When Chuck Nasty told me that he was playing music again, I immediately got excited that he had resurrected his seminal sex-fiend band Love Cinema Vol. 6. Much was my surprise when he posted a flyer for an upcoming show featuring the Lawn Darts, local pop-punk stalwarts that dominated the North Jersey scened in the mid to late ’90s, along with bands like Felix Frump, Missing Children and Weston.
I saw the Lawn Darts once — a million years ago — at Connections, a dumpy little dive that outlasted most of the great punk clubs from that era. I recall very little of that show and sadly was not a big enough fan of Chuck and his merry band to truly appreciate the music and legend that they would become.
Just a few miles from where Connections use to stand, the reunited Lawn Darts took stage at the Clash Bar — famously known as the bar owned by the guy that formerly owned Let It Rock — and turned out a brilliant hour-long performance that proved that this was neither a nostalgia trip nor a midlife crisis. The set was concise and flawless, peppering in songs from all of their records, with an emphasis on tunes from my personal favorite Lawn Darts’ record, “Volume II.”
The band was tight and showed no signs of age after nearly a decade and a half off. After nailing 16 songs, the band kicked into a voracious version of the GoGo’s “Vacation,” before calling it a night. Here’s to many more Lawn Darts shows in the near future.
