The Black Labels Final Show at Rex Bar in 2014?
I have two videos of The Black Labels playing a surf music show (a reunion show, if memory serves) at Rex Bar in Duluth. The videos were made at 7:58 and 8:20 p.m. on Aug. 16, 2014. However, I cannot find any reference to this band performing at that place and time in the local paper (or anywhere else for that matter).
Does anyone else remember that show and/or have any references to it that you can share with me?
My interest in this lies in the fact that my brother Steve (then known as Gomez) played guitar in this band.
Any tips or clues would be appreciated. Also if there is any interest shown, I will post the videos on YouTube and then share them here.
Either the timestamp on the video is wrong or the show was not promoted, because the Aug. 11, 2014 issue of the Transistor does not list any shows at Rex Bar on Aug. 16. A Rex advertisement in that issue promotes Jon Wayne & the Pain with Soap on Aug. 21 and Andrew W.K. on Aug. 22.
Hey Lundgren! Hope yer doing well.
I asked Marsen about this mystery & he sorted it out: “Gomez’s brother is talking about a private wedding event me and a couple non-Labels guys did as a one-off in 2014. Gomez wasn’t there… [The band] was a 3-piece: me, Ethan Thompson and Eldo Abrahamson. Great set as I recall. We called ourselves “the Straddleblasters” for the 1-off occasion.
“The real last Labels gig was [at the Twins Bar in 2007]… the only one after the Lion closed. It was a favor to the Conscious Party.”
Gomez was definitely at this concert (see original popst): https://www.perfectduluthday.com/2023/07/14/at-the-rex-aug-17-2014/ – it was actually the evening of Saturday August 16, 2014 around 8 p.m. Here’s the original video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyzHZushvh4
Hi Randy~ Ben says that date is definitely the one for the wedding event he’s talking about (for Scott & Heather Mills). He didn’t remember Gomez being there but after checking out the video guessed he sat in on a couple tunes. Your brother might remember more. So definitely not the Black Labels final show, more like a mini Hadjis reunion!
OK, guys. This was Scott and Heather’s wedding date. Private show. It was NOT a Black Labels show. It also wasn’t a “Hadjis” gig because we had another bass player for this set, thus the using of another silly band name – not that it mattered, for a 1-off wedding gig. Both Gomez and I occasionally did other instrumental sets here and there with other combinations of guys, so I must’ve been mixed up when Tim asked me about it. I believe Millis even did a set of surf tunes with us once. After hunderds of gigs, usually played deeply under the influence, I find it all a rather unexciting blur. Clearly Gomez was there, and we were both friends and bandmates of Scott’s, so makes perfect sense. However, this video seems to have been posted to a Mahlbergian youtube account, so I don’t understand the initial lack of information. Unfortunately, after many years of playing surf instrumentals around town, poor quality video snips are all that remain – and also some awful practice session audio which Eldo felt compelled to share online. Hopefully everybody can sleep well now. And CONGRATS SCOTT & HEATHER!