Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

Amateur Night

It's become an annual New Year's tradition for Knoxvillians to get together and hear some great music by a scrawny little smartass Virginia transplant. Why should this year be any different? Thankfully, it won't be.

Scott Miller—who has done too few shows in Knoxville of late—will take the stage with his band the Commonwealth to help usher us drunken idiots into 2004.

"I'm picking up where Con Hunley left off," says Miller, who has played New Year's night in Knoxville every year since 1990, except the year after the V-roys split up.

Miller says he likes the night. "It's a night of amateur drinkers. Everyone goes out to dinner and they're drunk by 12 o'clock and they pass out and it leaves the rest of the night for the rest of us.

"And this town needs just a good New Year's Eve blow out. It doesn't need anything serious," he says.

But thankfully, we can get drunk without worrying about driving. The show will be held at the recently renovated Marriott Hotel, and there are package deals that include a room, continental breakfast and other goodies. "It's safe, you come, you stay, there's no need to be driving around," Miller says.

Also on the bill are Trent Summar and the New Row Mob. Tickets that include a room go on sale Nov. 6. Show-only tickets go on sale Dec. 1.

On A Night Just As White And Dreamy

Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison—the husband and wife singer songwriters—are releasing a seven-song Christmas EP, Happy Holidays, that has a Knoxville connection. On it Robison covers the R.B. Morris song, "A Winters Tale." Set in East Tennessee, it's a song about a man trying to get home over the mountains on a snowy Christmas Eve. The EP also includes Willis covering the Eartha Kitt song "Santa Baby," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and a duet with her husband on the Frank Loesser song "Baby, It's Cold Outside." And Robison sings "Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)."

The EP grew out of the couple's small holiday tour around Texas, which they decided to put together this year. The CD might be hard to find in Knoxville, but you can order it on-line from http://www.brucerobison.com.

Are You Scared of Her?

Considering her legacy and reputation as one of the most controversial avant-garde artists of the past 30 years, Lydia Lunch can be surprisingly affable in person, in a one-on-one conversation. But when she takes the stage, the dark, angry, confrontational woman that is her public persona comes roaring out. Such was the case at the Pilot Light last Thursday.

Everything seemed to piss her off. A minute into her act she cursed and demanded that an electric fan be turned off behind her. Owner Jason Boardman dutifully worked his way through the crowd to turn it off. But then her microphone started cutting in and out, and Lunch would have none of it. "Can I get another fucking microphone," she barked, threatening the soundman, apparently unaware that the low rent club gets by with a lot of volunteer help.

The audience—not normally a timid crowd—seemed stunned by the histrionics and was dead silent. That bugged Lunch just as much, as she berated them with the question, "Are you fucking scared of me?"

When Boardman finally made it to the stage, he leaned into the mic and said, "I'll get you another fucking microphone." Everyone laughed, including Lunch, and the tension was mostly gone. But there was no doubt who owned the place that night. A few minutes later, Lunch lit into a trashed woman who was talking loudly through her spoken word monologue. And she yelled at the audience when they tried to applaud. "Oh, please. I have self-control, why can't you people?"

Lunch read from her novel in progress, Johnny Behind the Deuce, which she's writing with Gene Gregorits. It's a story about a woman who falls in love with an abusive drug addict and tries to save him. It all ends badly. The story was funny, bleak, unsentimental and depressing as hell. But what did we expect?

Reaction was mixed. Some found the story empowering. Others were just bummed out. Said one woman, "It's sad that she is a feminist icon and everything she said was centered on men."

Go.

Thursday: John Tilson and Brandon Beavers—the Vacationist League—don't play out much, which is a shame. But you can catch them at the New City Café tonight.

Friday: Boo!

Saturday: Listen to Eric Lee at the Pilot Light, opening for Vialka and Ground Monkeys.

Sunday: There's a lot of free music today—a free UT Symphony Orchestra Show at Alumni Auditorium, a faculty recital at UT Music Hall. Cap the evening with Donald Brown at ThInQ Tank.

Monday: I saw you caught between all the people out/ Making a scene/ In a bright, ideal tomorrow, ooh/ Don't go too far, stay who you are/ Everybody knows...You only live a day/ But it's brilliant anyway/ I saw you out/ A perfect place/ It's gonna happen soon/ But not today/ So go to sleep/ Amid the change/ I'll meet you here tomorrow/ Independence day. See you down the road, Elliott.

Tuesday: Double Reed Night at Alumni Memorial Hall.

Wednesday: Knoxville Music Night is now only held the first Wednesday of the month. And that's tonight at the ThInQ Tank.

—Joe Tarr