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Abuses at Village Green Records for free Friday the 13th show

Pirineus
Abuses at Village Green Records for free Friday the 13th show

Show celebrates Abusements’ new album, Grievance Beerwater Reprisal, and features special guest Mara Nagra

Friday the 13th is a lucky day for punk rock fans.

With a new album they consider their best yet, Montgomery band Abusements is ready to give their hometown a rare, free, all-ages live show — in a very fitting venue.

The band will be at Village Green Records, 2960 Zelda Road, from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, September 13, to celebrate the release of Grievance Beerwater Reprisal on Tuesday, September 10. They’ll also have music from special guests Mara Nagra, another Montgomery band that blends punk, garage, indie and stoner rock.

“We’re super excited,” said DJ Fake Name, who provides vocals and keyboards for Abusements. “We have an album that we’ve been working really hard on.”

Guests can enjoy the music, purchase vinyl, and there will also be limited-edition large posters available. You can get autographed merchandise from everyone — DJ Fake Name, Dominique Bradley Sr. (drums, engineering, production), Lyra Lyricat (bass, vocals), and guitarists Wil Evans and Jay Hensley.

“It will be a show with a full band and full sound,” said DJ Fake Name.

This is an Abusements show to watch. Although they have played other venues, their last Montgomery show was in April at downtown’s Smash It rage room.

“This is another opportunity for us to support a new and important local business, and also play in a non-traditional venue for an audience of all ages,” said DJ Fake Name.

The Village Green is owned by Travis Harvey and Bear Ponto Rivera, who, according to DJ Fake Name, have created a modern, well-organized record store in Montgomery.

“I have selfish reasons to be interested in their project,” DJ Fake Name said. “I’m one of those guys who never gave up his vinyl collection to begin with.”

Harvey said the show will be held inside the store — they’ll be rolling away the record shelves to make room. When the weather permits, they have plans for future shows scheduled outside on the patio. Their shows are free of charge to the audience or artists, but Harvey said donations will be accepted and greatly appreciated.

“All of our shows are free, and I always aim for them to be all ages,” Harvey said. “We just want to create a really enjoyable, safe and fun environment for people who love music.”

For GBR, the “A” side of the vinyl is “Banned,” “Heaven,” “Adderall,” “Mind,” and “Alabamastan.” The “B” side is “Evel” (about motorcycle stunt master Evel Knievel), “Howard” (Howard Hughes, the billionaire aerospace engineer, pilot, business tycoon, etc.), “G” (G. Gordon Liddy, lawyer and FBI agent in the Watergate scandal), “Unwind,” and “Buzzkill.”

According to the album, the 10 tracks were recorded by Bradley from February 2023 to February 2024 “in a windowless underground bunker in Montgomery…”

Don’t expect to hear every GBR song live at the Village Green, although several of them will be in the set, DJ Fake Name said. This will be more of a greatest hits show.

“It happens fast, and you won’t catch everything, but keep your eyes open and your head up,” DJ Fake Name said. “The songs are short and packed with information. The band moves very quickly from one song to the next. We don’t stop and chat between songs.”

Along with Friday’s show, DJ Fake Name said they’ll be releasing a new music video for GBR’s “Mind” this week. Look out for this one because Abusements are well known for their amazing videos that are usually upbeat and full of sarcasm and irreverence.

So what led to the Beerwater Grievance Reprisal?

Besides the funny interpretation of the name of the band Creedence Clearwater Revival from the 60s and 70s, GBR has a history that is not all laughs.

“The Abusements have been through some tough times,” DJ Fake Name said. “We kind of had some issues here in our home state with people we thought were our friends. It was so upsetting that we ended up not being able, and not wanting, to play in Montgomery or Birmingham because of it. It just left a bad taste in our mouths.”

He doesn’t want to get into specifics about the “small-town nonsense” of 2022 that led to mostly out-of-state shows and the creation of GBR.

“It’s the kind of misfortune that I think can happen to anyone who lives in a place like this and tries to be themselves and live an honest life,” DJ Fake Name said. “Speak the truth and you’re bound to find a lawnmower of recklessness that will try to take you down.”

They used the situation as fertilizer to grow, with a big helping hand from their record label American Leather Records. Along with digital and streaming, vinyl recordings will be available everywhere.

“You can’t just buy this record at Village Green. People will be able to buy this record at Walmart,” DJ Fake Name said. “People can go to Best Buy and pick up the record. It will be available for distribution literally everywhere in America that sells vinyl… I don’t think a lot of people are going to go to Walmart to order our stuff, but it’s possible.”

The New Orleans connection continues

We might have to start listing the Abusements as a Montgomery/New Orleans band, since that’s where two-fifths of them reside.

Both Lyricat and Hensley live in the Big Easy now, and DJ Fake Name considers the city a second home since his daughter also lives there.

“Putting down roots in the Crescent City is a really big deal,” said DJ Fake Name.

They already gained some traction on the New Orleans scene at this year’s Creepy Fest in July.

“I’m not sure if it’s the biggest crowd we’ve played to, but it’s the biggest crowd we’ve played to in a long time,” DJ Fake Name said. “We had the best reception and had a wonderful experience.”

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at [email protected]

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