Get it straight: Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs won't be playing geeky music at Darkside Lounge Friday just because it's a Revenge of the Nerds theme party. That's a happy coincidence.
"The theme doesn't necessarily have anything to do with what's going on onstage; we won't be playing nerdy music or anything," guitarist/vocalist Mario Tremaine (aka Minx the Jinx) pauses to consider. "Well I guess we will be playing nerdy music. We're definitely nerds."
Tracy Smith
Scary Cherry broke her finger in a roller derby match and kept a-rollin'. Scared yet?
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Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs perform at the Revenge of the Nerds Party Friday, September 7, at the Darkside Lounge.
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The Revenge of the Nerds '80s costume party will be the latest in a monthly series of free '80s film-themed shows the Bang Bangs play at Darkside to raise money for the Dallas Derby Devils roller derby league. (Lead vocalist Scary Cherry skates for the undefeated championship contender Slaughterers.)
Whether or not the band plays songs about Lambda Lambda Lambda or panty raids, the Bang Bangs are well-suited to rep the Revenge of the Nerds. While that quintessential '80s comedy offers hope to all the A/V kids and mathletes (i.e., you'll one day be the CEO of a megacorporation and bang a yacht-load of former head cheerleaders and/or football captains), the Bang Bangs show the way for a completely different kind of nerd—the kids who spend weekends playing Vampire: The Masquerade. For these kids, omnisexual heartthrob Scary Cherry is maybe an even better role model than Booger. From slasher film stardom to opening for Nine Inch Nails as part of the band Fem2Fem, Cherry's what a lot of those kids chucking toast at the Rocky Horror screen would like to be. And as a whole, the Bang Bangs show how a group of horror film freaks and glam-rock geeks can translate their nerdiness into sweet live shows packed with crowds of adoring fellow geeks.
"We attract a weird crowd that pretty much does what we tell them to," Tremaine says. "They're sort of like lemmings."
Fans who, for example, came out to last month's Risky Business theme party dressed in the classic sunglasses/underwear combo. And what's cooler than being able to command a roomful of strangers to unquestioningly strip down to their skivvies? That's pretty much the definition of success. Forget living well; sometimes kicking ass is the best revenge.
Doors open at 7 p.m., and the Bang Bangs are scheduled to take the stage a little earlier than usual (11ish) because Cherry's got to rest up for the next day's DDD championship bout. Admission is free, but roller girls will be selling Jell-O shots to raise money for the league. For more information go to myspace.com/scarycherryandthebangbangs or www.dallasderbydevils.com.
