Ft. Worth post-rock indie folk band Katsuk is playing the Grotto on April 12th with Michael Garfield and Psychedelephant. But this won't be your normal show, as if that's really possible for a band like Katsuk. The stand out DFW group plans on marrying at least two same sex couples, one from each gender, halfway through their set next Friday night. "This show is based on the ideals of what Katsuk is all about, being very socially and politically aware," said bassist Ruben Salazar. "This is our own way of showing support for civil rights. And we know that this little stunt won't really change things, but we hope that it at least keeps the discussion going. And for those of us that already have those rights, this is our way of showing support to those who don't."
The group plans on playing their set as they usually do, but halfway through will announce that any couples wanting to get symbolically married should come up to the stage for a quick five to seven minute ceremony, and then Katsuk will dedicate their next song to the newly "married" couples.
As of January of this year, only nine states in the U.S. legally allow same-sex couples to marry, as well as the District of Columbia. Texas, one of the fiercest shades of red on any election map, is not one of them. The members of Katsuk, all of whom got ordained as ministers online for this show, think that's a shame.
"We've just been seeing so much in the news lately about equality," said frontman Daniel Katsuk. "And we're four straight guys standing on the fringes of this issue, but we feel for them. It's like someone saying that 'there's air all around but only I can breathe this air, and you can't.' When you break it down, it's really just two people with two hearts saying 'I love you and I want to share my life with you.'"
Katsuk said that this is not strictly a gay event, and that all who want to attend should. "This is kind of what our newest album, Zero Point, is all about. It's a very politically and socially conscious record, and this show definitely reflects our overall viewpoints," Katsuk said.
"It's like, what does it really do to like a sentiment on Facebook? It's when we bounce ideas off of each other in person that things really start to change instead of just posting a rant online," he added.
Some might remember Katsuk for his now defunct band, The Spoonfed Tribe, or from his other current group, The Skin and Bones Drum Cult, an improvisational ensemble which plays tomorrow night at Lola's in Fort Worth. On top of that, Katsuk also does voice work for shows on Cartoon Network, including bit parts on Dragonball Z, through the Flower Mound company Funimation.
