ColaVision / Real Lulu / 5 Chinese Brothers @ Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH 5/22/1994

This was evidently the final show for ColaVision which featured Pat (the Oxymorons / Heike), Dave (Liquid Draino, Larry Brrrds, The Barnhills) and Daphne (Heike) they had one 7" out on Mutant Renegade Records and played in the area for a few years.

Real Lulu was also a trio from Dayton that featured Katie (Pure Plastic Tree), Sharon and Jim (Killjoys, The Breeders, Guided by Voices). They released a CD and 7" on Big Beef Records and gained some notoriety in part thanks to Kim Deal who was a big fan.

I know nothing about 5 Chinese Brothers even though I know I was at this show. I do see from the flyer that they were from New York...who knows maybe they didn't even show up?  Regardless I'm sure it was a great show and a good sendoff to ColaVision.

Haunting Souls / Scorched Earth @ Canal Street Tavern 5/8/1992

Haunting Souls were a long running Dayton band fronted by the ever entertaining Jamy Holliday. There's no way I can recall the lineup at this show since HS had about 20 people pass through the band during their existence. However, they always put on a great show and the one constant was Jamy. Here's a link to an interview with Jamy back in 1994 from a back issue of Mutant Renegade Zine

The other band on the bill, Scorched Earth, was also known as Scorched Earth Policy and gained a decent following during their two years in existence. Their members wandered off into other bands such as Workhorse and Nostromo but not before sharing their heavy Soundgardenesque sound around town.

One of the oddest things about this flyer is the mention of it being a Spookycore Production. I've traded mail many times with Spooky and even got a great mix tape from him but can't recall ever meeting him. Of course that was all back in the 90's, I have no idea what has become of him now.

Killust @ Canal Street Tavern 7/31/1989

I had forgotten that Killust was ever in the battle of the bands. It just doesn't seem to fit in my mind. I always saw them as a warehouse band and had actually seem them at several practices in the warehouse. From what I recall they used to practice in the same area where Paul lived.

Back in the late 80's the Front Street Warehouse was a great place to go. Many bands practiced there and a few ever lived there. If you knew the bands you could catch a few practices almost every night. There was two places that threw shows (Zike's Eye 1989, plus later the Gutter Center 1990-91), a room full of a skate ramp structure, a few recording studios and tons of places that people lived in and built lofts. It was great for a while, but I think somehow cops got called since none of the units were designed for living and everybody got kicked out. Later a lot of artists moved in and kicked out the rest of the bands. It was nice while it lasted though. I heard there is a new group of people, The Dirt Collective, trying to set up band space downtown.

Anyway, the flyer was for one of the many summer battle of the band shows at Canal Street. I can't recall how Killust did or if I actually went to this show. They were a great local metal band with punk leanings, but I don't even recall who was in the band now. If anybody can fill me in that would be great.

The Oxymorons / The Obvious @ Canal Street Tavern 1/12/1990

Yes, I've missed a few days due to being sick and not being able to look at a computer screen. However, to make it up I've posted the infamous flyer with a big cock on it.

The show itself was fairly typical with both The Oxy's and The Obvious playing a long set at Canal Street Tavern. The big news was the flyer which caused quite a stir everywhere it was hung. Being bright green it attracted attention and the cock seemed to draw the eye. These were plastered all over Wight State, Sinclair, Canal Street and the Oregon District along with various music and record stores.

Pat and Gail had created the flyer one day at Wright State which you can read about on his blog I remember Dayton. What happened after the mass posting was that police were called due to them being obscene or something. So, luckily Canal covered for us and said they didn't know how to contact the band then they got a hold of us and mentioned the police were involved. So we went out and removed many of the remaining offensive flyers with one of two new censored versions. One had a large flap of paper over the penis saying "Censored for the protection of your delicate eyes", The other just had the whole image section blacked in saying "Censored by your friendly local police department who are scared of the human body". Juvenile yes, but hey we were all 20 and 21 and it all seemed like a good idea at the time.

I can say that I still haven't seen a local band put up a flyer that caused as big of a curfluffle as this one did.

Mean Melissa @ Canal Street Tavern 3/29/1991

Mean Melissa was a short lived trio that was comprised of Gregg Spence and Ian Uppstrom from the U-Dogs and Pat Hennigan from the Oxymorons. All that I recall of their music was that it sounded a lot like the U-Dogs since Gregg did most of the singing and writing. I really wonder who they played with because there's no way Mick would have let them have a Friday night for their debut.

I think my favorite part of this flyer is the simple listing of 2 Parts Dog 1 Part Moron...

Kaptain Karl's Wizbangs / Minus One @ Canal Street Tavern 12/19/1990

This was after the end of the Tooba Blooze and before they became known as simply The Wizbangs. Yep, it was all about Kaptain Karl. The Wizbangs featured Kaptain Karl and Deni Wilson (from Tooba Blooze) plus Tim Taylor and Juan Monasterio who went on to form Brainiac. I'm assuming it was one of their first shows, but I could be wrong on this point. The other band on the bill was Minus One one of Eric Purtle's many, many bands over the years. I can't recall who else was in the band, but I know they had a sound that was similar to Ministry, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and others of their ilk.

Liquid Draino @ Canal Street Tavern 7/19/1990

I really love this flyer for Liquid Draino. It was created for one of their battle of the bands shows. I don't recall who they played against, but I really didn't matter since I was there for Draino. I think caricature really captures Sheldon, Eric, Brian and Dave plus the neato red drums.

The show was of course at Canal Street Tavern, where they are still have their yearly battle of the bands to this day. I had forgotten that Draino was using the Cheep Beer Ltd. moniker just like the Oxy's.

The Highwaymen, The Obvious, M.O.M. @ Canal Street Tavern 1/9/1987

This show was one of the first I ever went to at Canal Street Tavern. I really don't recall much of it, but it has been 21 years now.

This was a pretty big show and only $3. The Highwaymen had an album out and were touring. Members later moved to Austin and became the highly acclaimed band Loose Diamonds. The Obvious were still in high school and playing out regularly. I don't recall much about M.O.M. other than the infamous frontman Dennis Schlichter, most likely I got to the show late and missed them all together.

If you want to know a bit more about M.O.M. click on the link above and it will take you to Patrick Jones' great blog about Dayton music circ 1987-1994.

The Oxymorons / J.I.M. @ Canal Street Tavern 5/16/1990

I don't recall a thing about this show or anything about the band J.I.M. I have to assume that at least my band (The Oxymorons) played, since we made the flyer and our name is on it. After looking up the date I found out that it happened in 1990 and for some reason we used pink paper instead of our usual obnoxious green. Not one of our best flyers, but interesting nonetheless.

The show was at Canal Street Tavern, which is the longest running place for local bands to play. With a great diverse crowd and band to go with them, this is the place to go.