Driverdome Flyers From A Bygone Era (i.e. 1995)

November 12, 1994 - Inkwell with Deterrent and Deus Ex - Technically this was not from 1995, but it was one of the first shows we had at the Driverdome, and I don't remember much except that both Deterrent and Deus Ex used drum machines, and we did not have the kind of PA to handle that, so both bands were pretty weak. Of course Inkwell did the job that was needed to be done.


January 8, 1995 - Policy of 3 with Thumbnail, Scout and Thenceforward - This was a great show. I love that we screwed up and put Fence Forward on the flyer, blame Scott Wishart as I'm sure he designed the flyer. I will still refer to them as Fence Forward instead of their real name. I was also a big fan of Thumbnail, and thought they never became as popular as they could have been. Policy of 3 were awesome that night, as it was right around when their last 7" came out, and I believe they broke up a few months later.


March 2, 1995 - Griver with Year Zero and the Pink-Collared Jobs - Griver was a fun band to have play, and we were friends with Charlie in the band so we had a soft spot for them. Year Zero of course was Jon Lukens' band after Cough Syrup and Astrosmash but before Retconned. Year Zero was my favorite Jon Lukens "band", i.e. pre-electronics. I will post more on them later. I don't remember anything about the Pink-Collared Jobs, but maybe someone will enlighten us. It is interesting to note that the shows only cost 2 or 3 dollars. Our theory was to keep the cost so low that people felt like they could come and hang out and take a chance on whatever band that was playing that night, and for the most part I think it worked. We always had a pretty decent crowd (except for the Sunbrain show below), and people seemed to have a good time and never complained about the cover charge. Normally we would only be able to pay a band about 50 dollars, but we didn't keep any of the money for ourselves and it was possible back then to make as little as 20 dollars a show and still break even after tour. This system works much better to me than passing the hat around, as I think that practice is essentially disrespectful to the bands playing and never produces more than a few dollars. We wanted the Driverdome to put on shows, and passing the hat gives the impression that we are having a party with bands playing. These were not parties, they were shows with touring bands - some of which would become extremely influential, and at the time Atlanta clubs were not providing any support. These house shows definitely filled a gap during this time.


This was another flyer for the same show as above.


April 1, 1995 - Lowboy with No Matter and White Trash Superman - This might have been Lowboy's last show before Craig and Brian went on to form The 42 with Francis. I remember No Matter being very good, but I have no memory of White Trash Superman.


April 13, 1995 - Slant 6 with Jonathan Fire Eater and Year Zero - This was probably one of the top 5 shows the Driverdome ever put on, mainly because of Jonathan Fire Eater. At this time, they only had a demo out, and when I saw their name on the show list, I was very skeptical. However, if you know who they were, you can imagine what an amazing show this turned out to be. These guys were unbelievable - you can see some footage of them here. It was the birthday of the bassplayer from Slant 6, and we made a banner for them from an old church revival banner I had, and then after the show they took it with them! That banner was part of the Driverdome decor, it wasn't a gift.


April 17, 1995 - Inkwell with Bloodlet and Thenceforward - As you can imagine, this was a good show. Mark had joined Inkwell by this time and they were becoming the powerhouse that you know and love them as. I remember joining The hal al Shedad at this time, and Phil making these flyers and hanging them up at our shared practice space (Black Box). Of course the degenerates that hang out there drew penises, etc. all over the flyers, and Inkwell was pissed.


May 23, 1995 - Sunbrain with Barrel and Drip - I will still apologize to Barrel for this one, as it was probably the most sparsely attended Driverdome show ever. I really felt bad, as I thought Barrel was awesome, and David Dondero was in Sunbrain, who I have been a big fan of since he started doing his solo stuff. Maybe it was because it was on a Tuesday, I can't remember why we were doing the show on a Tuesday, but either way there was nobody there and I somehow feel responsible.


June 23, 1995 - Carbomb with The Trigger Quintet, Impetus Inter and Butch - Four out of town bands on this bill, no room for locals. It was an amazing show. Every band was awesome, every band was nice, lots of people were there. I used Tron imagery on the flyer. Still only 3 dollars, and we were able to pay every band well (at least for those times).


June 25, 1995 - Eagle Bravo with Hellbender and Peepsow - Eagle Bravo was a good band from the Carolinas, and I remember supposedly the drummer's dad was also a drummer back in the day and played on "Chapel of Love" by the Dixie Cups, which was produced by Phil Spector. Supposedly the drumset that the guy was playing in Eagle Bravo was the drumset that played on that song. I was in awe, of course. Eagle Bravo did a full-length album, but I never got it and have been wanting to get a copy ever since. If anyone knows where I could find it, I would be interested. Hellbender was Al Burian's band before Milemarker, and I remember them being very good as well. They had these boxes on top of their amps that lit up and looked fancy, but I believe had no real purpose. I can't remember anything about Peepshow from New Jersey, but there were a lot of random bands touring around and playing house shows back then.