Fort Collins’ Most Underground Venue
by Hannah Lintner
The GNU Experience Gallery, located underground next to Pinball Jones in downtown Fort Collins, is a mystical place that few know about. GNU functions as a small venue that features an array of local artists and bands. The gallery’s ceilings, walls, and floors are covered in spray paint and art, and an Egyptian-style portrait covers the floor of the main room. The venue’s seating consists of white plastic lawn chairs and love seats scattered throughout the space. Christmas lights adorn the stage creating create a close, intimate atmosphere. The owners, Brandton Manshel and Sara Miller, opened the gallery in May of 2011. Miller is excited about everything that GNU has become. “GNU Experience Gallery is just that, a new experience every time you come here. I have worked the door at GNU for just over a year now, and every show is completely unique, whether it [is] because of the music, the art or the silly interactions between the audience–in any case, you’ll never walk away thinking to yourself… “seen it” or “done it.” That just doesn’t happen here. At GNU, we want you to open up and be yourself just for the fun of it. Whether you’re an artist, a musician, or a member of our fan-family–we’ve been having a pretty fun time.”
Saturday, May 19
Bizarre Learning Center, a ‘Carter-era post punk’ band from Denver, includes AJ and Laura Mococco, a dynamic married duo who play guitar and bass, respectively. Patrick Farrell adds drums to the group. The three, who once played together in the band Makeout Point, clearly have chemistry. The band possesses a garage punk feel without the addition of overemotional lyrics. The complete lack of vocals encourages the listener to concentrate on BLC’s paced, in-sync energy. During the last song, Robin Walker of Cougarpants was handed the lonely microphone, and sang heavy vocals from the floor in front of the stage.
The second act, Cougarpants, combines the love of pure noise with a classic touch. The Denver band is made up of Jessica Hughes, the drummer, who occasionally sings into a megaphone, and Robin Walker, who adds vocals, bass, keyboard, and ukulele. The back-alley pop music feels like the soundtrack of a carnival, combined with a scoop of twenties radio. Walker sings into a microphone covered in a tin can, which causes her voice to sound like it’s coming out of an old radio between propaganda ads of WWII. Her voice is powerfully sultry, and she concludes every song with a high pitched giggle. The thin layer of distortion, simple drum set up, and dreamy vocals create a magical music project that leaves the audience entranced.
Tuesday, May 22
Thrifty Astronaut opened the Tuesday night show. His acoustic set was simple, yet well done. Nick Jones’ solo set included an acoustic guitar, a laptop to create drum beats, and a tambourine.
Japanese Game Show visited GNU gallery to conclude their recent Midwestern tour. The trio, made up of Caleb Drummond, who does bass and vocals, Eric Price on drums, and Jesse Yaeger with guitar, keys, and vocals, visited Fort Collins all the way from Wichita, KS. The band effectively embodied absolute chaos in their fast paced, high-energy music. The combination of the sharp keyboard, heavy guitar, and screaming vocals gives the cocaine punk band an organized touch. Japanese Game Show, quirky, while still obtaining a status of cool, has a knack for creating danceable hooks combined with fun, distinct lyrics that makes them impossible to dismiss.
Sunday, June 10
The Sunday show was the second night of the raging High Park Fire in the mountains surrounding the city. Fort Collins was covered with smoke, and few were milling around downtown on the dreary evening.
Gabriel Smith, who makes up the solo project Happy Family, opened up the night. The acoustic set consisted simply of a chair, a guitar, a man, and a microphone. With lyrics such as “Yes, I am home, yes I am here to stay. I am home on the range,” Smith’s sincere singing induces nostalgia. The utter vulnerability found in his voice combined with the elegant guitar picking, tugs at the listener’s heartstrings. His love songs about life contain a great amount of soul that causes one to slightly fall in love with his words.
The Atom Age stopped by Fort Collins on a tour of the Western United States. The 21st Century Rock ‘N’ Roll band from Berkley, CA, includes five members: Ryan Perras and Peter Niven on guitar, Brendan Frye on saxaphone, John Murgueitio on drums, and Matt Diamant on bass. The addition of the sax adds a unique twist on the Cali band’s old school punk vibe. The five energetic musicians were crowded on GNU’s small stage, which somehow made the music seem even more condensed and dominant. The music could be heard from outside in the square. Their newest album, The Hottest Thing That’s Cool, was released on May 29, and has been the focus for their June tour set list. The 2010 tour includes cities such as Portland, Seattle, Boise, San Antonio, Phoenix, and Palm Springs.
Clarke and the Himselfs is another solo project that embodies the concept of beauty in simplicity. Clarke Howell, of New Orleans, LA, possesses a sound completely unique to the area. His Southern roots are prevalent in his music. Howell, who taps his bare feet against a tambourine to accompany his acoustic guitar, uses his voice and intriguing mouth sounds to develop his charm. His rough, quirky singing voice is laced with whistling and humming throughout his songs. The crowd began the set surrounding the stage sitting ‘crisscross applesauce’ to match the musician’s campfire feel. When Howell began a more fast-paced song, the small group began a war of sorts, using the foam blocks lined up along the walls of the gallery. They then built an intricate city with the blocks, creating layer upon layer of white foam buildings. After someone accidently knocked down a neighborhood, the crowd destroyed their carefully constructed city while dancing and flailing. On the night that Fort Collins was engulfed in smoke, GNU embraced the chaos and found beauty in destruction.
Category: Noco Music Scene
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