red Palace
- 5/22: LiveDC: Astra Via @ Black Cat
- 5/22: LiveDC: Father John Misty @ Rock & Roll Hotel
- 5/22: LiveDC: Drive-By Truckers and Lucinda Williams @ Merriweather
- 5/22: Photos: Summer Camp takes the "Ladies of Town" Drag Show
- 5/22: LiveDC: Penguin Prison & Class Actress @ RNR Hotel
- 5/21: LiveDC: James Morrison @ 930 Club
- 5/21: Photos: Que Sera L'Anniversaire @ Napoleon
- 5/21: LiveDC: La Sera/ Beach Week @ Red Palace
God loves a cheerful giver.
As the promoter, I'm sorry they didn't end up playing live. These sorts of things don't happen often, but do happen sometimes. That being said they weren't the headliner (Chris Devlin from Spank Rock and Publicist/Seb from Trans Am were actually) and I think that may have had something to do with it. Doing the DJ set was Kamtin's idea, he even brought his own dj gear with him. We could have made the PA set up work but I think the attitude was more of, it's a Monday night, they're playing early, everyone else is just djing , most people will be showing up later and that they had just played the area. He told me that he'd prefer to just dj, so once he assured me he wouldn't play any dubstep, I agreed.
It's easy to blame the venue, but this is a space that does shows all the time and frequently works with the same booking agency that represents this band. The venue's technical set up should have been no surprise to anyone involved in setting this up. We're not new at this, if it was really such a stretch, they would have never been booked in that room in the first place.
Cool pics though. wish you had stuck around longer, it got pretty crazy once Stereo Faith hopped on. Chris Devlin dressed up as Crybaby/Drop the Lime was pretty funny and you totally missed Publicist, who rules btw.
Bald Colin Farrell costume FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the clarification and the kind words Simon, I appreciate it. I wasn't trying to put the blame on you guys, or put you, the band or the venue in a bad light. It didn't add up for me though that the band would come with their gear, to just DJ in the end, and naturally I was disappointed. I also thought Chain Gang was headlining because of the Facebook event details, and also because they were the only live band on the bill. Wish I could have stayed longer, but we did have a good time despite the disappointment of not seeing Chain Gang play live, which was the reason my friends and I made the trip.