FOLIO
Dogs and rock-‘n’-roll. They just go together. From the late Bradley Nowell’s obsession with his faithful companion and musical inspiration Lou Dog to Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love, from Frank Zappa’s explicit poodle lectures to Parliament Funkadelic’s Atomic Dog, from Temple of the Dog to Snoop Doggy Dogg, canines have found a comfortable home in the music biz. So it makes sense that in order to raise money to fund a Jacksonville dog park, organizers would stage a rock show at, yes, rain dogs.
The proposed dog park, to be opened adjacent to Riverside Park beneath the ever-expanding Fuller Warren I-10/I-95 interchange, hasn’t had an easy time of it. The conservative group Florida TaxWatch has listed the dog park as one of its “turkeys,” a project that it believes should be removed from Gov. Scott’s $77.1 billion budget. The Times-Union recently reported that TaxWatch claims it did not pass through proper reviews, though art patron and Riverside Avondale Preservation founder Wayne Wood responded that the park would “make up for the harm” the ongoing construction has had on the area.
It seems a bit unfair for a watchdog agency (pun sort of intended) to tighten the fiscal reins on something as good for the community as a dog park, what with rampant pork barrel projects, the useless tax suck known as the war on drugs, and the immunity the IRS affords churches and associated “faith-based” businesses. A dog park brings people (and their animals) together, and its location in the heart of Riverside can only enhance the area’s image. And, oh yeah, it’s good for business, too.
Regardless of the hardships, a good portion of the needed money has been raised, but there’s still a healthy chunk left to go — about $65,000. So it’s rock-‘n’-roll to the rescue. On Sept. 19 and 20, a raft of bands will perform at rain dogs. in 5 Points, part of a larger event that includes a silent auction, raffles, and giveaways from local vendors and merchants that Wednesday through Sunday throughout Riverside. As a little doggie treat, Sun-Ray Cinema is screening Christopher Guest’s comedy Best in Show on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. (Guest played bumbling guitarist Nigel Tufnel in the classic mock-rockumentary This is Spinal Tap, simultaneously deepening and stretching to the breaking point the canine/rock-‘n’-roll connection.)
As for the fundraising concerts themselves, the Sept. 19 show features The New Leaves, New Strangers, Jesse Montoya and others. Jacksonville punk mainstay Grabbag joins Moon Cheese Babies, Single White Herpe, Sleepy Trees and other oddly named bands on Sept. 20. It’s my hope that each band will incorporate a dog song into their sets — maybe Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” or Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog.” Hell, I’d even settle for Frampton’s “Rocky’s Hot Club.”
Lest we make too much of the whole pup-pop pairing, it bears noting that rain dogs. uses quite a bit of arf-centric imagery in its décor. You’ve been meaning to check out the Park Street-based nightspot, right? Here’s your chance. The underground vibe of the venue’s backroom lends some much-needed street cred to the increasingly gentrified-looking 5 Points, and the fact that it caters to local original bands of all stripes should be lauded. The low ceilings and dank concrete interior harken to the early days of Dante’s Inferno when it was housed in the Milk Bar, which, in this writer’s opinion, is a good thing.
No word as to whether mutts are invited to attend the concerts, but pooches are often seen roaming around the “front porch” area at rain dogs. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few sneaking in to hear the music and lift a leg in honor of what will, with any luck, be a brand new Riverside dog park in the very near future.
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