I wish I could have been at this show but I had bought tickets for my family to see Weird Al Yankovic on the same night seven months prior. But judging by the photos on Facebook it looks like it was a fun night, considering the circumstances.
Back in March, Andy "Flav" Glasser, drummer of Not Saved and Splinterface, passed away suddenly. This night of music was to pay tribute to Andy and his love of music and the proceeds went to fund a headstone. I believe every band that performed that night Andy had played drums with at some point.
Not Saved reformed for one last time, with Cliff Ferdon (Action Adventure Systems, Wormsmeat) taking Andy’s place on the drums. Here’s a bunch of photos I grabbed from Facebook…
At some point Not Saved and Splinterface teamed up. Here they are playing "My Ugly Self”, which I ripped from Facebook…
During the interview sessions, when I'd ask people about the Bellmore scene I kept getting a common answer. Actually, the answer came in the form of a question... "Is it a scene?"
When I set out to make the documentary I never questioned this myself. I just assumed that a large group of people making music from a common area constituted a scene. So I was surprised so many people did question it. We didn't really know what the story was going to be when we started these interviews – whether or not there was a Bellmore scene became a main storyline. That's what led me to scribble "The Unscene" on a cocktail napkin at the Juke Joint.
In the above clip from Bellmore: The Unscene, Jim Collette, Jim Burns and Joe Kollar share their thoughts on Bellmore and whether there is or isn't a scene.
A couple of months had past since Jim and I decided to make the Bellmore documentary and with Ground Zero closing – the last music venue in Bellmore – it was time to stop procrastinating and start filming.
Besides my VHS camera, we wanted to get lots of coverage so Jim called in some favors – borrowing a camera from someone and getting Matt Rubinowitz to also film. Pat Fitzpatrick came along with Matt so he helped out with production and took some still photos of the event, too. Scott Jacobs was on board from the beginning so he also shot footage that night. We had ourselves a Hi-Tide Pictures crew.
This event was pretty monumental when it comes to Bellmore's "unscene". Like I said above, Ground Zero was the last music venue in Bellmore and it was closing it's doors for good. (We were under the impression that this was going to be the last show, but actually the very last show was the following Tuesday...with the younger kids.)
It was also quite possible that this event represented the end of the Bellmore scene as we knew it – as Jim Burns warned that night (here). This was sort of true. Earlier that night Kevin Purcell declared he was leaving Not Saved (which you can also see here), so the last band standing was Eggplant Queens. The Queens continued to forge ahead strong...but not in Bellmore.
In the below clip from Bellmore: The Unscene – Bobby S., Mike Stamberg, Steve Johnson, Dave Jemmott and Matt Bianco talk about Ground Zero and it's closing...
When I pieced together Bellmore: The Unscene I used the Ground Zero event as sort of a home base...like a recurring theme. Everyone was there so I could keep going back to it and use it as a springboard to talk about the next band.
Below is a bunch of Ground Zero footage (and a few interviews) that wound up on the cutting room floor. Lots of cool stuff I just couldn't use. There's also short clips from the other bands that played that night: The Clap, Dead End Cruisers, Hidden Agenda, and Jones Crusher. (Jones Crusher – a.k.a. The Crusher – had ties with the Bellmore "unscene". Gerry from Not Saved went on to play bass with them, and Jim Conaboy played drums for a while and recorded Deliver Us From Emo with them. The Crusher also played at the Bellmore: The Unscene screening at CB's Gallery.)
Here's a few Not Saved songs that weren't in the movie (cameras missed the first two songs). And even though their set was plagued with mic problems, it was a great performance...
"Iron Fist" (Motörhead cover)
"Insomnia"
"Tormented"
"The Line No Man Wants To Cross"
***SPOILER ALERT*** By now you should all know how the Ground Zero event ends. But just in case you don't, I won't go and blow it for you in words...but it's the kind of thing documentary film makers live for. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of a friend. Instead, watch the below clip from Bellmore: The Unscene. In it: Eggplant Queens take the stage...Jim Burns talks about EQ...Mike Stamberg, Steve Johnson and Bobby S. talk about the show's progression...then the "bottle incident"...and Bobby, Matt Bianco, Mike Walch, Daveman, Steve, Ron Bianco and Joe Kollar talk about the aftermath and the future...
***SPOILER ALERT*** How apropos is it that the "bottle incident" happened just after Eqqplant Queens played the song "Bottle"? You just can't plan that sort of awesomeness.
Here's a few Eggplant Queens songs that weren't in the movie...
"Mud Muscle"
"Ass Rape Song"
"Disco Queen"
Okay, I know this next one was in the movie but I uploaded it to YouTube back in 2006 and it's uncut – lots of cool stuff happens during it...
"Rock Out"
Here's audio of Not Saved and Eggplant Queens (courtesy of Brian Gressler)...
Not Saved
01- 1,000 Thorns
02- Flat Earth
03- Ruby
04- Iron Fist
05- Insomnia
06- Tormented
07- Abacus
08- The Line No Man Wants To Cross
Eggplant Queens
09- Mud Muscle
10- Ass Rape Song
11- Disco Queen
12- Rock Out
13- Bottle
And here's some more photos from the night...
*Blogger only lets you tag (or Label) up to 200 characters so I had to leave a few names out. They are: Tammie Cohen Bianco, Dave Deluca, Earl Pickens, Jimbo, myself and Hi-Tide Pictures.
Back in 2003 I finished a documentary on the music scene from my hometown of Bellmore, Long Island. But Bellmore: The Unscene only scratched the surface of the Bellmore scene. My intentions with this blog is to dive deeper into the music and people of Bellmore. I also don't expect people outside of Bellmore to care about this blog but just in case they're interested, they're welcome to browse and learn. This will largely be the place for the people of Bellmore to replace the copy of Colonel Bastard's Horny Left Nut Band they lost or to relive an old Intellectuals show at La Serayña... amongst other things Bellmore.
