Rollin' Out the Red Carpet for Minus Grover
Does anyone know the significance of today?
It is the eight-year anniversary of Minus Grover, the band featuring Jacob Longton, Matthew Quinn, Christopher Merritt and Andrew Zillgitt. Although the band has been officially broken up for some two or three years, I still celebrate December 5 as if it were my birthday.
DJ Freese threw out the idea for the name Minus Grover because the lead singer from Coadstool was Michael “Grover” Groves. There was some discussion among the remaining Coadstool members if the name should be The Minus Grover or simply Minus Grover. It was decided the name should be Minus Grover and on December 5, 1997 the band played their first show at Monroe High School.
The gig was actually a dance titled “Christmas at the Equator” sponsored by the MHS National Honor Society. Although Minus Grover’s set list included a couple of originals (songs written while they were still Coadstool - Yellow Railroad Sign featuring Jon Cooley), it was heavy in covers.
The set list included an innovative meshing of Song 2 by Blur and From Us to You by the Beatles. The gang decided to call it From Us to Song 2. The set list included other covers such as, When Shirts Get Tight by Fig Dish, North Dakota by Thrush Hermit, Sink to the Bottom by Fountains of Wayne and Everything You’ve Done Wrong by Sloan, featuring a bitching trumpet solo by Jon Cooley. Minus Grover closed with a pre-approved encore by Mr. Straub: Say it Ain’t So by Weezer.
Minus Grover progressed rapidly from a cover band to a song writing force, writing four songs in the span of a month in December of ’97 to January of ’98. These songs included The Way You Are, Let it Go, Over Soon and You Make it Hard on Yourself (Minus Grover’s first completed song). As the band matured, so did their song writing. Jacob’s catchy and melodic riff in Rollin’ Out paved the way for more blues-rock oriented songs like, Engage/Disengage, That’s Why and Keep Climbing.
In the end the pressure of school and distance caused this talented rock n roll band to go their separate ways, but remain close friends.
Playing and writing music with Matt, Jacob and Chris as well as all hanging-out with all of our friends who came to watch us practice was the best time of my life. Thank you.
Perhaps someday Minus Grover will do a one-show reunion tour to celebrate this day.
It is the eight-year anniversary of Minus Grover, the band featuring Jacob Longton, Matthew Quinn, Christopher Merritt and Andrew Zillgitt. Although the band has been officially broken up for some two or three years, I still celebrate December 5 as if it were my birthday.
DJ Freese threw out the idea for the name Minus Grover because the lead singer from Coadstool was Michael “Grover” Groves. There was some discussion among the remaining Coadstool members if the name should be The Minus Grover or simply Minus Grover. It was decided the name should be Minus Grover and on December 5, 1997 the band played their first show at Monroe High School.
The gig was actually a dance titled “Christmas at the Equator” sponsored by the MHS National Honor Society. Although Minus Grover’s set list included a couple of originals (songs written while they were still Coadstool - Yellow Railroad Sign featuring Jon Cooley), it was heavy in covers.
The set list included an innovative meshing of Song 2 by Blur and From Us to You by the Beatles. The gang decided to call it From Us to Song 2. The set list included other covers such as, When Shirts Get Tight by Fig Dish, North Dakota by Thrush Hermit, Sink to the Bottom by Fountains of Wayne and Everything You’ve Done Wrong by Sloan, featuring a bitching trumpet solo by Jon Cooley. Minus Grover closed with a pre-approved encore by Mr. Straub: Say it Ain’t So by Weezer.
Minus Grover progressed rapidly from a cover band to a song writing force, writing four songs in the span of a month in December of ’97 to January of ’98. These songs included The Way You Are, Let it Go, Over Soon and You Make it Hard on Yourself (Minus Grover’s first completed song). As the band matured, so did their song writing. Jacob’s catchy and melodic riff in Rollin’ Out paved the way for more blues-rock oriented songs like, Engage/Disengage, That’s Why and Keep Climbing.
In the end the pressure of school and distance caused this talented rock n roll band to go their separate ways, but remain close friends.
Playing and writing music with Matt, Jacob and Chris as well as all hanging-out with all of our friends who came to watch us practice was the best time of my life. Thank you.
Perhaps someday Minus Grover will do a one-show reunion tour to celebrate this day.
posted by az at 12:08 AM
17 Comments:
happy anniversary...?
what about 2 weeks?
how is xmas going to work? rebecca already has the 27 and 28th off so i can do nothing about those days. are there others i should be taking off?
This is not a forum for personal matters. That is why God created cell phone. Good job God!
Andy, Happy Anniverary to you and Minus Grover. Much like that was the time of your life, all of th ehanging out, listening, and mischeif was the best time in mine.
I have Minus Grover to thank for a damn good time for many, many years. Thanks.
Sorry, I can't type because my fingers are fat and stumpy like the rest of me.
it's called karma, jon.
be happy God only made you type poorly this time.
if you make fun of me one more time, God will strike you dead.
Sounds like you have been watching too many "My Name is Earl" episodes, Jeni!
Does that count?
are you still alive?
if so, i guess not :P
i LOVE "earl"
yellow railroad sign is one of my favorites. it totally rocked even w/ lucas. thank you for being the trumpet player and providing creativity during the scary jams.
what the hell are you talking about jeni? i'm confused. these discussions are better left for the text messaging or phone gods.
i feel your pain. however, writing about your own band in the thrid person is a little Mike Zethlowy, and that is bad, very bad. but i still love you. x-clan
perhaps you are right anonymous. i though about writing it in first person but i kept getting tripped up over the verb tenses (b/c i'm an idiot).
however, i think i only refer to myself once as an introduction to the band. also, the point was more about thanking the people who listened and my other close friends in the band.
i didn't quote myself. i tried to avoid in zethlowosities.
i always take to heart fellow x-clan members opinions. thank you.
Do you remember when someone punched Mike Zeithlow in the kidneys at a concert? That was hilarious!
yes i do. i hope he peed blood for a week.
please don't do that to me for me zethlowitis.
One time at a Minus Grover show someone threw a firecracker on stage. Jacob just kicked it off the stage and kept on rockin.
because you gotta keep rocking. you can't let a fire cracker screw up your show. and if you bleed, you just gotta keep on playing.
Andy, real rockers don't have time for rockinG. It's rockin', okay? That's what made Minus Grover or, -g, as it was sometimes written in shorthand, such a rockin' name. Get it?
that's rockin' comment. i'll remember that next time i want to rock. i'll throw the forks, but drop the -ing.
Has it really been that long,
jesus christ i remember braking into wejy to print the lyrics for say it aint so...
damn
well i miss the minus g, and one day hope for a merrittstock revival with -g headlining.
hope all is well and are you still downriver?
-neil
hehe....that's quite a steel trap you have there droid. Thinking about those good times makes me all warm inside. It was an honor to be in minus grover. If I had the option of being a member of minus grover or the beatles, I would laugh...and say "the beatles of course, but only if chris, matt and andy were beatles with me." Otherwise i'd rather be in minus grover. ...oh poop...i think i'm crying....
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