Lafayette expatriates combine forces for sonic explosion at The Spot
BiL correspondent Tim Brouk previews an old home combo show Sunday when Jordan Allen and Scott ‘Scooter’ Guinn bring their bands back to town. Plus, a little of this, a little of that.
Thanks today for ongoing help from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.
Based in Lafayette’s Tim Brouk opens this edition with a show for those of a certain vintage in the Lafayette scene.
LAFAYETTE EXPATRIATES COMBINE FORCES FOR SONIC EXPLOSION AT THE SPOT
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
With a combined 45 years of performing everything from punk rock and garage pop to noise and experimental madness for Indiana audiences, Lafayette expatriates Jordan Allen and Scott “Scooter” Guinn will join forces for a unique sonic experience this weekend.
Both Allen and Guinn have lived in Indianapolis for several years, but the legacies they left in Lafayette still resonate. Punk and rock ‘n’ roll fans of a certain age may remember such 2000s and 2010s acts like Newport Jones and His Fabulous Fixin’s, Wabash Trash, Bossman and His Bad Habits, Sweet Sixteens, Eric and the Happy Thoughts, Trent and the Rippers, ST Dealers, Punk Talk and Doberman, just to name a few, that featured Allen or Guinn.
For the first time, the musicians will share a stage and set when Guinn’s current band Data Unknown merges with Allen’s Share at 6 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at The Spot Tavern. Share will play one set on its own before Data Unknown joins them for another. Opening will be Early Went Blind, Holt Bodish and Kyle Flanagan. Admission is $10 or pay what you can.
While both bands have played The Spot previously, the combined forces of Data Unknown’s electronic madness with Share’s psyche/power pop power trio situation should make for an interesting sound.
“The sonics are crazy. There’s a lot of groove. Short songs and long songs,” Guinn said.
Share and Data Unknown are always recording, and Guinn and his bandmates toured Europe — 21 shows — in late 2024. So, it was during a rehearsal break that I was able to catch up with Allen and Guinn for some insight to their new sounds.
Question: Before we get into the May 18 show, we must talk about Data Unknown’s European tour. How did you guys get the opportunity?
Scott Guinn: Well, this band called Skull Cult was actually going over there, but a month before, they had to drop off. And we were like, “We'll do it.” And we snagged it, and then we just went from (Chicago) O'Hare (International Airport) to Iceland to Heathrow (Airport) to Berlin and then we were there. We did 21 shows in, like, 24 days. Yeah, it was wild.
Question: What countries did you guys play, and what was it like performing overseas?
Scott Guinn: We did Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland through Italy, back through Switzerland, and then back through Germany.
It was just one town to the next, you know? They took care of us. They all fed us. We had drinks and places to stay. It was great. The shows were crazy as far as, like, people didn't know what to expect from us.
Jordan Allen: Can you imagine being in Europe and then Scooter comes up, who is like a perfect representation of like 70 years of rock and roll — one slick-ass man in a jean jacket. I guarantee you some lives were changed.
Question: How does Share contribute to the music in this musical combo pack?
Jordan Allen: (Drummer Tony) Beemer’s such a good basher to walk in with the Data songs and really drive them. And then (bassist) Mark (Tester). Sometimes it sounds like a pretty hypnotic thing. Other times it's just almost like just a’70s punk band or something.
Question: I noticed your guitar playing really shines in Share. Tell me about that aspect of the band.
Jordan Allen: I've always been interested in a lot of different types of music. I focused on fingerpicking for a certain amount of time and then focused on playing extended technique for a certain amount of time and then brought all of that through free improvisation, but I'm still a rocker. I love playing big, heavy, crunchy rock riffs, but fingerpick my way out of it into a squealy-ass solo or something. Kind of still have that route of Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry but with a lot of sonic ground explored in between.
Question: While you’ve both been living in Indy for years, you’ve played back in Lafayette a time or two each since. What’s it like playing in Lafayette after all this time?
