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August 20, 2005
Pipe Reunited
If seminal bands like Dinosaur and Gang of Four can somehow come back from the grave to play live in 2005, what's to stop classic North Carolina bands from doing the same on a smaller level? Tonight at Local 506, Pipe is performing with their original lineup of Ron Liberti, Mike Kenlan, Dave-I-T, and Chuck Garrison. Toenes wrote a nice preview of the Pipe reunion in this week's Independent, aptly pointing out that it's the return of Mike Kenlan to the Pipe lineup that makes this reunion particularly notable for some of us. Kenlan left the original Pipe in mid-1993 in order to concentrate on his other band Small (23). No disrespect to subsequent Pipe guitarist Clifton Mann, but I never found myself enjoying the "new Pipe" quite as much as "classic Pipe". So I've been looking forward to tonight's show and a setlist stocked with tunes like "Sonic Scout", "The Astronaut Song", Joy Division's "Warsaw", and "Submariner" (with added Ron handclaps, naturally).
This most recent bout of early 90s Chapel Hill rock nostalgia motivated me to dig through some of my zine/flyer archives and look for some Pipe paraphernalia. I found a couple of pretty funny Pipe interviews conducted by longtime zinester Carrie McLaren, one that was published in Chris Riser's CMC Magazine (Issue #4, 1992) and another from Trash #2 (February 1993). In the Trash interview, the Pipe guys say that their first show was in November 1991 at La Terraza, the second-story club that once occupied the space above what is now Local 506. I didn't see that first Pipe show, but I did see them at La Terraza a few months later when they opened up for Polvo. That particular Polvo show got burned into my memory as "the show where Ash bled on his guitar". As was my habit at the time, I took one of the flyers for the show back to my dorm room and used it to cover up another small chunk of the lovely cinderblock walls that did so much to define South Campus dorm decor. Anyway, here's a scan of the flyer:
I'm not sure who did this flyer, I really don't think it was Ron. Regardless, it is a nice example of cheap black-and-white Kinko's art. And it makes me nostalgic not just for the bands on the bill but also for an era when a lot of local shows only cost two bucks!
Speaking of Ron Liberti and flyers, if anyone out there didn't make it to Branch Gallery for the "Paper Scissors Ron" opening last weekend, you can still check out the show for two more weeks, until September 3rd. As is typical for Liberti's shows, there are a lot of amazing screenprinted flyers from over the years, but this show also has some great newsprint-based collages and a flyer-coated telephone pole that Ron promises to update annually for as long as he is physically able to do so!
Posted by Tim at August 20, 2005 05:30 PM
Comments
....although if you want to buy anything at Ron's show, be aware that most everything is sold as of yesterday.
(although the pole is still for sale)
Posted by: pinky at August 21, 2005 11:34 AM
That is definitely a ron flyer. I actually have a VHS tape of that show.I keep meaning to have it transferred to disk.
mck
Posted by: kenlan at August 22, 2005 08:20 PM
Ah, OK...I guess I was thrown off by the use of the typewriter text instead of those great blocky transfer letters that came later. When someone curates "Liberti - The Early Years", I'll be happy to lend this one...
Man, I'd love to see a video of that '92 show. Saturday's was a real blast, thanks for the memories!
Posted by: Tim at August 23, 2005 12:03 AM
March 25 1992 = my 16th birthday...
Posted by: ricky d at August 30, 2005 08:58 AM
i want a vhs of that show. lemme k now if you can make a copy and i'll pay for it and shipping. awesome!
Posted by: td nguyen at August 8, 2006 04:07 PM