Oktoberfest and Tributes at Pizza Luce’

Andrew Olson

Reader Weekly

Ladies Night – Oh What A Night! at Luce, the 20^th Anniversary with top bands Little Black Books, Keepaways, Cars & Trucks at RT Quinlan’s, Hillfest, and Oktoberfest at Bayfront made for a great weekend.

On Saturday night Circadian Nations kicked off a night of tribute tunes culled from the deepest depths of music. While the choices of bands were as obscure as possible, it was an entertaining and comical spectacle none the less. It also was the meeting place after the Roller Derby match at the DECC, which filled the room with fishnets and shiny and tight shorts.

Circadian Nations covered tunes from Joy Division, a gothic punk band whose story has all the essentials of the mythology of rock. JD was just about to kick off their American Tour in 1980 when lead singer Ian Curtis took his own life. The remaining members formed the band New Order, who had some decent songs of their own.

There were other groups like Healthy Band Club and Clickage that had women fronting them. One band even had a guy in full body nylon, roboting through the stage. Lovage was picked as a band to cover, which Luke Olson of Circadian Nations said was one of his favorite bands.

It was a well performed night of music, but I just couldn’t get into it for some reason. One part of me was wondering if I am getting jaded to accepting all music as art and appreciating it, while the other side was wondering if as you get older if you get more out of touch with modern music and its obscure influences. I liked the line in Juno when she says that the Melvins (or some other oft-named deep influence) were just noise. Lester Bangs, rock writer for Cream and Rolling Stone, could explain “noise” better than anyone ever has in rock journalism (there is good and bad noise). As the local variety of radio stations get sacked by the likes of Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Lady GaGa, the sheer amount of music grows to a point where few could possibly keep up.

Speaking of obscure music, Polka has its own history and crowd…

Oktoberfest at Bayfront was an eventful gathering going on the entire weekend. With all the essentials right down to the polka bands, boot drinking contests, and Liederhousen it was a successful event from what I saw. On Sunday it was the boot drinking finals and polka music by DyversaCo and The Jolly Zuks. Three younger men quickly defeated a more age diverse group and took home bragging rights after chugging a giant boot of Brewhouse beer.

At the 3-day event there were also large Bavarian-styled steins made of plastic that had the logo for the festival to purchase for $5 and drink from. There also was a cozy fire, various games and benches made out straw bales that were eventually auctioned off.

Oktoberfest was a great event that was very authentic, and hopefully it comes back next year. The weather was also beautiful, making getting out of the house and enjoying a free festival more enticing.