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(posted 10/22/03)
Questions for Tuscaloosa musicians … answers from Ken Adams, Club Wig
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?

Ken Adams, drums and vocals, Club Wig ... I think the first time I went to the Chukker was to see the Primitons opening for Guadalcanal Diary, way (way way way) back when. The first time I played at the Chukker was in the fall of 1984 with the Cowboy Kings/Casual Love. There was a real zeitgeist moment back then when a bunch of bands started up at more or less the same time independently of each other. I think it was a case of Tuscaloosa consciously trying to emulate what was going on in Athens. R.E.M. was just getting big, and we didn't see any reason that we shouldn't follow. Little did we know ... That first gig was a big drunken mess, setting the stage for many, many more drunken messes in the years to come.

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

See above. I remember that it was crowded and fun. Bands back then set up on the floor by where the door is now. I was in my last year of school at the University, and I can't remember why I didn't find the place sooner, if there just weren't a lot of shows before then. I usually went to Lee's Tomb or Soloman's to get drunk and watch bands, even though the bands that played those places were miserable hair metal cover bands. I didn't know there was anything else out there. Dan Vogt and I and some friends tried to form a heavy metal band! A really, really bad heavy metal band... The Chukker was really the first place I found that actually had cool bands that played music I actually liked. I used to listen to bad music for fun, then I listened to good music.

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

The best band I saw there was easily the Replacements in 1984 and '85. They were at the peak of their powers. The shows were just drunk enough to be loose and wild without crossing the threshold into fun-but-not-that-fun. They covered "If I Only Had A Brain". They were really, really spectacular. Those were the best shows I've ever seen. The worst band I've seen there is probably something I played in. I've thought many times after clearing out the bar in two songs that I was in the worst band in the world. 'Nuff said.

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

One of the best bands I ever saw there was Great Pumpkin. A great band led by a really talented guy named Jim Jones who didn't lead anyone to commit suicide. Except maybe himself. (Whatever happened to that guy?) Other than that, I most liked the Woggles, Ray Buttram, and any band with Tommy Sorrells in it. That man is handsome!

What do you remember about some of the social events the Chukker used to host ... WonkaFest, VooDoo Love Fest ... ?

Not a whole lot. The overall impression I remember is that there were a lot of drugs around for those things. I generally didn't partake, so I just kind of observed lots of people going out of their minds. Of course the Willy Wonka in most of those parties was Walter Alves, who is hopefully still alive and will be around the Chukker Halloween to pass out more LSD. The big WonkaFest I remember was the first Club Wig reunion right before I moved to Portland. It went over well enough that the Wig reformed after I moved. Not sure what happened after that. But the greatest social event at the Chukker that I remember centered around the weekend Greg Staggs got married... That was the big Club Wig reunion, Instant Karma reunion, Casual Love reunion... So many worn out people infused with the spirit...

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

I don't go out much anymore to see live bands. So it's no huge loss for me. It's "the kids" that will suffer.

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

Adolf the midget sailor onstage stripping to the music of Club Wig. This may have been the night he bummed a ride off me to go to the Shiloh across the river in Northport. He drunkenly told me he wanted to die, so he was praying to get in a fight with the hillbillys there. He begged me not to kill him. That was some crazy midget.

How would you describe the Chukker under its current ownership?

I've only been a couple times since they took over. I was real impressed with the improvements to the PA equipment. It seemed to me like they gave it their best shot.

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

I remember when Ludo first came to Tuscaloosa. He used to jump on stage with Club Wig and kind of take over the proceedings. I ended up playing bass in his band Indoor Samba Picnic when it started up. We had one really memorable gig playing at an elementary school. I remember looking over at Row Bear and Dan Hall and thinking "That crazy Frenchman". It was a fun show. As a bar owner, he was always pretty solicitous of me and the bands I played in. He always liked me a lot, we got along well, and I used to admire his willingness to try new things creatively. Some of his actions, personal and professional, over the years have diminished my admiration.

What will Tuscaloosa lose when the Chukker closes on Halloween?

Alabama's a place that goes overboard celebrating the "heritage" of the state, good, bad, or otherwise. But the people of Tuscaloosa don't seem to give a shit about the heritage embodied in the Chukker. To me it's indicative of the general exhaustion of rock music. Do people still want to start bands anymore? Do they want to listen to them? The fact that the Chukker has had trouble for years getting people interested in listening to underground/non-slick music indicates that all signs point to "no". It seems like there was a bubble of a few years, a decade or so, where things were cool. Now it's over.

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

Playing drums. Screaming.

Ken Adams is/was a member of these Tuscaloosa bands ...
Cowboy Kings/Casual Love, Club Wig, Instant Karma, E. Brobston and the Clevertones, Opus Dopus, Far Cycle, The Fish, Crying Jags

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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