Metro Pulse Online: Eye on the Scene

In Da House

Those crazy punks: you just can't keep 'em down... Knoxville's punk/hardcore/emo scene got a recent shot in the arm with the addition of yet another site for house shows. The new "venue," called The Honeygrove House, is found in West Knoxville near Robinson Road. Located in the brand-spanking-new Honeygrove Park subdivision, the suburban residence will cater to the hardcore community until encroaching neighbors get tired of the loud noise. The lifespan of the house as a venue will probably be short because nearby construction is in progress. At present, The Honeygrove house is the only inhabited residence on the block—a perfect situation for a handful of rockin' house parties, anyway.

Last Thursday featured an inaugural performance by New Jersey old-school hardcore favorites, Fast Times and Knoxville's own emocore wonderkids, Past Mistakes. A crowd of around 40 enthusiasts of fast and loud sounds were in attendance and offered a hearty response to the show, all without putting too much wear and tear on the shiny new home.

"We hate the kids, but the shows are for 'the kids'" says Honeygrove owner Beau Hart. Hart shares the home with roommate Jason Williams, lead guitarist for Past Mistakes.

Let's hope the shows can continue, at least for a while. It's practically impossible to find a long-running space for all-ages music, so we'll take what we can get from wherever it comes. And besides, nothing makes old Zippy happier than seeing a clean, new suburban home with framed Slayer graphics on the wall.

The Show Must Go On

This year's series of Hot Summer Nights concerts will probably be held in more than one venue, due to construction at the World's Fair Park site, the traditional location for these shows. Negotiations are still in progress, but concert promoters AC Entertainment will more than likely be hosting shows at the Homer Hamilton Theater, an outdoor amphitheater located in Chilhowee Park that holds around 4,000 people.

It will surely be a great thing to see the theater revitalized. The space has largely been empty for years, only playing host to an occasional concert during the TVA&I Fair.

"I'm hoping to have a few events there this summer," says AC's eponymous leader Ashley Capps. "We're not looking to leave the World's Fair Park, but that space is best for the shows that are oriented more toward the younger crowds. The older people want to sit down—poor things."

Capps says he hopes to renovate the Homer Hamilton Theater, but that can't happen until next year. "One of my goals in life is to someday have James Brown play there," he enthuses.

As to this year's lineup of performers, it's still just a little too early to be releasing information. "There are a lot of exciting tours out there, but I can't say what shows we'll be bringing in as of yet," he says. So we'll have to wait just a bit longer, with bated breath of course.

Again, Some Housecleaning

Zippy's desk is just a magnet for press releases. In order to keep the rats from nesting in the pile, I once again have a run-down of strange and bizarre news.

* What makes an art house an art house? Why, a café and coffee bar, of course! Which is what Regal Cinema's Cinema Art @ Downtown West will be adding to enhance the movie-going experience. Regal has teamed up with 18 students from the UT Interior Design Program to create the new interior for the space, which has been fairly successful after converting to more adventurous fare when the Terrace Theatre closed.

"When Regal added art films to the Downtown West over a year ago, the response was very good," says Phil Zacheretti, Senior V.P. of Marketing and Advertising for Regal. "Since that time the community has shown that there is definitely a desire to see more of these types of films in Knoxville."

Which is, of course, what we've been saying for years now—but we're thrilled that art films have found their niche in town, better late than never.

* Actors Co-Op and the Tennessee Stage Company have teamed up to provide KnoxVegas with its very own new play festival. Scripts were accepted from all points of the globe during the last half of last year, distributed to a talented team of panelists, and sorted through for inklings of talent, technique, and, uh, tenacity. A series of readings will begin on Thursday, March 16 with 50/50 by Whitney Haring-Smith, Blindly by Susan Eraslan, and V & E by Ed Simpson. Daniel Schwabaur's Public School will be read on March 21; Jesus Among Us by Roberta Niederjohn on March 23; One For Lunch by Sara Lynn Schutz on March 28; and Kiss in the Play by Kore Alexis on March 30. All of the readings will take place at Borders Books and Music at 7 p.m. Following the readings will be staged readings at Jackson Avenue Antiques on April 11 (A Little Bit of Culture by Staci Swedeen) and 17 (Wandering Home by Sara Lynn Schutz), as well as a full-blown mainstage production of the hysterical mob slapstick comedy Hit and Miss by Chattanooga's Barry Bradford throughout the month of April at Jackson Avenue Antiques.

Do It. Now.

Thursday: T. Strickland Band at Old City Grill. A little bit rocky, a little bit folky, a lot bit fun.

Friday: Nug Jug at Manhattan's and Rude Street Peters at Longbranch. Drink up, y'all, to this soundtrack for a wild, rockin' night on the town.

Saturday: Judybats '00 at Hawkeye's. Finally, you can pick up one of their much ballyhooed CDs at this release party.

Sunday: Tony and Lewis' Showcase Night at McGhee's. It's all the rage and you never know who might happen by.

Monday: Chuck Brodsky at Barley's or Incubus at Moose's. Your pick: sensitive singer/songwriter who likes baseball or crazy hard rock kids who are an open wound.

Tuesday: Close your eyes and meditate on the following: Six days does not a week make.

Wednesday: James King Band at Barley's. King has more talent in his bowing hand than most of us have in our whole bodies.

—Zippy "Talentless Hack" McDuff