Locke - Sparky and Clark's - September 8th, 2001

Locke
Sparky and Clark's
September 8th, 2001

After making our way through the block party in the city, we walked into Sparky & Clark's for the acoustic Locke show. The Locke duo, Christian and Matt greeted us and Melanie and Matt soon realized they knew each other from a class in school. The smoothies looked irresistible so we each ordered one and made ourselves comfortable in the café. The atmosphere of couches, festive lights, a lively fish tank, chessboards, and other cozy things was much different than our normal trip to a smoke-smothering bar. Both of the Locke members agreed that the café was much more enjoyable to play at, as opposed to noisy crowds at sports bars.

Christian's voice is most easily comparable to Kurt Cobain's. He also has a hint of Creed and Staind's influence lingering in his vocals. During the first set, we noticed a sticker on his guitar and couldn't make out what it was (for some reason we were convinced it was a cow). After they finished playing, we got closer to discover it was a Kurt Cobain sticker, which would explain the inspiration Nirvana most likely provides them with.

Although they mostly play a vast range of covers, from Weezer to Creed, or Radiohead to Fuel, they also have a few originals thrown in the mix. "Dust to Dust" is a fine example of one of their well-written originals. Hopefully next time we see them perform they will surprise us with some more originals.

Shannon ended up buying a large Locke baseball tee because they were just as irresistible as the smoothies. If you want to catch a show of theirs in the future, go to http://www.thefuture.locke.net for their schedule.