DATELINE: Gainesville Fairgrounds, October 15, 1997
A day of chaos took Alachua Music Harvest patrons by storm Saturday, as a tornado ripped through northern Alachua County late that afternoon. Music fans sought shelter in hastily constructed tents and under their cars when high winds swept through the fairgrounds, sending debris through the air and toppling sound equipment. "We thought it was part of the show," said Amber Mitchell, a 21-year old junior at the University of Florida. The strong gusts even sent records flying through the air as a sales booth of a local record store collapsed. The tornado was called off, however, after numerous complaints from angry concertgoers.
At 6:05 PM the music resumed as Florida metal pioneers Stranger took the stage to defy the narrowly-averted natural disaster. Just returning from a tour of Russia, the band has adopted a new look as lead vocalist Brent Tantrum has ditched his trademark long hair for a closely cropped cut. Tantrum remarked to the crowd that he still loved us all in spite of the devastation wrought by the twister.
Up next was what many concertgoers deemed the strangest act of the day. Greg "Gregory" Palmer, frontman and the brains behind the DuGaul Bible Band, explained the phenomenon to me before the show.
TW: Greg, what possessed you to write the "Great Circle of History?"
GP: Hey man, you got a cigarette?
TW: I notice that you occasionally read lyrics from a notebook. Did you
write the songs before the music or vice versa?
GP: Uh, Martha Quinn's great circle of herself. Hahahahaha.
Returning once again as the backbone of the DuGaul players, Chris and Todd Campisi regularly make due with cracked cymbals and broken guitar strings. "They're not ours," remarked Chris as he wiped his rain-soaked brow. "We got them out of the garage I live in. We've only played out twice before."
The DuGaul combo skipped their way into the first song as Greg prepared himself by staring at the microphone intensely. Chris played a few basic chords and glanced at his brother. "Can't Explain?" he queried, almost rhetorically. Palmer seemed to add his own little twist to the lyrics. "Things you do, 'cause I just feel you, 'cause I can't explain, things you do, ooo ooo, ooo."
The band went on to play its easily recognizable hits such as "You're Better On Ice," "Martha Quinn" and the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday," devolving into a crescendo of noisy thumping and moaning.
"I think what the DuGaul Bible Band brings to the world is a sense of realism" remarked Chris as he packed up. "You just can't beat Greg singing about little drops of water boring holes in his head."