But don’t call it a finale.
Logistically, it seems impractical to fly a bass player in from the West Coast for a one-off gig, not to mention the limitations that puts on rehearsal time. But when asked if a temporary fill-in crossed the band’s mind, the Beds collectively rejected the idea.
“Ultimately, we were all just friends,” said PJ Paslosky, lead singer of the band. “You can make new friends, but you can’t replace them. You either have to start a new band or become a shell of whatever the band used to be.”
When Weidner joined the Beds sometime in the 2010s — though that timeframe is nebulous even from Weidner’s perspective — he became as much an integral part of the band as Paslosky, guitarists Tommy Cooper and Darryl (Derl) Robbins and drummer Ian Kaplan.
“I’ve always been struck by the teamwork in that band,” Weidner said. “Motel Beds had that in a very strong way. Tommy and PJ would write the songs. Tommy and Ian were good at design and had the visual aesthetic down. Darryl recorded the stuff, and I was sort of the logistics guy.”
Motel Beds had a chemistry heard across all the studio records, EPs and singles; it can be retrospectively witnessed in dated YouTube clips, and will undoubtedly be seen at the upcoming Brightside show.
Maybe it’ll take a few songs to knock off the cobwebs. But if this show is anything like the fabled Beds shows, Paslosky will be using the stage as a trampoline (think Iggy Pop if he ever wore a shirt); Kaplan will have the stamina of a wildebeest from behind the kit; Robbins and Cooper will be co-mayors of tone town; and Weidner will thicken the low-end with the long arm bass of the law.
Even after Motel Beds disbanded circa eight years ago (i.e. took that seemingly interminable sabbatical), it was unspoken that they were a great band.
When “These Are the Days Gone By” (2014) arbitrarily landed in the hands of this writer around 2017, he had no idea the significance of the record’s title, given that the band put the amps on standby by then. But that compilation album of previously released material transcended the expectations of what a local band could do.
The band released its last LP, “Mind Glitter,” in 2015, followed by a seven-inch split with Nate Farley & The Firewatchers on Record Store Day in 2016, both from Anyway Records. Those releases tailed an already impressive output.
After years of sharing vans and motel rooms (beds?), exerting every bit of kinetic energy on stage, capturing lightning in a bottle and nearly crossing the threshold of stardom, they needed a break — and Motel Beds went out with a fizzle.
“We were so burned out that those last few shows were pretty bad,” Paslosky said. “We never said it was our last show, [but] none of us were really into it.”
Paslosky said they’ve been going to more funerals than weddings lately, so now is a good time to play again.
But to the surprise of everyone in the Beds, it was guitarist Darryl Robbins — content with at-home-produced projects, like TV Queens and Overthought Musik — who wanted to make the show happen.
Weidner said Robbins was sort of the George Harrison of the group, preferring to focus on recording rather than play Shea Stadium again (or the Beds’ equivalent of Shea Stadium).
“It’s a different thing to have an endless responsibility,” Robbins said, on touring. “To keep pushing this band as opposed to [having] one succinct goal… we can do whatever we want beyond that. The pressure’s off, for sure.”
Even if that one succinct goal is a one-off gig, it doesn’t mean it’s the last Motel Beds show — it’s the next one. They’re not writing quite yet, but new tracks are not out of the question either.
Motel Beds never really left (save for Weidner), but it’s good to have them back.
“There’s been such cool bands from this town that we kind of wanted to be a little blip,” Paslosky said. “When you mind meld with like-kind freaks, when it’s that effortless to do it... you don’t realize how special that is until you’re not in it anymore. Hopefully [this show] is just a big excuse to party and pretend like it’s eight slash 10 years ago.”
More details
Motel Beds, Human Cannonball and Wreck League will be performing at 8:30 p.m. Friday, July 19 at The Brightside, 905 E. Third St., Dayton. All ages are welcome. Tickets are $15 pre-sale, $20 day of show. The first 200 ticket buyers get a commemorative sticker designed by Tommy Cooper.
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