STREAM 26

STREAM 26

Vox Populi, Philadelphia, Fall 2005

Called down to the sixth borough for a gallery show with Wolf Eyes, Prurient, Chris Corsano and a buncha others. Excepter was the only non-blaster on the bill and a bit out-of-place for it. Sound-dude sure was eager for us to cut our set short, calling off times from the monitors halfway through. I guess the Beavis n Butthead crew there for the fist-pumpers didn't really know what to make of our sloppy crystal lights and rainbow Polo get-up. The promoter didn't either and seemed annoyed when we asked to get paid what we were promised at the end of the night. Same promoter would drop us off a bill at the last minute when we would try to come through town again in the spring. JFR wasn't really aware of the size of chip Philly has on its shoulder about New Yorkers, but JWN was well-versed and treated the crowd with tales of his violent first visit to The City of Brotherly Love. Despite it all, our roadie was found the next morning with his arms wrapped around a cheesesteak (wit wiz).

Tracks: Ground Hum / Last Dance / Op Pop (Walking Through the Night) / The Tank / Brother Ph / Why'd You Call?

(33m29s)

STREAM 25

STREAM 25

Knitting Factory, Kill Rock Stars CMJ Showcase, Fall 2005

Songs: Sunrise / Stairwells / Savage Law / Turn Away / A Message From Outside / Old Time Cat 09.

Ten minutes after the completion of this set, JFR and Lala would be thrown out of the club and  “Banned from the Knitting Factory for life.” Asked to see the manager (up the stairs mister) and she said Lala of wore a wig, and so got beer poured on her shoes so ordered our Oldsmobile off the block, kicked out the rest of the band and anyone hanging out with us. Frying pan, fire ... proxies had to unload our equipment around the corner where we had to explain the mess to our new label boss. He humored us with tales of wild years hijinx. Meanwhile, back inside a band associate the bouncers had missed had grabbed a mic denouncing the club to one and all. In the fog, a justified, pre-emptive strike against us. Despite all, the club booking agent would be calling to hire Excepter again within a few weeks.

Excepter would publicly maintain the “ban” for occult purposes for years after the event.

(41m37s)

STREAM 24

STREAM 24

Sin-e, Lower East Side, NYC, Summer 2005.

If the levee breaks, you'll have no place to stay. Recorded directly after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans. Jon Nicholson pulling double-duty as pre-show DJ and featured vocal and electronics performer for Excepter. Fife and drum machine defeated by the S.W.A.M.P. gas or flying object? No concern for the F.R.O.G. men with self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. Oblique conjectures of a new Hoo Doo Lemuria lying just beneath the surface? No one seems to know or notice.

(79m55s)

STREAM 23

STREAM 23

Rothko (Adult World), NYC, Summer 2005

Rothko was a Lower East Side club formerly known as Adult World, notable for the working showers lining the entrance hallway. In the grand Excepter tradition of the miss-matched bill, we were paired with a skate-punk band called S.T.R.E.E.T.S. which we understood to stand for “Snowboarding Totally Ruined Everything, Even The Snow.” This poor band of reverse-oakies earned JFR's ire for trying to blame the venue when they got busted by the NYPD for drinking on the sidewalk outside. Nightclub ethics are a rocky road to travel either way.

Oh yeah and Grizzly Bear opened for us, too.

(44m16s)

STREAM 23-3X

STREAM 23-3X

The second series in the Excepter Archive will focus on the rise of the “four man band” era, from July to December 2005. The new line-up of John Fell Ryan, Dan Hougland, Nathan Corbin and Jon Nicholson would record the Sunbomber EP on its first session together. Live shows would alternate with more session work for the eventual Alternation 2LP and still unreleased (and still un-leaked) OP 2X7”. The band's second cassette-only release Tank Tapes would also stem from a single studio session during this period.

STREAM 19

STREAM 19

Lit Lounge, NYC, November 2004

We give out beats for free. It's gonna be a blow-out in 5-D. (M.A.G.I.C.) Drums in the D.I.S.T.A.N.C.E. Do I have to spell it out for ye? All of our existence is an insult. A kick in the head, all the equipment knocked down. A run through The Sprinklers and then it's over.

Onstage violence was nothing new to the band, but it hadn't ended a performance before. (The booker loved it and invited us back immediately.) We would stumble on through a studio recording session, a trip to Atlanta and a European tour, but this would be the last NYC live show for this line-up.

(19m06s)