The Slabs

:"For the camp in the U.S. state of California, see Slab City"The Slabs were a punk scene band from the early 1980's. They had a significant presence on the Kansas City scene at that time, playing all ages shows at various venues such as Foolkiller Theater, Planet Lounge, Harlings, Lawrence Opera House, Bone Club (Texas).

Thrash with no other pretension -- They had a practice space upstairs at the now defunct Foolkiller theater, where they would practice five nights a week coincidentally amassing a huge pile of beer cans, later to inspire their "Tower of Beer" anthem. Songs such as "Blue Way" - about a drug-induced hallucination and "I'm the King" -about who else? would highlight brief but intense sets.

Sometimes, to gain inspiration, at the practice loft they would engage in activities such as bringing a sprung upright piano up to ramming velocity and slamming it into fellow tenants practice space doors (such as the Orange Doenuts). They were eventually evicted from their practice loft after subletting the space to a rival local band while on the Texas Tour. The Foolkiller Theater itself was eventually reclaimed as office space in a susequent midtown renovation iniative.

Originally formed by Bassist Joey (Tunnel Dogs) and Drummer Lantz (Broadcast) they had several lead guitarists until ending up with Jeff whose Jimmy Page-like abilities gave musical credibility to the proceedings. Singer Dave was the visual highlight of the performance, using modified Mick Jagger-esque moves to enliven the crowds.

Once they were thrown out (literally) of a benefit they were supporting at the K.C. Art Institute for being too ... well ... un-artsy.

They spawned several 'off-shoot' projects such as String of Coincidence (Dave Faze, the original lead singer of which was killed tragically in a hit and run accident in 2005), Yellow Flag, and Zamma.

The Slabs played many, many gigs in KC, Norman OK, as well as conducting their brief but infamous Texas Tour. The members had scattered to the four winds by 1986, some moving into electronic looping, others into live poetry, others into street life...