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(posted 11/3/03)
Questions for Tuscaloosa musicians … answers from Adam Reach, Universal Life and Accident

Adam Reach is one of the Druid City's all-time hardest hitting drummers

These musicians have answered our local music questionairre about the closing of the Chukker.
If you'd like to submit your comments, click here.

Druid City Online ... What was your first experience with the Chukker as a patron? as a musician?

Adam Reach, drums, Universal Life and Accident, Hooper and others ... My initial Chukker experience happened shortly after I moved to Tuscaloosa. I told a friend that I was interested in starting a band. He recommended that I go to the Chukker to meet “musician-types”. My first experience as a musician followed a few months thereafter.

Who is the first band you saw at the Chukker and what do you remember about that night?

The first bands I saw at the Chukker were Kilgore Trout and Flywheel. I remember being awestruck by all of the band names, stickers and hand drawn logos that used to cover the walls of the stage.

Who is the best and worst band you’ve seen at the Chukker and what do you remember?

There have been no bad bands at the Chukker. It’s pointless to attach value to a good or bad show – it’s all creative and musical regardless of how well a band can or can’t play, otherwise, you really just back yourself into a corner. Each person who played on that stage helped to foster an atmosphere (albeit small, but important for those who participated) where anything/everything was possible and simultaneously acceptable. There may have been a few botched performances, broken strings and all, but without the local bands, The Chukker would never have been the place it is to a lot of people, and we certainly wouldn’t have attracted the national touring acts that have played there.

That said, I do have a few highlights in my mind of shows I’ve seen – Man or Astro-man? with Dick Dale (or Bo Diddley, respectively), Nine LB Hammer, The Woggles (nearly every incarnation) Unsane, The Grifters, Paul’s Theory, The Mono Men, The Cynics, The Lyres, and The Oblivians to name a few.

Name as some of the best local bands you saw at the Chukker. Include any information you can remember about those bands.

I remember a lot of bands, but if I forget a few, please smack me on the back of the head the next time you see me. I associate most of these bands with very specific incidents -

The Cunning Runts could play the Chukker, but were not allowed to play the Radio Free Tuscaloosa festival, due to their unwillingness (thank God) to change their name. I mean, C’MON. It was just a name.

Kilgore Trout was the only band to be featured in Rolling Stone. They also had fantastic house parties that touring bands would come and play. Their shows at the Chukker were epic.

The DT’s were the first band to seriously turn me on to what I then called “older” music and what I now think of as the foundation of modern music. They were like Booker T and the MGs, if Booker T had one too many cheeseburgers and couldn’t make the gig.

Sweat Bee were probably the most inspiring band to me, in Tuscaloosa. Not only did the guitar player's mom offer her house as a practice space to just about every band in Tuscaloosa, but also they played with a sense of urgency, almost as if the songs were controlling them, not the other way around.

Gash was the first all girl band that I had ever seen. Some would say that they were horrible; others would say they were just sloppy. Truth is, they were inspiring for even being a band in the first place.

Tim Parish (The Irascibles) was a front man in the truest sense of the word. Ever wondered how Jagger, Plant, or Daltrey did it? Tim Parish knows. He can probably even still tear his way out of a plastic bag to prove it.

Remember when Ram Jam’s classic “Black Betty” became really popular in the late 90s? The Storm Orphans were playing it (and playing it WELL) in the early 90s. This was the one band that showed everyone else how to BE a band (and at times, how to properly use a bandana).

The Frydaddys were the most exciting band I’ve ever seen at the Chukker. They were equal parts sex, comedy, dementia, and danger. Thank God none of us got hurt.

I saw and played with Paul’s Theory, who were not local, but made up of local transplants to Nashville (Che Arthur and Joey Waits). I formed a band with Che, called Clubber Lang, then Universal Life and Accident. I guess the most important thing Paul’s Theory did was show other Tuscaloosa musicians that there was a network of other cities and towns that housed musicians with similar tastes and work ethics. They made me realize that Tuscaloosa was a smaller part of something much bigger.

