“Never walk away from a free pinball game.” - Neil Coleman, May 1989

Bunny Rabbits From Hell
Manhattan, KS, Manhattan Community Center - May 12, 1989

Setlist:

Eruption
Hypnotize (scratch)
Hypnotize
Fade to Black (scratch)
Fade to Black (scratch)
Crash Course in Brain Surgery (scratch)
Crash Course in Brain Surgery
Crash Course in Brain Surgery
Patience (scratch)
Patience (scratch)
Patience (scratch)
Guitar Solo
Fade to Black
Patience


… At least that’s how Neil explained why, moments after walking away from his sparkle blue Ludwig drum kit during our first concert, the other four of us witnessed him playing a round of pinball before walking out the door. We were just thankful that he’d been there at all, considering Neil was the only one of us who showed any musical talent in the 8th grade.

But before I get ahead of myself, let me point out the historical nature of this story. On this date 20 years ago the Bunny Rabbits From Hell made their public debut at the Church of Christ lock-in in the basement of the Manhattan Community center. For starters, it’s well established that the most reliable gig for a young heavy metal band is the church lock-in, and the BRFH made a living on them. Travis gets all the credit for getting the ball rolling on this one.

To call this event a concert would have been stretching the truth. I’m not sure it could have even been called a rehearsal. If you didn’t take into consideration that we were all thirteen or fourteen years old, you might have called it incompetent. There was no setlist. There was our classic BRFH poster with the bunny rabbit. There was no PA. There were two plug-ins on the Kalamazoo, one for John’s bass and one for Paul’s microphone. There wasn’t any sound from the Kalamazoo once John spilt his soda all over it. There was Hypnotize. There was no guitar solo to Fade to Black. There was John slapping Travis for not playing the guitar solo to Fade to Black. There almost was no drummer. But there was plenty of free pinball.

That’s because Neil’s folks wouldn’t let him stay overnight through Sunday morning. So, in compromise, he got to stay for part of the gig until his parents took him home, essentially ruining the whole “lock-in” concept. It was certainly funny, considering that our audience was primarily hovering around these two pinball games, to see our drummer stand up mid-song, walk over to the crowd, and to start playing pinball. Not to be daunted, though, Travis’ friend Maritza jumped behind the drums, and we continued on as if nothing happened.

Beyond that, what else would you expect a fourteen year old to remember after 20 years…?

Of course, if you want to know what you missed or need your memory jarred, click here to download the audio recording from that historic night.

And about the venue, the Manhattan Community Center was a great old brick building on the corner of 4th and Humbolt. It had a legendary basketball court upstairs, where I fondly remember doing somersaults in Wee Wigglers when I was four. It’s no longer open to the public after the city’s parks and recreation department took it over as office space. A real pity.

Finally, this may be 20 years overdue, but to Travis, sorry about slapping you. That was totally uncalled for.