Speak In Tongues legends Sarge & Franklin photographed by Scott Badovick, 1998

This was a classic Speak In Tongues show—excellent music all around! And fortunately we have these incredible photos courtesy of the brilliant photographer Scott Badovick.

And, uhh, I think these photos sets are both from April 16, 1998. Sarge and Franklin definitely played together on that date.

Listen to Franklin on Spotify while you view this post

But maybe these are two photo sets from two different shows? (The Franklin photos could be from August 12th of that year.) Both bands played SIT several times in 1998.

Maybe you know for sure and can help me out?

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In any case, Sarge continued the long, proud tradition of Champaign, Illinois noisy power pop. They were always great live.

I was already a huge fan of Franklin—great name for a band from Philly, eh?

Some of Franklin’s recordings were produced by dub reggae icon and King Tubby protege, Scientist, who was pretty obscure in 1998 outside of DJ circles (in the 21st century Scientist finally started getting the props he deserves).

This was a far-out and audacious production decision by a band on the nascent “Emo” scene. Their album from 1998, Building in A and E, still sounds great.

I interviewed Franklin (specifically guitarist/vocalist Brian Sokel) at Speak In Tongues at the April show, and our discussion appeared in the August 1998 issue of U.S. Rocker.

Download the issue for free here

I wish I had pics of openers Caramel (later Viva Caramel) and The Unknown. Brian and Brian and Ken were important SIT people for many years. We wouldn’t still be talking about the place without their efforts!

All photos by Scott Badovick, from the U.S. Rocker archive.

Get every issue of U.S. Rocker that Scott’s work appears in

Now to the photos…

Enjoy!