Jake's Story

Jake Flack and Mark Noone go way back on the DC scene, and for anyone without the will to get out to Fort Reno tonight to see the new young up and coming rockers- sit back in your computer rocking chair and read on a page from DC's music history by Mr. Jake Flack:

This Wednesday is July 11. It was on July 11, 1985 that my band the Neptunes opened for the Slickee Boys at Fort Reno. At that time the Slickees were the kings of DC. They were on Q107 and MTV. They had the coolest clothes and the wildest, most fun live show. Fort Reno was the epicenter of the DC music scene and it was the only place that underage kids like me could see all the bands that we were listening to on vinyl and hearing on WHFS. I saw everyone there: Danny Gatton, Black Market Baby, the Insect Surfers, Razz, the Night Hawks, Tommy Keene, 4 out of 5 Doctors, The Golden Bats, The Diversions, the Teen Idles, The Beatnik Flies, The Nurses, Tex Rubiniwitz, All Points Bulletin, Evan Johns and the H-Bombs and more. The Slickees' annual Fort Reno appearance was always the far biggest crowd of the year. When our "manager" Sean Mencher, who also booked Fort Reno, told us we had the opening slot, he might as well have told us that we were opening for the Rolling Stones. I'm sure we didn't sound very good, but we put the "s" in showbiz jumping off the bass drum, diving in the piano, and rolling around the stage on our backs. I remember throwing my Tele across the stage after the last song for the big feedback effect. It was a thrilling night for a bunch of 17 year olds. And I sure wouldn't have predicted that I'd be playing "When I Go to the Beach" in a band with Mark Noone 22 years later.