Americanarama 8
June 18th &19, 2004 Mohawk Place, Buffalo, N.Y.
by Kevin J. Hosey
Two Cow Garage
The eighth annual Americanarama music festival, which features the best local and regional Americana, roots rock and alt.country bands as well as food and other events, was missing one of its traditional headliners, but a couple other bands more than made up for the absence, filling in parts of the headlining responsibilities.
The Cowslingers from Cleveland, a great mix of rock and roll, punk, country, rockabilly, heavy metal and R, have been the event headliners, along with Buffalo’s the Steam Donkeys (the Americanarama organizers and hosts as well) for years, but apparently have disbanded, although they plan to record one more CD.
Fortunately, there were two bands that stepped up and gave great performances to join the Steam Donkeys in the main role Saturday, June 19, Rex Hobart and the Wrecks, from Buffalo for a little longer, and Two Cow Garage. Each band played songs from current and upcoming CDs and played on the main outdoor stage.
Two Car Garage is a band that I have wanted to see and hear live for a while, but I sadly missed them a couple of months ago when it played at Mohawk Place and I hadn’t heard any recorded music by before this set; holy shit, do these three guys (singer/guitarist Micah Schnabel, bassist/singer Shane Sweeney, drummer Dustin “Spanky” Harigle) rock. There are serious amounts of country, punk Southern rock and hard rock blended together here with a lot of intensity and even desperation. As the band’s press release noted, they wanted to get out of their small Ohio towns and play, and between the show I caught here and reports of their other shows, they are on their way to some attention and success. Among the newer originals Two Cow garage launched into was “135” (if I heard Schnabel correct), meaning where he graduated from high school from a class of 142; his lyrics and the slightly laid back playing added some reality to the legendary/romantic notions many people have of their graduation days. The band then pulled out an absolute demolition of Neil Young’s “F*!#in’ Up,” obviously “Fuckin’ Up,” from his underrated “Ragged Glory” CD.
Rex Hobart and the Wrecks
Micah Schnabel revving up the crowd
The song, a rave up about how the singer keeps screwing up things but keeps on going, was raw in Young’s recording, but Two Cow Garage turned it into an anthem for those who don’t have daddies as presidents or parents who are politicians, professional athletes, company owners or overpaid entertainers, who don’t live in the glamour areas and who get dirty as part of everyday life. Sweeney sang the lead in a voice that sounded as if his vocal chords had almost been ripped out, but it worked. I thought Two Cow Garage frequently sounded like a countrified version of the very early Goo Goo Dolls, almost all adrenaline and energy driven punk rock; former Snot! Co-editrix Robyn Conniff noted that they sounded like “the Redd Kross of alt.country,” another pretty good comparison. To add to the fun, as the band “ended” its set, it pulled out a false ending so that Harigle and Sweeney could switch instruments,
Val and I got the chance to talk to Sweeney after the set; he was very appreciative of our compliments for the band as well as the treatment and cooking he and Two Cow Garage havereceived from rock and roll chef and host Marty Boratin. When asked about cities the band has played, he listed the top four to play, in no particular order: St. Louis (where the band recently played Twangfest), Chicago, Austin and Buffalo.