“What, you mean a night of sloppy, drunken, under-rehearsed fucking rock and roll?” guitarist and vocalist Yod Crewsy (Paul Roalsvig to his family) said of his band’s garage rock, rough power pop and surf influenced rock and roll when told of how long some people had waited for this show.
The show had been long awaited by some; Dark Marbles left Buffalo about 10 years ago when Crewsy, after graduating from the State University at Buffalo School of Law, moved to NYC, where he works as an immigration attorney while living in New Jersey with the rest of the band. Crewsy was also the guitarist and vocalist in the SplatCats (Mercenary/Celluloid Records) and the JackLords (Skyclad Records), both also featuring bassist Casino el Camino, now the impresario of the Austin nightclub that bears his name.
Crewsy is joined in Dark Marbles by Peter Quilla (ex-Vigilante Cowboys) on lead guitar, Deb Schuster on bass (which she also plays in the all-female rockabilly band Catspaw) and Tony Stuppiello (ex-Speedcrazy) on drums.
Next up for Dark Marbles was another JackLords’ song, “That’s the Way It Should Be,” with the band’s rock and Crewsy’s shout singing joined by his JackLords bandmate and current Steam Donkeys’ vocalist/guitarist, Buck Quigley, who, after doing his best to out drink the house, tripped going on stage and knocked over a monitor. Following two more covers by the full band, “Another Girl, Another Planet” and the Plimsouls’ “Oldest Story in the World,” Crewsy and Quigley performed Nick Lowe’s “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding,” which was plenty rough in some spots (harmony? What harmony?).
Throughout the show, Crewsy’s Vox Teardrop playing, with plenty of surf and fuzz, was more than complemented by the tough, chunky but still melodic
Telecaster of Quilla, while Schuster’s fluid bass playing was countered by the muscular drumming of Stuppiello. Accompanying all of this was some rather impressive dancing by Crewsy’s wife, Alex, who also took over some backing vocals when Quigley finally succumbed to the effects of alcohol.
Leading into that, Quigley joined Dark Marbles in a raucous cover of “I’m Waiting for My Man,” with Crewsy particularly inspired enough to do his almost patented squirming, herky-jerk dance at the microphone while singing. The band finally ended with ”I Gotta Go” and, due to my apparent advanced age and/or failing hearing and memory, my notes say “Boys’ Night” but I’m not 100 percent certain.
There doesn’t appear to be a SplatCats’ reunion in the cards, and the JackLords played for the first time together in almost 13 years last year (after their scheduled Nov. 30, 2002, show was canceled due to the record blizzard we had here in Buffalo), so this show provided the previously mentioned fun and way more; we friends were able to get together and enjoy good music and ourselves again.
