Local bands get bumped from Marquee due to weather
By JENNA DUNCAN
Get Out
April 2, 2004

It was supposed to be an easygoing, intimate bill of friends Friday night at the Marquee Theatre. But plans got changed last minute when all-day showers rained-out stages at the outdoor Tempe Music Festival.

Stage areas set for performances by Cake, The Ataris, Ima Robot and other bands were drenched in an unexpected downpour so the show was quickly moved to the main stage of the Marquee Theatre, just across the Mill Avenue Bridge from the festival site.

Meanwhile, local talents Reubens Accomplice, Ticker Tape Parade, El Oso Negro and Reggie Patel planned to play to a closer knit, more casual crowd on an eye-level stage erected in the lobby of the venue.

“Of course I’m disappointed,” said Aaron Wendt, 29, of Tempe, whose band Ticker Tape Parade was bumped from the lineup. “But at least Reubens (Accomplice) got to play.”

By the time concert promoters were notified of the venue change, around 5:30 p.m., a three-foot-tall, rented stage had already been assembled in the lobby of the Marquee. Special hooks were drilled into the ceiling to support Reubens Accomplice’s hand-painted backdrop. Set up took nearly five hours, according to Charlie Levy, a local music promoter who often books shows at the Marquee.

“We had guys hired who tore it all down in half an hour,” said Levy. “It was alright because all the bands still got paid and we could move the show to next month.”

When Reubens Accomplice took the stage at around 10:15 p.m., a rambunctious crowd heartily cheered them on. Although the sound seemed a little unbalanced for much of the set, singer/guitarists Chris Corak and Jeff Bufano rocked through several songs from their newly-released album with the same fervor and finesse as if they were playing for a cozy crowd of 50.

Drummer John O’Reilly, who customarily flies into town from Brooklyn, N.Y., just days before a Reubens Accomplice performance, seemed thoroughly prepared, matching the easy-glide spirit of the show with rhythmic grace and soul.

The set was cut short by flashing house lights and a tight revised schedule.

Levy said the lineup of local bands that were bumped would be tentatively rescheduled for May 14. According to Ian Stupar, 26, writer/singer/guitar-playing talent behind El Oso Negro, the lineup for the show should stay the same, but Melodrone is not expected to perform.

“It’s for the best. What was there to do?” said Stupar. “As long as Reubens (Accomplice) gets to play. It’s supposed to be like their unspoken CD release party.”

Stupar, who is in the process of recording with El Oso Negro, plans to polish up a CD for release this summer.

“It worked out well,” said Megan Jefferies, a non-profit consultant from Tempe. “I didn’t know much about the bands who came on before, so it was a bonus.”

Meanwhile, not everyone was appeased by the last-minute rearrangement.

“This wouldn’t happen in a real city,” said Brendan Murphy, 27, of Phoenix. “Especially with the Reubens Accomplice CD just being released. It’s a shame it got pulled out from under them.”

“But, on the other hand, maybe it’s good for them,” said Murphy. “Maybe they’ll get exposure from all the people who came over from the Tempe Music Festival.”