What a crazy transitional time period this was! Two months prior, the Twin Towers in New York had been destroyed in the flames of 9/11. The dotcom bust was just around the corner (though some—like me—would argue that Ohio had been in an economic downturn since about 1998).

The punk rock touring band network which had raged so strongly from Black Flag to the present was, well, flagging.

Everything felt like it was about to take a permanent nosedive.

But perhaps our the paranoia was particularly acute because we were worried about our venue—our home, Speak In Tongues. Would it go go kaput after a long run? There were ominous signs.

Rumors abounded that the communists upstairs were selling the building (Cleveland had the oldest extant IWW party chapter in America and they held Speak In Tongues’ lease). There were strange people poking around. What to do?

SIT had recently switched to a collective structure and I was a member, so I decided to take advantage and book as many shows as possible. Drummer / bandleader / composer / only constant member Weasel Walter and his Flying Luttenbachers from Chicago were old friends at this point (the story of how we originally connected at the Phantasy under hostile optical gunfire from the staff of Alternative Press deserves it’s own post someday). I had always felt the Luttenbachers were not well served by local clubs and bars who, at this moment in time, were not so jazzed about the jazz.

Could I do better? I lured the Luttenbachers and Ex-Models to Speak In Tongues. Could SIT turn it out?

Well I’m happy to announce that we did. We freaking packed the place—on a Tuesday in December even—and had an exceptional show.

I snapped photos when I could (on a disposable drugstore camera—digital was still priced in the stratosphere) in between doing door duty. See below.

You should listen to this contemporary Luttenbachers album while you view the pix

Thanks once again to anyone who came to the show! And PLEASE hit me up if I missed a name or mixed up some details. I have no excuse except my brain is shot!

Love ya’s….

Weasel Walter of the Flying Luttenbachers

Ex-Models

Katie Woznicki, Demetri Inembolidis

Allergic To Whores: Lewis Mansfield, Mike Meier, Ray Terry

Stanton Thatcher, Ryan Smith

Nat Smith, Paul Sydorenko, Marc Anderson

Melita Katanovic, John Greiner

John Delzoppo, Todd Pressler, Brendan

Jonathan Hischke of the Flying Luttenbachers

Weasel Walter

Alex Perkolup

Racqui Minwell

Since social media had not yet been invented, after the show I pasted these photos on a board and hung them in Speak In Tongues so folks could see what happened!

Love the Luttenbachers? You’ll love My Name Is Rar-Rar and Lozenge

Here’s SIX years of Speak In Tongues photos, clippings & stories from my collection

This classic Speak In Tongues show inaugurated over a decade of DIY shows in L.A.—read about it

I was the Easter Bunny for GSMF & the craziest Speak In Tongues show ever

Need more Cleveland insanity? I skipped the last Nirvana show to book my first concert

Read more about the Cleveland scene in U.S. Rocker

Follow me on Instagram for classic show photos and more!