Nuttiness: Get freaky at the Pudhouse

Published online 4:40pm Thursday Aug 1st, 2002
and in print issue #0126 dated Thursday Aug 1st, 2002

By Mark Grabowski

If you, by which I mean you–the member of the counterculture, hip kid, and all around with-it individual– could choose an event from the following list to occur in Charlottesville over the next eight days, what would it be?
1) A puppet show
2) A three-band rock show
3) An anti-establishment “Flying Circus” featuring fire eating/breathing, dancing, body painting, and workshops on Cooperative Living, Bookbinding, GenderQueer (I’m not positive either), and the Secret Uses of Shopping Bags
What if I was to tell you that all three can be yours, and so much more, for the grand total of $7?
Yes it’s true: for three days this summer, Charlottesville will be making up for years of wasted sleepy summer afternoons and retiring early– this summer, things are getting freaky.
On the August 4 at the Pudhouse (the place for free rock shows, 106 Goodman St.), Food Not Bombs, Critical Mass, and the Viperfish Puppet Collective present the first performances of CrimethInc.’s “Flying Circus,” and a three day festival’s puppet show. CrimethInc. ( HYPERLINK http://www.crimethinc.net crimethinc.net), purports to be an anarchist “secret network of agents” (ignore the illogic of the group having a website). The idea of this show seems to be informing the masses through entertainment– i.e. prepare to be talked-up. The co-scheduled puppet show is sure to continue the trend of subversive entertainment, and that’s about all I can tell you about that.
On August 5, at Tokyo Rose, the circus and puppet show kicks it again, accompanied by musical guests Stars of the Dogon from Baltimore, the Fatales from Blacksburg, and local group Kid Dream & the Gang Got Shot. I haven’t heard SOTD, but I can tell you a little about the Fatales and Kid Dream.
The Fatales play loud indie-punk: blaring guitars, soft/loud dynamics, and simple lyrics– the group definitely can provide rock-addicted youngsters with the hit they so desperately need. If you are a fan of catchy songs, some well-placed synth, and a singer who sounds like a more falsetto-inclined Rivers Cuomo (Weezer’s main man), this is the show for you.
Kid Dream & the Gang Got Shot also pack some heavy melodicism, but usually they play a more acoustic striped-down set than the Fatales– heartbreaking, eye-watering songs about amusing things would be how I would describe the group.
August 6 brings this three-day fiasco to a close– at 1pm, the circus and puppet show perform for the last time in Lee Park, and for all you non-nine-to-fivers, this show is going to be free. Three days of madness, at least two big events happening at the same time, all the time– goddamn, it sure sounds like anarchy to me.

Meet & greet the Circus and free food, August 4. Free, 4pm. Circus and Puppet Show at the Pudhouse, August 4. $2 or donation, 7pm. Circus and Puppet Show, with musical guests Stars of the Dogon, the Fatales, and Kid Dream & the Gang Got Shot, at Tokyo Rose, August 5. $5, 9pm. Circus and Puppet Show at Lee Park, August 6. Free, 1pm.