THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702060169
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: BEACH BEAT
SOURCE: John Harper
LENGTH: 47 lines
One Step Beyond, a Virginia Beach trio, performs Friday and Saturday at Kelly's in Nags Head.
Guitarist Scott Landry, drummer David Simmons and keyboardist/guitarist Todd Washburn will be familiar to Outer Banks music fans. The musicians were formerly members of the late '80s group Panic.
While Panic had a grungy, alternative sound, One Step Beyond is awash with three-part harmony singing, cranked-up guitars, a synthesizer-induced bass line and the rhythm of a flat electronic drumset. The band, which takes its name from a song by Madness called ``Our House,'' specializes in '80s pop music, covering songs by MTV bands such as Modern English, Devo, Flock of Seagulls and Human League.
Highly danceable, One Step Beyond's music takes its audiences back to the days of skinny ties, pink eyeliner and lead singers with Eifel Tower-sized hair enriched by industrial strength Dippety Doo.
One Step Beyond plays about six nights a week, mostly in Hampton Roads. But the band's fan base is growing. The first wave of '80s kids, soured on the whininess of the alternative/grunge of the last few years, wants their early MTV music back.
And the power pop band of Simmons, Washburn and Landry is just what the doctor - or psychiatrist - ordered. There's no way to be depressed after listening to the dance groove-infused ``Tainted Love,'' ``Rock The Casbah,'' ``Whip It'' and ``I Melt With You.''
``Musically, they're real good,'' says Kelly's owner Mike Kelly. ``And they play a lot of stuff we don't hear very often. That's why I like them.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
One Step Beyond, a Virginia Beach trio, performs Friday and
Saturday.
Graphic
AT A GLANCE
Who: One Step Beyond
Where: Kelly's, milepost 10 on the bypass
When: Friday and Saturday
Cost: $3 cover charge.
For more information call: 441-4116