Emmet Plays Six Points Fest at the State Theatre

Recommended beverage to go with this show:

try the Old Dominion seasonal on draft

at the State Theatre. Not bad.

Emmet Swimming, I’d argue, is one of the best rock bands to come out of the DC area in the last two decades. Though they rarely perform live these days, the foursome headlined the Six Points Music Festival on April 7, playing for a packed house at the State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia.

There was a time this band seemed destined for stardom. They started as four buddies from George Mason University and quickly gained a loyal following playing the college circuit and area clubs. They toured relentlessly, playing sold-out shows from “Arlington (VA) to Boston,” thus providing the name and inspiration for their third album. But it was their second album, the masterpiece Wake, originally produced on their own label that caught the attention of Epic Records, who signed them, re-released it under their label, and would produce their next two albums.

Seemingly poised for greatness, the band pulled out of their contract over artistic differences and went on to release a live cd and five-song EP on their own label, Screaming Goddess. Almost as a foreshadowing, lead vocalist Todd Watts acknowledges in the song “Guru” from the album Big Night Without You, “I’ll never be a star; I’ll never get that far. Got so close I could see, almost enough for me.”

Now Emmet can be seen performing sporadically throughout the year. Yet they still sell out the 930 Club and sound as tight as if they practiced daily. The band still has two of its original members, Watts and guitarist/vocalist Erik Wenberg. Watts, who stands at about 6-foot-7 yet hails from a town called Pee Wee Valley, Kentucky, has a distinct vocal, as he croons about life and love. Their bassist, Scotty, is a longtime friend of the band and comes by way of another local band, Smartbomb, but he frequently attended emmet shows for years and would come on stage every time to do a jiggy dance during the upbeat, “Birdman of Columbia” to a roaring crowd. His talent and magnetic stage presence makes him a natural fit for emmet.

Drummer Derrick Decker was absent at the State Theatre show. Nate, from Everything, sat in and did a fine job. Emmet gave him a break late in the set as Todd and Erik did a duet, bellowing out the sweet and somber, “Boston.”

The Falls Church crowd was eager and receptive. Emmet performed songs from their four studio albums. A highlight for old-school fans was a sprightly rare gem from their first album, Dark When the Snow Falls, that they seldom play live, called “South Bristol, ME.” Another song from that album, “Hey Jesse,” has become a staple at emmet shows and offers each band member a chance to showcase his talent with a long solo.

Watts sang a moving cover of Billy Bragg’s “Levi Stubb’s Tears,” which can be found on emmet’s live album, Earplugs 50 cents, so named for the cost of earplugs at DC’s 930 Club. The band recorded that album at both Alley Katz in Richmond, VA and the 930 Club. Now, those earplugs cost at least a buck. Inflation.

Emmet also performed two songs from their 2003 EP, Bathing in the New Economy: including “Don’t Call Her,” the one song that features Wenberg on lead vocals. Wenberg, whose voice is reminiscent of Sting, closed the show with a longtime favorite cover of The Police’s “So Lonely” in which he interjects a bit of Men at Work’s “Land Down Under” as the crowd happily sings along.

The band’s name pays tribute to Emmett Till, a young black boy who was murdered in Mississippi in the 1950s and became a martyr of the civil rights movement. As the band writes in its bio, “For those who know his story, his name evokes a myriad of strong emotions: anger, frustration and introspective self doubt. emmet swimming delves into these similar emotions with their vivid imagery and haunting melodies. Tosses you down the basement steps...then coaxes you to crawl back up.”

While many bands split due to infighting, emmet members remain good friends and split to start families, get day jobs, or both. Over the years, Watts has performed solo gigs at TT Reynolds in Fairfax, a tiny bar near Mason’s campus. Solo, he performs some emmet tunes and an array of covers from his Britpop influences including the Cure, the Church, Radiohead, the Waterboys, and American ones too such as John Prine. He also does a surprisingly fantastic cover of Juice Newton’s “Angel of the Morning.”

Longtime fans such as myself eagerly await emmet’s next appearance.