Angry Asphalt Machine gets the band back together for one last show
In 1994, right in the middle between the end of grunge and the rising tide of nu-metal that would peak a few years later with Korn’s 1999 release “Follow the Leader,” was Angry Asphalt Machine, a steamrolling local hard rock act that was at the top of the local music heap for almost a decade. According to its singer
Aaron Brown, Angry Asphalt Machine even managed to open up for Korn during one of their early tour stops in Bakersfield.
Almost a quarter-century after Angry Asphalt Machine’s last show and 30 years after its formation, the band will reunite — mostly — for an all-ages reunion show on Oct. 12 at Crusader Brewing.
“It’s going to feel like a family reunion basically,” Brown said. “We’re not charging admission, we’re doing it old school. We’re just throwing a show out there, man, and whoever wants to come, it’s all ages, and that’s it.”
Joining Brown in the reunion will be lead guitarist Seth Huggins and bassist Patrick LeRoy.
James Flores will take over drum duties and Dan Eveland will be on rhythm guitar in place of, respectively, original drummer Steve Reid and guitarist Scott Noble, whose other commitments kept them from the show.
Flores is LeRoy’s bandmate in the band Jump From the Bluffs, which will also be performing that evening along with Tall Dark.
During its seven-year tenure, Angry Asphalt Machine had a formidably dedicated fan base that helped win it two Battle of the Bands competitions. The first one in 1994 saw Brown performing in his Foot Locker referee uniform.
Their shows were always packed, intense and wild. Very much living up to whatever imposing image their droll band name might conjure up.
From the looks of it, pretty much all of the band’s music is available online for streaming. It’s a bit of a time warp to hear songs like “All Sk8” from 1996 now and a lot of these songs are definitely artifacts of their time. However, my personal favorite, the song “Sorry” from the “Pig Studios 2001 EP,” one that I remember seeing them perform, was subtly prescient.
The song’s sound — dramatic, soaring, melodic — pointed at the direction the local music scene was heading in. Albeit, for a small pocket of time right after the crest of nu-metal and just before the emergence of the many post hardcore/ emo/screamo bands to come in the early to mid-aughts. Once again, Angry Asphalt Machine finds itself at the crossroads.
“We’re going to do certain songs off of each year that we put out (a release),” Brown said.
“We’re going to do 12 songs (and)
we’re going to actually record it at the same time so we can put that on all the streaming apps too, so we have a live recording of it.”
“The main thing is to hopefully see a lot of old familiar faces and everybody have a good time and just kinda relive that moment again, just for a little bit.”
Matt Gooch, 54, has been friends with Brown since their early years at North High School, bonding over their shared appreciation for Oingo Boingo.
Gooch, with his band Benchmark in the 1990s, has performed with Brown and Eveland and, years later, with LeRoy and Noble in a project that never made it past the rehearsal studio. (Disclosure: I performed in these projects as well.)
“You can be in talented bands and not get a whole lot of attention,” Gooch said. “You can be in bands that ... have a charisma about them. They have something that people like, that people gravitate toward and they (Angry Asphalt Machine) always had that.”
“All of my buddies, they looked forward to going to the Angry shows. It was a camaraderie. They had a talent that seemed to capture their peers’ attention.”
After Angry Asphalt Machine’s dissolution, each of the members dug into their own respective life paths. Brown, now 53, has owned his own electrical company, Victory Electrical Solutions, for the last five years. Reid is a respiratory therapist and LeRoy is a pharmacist.
“We all kinda grew up and got careers,” Brown said.
The idea of a reunion was tossed around for years between LeRoy and Brown but the logistic difficulties behind such an endeavor dampened any enthusiasm in pursuing it. According to Brown, LeRoy pressed on and initiated the reunion by reaching out to the other members.
“We started a whole group text ... started talking about it and we were all in,” Brown said.
The logistical reality they were afraid of set in over those next few weeks with Noble and Reid passing on the reunion due to their other commitments.
Evelend, who now resides in San Diego and who had been a longtime fixture in the band’s circle, and Flores agreed to perform and the event was back on. There was a bit of commuting for rehearsals.
“Out of the few practices that we’ve had, it’s been like we just picked up where we left off,” Brown said. “It’s been pretty cool.”
Revisiting material after so many years has given Brown a different frame of reference between the man he is and the younger man who originally wrote the words he’s singing.
“I enjoy it more now, as far as singing this stuff, than I did back then,” Brown said. “(Angry Asphalt Machine) was my first band, and I would like to think I’ve evolved better as a vocalist.”
“It’s kind of funny. (The audience) is gonna get the polished version (of these songs) at the reunion show better than they did 30 years ago.”
For fans and the musicians, reunions can be a wonderful proposition, but as with any relationship that’s ended, they can sometimes remind everyone involved of the fractures that were there in the first place. The cracks that never left.
At best, it can lead to a reunion like Jane’s Addiction. One filled with a joyful sense of possibility and vitality, the band finding power in its older material thanks to the refound alchemy between its original members. It can even lead to new music.
At worst? It’s the inexplicable violent on-stage altercation that pathetically ends it.
“I think it’s a ‘one and done,’ man. Honestly,” Brown said of the possibility of keeping the reunion going. “We’re just going to knock the dust off it and have fun. Basically, one last road trip and hang it up.”
Even though Gooch and his wife, Bridget, won’t be able to make the reunion, he zeroed in on exactly what the event represents.
“The people that show up there (to the reunion) are truly going to be a testimonial to what the band did for their fans at that period of time and that should speak a lot,” Gooch said. “Because it drew not only fans but a camaraderie of friends that loved what Angry Asphalt provided. It wasn’t just the music, which we all loved, but we loved the people that were involved and the scene that they provided.”
Angry Asphalt Machine’s 30 Year Anniversary Reunion, with special guests Jump From the Bluffs and Tall Dark, 7 p.m. Oct. 12, Crusader Brewing, 5880 District Blvd. Suite 18. Free admission but donations are welcome.