Blue Plate Poets Reunion
Fri., Jan. 22, 1999
For those who don't remember, the poetry group premiered at the now-defunct Chicago House in June of 1993. Over the next three years, original members Pasha, Robert Lee (then Robert S.), Mike Henry, W. Joe Hoppe, and Marlys West were joined by Tammy Gomez, and the group moved to the Electric Lounge, opening for former Lounge fixture-made-good Hamell on Trial at Friday night shows. Each of the Blue Plate Poets infused varying levels of academic smarts and street wisdom with their own distinctive individual voices, and because of this, they shaped what is arguably the most successful run of any poetry group in Austin with respect to regular audiences and scene-wide reputation. Saturday night's show at the Electric Lounge, part of the club's five-day benefit to rescue the club from its financial woes, was engineered by Pasha, who felt the time was right and found the players involved were excited about the prospect of revisiting those shows.
Saturday's show, which will feature two full sets, will carry some of the hallmarks of the group's former performances: all the poets sitting together onstage, a round robin format, and guest poets (in this case, Larry Thoren, a member of the Austin poetry scene's old guard, and Hilary Thomas, a former slam poet who currently co-hosts the Austin Slam) opening the sets. Says Lee about the show, "I think we're all interested to see what we've done in the interim, from the trails we've left. I'm sure the first round will be sort of weird for us, but by the second, I expect it to feel like there's no time passed from when we last read together."
The Blue Plate Poets Reunion Show starts at 8:30pm Saturday, January 23, at the Electric Lounge, 302 Bowie, 476-FUSE. Admission is $5. -- Phil West
