Andy D returned to The Melody Inn in what you would expect to be nothing but fiesty. Teamed up with Indy’s rock band Modern Motion and St. Louis’ Various Hands, the night got sweaty and the new Northside club felt the heat on an otherwise mild late weeknight.

With a debut EP out now —The Party Will Be Fun— Various Hands take ’90s alternative buzz and wrap it all up in an upbeat indie bounce that’s reminiscent of the college rock bands of yor (early ’90s) pouring their heart out in the corner of a room luring those who get it to feel the passion.

Modern Motion is the indie rock band you have been craving for. Where the music takes on a life of its own, the band has the drive and the motive to do wondrous things. More fashionable than you could ever be, the band explores all levels of the emotional spectrum, where their live performance will take you to the edge if you let it.

Andy D is back and steaming up the windows with his explosively addictive and sex-fueled live set. He’s working on new material to follow-up Songs in the Key of Magic (Roaring Colonel). But in the meantime, like an energy drink filled with spanish fly, he’s reminding his hometown how to rock.

Off to see a Battle of the Bands with Klingons versus the Federation, I expected to see ’70s heavy metal clad in Klingon leather and the wildly musically diverse Five Year Mission.  I admit I was way off.  I have seen Five Year Mission live at Local’s Only, but I had little knowledge of what the alien-costumed Il Troubadore would bring.

A door was prematurely opened, and I was allowed in about 30 minutes before the show.   As a Trekkie, I was delighted by the stage set as the bridge of the Enterprise.  I witnessed the final application of makeup to one of the Klingon musicians.  It was obvious from the get-go, this was to be a strange match-up.  Five Year Mission is a five-piece band with seasoned veterans of small venue, old school rock and roll.  Il Troubadore is nothing of the sort.  This group seemed more like a string quartet, even though two of the players were not stringed.  This looked more like a night of rock and roll versus folk music.

The show started with Five Year drummer and cut-up Andy Fark opening the door and shouting, “Oh my God, it’s time!” as the fans outside began to enter.  The MC announced that this was a battle between the smooth foreheads versus the ridges.  The bands shared the stage, watching and sometimes heckling each other as they alternated three-song sets.

Five Year Mission kicked off the night with one of my favorites, “Charlie X.”  Their Vox and Peavy stack of amplifiers were not the best for the airplane hanger-like, acoustically inspired ballroom (not the best place for sound), but their gutsy and gritty rock and roll made you feel like you had stumbled into a local pub on a Friday night.  Their first three song choices perfectly showcased how far up and down they boldly go on the rock and roll genre scale.  One song sounded like a tribute to 1950’s Brtish rock and the next took you right into rockabilly.  Their use of acoustic and electric guitars gave every song a different feel.  Their no-nonsense approach drifted through melodies reminding the listener of the simple function of rock and roll.  They could build a song with a slow rock riff, then just take off, or they could use the absence of percussion to emphasize a mood.  All five of these seasoned rockers took turns leading their original Star Trek episode-inspired songs.

As Five Year’s first set ended, an Il Troubadore member smirked, “When does the rock and roll begin?”  The quartet began with their mandolin, cello, and hand drum sound-driven Klingon music, which sometimes sounded very Mediterranean.  It was very folksy and very somber, sung mostly in Klingon.  Some of their songs hauntingly heralded Klingon Victory while another was about nuclear holocaust.  This music clashed with rock and roll like beer and exotic flavored ice cream.  But it was fun.  Their sets included a culture-filled sound that  belly dancers would rush too.  And just as the audience began to feel overwhelmed, they would break out classic rock and roll covers like “Another One Bites the Dust”, sung only as a Klingon could with deep baritones and maniacal falsetto.  The covers were a total surprise and wildly funny.  This highly skilled group played Klingon, Ewok, Middle Eastern, and even classic rock.  One song sounded like a sea shanty and the next had a Guess Who feel.

The heckling flew ferociously between sets.  My personal favorite came when the Federation band said something like, “At least we don’t eat our children”, and the Klingons responded with “But why not, they are delicious?”

What a night for Indy Star Trek fans.  The night ended in two collaboration songs. One was based on the original Star Trek episode “City on the Edge of Forever”.  The other was a screaming tribute to the Bat’leth in Klingon language.  This was a very strange battle of the bands in deed.  It was often cheesy, but it was an entertaining clash of musical cultures.

It’s a rare treat to be able to say that Brooklyn’s White Rabbits performed in Fountain Square. What a better place than to hear the five piece shred through some indie rock bangers.

Arms opened the show and did not disappoint. Although not really a First Friday sponsored event, the show was a highlight to a great First Friday here in the city.

Arms

White Rabbits

Mexican, the English Moustache, the Fu Manchu, handlebar, horseshoe, pencil, bushy, walrus—moustaches comes in all shapes and sizes. To help celebrate the illustrious upper lip hair explosion that has rocked manly facial features since the dawn of time, Bearded Flower Productions presented the 3rd Annual Mandatory Mustache Bash.

If you didn’t have one, you got one at the door. The night was filled with hair-lipped sets by Indianapolis’ favorite local bands, as well as Pocket Vinyl from Rochester, New York, and Chicago’s The Damn Choir. And by the end of it all, the bash was another successful venture of great music, great times, all come together by the proud celebration dedicated to the upper lip.

Pravada

Pocket Vinyl

Household Guns

The Damn Choir

Vacation Club

Sleeping Bag celebrated the release of their self-titled debut (Joyful Noise) with a release show at The White Rabbit Cabaret. Joining was DMA and the always popular Everything Now!

DMA

Everything Now!

Sleeping Bag

If you are into comics, collectables, action figures or are looking for a copy of the 1980’s show Manimal, then this is the right place for you.

There are comics from every genre. You can talk comics with shop owners, enthusiasts, and even writers and illustrators. I went under professional pretences – in other words, I brought no money so I could concentrate on getting shots. However, the next show is in October, and I will be there with cash.

ASH Comics and Shows are held at:

Ramada I-70

6990 E. 21^st Street , Indianapolis IN 46219

Reality’s Bastards

Stephen Bryden

Definitely Gary

MC Frontalot

What do you get when you combine Las Vegas’ The Bassturd, Indy’s number one punk band Gay Black Republican, the illustrious Danny Thompson from Sloppy Seconds fame doing Sloppy Seconds songs, and Dead Milkmen member Joe Jack Talcum with his backing band The Powders. You don’t just have a hootenanny, you have Punk Rock Night!

The Bassturd

Gay Black Republican

Danny Thompson

Joe Jack

MC Shammers

God Made Robots – http://godmaderobots.com/

Creme de les Femmes – http://www.facebook.com/cremedelesfemmes

Five Year Mission – http://fiveyearmission.net/

The inaugural Punk Rock Night/Punk Rock Summer team up brought the power of Canadian punkers Farler’s Fury, the burlesque antics of Creme de les Femmes, and the spiritualistic ragers Harley Poe.

Farler’s Fury

Creme de les Femmes

Harley Poe