The most amazing show I’ve ever been a part of was for a band called Hooper. Hooper only played four shows ever, yet we were a band, if only conceptually for 6 years. Hooper was also based completely around the one and only Burt Reynolds and, the movie “Hooper”. (The stunt shots for “Hooper” were shot along McFarland Blvd.) For our final show in 1999 or so, we printed invitations for the show at the Chukker, inviting hundreds of our friends, the majority of whom had moved out of Tuscaloosa by several years. When we showed up at the Chukker, it was like a time warp. It felt like I was a freshman or sophomore again. Everyone that I associated with the Chukker years ago, was there. It was the closest thing to a time warp I’ll ever experience.

Where will you go to see music once the Chukker is closed?

Since I’m currently based in Chicago, I can’t really say…but I’m pretty confident that there will be a steady stream of people who will faithfully play in their apartments or houses. Rest assured that some group of Tuscaloosa musicians are plotting currently – trading various recordings, and talking about their favorite albums. You can count on the fact that these people will formulate a way to play their music for other people. It’s human nature.

What’s the strangest sight or experience you can recall from the Chukker?

Wow, I can only list one? There are so many…. The strangest would have to be when my band Universal Life and Accident (with Che Arthur) were on tour after we’d moved to Chicago. We played the Chukker as the last date of the tour, as a sort of homecoming. The opening band, Model Citizen, played a raucous set – total high octane, fists of fury pumping in the air punk rock. After the last note of the last song, Model Citizen’s drummer broke into one of those long, bombastic, explosive drum fills to end the song. To up the ante, he then walked around in front of his drum kit, yanked his pants to his ankles and shoved a drumstick in his ass. My only thought, as the drummer of the headlining band, was “okay…. how am I gonna top THAT?” Needless to say, nothing was placed in my ass.

How would you describe the Chukker under its current ownership?

I can’t really say since I haven’t frequented the Chukker in 6 years. Whoever is running the Chukker currently should be commended, though, for trying to keep it going. It’s not the easiest task that I can imagine.

When you hear the name Ludovic Goubet (the previous Chukker owner), what comes to mind?

Oh Jeez. I think of all of the creepy, supposed things that were said of Ludo. Then I think of the fact that he was a beacon of opportunity to all of the bands that played Tuscaloosa (most of which were the ones who didn’t agree with how he did business). I mean, when was the last time the Booth had an original band, not mired in fraternal, Allman Brother/Dave Matthews inspired, quasi-Neanderthal activity? Who else in Tuscaloosa stuck their necks out to put on shows at a venue not associated with the University where people could feel comfortable? Hardly anyone else. As bad as it was at times with Ludovic, and as much as many may trash talk him, I guess I think of saying thanks, and shaking his hand. The next thought, is, obviously, washing my hand.

What will Tuscaloosa lose when the Chukker closes on Halloween?

The Chukker was a great place for anyone to congregate, have a beer, listen to music and talk about their days or troubles. It’s that simple. Those kinds of places will still exist, but the average Tuscaloosan will be a little more challenged to search those spots out. Once the Chukker is gone, there won’t be a bar showcasing any original music (unless you think that a bar like the Booth is a showcase for original music, in which case, you should throw yourself in front of a moving vehicle – preferably a bus.)

What do you plan on doing on the Chukker’s final night?

I’m going to play “Freebird”.

Adam Reach is/was a member of these and other Tuscaloosa bands ...
Victor Dog, Clubber Lang, Universal Life and Accident, Hooper

The Chukker closed forever Halloween weekend 2003. Music for the Last Stand of the Chukker was provided by the Woggles, Club Wig, Model Citizen, Sweat Bee, DC Moon and his Atomic Supermen, and The Last Gunslinger. Click here to read more about the history of the Chukker.

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