dB's set onstage reunion at Maxwell's tonight
Tuesday, September 20, 2005

By BRADLEY BAMBARGER
NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

Although they were originally from North Carolina, the dB's were more of a New York band - or, just as accurate (or not), a Hoboken one.

The dB's - pace setters for early '80s indie-rock who led the way for the likes of pals R.E.M. - played some of their first shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Most of the quartet eventually forsook Manhattan to live across the Hudson.

The dB's have reunited at Water Music studio in Hoboken to record their first album in 23 years with the original lineup. Tonight, Chris Stamey, Peter Holsapple, Will Rigby and Gene Holder also reconvene at Maxwell's to air new and vintage material.

Despite critical acclaim for their New Wave-accented power pop, the original dB's were worn down by record company woes. Stamey left after the albums "Stands for deciBels" (1981) and "Repercussion" (1982). Holsapple led the band for awhile after.

Stamey and Holsapple resumed writing and recording together as a duo in the '90s. When the latest tunes seemed to demand a dB's-like rhythm section, they reached out for the real thing.

"We were going to end up trying to get guys to play just like Gene and Will, so we thought we should just call them," Stamey says. Growing up together can provide an indissoluble bond, he said. "We drank the same water for a long time."

The band's official history on its Web site notes that the dB's were among the first acts to play at Maxwell's in 1978, "even before the music room in the back was opened . Many memorable dB's shows took place there.




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Um, this would be know more as a 'preview" to last night's show. I'll have a review up at my blog later today....

Dfactor, save yr snottiness for postablowfish, will ya?