A musical feud

Cape's music scene has seen its share of feuds in the past -- bands warring with club owners and each other is just part of any healthy scene. It's the kind of behavior that shows our local musicians have passion, and what's better than passion?

I'd hate to think this, but I may be partially responsible for the scene's latest feud, one that turned just slightly ugly this past weekend at Broussard's.

The bands involved in this war of words -- the new punk rockers Doom in the A.M. and established hard rockers Drivin' Rain, a band that owes its sound to the hair metal of the 1980s. The spark that set off the feud -- our very own OFF Magazine, with me as the editor.

I know some of you may not be acquainted with OFF Magazine, so I'll give you a quick description. I like to call OFF the Rolling Stone of Southeast Missouri, but not in some puffed-up, pretentious, self-promotional manner. I call OFF the Rolling Stone of Southeast Missouri because it's an entertainment magazine, geared toward a young audience, with a big focus on the local music scene.

Now you know about OFF, and you're about to find out what OFF did to start a real battle of the bands.

For OFF's November issue, we published a cover story about Doom. The reasons are numerous. Primary among them -- Doom is good, really good. Another reason -- the five members of Doom are real characters, people who love nothing more than to rebel against the norm, bring down the government and generally tell everyone exactly how they feel. That's what Doom's drummer Jon Thrower did in OFF Magazine, and that's what set off a feud.

Thrower had some nasty things to say about the local music scene, specifically targeting local music fixture Drivin' Rain.

His exact words: "Drivin' Rain is a really, really boring band that plays 20-year-old music."

I could recount more of the quote, but you get the idea.

Since that magazine hit the streets early this month, it seems Thrower's comments ignited quite the round of mental jousting on www.capescene.com, a Web site frequented by local musicians, their fans and their buddies.

For their part, this is just what Doom does. They're punk rockers, they like to stir things up, and they know how to get attention using the media. Yes, OFF Magazine was a tool for Doom, and that's fine.

On the other end, Drivin' Rain isn't necessarily happy about the article, but the band's frontman, Timexx Nasty, said it's really no hassle for him.

"It ended up making us look pretty good," Timexx told me Tuesday. Even people who don't like Drivin' Rain expressed their support for the band in the wake of the media put-down, Timexx said.

But anybody who knows Timexx knows he keeps his cool. He's generally a nice guy, and he's been on the music scene a long time. Other members of his band aren't so graceful.

On Saturday, Doom played a great show with Moodminder at Broussard's. I know because I was there, and I loved it. Both bands rocked, and Doom ranked right up there with the best local acts for high energy and creativity. At least one person in attendance didn't love it -- Tommy DeWolf, Drivin' Rain guitarist.

DeWolf was there for much of Doom's performance, spending most of his time near the stage, rocking out on most songs. When he wasn't enjoying the music, he was engaging in some vocal conflict with Thrower. At one point, he warned the bartender there would be a fight.

As far as I know, the fight never took place. DeWolf left before the end of the show, and Doom finished out their set in peace. But for this observer, the damage was already done.

Having a disagreement with a fellow local musician, even hating that fellow musician, is one thing. Threatening violence at a venue is another.

Sure, Thrower's comments may have been uncalled for. Maybe we shouldn't have published them in OFF, but those comments say a lot about Thrower's band, and that's why they ended up in print. As Timexx pointed out, the publicity only did good things for Drivin' Rain -- they just happen to have a gig opening for Skid Row Wednesday across the bridge at the HushPuppy. And the article only did good things for Doom.

Now I have to wonder -- is a threat of violence, is the passion displayed by these two warring factions good for the Cape music scene, or is it unhealthy?

Music scenes are notorious for feuds, so maybe the tussle gives some legitimacy to Cape's rock environment. But when musicians threaten violence against each other, it seems to me only bad times can follow. For a scene struggling to define itself and gain new followers, the battle between old and new is inevitable. This isn't the first time bands have lined up for war against each other.

I hope the benefits -- as in the attention -- will outweigh any possible disasters. If a battle between bands ups the profile of Cape's music scene, all will be well. If not, who knows what will happen. Hopefully not violence.

Hopefully DeWolf's words are just empty talk.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182