Jordan Allen: It’s great. The Spot feels like home. I love The Spot.
Scott Guinn: If I die, you’ll feel my ghost at The Spot Tavern. (In old-timey ghoulish voice) “Oooohh, good evening.”
Question: Since you both have found some musical success in Indy, what does Lafayette need to grow its music scene, in your opinions?
Scott Guinn: Support from the community, just people coming and hanging out and being cool and starting their own projects. Don't worry about what anyone else is doing. Just foster something.
If you go: Data Unknown and Share will play 6 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at The Spot Tavern, 409 S. Fourth St. in Lafayette. Opening will be Early Went Blind, Holt Bodish and Kyle Flanagan. Admission: $10 or pay what you can.
Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He tracks things to do with the (almost) weekly Tim’s Picks for Based in Lafayette.
OTHER READS …
From Indianapolis Star reporter Nathan Brown, for your race day viewing: “Indianapolis Motor Speedway lifts blackout of Indy 500 ahead of expected grandstand sellout.”
Mike Carmin, writing for his Greater Lafayette Sports Report, has a great look at Stephanie White as she starts her first season as coach of the Indiana Fever. As Carm writes: “White has a knack for finding her way back to her home state and adding to its rich basketball history, which she helped craft during her high school, college, and professional playing careers.” Here’s how things shape up in her Indiana homecoming with the Fever: “Back home in Indiana, Stephanie White eyes WNBA championship with Fever: ‘It's great to be back.’”
Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Whitney Downard detailed a conversation this week by members of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education as they sorted through the end of a General Assembly session that produced a “changing landscape for higher education institutions, notably slimmed-down budgets, more state oversight and shifting criteria for certain scholarships.” From the article: “Like most portions of the two-year budget, state funding for higher education took a 5% hit in the final days, triggered by a grim forecast that predicted $2 billion less in revenues over the next biennium.” Here’s more, coming to a campus near you: “Commissioners preview changing higher education landscape.”
THIS AND THAT
COLUMBIAN PARK’S BIG MEMORIAL DAY PLANS: The city has a load of things going on at Columbian Park during Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26 to mark Lafayette’s Bicentennial. Here’s some of it:
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Monday, May 24-26: The Tippecanoe County Historical Association will host a Bicentennial pop-up exhibit in the Columbian Park Carousel Building, showcasing different stories in Lafayette’s history from the founding of the city, Columbian Park and the Wabash and Erie Canal.
Saturday-Monday, May 24-26: Rides on the Columbian Park Express train and pedal boat rides on the Columbian Park lagoon will be $1 – or 200 cents less than the regular $3 fare.
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, May 24: Get half-price admission at Tropicanoe Cove.
1-5 p.m. Sunday, May 25: Open field day at Loeb Stadium, featuring inflatable games, bounce houses, and obstacle courses. Free.
7 p.m. Sunday, May 25: A screening of “Finding Nemo” on the Loeb Stadium videoboard.
1 p.m. Monday, May 26, Memorial Island stage: The Tippecanoe County Veterans Council will host the annual Memorial Day program, featuring keynote speaker U.S. Air Force Col. Seth P. Bretscher.
7:30 p.m. Monday, May 26, Memorial Island stage: Lafayette Citizens Band opens its summer season with its Memorial Day and Lafayette Bicentennial Concert. The Riverboat Ramblers will open at 6:45 p.m.
ICYMI: THIS WEEK’S ‘MARKET REPORT:’ Heading to Saturday’s Lafayette Farmers Market? Check out Based in Lafayette’s latest feature.
Thank you for supporting Based in Lafayette, an independent, local reporting project. Free and full-ride subscription options are ready for you here.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
"Expatriate," not "ex-patriot." "Expat" is a suitable abbreviation.
"...“changing landscape for higher education institutions, ..." Republican political takeover of our higher education entities. Anyone paying attention will choose some different state for their education.