German Art Students; February 12, 2010; High Noon Saloon

The German Art Students were my first favorite local band. They were opening for the Gigolo Aunts at the Club Tavern in what had to be one of their first gigs. They wore black and pretended they were German. Sure, it was a little hokey, but they easily won me over with their high energy and catchy songs. Amazingly that was twelve years ago. Since then I’ve seen them play at practically every venue in town, from the long gone O’Cayz Corral to street fests to the Rathskellar to the High Noon. Even as their lives changed with marriage and children, the line-up stayed the same and they could always be counted on for a few gigs a year. Until now. The bad news is that bassist Andy Larson is leaving the band; the good news is that GAS will continue on. As a three piece of course, since no one could ever replace him.

Tonight was their one last hurrah with the original line-up, and it seemed no one wanted to miss it. An impressive crowd, along with possibly the most children I’ve seen in the bar outside of the Old Tin Can String Band’s Sunday afternoon shows, filled the High Noon for two hours of all the hits. Granted many of the children there probably belonged to band members or to Andy’s extended family many of who had come from out of town. The early happy hour show was in keeping with their theory that their audience had grown older along with them.

It had been awhile since I had seen them last, but with only three full length releases in their discography I wasn’t too worried about not knowing any of the songs. In fact, I’m hard-pressed to think of any they didn’t do, going all the way back to “News Nugget,” which was my favorite from that very first show. I remember it like it was yesterday. The hilariously clever “Civil War Re-enactor” and the high-art mocking “Left of Center” were there, as well as period piece “Eighteenth Century Love Song.” It remains to be seen who will take over Andy’s vocal as the Colonel, though my bet is that drummer Randy Ballwahn will be doing more singing than just his lead vocals on “Dick Clark.”

There haven’t been any new songs since the release of their 7 inch featuring “Pompeii,” but it wouldn’t surprise me if their subject matter moved from dating, as detailed in “Shitty Directions” and “Nightmare Date Experience,” to the joys of parenthood. I knew the evening was close to over when they played their dance sensation “The Bumblebee” followed by the absolutely hysterical true story “Steve Vai Boyfriend.” Guitarist/vocalist Anneleis Howell had been on fire all night, obviously excited to be back on stage after the birth of her second child, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her kick higher or sing with more fervor than on that pair. But they weren’t quite done. Andy handed his bass over to Anneleis, commenting that we should get used to how that looks, and he took lead vocals on one last cover song.

We’ll miss you Andy. I give him six months.