Preview: Super Awesome Macho, Dead Hand of Man / October 3 / Casa
By Marc Blanc, Contributor
Casa Nueva / Friday, October 3, 2014
“Less Talk More Rock Lets Go.” Ernest Hemingway ignited the “in six words” obsession of English teachers and NPR. TX (Texas) Pete Wildman of Super Awesome Macho personalized it for me in the spirit of rock and roll with disregard for convention.
Wildman sings for the Macho boys, and true to his band’s name, is bringing testosterone-injected barebones rock music to Casa Nueva on Friday. The quartet plays the “good ol’” abrasive rock that many say is on decline. Flaunting in-your-face jams like “Pill Poppin’ Mama,” though, Super Awesome Macho does not seem to care about expectations.
Travelling from rock capital Cleveland, Friday’s show is the first of Macho’s two-month, six-concert series. Venues diverse as a record store and bowling alley have slated the group as headliners through the end of November, with only a Reverbnation of four basement demos to go on. Wildman said his band possesses mastered songs, which should be released by November’s end.
Largely focused on earning a following in northeast Ohio since forming in 2012, the band has not played Athens before. Luckily, Wildman is acquainted with local rockers Dead Hand of Man.
“Bram [Riddlebarger, Dead Hand frontman] and my wife, Sugar, played together in a band called the Wailin Elroys for a time,” Wildman said. “Bram and his family would have my wife and I come visit.”
Riddlebarger’s hand was quite alive in organizing the show, as he was “returning the favor” for all the times Wildman had him up for northeastern Ohio shows.
“They’re a really fun band,” Riddlebarger said of Macho. “We’ll be heading back up to Cleveland and also to Canton over the next few months to play a few more shows [with them.]”
Similar to the Cleveland quartet, Dead Hand is an exercise in simplicity, with only three members playing nothing fancier than, as the band's Facebook says, “rockandroll.”
“I’ve always liked working as a trio…but I have been looking for another guitar player to play with us a bit, perhaps not full time,” Riddlebarger said. He is currently writing Dead Hand’s debut full-length, which is pushing him to press the band’s sonic limits. He hopes to begin recording in October or November.
Weird Science is joining Dead Hand as local support. The foursome recently played Wheels On Fire Skate Jam in Athens, as kids kickflipped to the classic punk sounds combusting in Weird Science’s stage laboratory.
Bum, from Cincinnati, is presumably train-hopping to the show, but the band could not be located online.
Sources have reported various showtimes, but the earliest time is found on the flyer: nine p.m. Admission is $5 for those of drinking age, $7 for those below.
