Way I remember it, at some point we (Amphetamine Library, not Apocowlypso) were walking from VCU out to the house on Monument where we (and the Alter-natives, and the Snakehandlers) practiced, through the clouds of cookie aroma from the cookie factory...we were all pretty big fans of Stevie Ray's "Texas Flood," and someone (probably Donny) said something about "We should write 'Richmond Flood,'" since after all major portions of downtown were flooded at that point. Either Hunter or myself said something like, "It'd just be a flood of bands, all of whom get more gigs than we do."
When ApoCowLypso started, one principle was that, unlike most of our peers, we WANTED to be, and stay, a LOCAL BAND, not run off to Athens or NYC or Norfolk where we'd be more likely to "be discovered." We wrote songs about Richmond because we WERE Richmond. And for me part of that was the desperate constant struggle to be noticed in a very crowded music scene. (Having Dika in the band meant we were noticed...it did not mean we got gigs, especially not paying ones.)
PB Kelly's was a dank, dark little hole in the Bottom right by the market. My gal and I bought a bag of peanuts from a market stall to eat before Amphetamine Library's only show there, since we were hungry and no place was selling food; then we realized they hadn't been cooked and were pretty damn inedible. When Amp Lib finished playing our version of "Interstellar Overdrive," a grizzled voice could clearly be heard from the back of the room, growling, "Y'all are too damn young to be playing that fucked-up shit."
I kinda literally was; I was definitely too young to legally be in any of the bars we played. I was 17 when I joined Amp Lib and started doing gigs at Going Bananas, Alpina's, PB Kelly's, the Henrico County Mental Health Outpatient Center, anywhere we could. That night at PB Kelly's I burned my foot stepping on a cigarette butt someone had for some reason left on the front of the stage; in those days I preferred to perform barefoot, although this may have been the last time, because it hurt like hell.
Now that I reflect on that show...yeah, odds are someone put that little glowing landmine there for me to step on.
The flood was the end for that venue, which by all accounts was about to cease to function imminently regardless.
Shoutout to Bruce Blizzard in the second verse. He was a good guy, although I didn't really know him when I wrote this.
lyrics
Richmond flood, 1985
Two or three people did not survive
P.B. Kelly's got swept away
But they were going under anyway
There's an office where I used to go
They carve red roses out of balls of snow
Service is better if you ask for Bruce
Give them your heart, I'm sure they could put it to some use
Use the bottle that I left upstairs
You'll feel better if you use it up, ignore their stares
I'll send for you in a week or two
Barring a message care of you know who
You shouldn't say things like that
You shouldn't do things like that
Someone might wonder if you're really where it's at
(huh?)
Don't act like you don't know me
You hardly ever show me
About the tab, I understand
You can let it slide; I'm with the band
Richmond flood, 1986
Twenty hardcore bands in Shockoe Slip
Floodzone had to build a bigger stage
Almost makes me glad I'm under age
So I'm packing my bags and I'm moving on
Seen too many dreams die in this squalid old town
But if you find yourself needing a friend
Don't hesitate to forget about me again.
credits
from Posthum(or)ous,
track released April 7, 2022
Brooke Saunders - rhythm guitar
Dika Newlin - percussion
Hunter Duke - drums
Manko Eponymous - lead guitar and vocals
with
Mike Erwin - bass guitar
Zip Irvin - saxophone
"Hey," said Brooke one night at Alpina's after I played my weekly set, "Dika and me are putting together a band, three singers, three songwriters, would you be interested? And could you find us a drummer and a bass player?"
A soundtrack to a film that is both historical and autobiographical, Yang’s music here finds graceful beauty in slowly unfolding melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 4, 2023
James Smith's latest release as Good Good Blood is a trippy acid-folk soundtrack for uncertain times, interwoven with wonder and longing. Bandcamp New & Notable May 6, 2020
Another devastatingly beautiful batch of indie rock confessionals from Ontario singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Linnea Siggelkow. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 28, 2024
