Melanie and the Midnite Marauders, the Undercover Monsters, the Maxies and the Mapes at the Dive Bar, Friday Nov 20, 2015

This evening was MMM's bassist, Denise Heximer's birthday, so for her b-day wish, she asked to open this show! Yes, this is another band that I am playing guitar in, along with Melanie singing lead and acoustic guitar and Clay Heximer on drums. We call it high-energy honky-tonk and cover old-school country tunes. Fun song, fun night with a good, appreciative crowd. Thanks for everyone who came out early and thanks to Nikki Ruffling for the pix!

The Undercover Monsters are an off-shoot of the Maxies with two young ladies on bass and guitar and singing most of the lead vocals. They also do raucous punk-pop, opening with Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Sword of Damocles" and later incorporating L7's "Shit List". Fun, wacky stuff!

The Maxies hail from Greenland by way of Orange County and also perform punk-pop tunes about clubbing seals and such. The crowd was singin'n'bouncin' along with them the whole time and the dedicated some appropriately insulting tune to the birthday gal. Every time I see this group they have different members, so I can't keep track of who is "really" in the band at any given time - keyboards were added this time, for one - but they keep their sound intact.

 

Fighting colds and a long week, we couldn't manage to stay for the madness that is a Mapes show, and it sounds like this one was especially nutz for numerous reasons. In any case, here is the Aftermath of the Mapes- photo by Clay Heximer.