THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507190611
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 175 lines
A FAINT WHIFF of patchouli is on the air as a middle-aged man leads a single-file family around a crowd of kids near the Oceanfront. His face registers mild disapproval at the gaggle of hacky-sack players and hangers-out in front of a nondescript building on 17th Street between Atlantic and Pacific avenues.
A young man in mid-'80s art-school uniform - black and more black, with dark glasses, cigarettes and a silver cross on a necklace - stands aloof and alone.
Soon, kids you might spot elsewhere grooving to Nine Inch Nails or Weezer will file up the stairs, having each paid $5 to get in. The staples of attire: sneakers, sandals, baggy shorts, goatees, ball caps and T-shirts.
``Abstinence is Bliss,'' reads one shirt.
It's a Monday evening at the Fire Escape, a near-20-year institution in Virginia Beach. A non-alcoholic nightspot for Christian teens and anyone else who wants it - or needs it, like the runaways who flock to the strip every summer - the club frequently hosts concerts that share the Word.
Tonight, the band is Plank Eye, a major draw on the growing Christian alternative-rock circuit. Composed of refugees from the Southern California punk scene that gave rise to hitmakers like the Offspring and Bad Religion, the quartet deals in a feedback-drenched speed-rock and thumping mid-tempo ballads.
With cryptic song titles like ``It's a Perfect Day Jerome'' and a trailer-augmented Suburban for a touring caravan, they could be any of a thousand garage-spawned outfits sleeping on the floors of friends they make at each gig. (They'll play more than 100 such dates on their current tour, which continues until January.) Pay attention to their lyrics, though, or talk to singer/guitarist Scott Silletta for a few minutes, and the difference crystalizes.
``We just share the things we feel,'' Silletta says of the group's songs. ``We realize that we're only human and only saved by grace. I think everybody's looking for God. People don't always wanna give their lives over to God.''
Later tonight, the modestly comfortable space will hold nearly 200 people, mostly enthusiastic teen listeners who dance and leap up and down in place like old-school punk pogoers. No moshing's allowed, and stage diving is a moot point: The stage is only a foot high.
First, though, there's soundcheck. It's preceded by prayers offered by part-time Fire Escape manager Paul Smith and others who've joined hands in a rough circle.
``Let everything be done for Your glory.''
``We pray that Jesus will work in the hearts of the people here tonight.''
Plank Eye shatters the silence with fast, powerful riffing and a message - that it's what you do, not what you say, that counts with the Lord - typical of its songs. The number breaks up about halfway through; Silletta calls for adjustments in the mix. The discussion ends with a joke.
``Scott, you didn't take a shower this morning, so your ears aren't clean.''
Plank Eye records for Tooth & Nail, a Seattle-based independent label with an eclectic roster ranging from punk to swing. Publicist James Morelos notes that Plank Eye, whose sound he describes as ``real catchy, real pop,'' is the best-selling act among the 20 or so on the roster. Despite Tooth & Nail's secular focus, Morelos says, appealing to a mass of listeners outside the Christian market isn't Plank Eye's biggest concern.
``Their vision isn't necessarily to make it big in the general market. They're a good band, and they're there for whoever wants to listen to it. The kids who buy it really like it.''
Morelos marvels at the size of the Christian-alternative audience in Plank Eye's California home base.
``It's really amazing to see. They can draw a thousand kids to a show. It's not, like, exclusive to Christian kids. There's no, like, drugs and alcohol; it's really positive. If you're moshing and you fall down, they pick you up.''
Like '80s college-radio favorites such as the Replacements and Husker Du, Plank Eye sometimes finds itself facing a wall between its work and the larger music industry.
Plank Eye's most recent release, ``The Spark,'' has sold about 50 copies at the Harvest Company, a Christian-oriented store in Virginia Beach, according to assistant music buyer Ed North. That's a good amount, he says. He also points to Poor Old Lu, which plays the Fire Escape tomorrow night, as a big seller.
``The Spark'' isn't among the Top 20 contemporary-Christian albums in Billboard magazine this week. But Plank Eye has been invited to play a stadium show featuring middle-of-the-road Christian luminaries Carman, Steven Curtis Chapman and Twila Paris later this month.
