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1w,bifobiWhy did Colonel Smuckers cross the road? G“It’s a natural move, an evolution,” says Larry wiBrandt, manager of the soon-to-be-reopened U-Ark, ctwhich is to be the Colonel’s new home April 24. He suexplained Colonel Smucker’s, the name given to both ™a recent series of Dickson Street entertainment wevents and the place they were held, “was born,grew up and reached adolescence” at the U-ArkBowl. “Now it’s time to leave the nest,” Brandt a,explained. fSo Brandt, with a little help from his friends and Hfellow musicians (a group called the Mutant Fish), is mplanning to move Colonel Smuckers into the U-Ark stTheater, which has been vacant since the quiet deathof the arts center there last winter. £The 1980 version of Colonel Smuckers was hatchedlast summer, when a now-defunct band called TheMalls began playing what Brandt describes as“bubblegum wave,” primarily for partying UAGreeks. The popularity of the Malls paved the wayfor The Banned and eventually several Tulsa-basedNew Wave and Punk groups. In January, The MutantFish came into being, featuring Brandt on bassguitar, Johnny Love on guitar, Margaret Duffy onkeyboards and Gary Anthony on drums.The Mutant Fish are currently engaged inrenovating the U-Ark in preparation for an April 24opening, which will feature them and The Reactors,a punk band from Tulsa. The main theme of theentertainment at the new Colonel Smuckers will bepunk and new wave, Brandt says. “It will be the first‘wave’ stage in Arkansas,” he pointed out.Changes in the theater building include remodelingof the back room to double the seating capacity,leaving space for a dance floor in front of the stage.The film auditorium will be restored to its appearance a decade ago, Brandt says. Sometime mlate May the proprietors hope to begin showing films, with tentative plans to begin with old James Dean classics. “We’ll try to get movies you won’t see on television or in any other local theaters.”The live entertainment at Colonel Smuckers will likely be different from the disco and urban cowboy fare being offered in other Fayetteville clubs. With The Mutant Fish as the house band, and with plans to attract punk and wave groups from Tulsa, Springfield and Dallas, Brandt and his companions hope to introduce Fayettetteville residents to a type of entertainment heretofore unavailable locally.He says the punk music the Fish plays is aimed atevoking response from the audience — something more than polite applause. Brandt says performers at the old Colonel’s often contended with a hail of beer cans from both satisfied and disgruntled fans. “We don’t play love songs,” says Brandt, noting that many of the group's original compositions deal with topics such as a recent sorority house shooting incident. A tune called “Pills” is their theme song. “We’ve made rock n roll in this area dangerous again,” one of the band members says.While the Mutant Fish are reasonably certain their venture will attract sufficient local and out-of-town patronage — and the building will be available to others on a rental basis — they say commercial success is not their primary goal. “We are looking for a piace to play, for ourselves and for others,” Brandt says. “What we’re doing is based on a response. The demand is there. And we’re part of it.”
Newspaper Details
Fayetteville Northwest Arkansas Times
Fayetteville, Arkansas, US
Sun, Apr 12, 1981
Page 37
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
AR, USA 19 Oct 2019
Other Publications Near Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville Democrat
Fayetteville Daily
Fayetteville Northwest Arkansas Times
Northwest Arkansas Times
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