The state of granite and other rock

Hey, I’m Tony. I’m the 21-year-old UMaine student who ranted and raved last week about the per-ception among twentysomethings of the Greater Bangor area’s seeming lack of good times in a nightly format. Despite its wealth of plays, concerts and art openings, the Queen City comes up short in the

young-and-hip department.

In last week’s column, I set out on a quest to check out Bangor’s nightlife.

For my first adventure, I thought I’d hit up one of the city’s better known night spots. So I headed down to the microbrewery, The Sea Dog, to listen to motorplant, the rock offering on tap from Lebanon, N.H.

I landed at the waterfront establishment at 10:15 p.m. last Friday. As I passed a man on his way out, I heard him say, “Finally, my ears can stop ringing.” If ever there was a sign that the show was intense, this was it.

For those night-goers unfamiliar with the brewpub on Front Street, the Sea Dog boasts seating for 540 amid a d?cor of nautical ropes and rigging. The copious boating paraphernalia almost makes you feel that the floor should be rocking to the sound of creaking wood.

Housed in the belly of the restaurant is a 40-barrel brewery and bottling plant that produces numer-ous microbrews and countless specialty brews, depending on the time of year.

Ten paces inside the door and standing next to one mean looking stuffed bear, I was moved by not only the growing decibel level, but also the number of individual atmospheres alive inside. People min-gled around the Sea Dog’s giant wraparound bar, ventured out on the deck to enjoy the fresh air and grooved to the live music.

For the 200-plus on hand last weekend, motorplant interspersed originals with covers in a high-energy, wig-wearing set highlighted by the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Suck My Kiss” and a 15-minute ren-dition of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.”

While this was my first exposure to the Granite State quartet, motorplant was the classic good-time rock band. Keeping it lively by talking with the crowd, the band even took a few requests and donned long-hair wigs in a throwback to the glam bands of the ’80s.

“This is the place where you’re going to hear the most local, regional and national talent on a consis-tent basis,” manager Bill Giggey said.

National talent? G.E. Smith from the Saturday Night Live Band and the J. Geils Band have both made appearances on the Sea Dog’s modest stage.

And while live music may produce a greater intensity level, the Sea Dog managed to get the blood flowing with their “canned” or DJ music. Like the Twix commercial says, “It’s all in the mix.” Case in point: in between motorplant sets, the music changed from Snoop Dogg to the Dave Matthews Band

without so much as a pause in the dancing.

On the whole, this was a building packed full of people letting loose for five hours at a stretch. I do believe I’ve found my first addition to the “happening” list.

*For the word on the Sea Dog’s weekly entertainment, check out: seadogbrewing.com/news.html

*FMI – 947-8009

Next Week: Folk and jazz guitarist Doug Crate plays the New Moon Caf? in downtown Bangor.