2005-06-20 - 8:13 p.m.
My friends� band Fat Day recently called it a day. After 12 years of consistently amazing, artsy hardcore, the lead singer is leaving Somerville, MA, for Chicago to get married. Such wide geographic dispersal sadly tears apart what different life paths never could. The guitarist still played shows as a corporate lawyer. The bassist became a lab technician and militant Bikes Not Bombs advocate. The drummer is a graduate student here at Brown.
They�re a few years older than me and, years ago, most of them lived in a house together. It was pretty punk (by which I mean �grimy�), but I would often sleep over in their attic on September 1, after my lease had run out and I�d failed to get a new place. The attic generally housed a rotating cast of homeless characters and bands that were coming through town. Also a slightly vintage collection of porno mags (gay and straight).
Their basement was a DIY venue for many shows back in the day. There was usually a party beforehand with a vegan potluck supper (it was a pretty straightedge vegan kind of place). The basement had a ceiling about five feet high, so there was limited opportunity to pogo. But I think some of my happiest times were at shows there. (Of course, the basement was also where I once left a bag of laundry that got thrown out by the singer in a stoned delirium. Ah well.)
The guitarist eventually moved out when he got married and bought a house. But Fat Day kept playing together. I�ve probably seen them more often than any other band. They preferred playing shows in dank basements (sometimes their own) and clothing stores. The best Fat Day show I�ve ever seen is always the last one. They just got better and better. Even without the props, they were awesome. But light-up helmets that play sounds, mini-trampolines, bullhorns.
I restarted my Harvard days in fall 1994 with a Fat Day show at Cambridge�s Middle East Club. I think they played with the always hilarious Showcase Showdown, the August Spies, and someone else (Whorehouse of Representatives?). I started my Brown career in fall 2002 with a Fat Day show (it was a �rock opera� where they tossed around inflatable swans and a giant snake) at Providence�s Monohassett Mills.
When new friend Penelope started her Brown career in fall 2004, I took her to see them at AS220 (with Meiji?). An auspicious beginning for her. I was becoming more disabled and it was the first show I went to as a gimp. It worked out pretty well, as they had tables to sit at and bring your beer and tasty snacks. The band wouldn�t sell me their latest album because it was released by the local Load Records. How punk is that?
Sadly, that was the last Fat Day show I�d ever see. They played at some coffee shop near Brown after that, but I wasn�t in the know for that. (Now that I think of it, a lot of their shows were promoted mainly by word of mouth. If you weren�t in the loop, you�d be SOL.) I�m not even sure if they had some grand farewell show. Feh.
Buy all their albums now, before they go out of print. (Then you can propagate them via MP3.) In fact get everything on 100% Breakfast!, the guitarist�s label. If a part of my youth is gone now, at least it�s leaving loud noises behind.
� 2005 Geoff Gladstone
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