What’s more exciting, in this humble listener’s view, is the deep-trawling underground fare on the calendar at the freshly minted Tubby’s, which opened last week on the Midtown Kingston corner formerly occupied by the notorious dive bar Broadway Joe’s, recognizable by the life-size figures of Elvis and The Blues Brothers mounted on the roof. Sadly these music legends are gone, but in their place is an impressive program of music acts.
“Our goal is to have one- or two-band bills,” says Cory Plump, who co-owns the new club with fellow Austin, Texas-transplant Morgan Coy (the pair also co-run label/publisher Monofonus Press). “Most shows will be $5 admission. Weeknight shows start at 8pm and weekend shows at 9pm.”
Musically speaking, Tubby’s accent will be on experimental underground, punk/garage rock, and free jazz; vegetarian food is part of the plan as well. (Plump is also a member of the band Spray Paint, who will perform at the club on October 11.) Rocking the joint on September 29 will be Brooklyn bands the Wilful Boys and Hardbodies.
Here’s the Wilful Boys live, in action:
And here’s a partial listing of more upcoming gigs at the venue, complete with snappy, snarky descriptive blurbs courtesy of Plump:
OCTOBER 5 RAMBUTAN/PARASHI/FOSSILS FROM THE SUN Albany freak crew drop by Tubby's for a night of sandpapery, post-industrial, DMT-inspired "sounds" and "music."
OCTOBER 8 KUZU (Dave Rempis, saxophones; Tashi Dorji, guitar; Tyler Damon, percussion. Some of my favorite players going right now in the free jazz/avant world. Truly an honor to have them grace the tiny stage. THE GREEN PASTURE HAPPINESS (Kingston's own Fred Lonberg-Holm, Zoots Houston, Daniel Fandiño) Incredible group of folks from right here in our own backyard.
OCTOBER 11 SPRAY PAINT (Wire-inspired, IQ-lowering rock. On a bunch of labels like Goner and Monofonus Press. First show in these United States in two years.) EXEK (All the way from Melbourne, Australia. Dubby weirdness for fans of PiL, This Heat, and Swell Maps. New record on Superior Viaduct.)
OCTOBER 14 HEARTS & MINDS (Free jazz trio from Chicago. Jason Stein, bass clarinet; Paul Giallorenzo, synthesizer/electric piano; Chad Taylor, drums. I know it's a bit too easy to throw around Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane, but it's very present here. Further proof Chicago is king right now.)
OCTOBER 25 MARION GUILLET (DJ from Paris. Expect a set touching on synth music, ’80s/’90s dance, house, disco, new wave, etc., etc.)
NOVEMBER 3 STEFAN CHRISTENSEN (From New Haven, Connecticut. Former Estrogen Highs member now making very excellent psych/drone/ambient/lo-fi/mind-melting guitar experiments.) ALEXANDER (Also from New Haven. Heady solo guitar work).
NOVEMBER 5 CHRIS BROKAW and THALIA ZEDEK Special show right here. Advance tickets required. They formed the band Come in 1990, and both of their careers are extraordinary. Members of Codeine, Come, Live Skull, Uzi, The New Year, etc., etc. Amazing.
NOVEMBER 7 MICHAEL FOSTER/BEN BENNETT DUO (Name a better free-jazz drums + sax duo on planet Earth right now? You are lying. Total rippers)
NOVEMBER 19, 2018 STATE CHAMPION (Off-kilter, punky country-fried sounds from Louisville, Kentucky. New record out on Feeding Tube.)
Tubby’s is located at 586 Broadway in Kingston, New York. For more information, visit https://www.tubbyskingston.com/.
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