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Review from Geek America:
You know those days when you're planning on seeing a good
show, and it turns out to be a great show? Those days are so
few and far between, you almost forget that they exist, and
then, when it comes, it slaps you in the face and makes you
smile. That's what happened to me the day I went to see the
Tight Bros, and ended up seeing state-mates Soylint
Green. This band was so amazing I just stood there,
unblinking, waiting to see what would happen next. Their
stage presence alone is enough to write an entire article
about. Whether lead singer/guitarist Leroy Brownstone was
teaching people to dance, or telling about his recent high
school adventures, he was always entertaining. Perhaps the
highlight of the show was when the band played a smooth
rhythmic line and he walked outside whaling his guitar,
leaving it on the steps so he could hop the fence and dance
in the middle of Main Street in Santa Ana, trying to get
cars to stop and have people dance with him. Or maybe it was
when he got on the shoulders of guitarist Joe Ty as he
soloed for their "heavy metal song", which truly held up to
the standards we would place on any classic metal song. I
was so amazed that I didn't even think to run out to the car
to grab my camera. But I did think to stop them after their
set, before they ran off to their next show (2 shows in one
night, how punk is that?) for a few words and a snapshot.
I guess we should just start
with your names...
Leroy: Okay, the second guitar player is Joe Ty. There's me,
Singer/Guitar Player, Leroy Brownstone, Bass Player Lance
Graham right over there and then the drummer is Toad "2
Tuff" Tobin.
And you said you had someone in jail?
Leroy:Yeah... well, that kid over there is named Ty, but
we're calling him Lance because our bass player is in jail
right now.
Joe: Did you introduce me?
Leroy: Yeah I introduced you. Settle down.
Joe: We've got a whole bunch of switch blades, you wanna buy
one?
Where'd you get them?
Joe: Tijuana!
You guys went to Mexico?
Joe: Fuck yeah, man!
Did you play in San Diego?
Leroy: No.
Joe: Sucky-Sucky-Fucky-Fucky! That's all they say to you,
over and over again. They want you to go to their
whorehouse. It's fucked up man, they're like "ride me
horse!"
You didn't go to the whorehouse, but you went to get
switchblades?
Leroy: Yeah, pretty much
Joe: We were looking for a drug store all day.
So you guys are from Washington then?
Leroy: Aberdeen, Washington. But we pretty much say we're
from Olympia because that's pretty much mostly where we
play. There's no shows in Aberdeen.
Is this your first tour?
Leroy: No, this is like our fifth tour. We've kicked down to
California 4 times and been over to Montana twice.
How long have you guys been together?
Leroy: We've been together about 5 years. Since we were
little kids.
You're all the same age?
Leroy: Uh.. He's 21, I'm 18, he's 18, and he's 18... (I
forget who was 21, sorry)
Are you finding your response is getting a little bit
better?
Leroy: Yeah, we're getting a little bit older, we've learned
how to play. You know, we used to be just kids who were out
there and jumped around..
Because I'd never even heard of you guys and it was just
amazing. It's just lucky when you go to shows and see a band
you're not expecting to see.
Toad: That's how it is a lot of the times when we'll play
shows... We'll know like none of the bands on the bill and
then it will turn out that these bands are totally awesome.
It's always fun when you find a good band on the road.
Leroy: Yeah, Tight Bros are awesome, I like to go see them
pretty much every time they play in Olympia. They're
awesome..
So you guys are definitely preaching the rock 'n roll
gospel...
Leroy: --Rock 'n roll gospel... Exactly..
Did you guys always sound like that, or did you start off
more punk?
Leroy: Yeah, we pretty much started off more punk, but we
didn't feel like we were doing the right thing, so we
started off really fast, but we've gotten a lot more towards
blues music and soul and shit like that.
So what do you guys find yourselves listening to these
days?
Leroy: Umm... I don't know, like--
Toad: Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, we listen to some newer
stuff too, but not a lot.
Leroy: Mainly independent, like Tight Bros and stuff like
that.
Toad: Yeah, like bands you'd see at places like this, not
bands you'd see at a hockey arena or anything like that.
Joe: C average, man!
Toad: C average, those guys rock!
Joe: So do Tight Bros, those guys kick fuckin' ass!
Toad: Murder City Devils...
So you guys seem like one of the bands that crazy shit
happens to all the time on tour...
All: Yeah! (laughter)
Leroy: Name some crazy stories..
Toad: Well, on this tour we already have a bunch, the whole
Tijuana incident.
Leroy: Yeah, I almost got taken to jail for 3 days
Joe: But we got killer switch blades...
On what charge?
Leroy: Pissin' in the street! But I got out of it. We had to
pay $40 to the cops, they're so corrupt down there. What
else happened down there?
Toad: You were like "can I pay a fine?" and the cop was like
"yeah, $40" and you say, well, I've only got $20"...
Joe: "Okay! Now get the hell out of my country!"
Toad: Yeah, he said "cross the border" and the funny thing
is we came back an hour later, and we kept seeing the same
cop, and just jumped out of his way.
Leroy: I'm sorry, we've just got another show to go to...
It's okay, I understand. 2 shows in one night, that's
Rock 'n Roll right there!
Leroy: ha! it's the only way we know how to function on
tour.
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