BY VANESSA SALVIA
The Detonators reunite
Friday at John Henry’s.
HOT & SPICY!
SALSA DANCE
EVERY! SATURDAY NIGHT!
8:00 pm - Midnight • All ages $4
FREE DANCE LESSONS
Beginning-Intermediate 8-9 pm
STUDIO-B
189 W. 8TH ST. • EUGENE
(ABOVE BRENNER’S FURNITURE STORE)
Punk Politics
Detonators regroup to blast Bush.
wenty years ago Bruce Hartnell was
22, roaming the streets of Redondo
Beach, Calif., armed with a guitar
and powerful anger over the country’s politi-
cal situation with Ronald Reagan as presi-
dent. Along with his friend, guitarist Juan
Camacho,
Hartnell
formed
The
Detonators. California in the early ’80s
was punk’s heyday, and The Detonators
shared the stage with The Dead Kennedys,
Minor Threat, MDC, The Misfits, Fear,
Discharge, Husker Du, D.O.A. ... the list goes
on.
Hartnell calls The Detonators “a working
class-style punk band,” which uses a political
approach to music like Stiff Little Fingers,
Sham 69 and D.O.A. “When we started, the
line of what punk rock was was definitely
drawn. The whole punk rock thing for me
was all about taking a stand,” he says.
On Friday at John Henry’s Hartnell and
Camacho join with drummer Scott Adamo
and bassist Kirk Black for a gig timed to com-
memorate The Detonators’ release of its first
LP, Emergency Broadcast Systems, 20 years
ago. The band put out two more full-length
LPs, many singles and several songs on com-
pilations. The musicians toured North
America and Europe extensively, then relo-
cated to Eugene in 1987.
Hartnell formed other bands around town,
including Los Mex Pistols del Norte.
Camacho stayed active in the Eugene music
scene, and is currently playing with Crimes
of Ambition. The two haven’t played together
as The Detonators since 1997. “Now that
we’ve got some of the same guys running
things as we had when Reagan was in office,
and seeing how the mood of the country is
right now, it’s got me wanting to play more
punk rock and have these songs be heard
again,” says Hartnell.
Black played with The Detonators from
1993 to 1997 and Adamo played with them
on the band’s third LP, Balls to You. Adamo
is currently based in Portland and drummed
with King Black Acid.
Two fine hardcore acts from Portland are
coming down to pay homage to The
Detonators: The
Weaklings and
Blackjack. Local hardcore band The
Bastard Saints will also play.
Sam Bond’s will host a CD release party
T
Saturday for local “nuevo tango” sensations
Mood Area 52. The self-titled CD features
nine songs written by accordionist Michael
Roderick, one by cellist Amy Danziger and
one arrangement of the traditional tune “La
Paloma.” Guitarist Adam Wendt, saxophon-
ists Kee Zublin and David Roderick and vio-
linist Anthony Dyer are also members. Mood
Area 52’s instrumental music moves gently
California in the early ’80s
was punk’s heyday, and
The Detonators shared
the stage with The Dead
Kennedys, Minor Threat,
MDC, The Misfits, Fear,
Discharge, Husker Du,
D.O.A. ... the list goes on.
from tango rhythms to old-world melodies,
anchored by Roderick’s skilled accordion
playing. Close your eyes, and it’s easy to
imagine yourself in a French café on a shad-
owy cobblestone street, or in a gypsy village
under the stars. Roderick enjoys composing
film scores, and would like to do more of this
with Mood Area 52. “I think we all harbor the
aspirations of doing music for films,” says
Roderick, “So I’m trying to shop this record-
ing around in the hopes that someone will be
interested in using it in that sort of context.
We’re opening for ourselves [at the CD re-
lease show] as a slightly different manifesta-
tion, doing the score to the silent film
Nosferatu. It will be the first and perhaps only
time we’ll perform with a drummer.”
Roderick is referring to Jim West from
The Walkabout Trio who will join MA 52 on
stage. Pianist Dustin Lanker, from The
Cherry Poppin’Daddies and The Visible Men
will also sit in with the band, and possibly
marimba player Derek Trost. The film will
run for an hour before Mood Area 52 takes
the stage at 10 pm.
Roderick started a record label to release
this CD and plans to release material from
Wheel of Meat, a brass band he also performs
with. If you were lucky enough to hear MA
52 perform at the recent Chef’s Night Out
event, you already know you don’t want to
miss this show.
ew
APRIL 24 2003 23