Fearless Records Tour

featuring Bigwig, Beefcake, Dynamite Boy, and Luckie Strike

Common Grounds, Gainesville, FL • May 21, 2000

Brian Kruger

Although I arrived only a few minutes after 10 PM, openers Luckie Strike had unfortunately already left the stage. Apparently, they have a female singer, as she came up and did a duet with the next band. She had a strong voice and individual vocal style, so I regretted not seeing them.

“dynamiteBoy”

Dynamite Boy, a quartet from Austin, were the first band I saw, and my favorites of the evening. (The fact that this was a Sunday night, so that last call was at midnight, I can assure you had nothing to do with that conclusion.) Pop punk with lots of whoa-oh-ay-oh backing vocals from the bassist (who sang lead on the opening song) and the rhythm guitarist marked the set, along with great stage presence and a jovial sense of camaraderie. I like these guys.

“bigWigW”

The same cannot be said of Beefcake, the penultimate band. I can’t remember walking out on a band I’d been listed to see, but this New York quartet had me (and numerous others) out the door within 3 songs. A one-joke band like Beefcake had better have a damn funny joke, but instead they apparently have chosen to be the Andrew Dice Clay of the punk world, liberally insulting women, gays, and mentally challenged people throughout their set (which, unfortunately, I could still see and hear plenty of from outside). Here’s hoping these asses will be asking, “You want fries with that?” by the time you’re reading this.

Bigwig, a foursome from New Jersey, were necessarily several steps up. Theirs were the shoutiest vocals of the evening, a kind of melodic hardcore with a bit of emo in the lyrics. The dreadlocked bassist played most often with his back to the audience when he wasn’t joining the lead guitarist for backing vocals. After the Beefcake debacle, the more-positive vibe from Bigwig won back the crowd, and there were lots of raised fists in the audience.

So my advice is, go see the Fearless tour, but walk out on Beefcake. After you’ve flipped them off. ◼