WANT TO GO?
Who: Guided By Voices with DTCV
Where: Oddbody's Music Room, 5418 Burkhardt Road, Dayton
When: 8 p.m. Thursday, June 23. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Cost: $22 in advance, $27 day of show
More info: 937-813-4272 or www.oddbodys.com
Artist info: www.robertpollard.net
Guided By Voices continues to defy the odds, recently reforming for a second time since breaking up in 2004. The revived indie rock act is preparing for a summer tour with more than 20 dates, including a performance at Oddbody's Music Room in Dayton on Thursday, June 23.
The band was scheduled to perform at the local rock club in 2014, but canceled that show and 10 others when leader Robert Pollard pulled the plug on the “classic lineup” mid-tour. Now, a different version of Guided By Voices is making good on that cancellation. Limited tickets remained for the Oddbody’s concert at press time.
“When we booked GBV this second time, we fully expected a sellout, even on a weekday,” Oddbody’s owner Neilson Hixson said. “C’mon, it’s Guided by Voices in Dayton! It was unfortunate the cancellation happened of the first show we had on the books with the band. But as you learn in this business, ‘stuff’ happens — no hard feelings — everyone moves on.
“And we’re thrilled we have a chance to make another show happen,” Hixson added. “This is an important band to Dayton. This is an important show for their hometown fans.”
Guided By Voices has had a unique history since forming in Dayton in the early 1980s. The indie rock act spent a decade in obscurity before becoming a hip buzz band in the early 1990s driven by Pollard’s seemingly endless string of short, hook-filled songs and the band’s incendiary, booze-fueled live shows.
>> MAKE YOUR OWN GUIDED BY VOICES SONG NAME
Pollard ended the band in 2004 and turned his focus to solo albums, collaborative projects like Boston Spaceships and Circus Devils and exhibitions for his visual art. However, in 2010, the former school teacher reunited the “classic lineup” of Guided By Voices for a Matador Records showcase in Las Vegas. This version, featuring Tobin Sprout (guitar), Mitch Mitchell (guitar), Greg Demos (bass) and Kevin Fennell, enjoyed a four-year run of live shows and released six new albums before breaking up again in 2014.
Despite an ongoing flow of solo Pollard albums and releases with a new group called Ricked Wicky, the ultra-prolific songwriter couldn’t completely shelve GBV. The band, which has had more than 20 members, including this writer, is back with a new lineup. This version features former member Kevin March (drums) and Daytonian Nick Mitchell (guitar), both of Ricked Wicky, and newcomers Bobby Bare Jr. (guitar) and Mark Shue (bass).
Thursday’s Oddbody’s show is Guided By Voices’ first hometown appearance since participating in the Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival in September 2012.
>> A brief history of Robert Pollard's Rockathon Records
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