September 1986, Stamp Student Union, College Park, Md.
My first semester in college — my first month in college — and a flood of music opened up for me. More bands of all sorts came through the area — more than ever came to Miami — and with DC 10 miles down the road (though it would take you an hour to get there), the chance to see eclectic bands I’ve never heard about was at hand
They don’t do this is as much now, but the height of college radio spurred tours of new wave/alternative bands on campuses. R.E.M. was on one of these tours earlier in the decade, and in 1986 Spin magazine sponsored a college tour with a couple bands — veterans The Call and relative newcomers Screaming Blue Messiahs (to the U.S.) — as the highlights. The host, in a throwback for those who remember, was Larry “Bud” Melman from the David Letterman show. Bud (whose real name was Calvert DeForest) was an older man who would do odd interviews and chores for Letterman, all while wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses and shouting out questions. He would introduce the bands on this night in a mix of defiance and confusion.
I went to the show alone, my roommate was more into rap and R&B (and he got me into some music I would have never known about otherwise), and I didn’t know too many people who shared my musical tastes. I went to the record store on campus and bought The Call’s Reconciled and SMC’s Gun-Shy, both 1986 releases, and prepped for the show.
The Call was an interesting band, very much in the alternative vibe of the time, with cogent lyrics from lead singer Michael Been. It was not quite a Christian band though the words did tilt toward a higher power, but Been was never one to make a big deal about it. The Messiahs were not at all like The Call, with Bill Carter’s shrieking vocals and a cacophony of feedback from noisy guitars making a glorious sound. I was a weird pairing.
I want to say the Beat Farmers were part of the tour, but I didn’t know much about them (and Beat Rodeo was there as well, I think), but SBM and The Call wiped out any memory of the two. The Messiahs were the first to play, and they did well to ensure they left a memory.
Carter, with his clean-shaven head and ferocious voice, tore around the Grand Ballroom stage with purpose. Gun-Shy produced two memorable songs, “Smash The Market Place” and “Wild Blue Yonder,” with the later a pounding sound of rhythm and power chords. Perhaps the reason the Messiahs left such a mark was because they were unlike any other band of its time — part punk, part blues, part new wave, part Brit rock. It was just a 45-minute set, but it was magnetic.
The Call was not nearly as frantic, but Been was a clear and steady leadman who sang with purpose and confidence. Reconciled had two hits — “Everywhere I Go” and “I Still Believe (Great Design)” — with “The Walls Came Down” a hit from a previous album. The album included Peter Gabriel, Jim Kerr, Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson as guest musicians, so clearly Been’s band was celebrated by top artists. “I Still Believe” was delivered with strong conviction, and by the show’s end he had the crowd with him, which was impressive considering the Messiahs’ mesmerizing performance.
I left the show and walked back down the hill to my dorm, happy that I discovered more bands I knew little about, something I do to this day.
