Alter ego band indiana full#

“It’s funny, because I started out playing drums (with the Indiana band Foxygen, who were school friends) so beats were all my brain was processing. Lovers of classic pop should relate well to Fleming’s songs they’ve got a soaring sense of melody that harks back to masters like Brian Wilson and Todd Rundgren. But if I’m seeing a show I want to see someone put on a show, and stage design and theatrics are part of that.” I’m always of the idea that it’s really awesome to see a band play really well onstage - If it sounds just like the record then great, you’re a good musician. “I think I learned a lot about having a great stage show from people like Meat Loaf, really.

Alter ego band indiana full#

And in my performing persona right now, it’s become more amplified in the feminine side of things.”įleming trained and worked as an actor before committing full time to music, and the live shows evince a theatricality that harks back to Bowie and the glitter era. My gender and my sexuality have always been liquid. “That’s not so much what the project is about, but it’s just who I am. It’s also a matter of subverting gender identity, says Fleming (who prefers they/them pronouns). And if the audience is feeling it, they’re Diane Coffee too.”

That to me is what Diane Coffee is, that kind of energy. You’re normally reserved, but the energy travels through you and you’re shouting at the top of your lungs. But it’ really an exaggerated piece of me - like the sensation of being a shy kid who might be going to a concert. Coffee’ by Lagwagon, two artists that I admired at the time. “The name actually came from Diana Ross and the song ‘Mr. “For me, Diane Coffee was less of an alter-ego and more of an energy that I just gave a name for,” says Fleming, who plays the Middle East on June 15. The band is Diane Coffee too and on a good night, so is the audience. “Between now and the next time,” he said after the concert, “I might have to write a few jokes.Diane Coffee is the performance alias of Shaun Fleming, a unique singer/actor from Bloomington, Ind. He’s a lovable character.”Īnd Harrelson, who said he was happy just to be able to perform, wound up pledging to give his fans more of what they want as he takes his musical mission further on down the road. “I think President Bush is the best thing that’s happened to this country in years,” Ratfelder said. And many, such as John Ratfelder, 24, of Costa Mesa, said that though they disapprove of Harrelson’s politics, they appreciated his friendly, unassuming manner. Nonetheless, patrons said they enjoyed Harrelson’s music, even if it was a surprise. “I thought it was going to be stand-up comedy,” added Sean Elkin, 24, of Fountain Valley. “I thought it was going to be a comedy act,” said Denise Halstead, 35, of Irvine.

His appearance had been billed as “Woody Harrelson In Concert,” and “I thought it was going to be a comedy show,” said Colleen Clark, 28, of Costa Mesa. The reason, many of Harrelson’s fans confessed, is because they came to the Hop expecting neither a lesson in political correctness nor bar-band rock ‘n’ roll. “They were just kind of sitting there, looking at me,” Harrelson said. In the intimate setting of the Hop, where the stage is barely 2 feet above the dance floor and the musicians perform at an elbow-length’s distance from audience, the energetic Harrelson and his band began their set to the perplexed stares of the 150 or so patrons. “I decided I just wanted to make them dance.”Įven this aim, though, was somewhat frustrated. “People here have some hard-core belief systems, and they kind of shut down if you affront them,” he said later. Though he did perform several of his own songs, including the anti-war “Celebrate Yourself” and the autobiographical “TV Star Blues,” Harrelson said he toned down his repertoire because of Orange County’s legendary conservatism. “You got to bring your leaders down,” it urges listeners.īut when Harrelson took the stage Sunday night, “Hey You” wasn’t on the playlist. government for disproportionately taxing the poor while neglecting children’s health and ignoring urban blight. Hey you, we’ve got a lot of thinking to do. Hey you, clinging to your Red, White and Blue. “Hey you,” goes the chorus of Harrelson’s “Hey You,”