L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, November 24, 2005 6:00 pm
In late 1986, New Brass Guns set up their gear on the stage at Duffy’s Tavern, flipped the switch and became the first band to play at the O Street venue.
Appropriately enough, Saturday night New Brass Guns will be one of the first three bands inducted into the Duffy’s Hall of Fame. They’ll be joined by 13 Nightmares and Leafy Green Things, two of their contemporaries during one of the most prominent flowerings of the local music scene.
So why a Hall of Fame at a club?
“It’s something I’ve been toying with for a while,” said Andy Fairbairn, who books the music for Duffy’s. “It seems like a way to get people interested in bands that were around then and paved the way for the bands today. Without those three bands, the rock scene here would be different — a lot different.”
Neither New Brass Guns nor 13 Nightmares is a household name. But the bands they morphed into certainly are.
New Brass Guns became The Millions, the first Nebraska band signed to a major label in decades. 13 Nightmares turned into Mercy Rule, which also signed with a major label and was acclaimed by the national press as one of the best bands in the country.
As for Leafy Green Things: “They were a phenomenon,” Fairbairn said. “They were probably four of the most technically skilled players the city has seen and they don’t mind showing it off.”
So why not induct The Millions, a band which had lines around the block when it played Duffy’s?
“I thought it would be too easy to do The Millions the first year,” Fairbairn said. “And For Against (another popular band of that era) needs to be the focal point on their own. And For Against is still going. I had to pick some bands that were broken up.”
The band members, who have gathered up photos and other memorabilia, are enjoying a trip back in time.
“It’s been a lot of fun to think back about those days,” said 13 Nightmares bassist Heidi Ore. “Our band was banned from Duffy’s (for calling the place ‘a dump’). We still have the letter from (Duffy’s owner) Reg (McMeen). We’re going to share that Saturday night. We weren’t ever supposed to come back.”
More importantly, Ore said, the Hall of Fame is casting some light on one of the most fertile eras in Lincoln’s musical history.
“The Lincoln music scene existed before us and has gone on, but it was kind of a magical time,” she said. “It’s good to remember those formative years for us. It’s also a great time to honor Duffy’s for what they’ve done for local music.”
Unlike some Hall of Fame ceremonies, none of the three bands being honored will be re-forming for the event, which will be hosted by McMeen.
Each will be represented by a member or two.
Mike Keeling will represent the Leafy Green Things, a band that migrated to Minneapolis from Lincoln. The other three members, Mark Munn, Dan Boardman and Dana Mejele, still live there. Keeling went on to be a member of many influential and popular Lincoln bands, including The Millions, the Self-Righteous Brothers and Ideal Cleaners.
A video of the band, featuring its very fast, very impressive songs, will be played during the induction ceremonies.
Ore and guitarist Jon Taylor will represent 13 Nightmares. Ore, Taylor and drummer Ron Albertson went on to form Mercy Rule. Singer/lyricist Gregg Cosgrove was the fourth member of 13 Nightmares, contributing the angst-filled, sometimes political lyrics that fit the loud, hard-edged music.
13 Nightmares was one of the first Lincoln bands of the ’80s to develop a reputation outside of the city and signed with Pravda, a Chicago-based independent label. The band’s songs will be performed at the ceremony by a group led by Rich Higgins, formerly of Sideshow.
Bassist Marty Amsler and singer Lori Allison will represent New Brass Guns at the ceremony. They became members of The Millions. Allison will join the group assembled to perform New Brass Guns’ songs.
The ceremony also will honor longtime Duffy’s waitress and downtown Lincoln character, Henrietta “Hank” Ogg, who passed away in January.
Duffy’s plans to make the Hall of Fame an annual event and hold it the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The date was chosen because natives often return to Lincoln for the holidays, giving them a chance to come to the club and meet up with old friends or old bandmates and because it does not conflict with a Nebraska football game or other major activity.
There’s a long list of groups that could and likely will be inducted over the years. In addition to the previously mentioned bands, that list includes Such Sweet Thunder, Opium Taylor, Roosevelt Franklin, The Return, Commander Venus, Lullaby for the Working Class, Polecat, Bright Eyes and many others.
With the closing of the Royal Grove and Omaha’s Ranch Bowl earlier this year, Duffy’s became the longest running rock club in Nebraska.
That makes the Hall of Fame there even more appropriate.
“There’s no place left with our history,” Fairbairn said. “It’s kind of left us to be the history keepers, which is OK because we were the history makers in some ways.”
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
If you go
What: Duffy’s Hall of Fame Induction Show
Where: Duffy’s Tavern, 1412 O St.
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Admission: $5