The California alternative-Christians have garnered attention from mainstream media giants like the Los Angeles Times. Silletta seems pleased to say Plank Eye has been mentioned along with MTV-acceptable bands as a major draw, but also sounds determined to stay true to something like an outsider's status. Between songs at the Fire Escape, he takes time to address the older members of the audience scattered around the edges of the jumping throng.
``God bless you parents for bringing your kids to hear Christian music, instead of a Green Day concert and seein' a guy get naked. That's horrible!''
Does the singer, then, believe that partaking of worldly music is a sin?
``I think it depends on - it's between the person and the Lord. If they have convictions about it, they shouldn't listen to it. I myself don't listen to that much secular music. But there are a lot of good musicians who aren't Christians. I really do enjoy watching them play.''
Not all Christians find it necessary to sever ties with music that doesn't directly invoke the gospel. Folk-rock singer/songwriter Sam Phillips has renounced her past as part of the Christian-music establishment in the '80s. She recently received a Grammy nomination for her cover of ``These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. ''
Nashville-based soft-rockers Fleming & John, who are scheduled to appear at Planet Music on July 29, have touched on spiritual matters in their work. But they insist that they're simply Christians who play music, rather than ``Christian musicians.''
North says that some of his customers listen to both Christian and secular sounds.
``A lot of them come in and say, `I'm getting out of secular music. Can you give me something to listen to?' Or they say, `I like this (secular act), give me something that sounds kind of like this.' ''
Back outside the Fire Escape, Shane Miller, who appears a few years older than most of the crowd, talks about his past as a death-metal fan.
``I found an old secular tape I used to listen to,'' says Miller. ``Pantera. I just broke it up. I think it corrupts your head.''
The Lord has changed his attitude, he goes on to explain.
``I've done a lot of foolish things. Of course, I've got a sober head now. I used to stand in those mosh pits and wait to hurt somebody.''
He views the Fire Escape as a way to avoid trouble.
``You see a whole lot of young people who aren't drinkin', they're not gettin' high, they're here with good people and they're gonna go home and be safe.''
A year or so ago, he helped formed Sublimation, a death-metal band with a difference.
``We just wanna spread the gospel of Christ,'' says Miller, who is the guitarist. ``God's comin' soon, God's comin' real soon, and we wanna tell them about it. Because our music is so heavy, we don't sing about his love so much. We wanna sing about his wrath, too. People who are not saved are gonna have to face his wrath.
``I believe we're the generation that's gonna see the Second Coming of Christ.''
Club manager Barbara Gelnett flips off a wall switch to darken the room. Plank Eye takes the stage with another prayer before slamming into ``Perfect Day.''
The reaction is like a flash on the road to salvation. The audience gleefully leaps up and down. One straw-hatted guy near the back essays some lurchingly funky steps on the checkerboard tiles. The floor shakes as more songs shout from the speakers.
``Words aren't good enough for me.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI/Staff
RIGHT: After the Plank Eye show, Joe Smith of Newport News offers a
prayer.
BELOW: Plank Eye singer Scott Silletta
BOTTOM: Michelle Laird of Virginia Beach dances at the Fire Escape.
Photo
JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI/Staff
Scott Silletta, lead singer for the Christian rock group Plank Eye,
sells T-shirts and signs autographs before the band's performance at
the Fire Escape in Virginia Beach.
Graphic
CONCERTS
Here are upcoming Christian rock concerts in South Hampton
Roads.
Poor Old Lu with Soulfood 76. 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Fire
Escape, 17th Street and Pacific Avenue, Virginia Beach. $5.
459-5724.
God Farmers with Spinning Jenny. Saturday at the Fire Escape.
Strongarm. July 27 at the Fire Escape. $3.
State of Mind. July 28 at the Fire Escape.
Hoi Polloi. July 29 at the Fire Escape. $6.
Fleming & John. July 29 at Planet Music, 4485 Virginia Beach
Blvd., Virginia Beach. Free. 499-6000.
Magnified Plaid with Blenderhead. July 31 at the Fire Escape.
$6.
by CNB