Sean used to be the local Sony college rep. What this meant was that whenever I needed some free CDs from any of the Sony labels (Epic, Columbia, etc), I?d give Sean a call and he?d hook me up. Sean kept telling me that he was in a band called Special Aviation Project and that I should check them out. Check them out I did ? on the web, and when I saw a photo I decided that I probably wouldn?t like their music. There was a bearded dude in the band that looked like he was a heavy-duty post-hardcore musician who openly worshipped loud music made by angry on-the-fringe punk rawkers. Remembering how Hot Water Music (and, more specifically, their big beards) scared me the first time I saw them live, I decided to pass on SAP.
A few years later Special Aviation Project was reborn as Denovo. Gone were the scary photos of bearded lumberjacks looking like they wanted nothing more than to cause a great deal of harm to you and your family. The Denovo site, to this day, remains one of my favorite band websites. It?s fairly simple but the modest use of Flash impresses me (and I?m thinking about copying the idea for a site that I?m putting together for another band). I downloaded some MP3s from the Denovo site and, whoa, much better than I had expected. Duffy described it as the ?musical equivalent of a South Central hit and run: get in, do your damage, and get the fuck out before anyone knows what happened.?
I finally met the bearded guy and it turns out that not only does he not want to beat me down the way white trash parents beat down their whiny kids at Wal-Mart, he actually has a sensitive side and likes sensitive music.
Denovo celebrates the release of its debut CDEP tonight at Little Brothers. It?s going to be a good show; the boys in Denovo always kick it up a notch when unleashed on stage. Don?t worry, the band doesn?t bite ? get close to the stage, bob your head up and down, tap your foot, and sing along with the Peter Gabriel cover. It?s your best choice for entertainment tonight in Columbus, don?t waste the opportunity.