Friday To-Do: Doug McKean and the Stuntmen
DOUG McKEAN & THE STUNTMEN
9 p.m., White Water Tavern. $5.
Vets of Conway's once-thriving punk scene have been on an evangelical tear lately. Doug McKean, former lead singer of the highly vaunted punk quartet the GC5, is bringing his new band back to Central Arkansas. In the early aughts, thanks to a heartfelt letter from a then-16-year-old Matt White asking the GC5 to come to Conway, the Mansfield, Ohio, miscreants became the heroes of local punk venues like the Soundstage. Now manager and booker at White Water, White has maintained his Ohio connections and friendships, lately as a strong champion of Roger Hoover and the Whiskeyhounds, a group that once featured Doug McKean and still includes his brother, Dave. Over a two-night run, Friday and Saturday, McKean will not only unveil his new material to Arkansas audiences for the first time, but according to White, it seems likely that all of the former members of the GC5 will be at White Water, which will mark the first time they've all been in a room together, much less played music together, in several years. Rumor is that Roger Hoover, who's become a barroom star at White Water over the last six months, will also be on the scene. Expect rollicking pop-rock in the spirit of the Replacements and the Faces. On Friday, fiery post-punks the Moving Front continue their domination of 2008 stages, along with Silverton, a young, many-membered folk-pop choir/orchestra that has a lot of buzz about it. Saturday, DJ Barnham of American Aquarium and singer/songwriter Seth Baldy open.
