Many many years ago I took a trip to Olympia, Washington for the purpose of seeing the rock opera The Transfused. I stayed in Olympia for ten days and had a great time (The Transfused was awesome and Wynne Greenwood sat next to me during the show and offered me a stick of gum,) but the highlight of the trip was walking down some random street and seeing Rachel Carns, formerly of The Need, walking towards me toweling her wet hair, having just come from the local YMCA. Carns was drummer and vocalist for The Need up until their demise in 2001, and changed, in my mind at least, the way drumming would be viewed for ever. Carns would play her rickety drum set standing up and had fashioned it with all sorts of spare parts (cans, hub caps, random scraps of metal) to come up with a musical sound so raw and unique, I doubt it will ever be replicated. On July 23rd, The Need will reunite and perform a one night only benefit show with Bangs (an equally mind blowing band from Olympia) in honor of Natalie Cox, a former employee of Kill Rock Stars who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer last summer.
