Grand Buffet - C/D?

Ned: The members are Lord Grunge and Grape-A-Don, but they use different names sometimes.

Gygax: They've improved tremendously over the last couple of years. The cleverness is now effortless.

sadly, I went with a couple friends without realizing that one of said friends being under 21 would prevent us from getting upstairs, so we went and saw a movie instead. and the last time they were in town a couple months ago, I went to see a friend's early show across town, and then raced over to the Ottobar to see if I could catch their set, but got there just as they were doing their last song. so I'm definitely overdue.

their set at Cex's birthday/CD release party was one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. Journey karaoke, getting down on the floor and beatboxing, just ridiculous. I wish they would do a tag-team set with Cex again, that was great too.

"Al and Girolamo: Y'all are from Baltimore? Represent!"

yes!

"Who are you?"

um, I'm Al! and I'm from Baltimore! is that enough?

"Ned: The members are Lord Grunge and Grape-A-Don, but they use different names sometimes."

and those would be Matt and Nate Kukla or Fred Durts and Mr. Pennsylvania, respectively.

I knew it! I thought this band sounded familiar. My sister is friends with Lord Grunge -- she caught them in a SF show a while back and has been in semi-regular touch with him since. What I've heard of them sounded pretty cool.

Lord Grunge is playing a solo show at the Talking Head on the 17th, for all those that didn't know.

I'm the guy who's always taping Rjyan; a couple of us got both Grand Buffet and Cex on video (four angles, no less) for the birthday/release party.

I especially liked their most recent Baltimore show (though I was late to it) where they were praising/mocking the war and Bushies in a way that can't quite be defined as easily as sarcasm. Great stuff, though.

GB definitely has a following in Bmore probably moreso than Pittsburgh or other nearby cities. aside from all the shows with Cex they really do get a lot of good opening slots at the Ottobar. my roommate got me into them first from seeing them with Wesley Willis.

thanks for the heads up on the Lord Grunge solo show. i think Grape-A-Don's the talent that holds it all together, but I'd definitely like to see what Grunge is doing, i'll probably check it out.

GB sometimes have a following in pittsburgh - they can play a show on a tuesday night and either get 300 people, or 3. their sense of humour and music is becoming more weird/dadaist than ha-ha funny, which is probably going to affect their success in other cities.

I tend to like Grunge better. I think he's a better MC, even though he doesn't rap nearly as much. The best show I've seen them play locally was probably the Cex record realease party, which was pretty much amazing and off the chain until Rjyan totally broke down onstage. Then it got weird and uncomfortable.

Thanks for the nice words about the review, Al. And yeah, Girolamo, I was at Honfest. It kinda sucked. Too hot.

Well, I have some scraps of stuff online at http://www.savonarolamustburn.com/music/ , but the majority of it is sitting in a box at the moment, due to my recent move. (I'm still in B'more, though.) The idea is that Rjyan and I will make a live DVD out of it, and I have a good part of the Death and Dismemberment tour, as well as pretty much every show from anywhere close to Baltimore since 2002. However, I started to notice that the Baltimore shows have a very different vibe and tension as compared to the out-of-town stuff.

I only had the capability to do multiple cameras recently - I did 4 plus a soundboard DAT for the record release show (sorry, didn't get Baby - still kicking myself for that), and I somehow got 5 for the cavernous Dismemberment Plan show at Hopkins in March.

In any case, Rjyan was talking to me about maybe staying in Baltimore for a good part of August, so I think we tentatively have said that we'll start reviewing all the footage and try to start doing some general work on it then. Otherwise, I think the DVD is essentially my project - a prospect both wonderful and scary as hell.

At a concert like this, the opening bands tend to consist of groups of skinny indie snobs with bad hair cuts playing 4th generation Pavement riffs. However, when two men walked on stage, one looking like an ancient Samurai warrior and the other looking like Thom Yorke (wearing a shirt that had a picture of a dinosaur, crossed out), collectively forming the rap supergroup Grand Buffet, there was a sensation in the air; something special was afoot.
Grand Buffet began in a manner that was almost Lenny Bruce-esque; walking the stage in a grand fervor, launching odd diatribes at random people. They changed tone rapidly and claimed to be a Christian rap group, who “had flow, but weren’t disrespectful to God.” They added, “And now for our first song, ‘Christ Fucker’” and it was clear exactly what Grand Buffet was about.
Despite the novelty of two grown men taunting an audience, going through raps with names like “Candy Bar,” “You’re on Fire,” and “I Fucked a Shark,” the beats were surprisingly good, and when they claimed they had flow, they were not lying. Of course, the majority of the audience was extremely offended, but really, that just made it much more enjoyable.

However, I'd like to add that the 5 or so people I was with were all laughing so hard people began to stare.

Here are the lyrics to "Americus (Religious Right Rock)":

I got a shirt made by a little girl's hands
In a little warehouse on a little island
I bet she's even got herself a little boyfriend
But she'd drop him in a flash for an American man.

We're coming to get you
We're coming to save you
We're coming to free you
From those who enslave you

Energy is constant and gentlemen are temporary
Never eat an apple from an orchard that was formerly a cemetary
Subsidy a reason any lesser than sit and be quiet until I invert the pentagram
Rack of lamb
Bethlehem style drained loveless
Pagan gods love this
Fuck shrimp cocktails
Get your girl's hair crimped
Take her to a yard sale
Donkey elephant hypercopy written by Disneyland
Take the turban off
Put holy water parts in rediscovered sand

Wait
Let's tell the truth
We're not holier than thou
But holy cow
There's people doing stuff God would never allow
Like guys kissing guys
And poor people too
There's plenty of jobs
Find something to do
We think abortion is pretty messed up
If you don't want a kid, then don't be a slut
There's plenty of races on God's green planet
That doesn't mean you have to breed with them, goddamnit

I got a shirt made by a little girl's hands
In a little warehouse on a little island
I bet she's even got herself a little boyfriend
But she'd drop him in a flash for an American man.

We're coming to get you
We're coming to save you
We're coming to free you
From those who enslave you

"Stocking Stuffer"

Santa Claus once picked me up after school
We had some drinks, we shot some pool
He told me that he's not a one-woman man
He's got a few, they understand
Over some dinner we talked about things
He ordered ribs, I got some wings
He said he fancied the girl in my life
Asked me if she could be his for a night
How could I say no to old St. Nick?
He fills up my stocking with beautiful gifts

Santa, Santa, Santa got my girlfriend pregnant this Christmas
That's not what I had on top of my wish list
Santa, Santa, Santa had a one-night stand with my lady
This Christmas Santa Claus gave me a baby

it's great to see those Pittsburgh Hearts lyrics all typed out, even if they are the jokiest tracks and not necessarily the best, although the last time I saw them live and they broke into that "we're not holier than thou, but holy cow" part, i seriously lost my shit. that and Lord Grunge pumping iron in time to the music during that song. i'm all about "We're Into This" and "Benjamin Franklin Music".