Most people think of their local veterans center as a place where military servicemen come to find fellowship and crowds gather to honor the sacrifices of wars past and present.
But music-hungry teenagers are now flocking to the Windham Veterans Center to hear locally produced hard rock, break eardrums and bang heads on the weekends.
Steadily, this unlikely venue, located behind the Windham Mall, has gathered a following of screaming rock fans. They pack into the vets center and rally round a non-existent stage inside, stand feet away from the blaring amplifiers and listen to local bands tear loose.
No alcohol, no drugs. Just good raucous music.
The music is loud with melodic nuances and has surpassed the genres of hardcore, pop punk, emo and indie into a medley of ambient soundscape, wailing guitar rifts and bleeding-heart lyrics mixed with the occasional howling scream.
Take the local Windham High School band Kelso for instance who frequently plays at the vet center.
Their guitarist, Sean Poirier, is trained in jazz and classical styles, their bassist Mike Jones and drummer Seth Perkins got their start playing classic rock covers, and their singer Steve Odum screams his heart out. The result is a sound difficult to pigeonhole into any one genre.
“It’s got a jazzy feeling to it, but it’s also heavy,” says Kelso vocalist Steve Odum, a Windham High senior. “It’s not all metal. We have a few songs that are more mellow and slows it down a little bit.”
And local fans seemed to like the mix. Back in February, more than 150 people who came out to hear Kelso and a big bill of local bands at the vets center.
Mike Jones, bassist for the band, says rock bands enjoy the building because of its remote location, hidden behind the mall. Bands can play as loud as they want and no one seems to mind, he says.
“It is a pretty decent venue, and it can hold a relatively big audience,” Jones said. “It’s far enough away from things that people don’t get mad.”
Kelso began playing shows booked by local production company First Strike. But now, Jones and his partners have ventured out on their own. Their new booking company is called VC Productions and these young music entrepreneurs are all under the age of 21. Their aim: to book shows and bands that have a cohesive sound.
No waiting through a punk band to hear the post-hardcore band you came for, he says, or vice versa.
“We were sick of people putting on shows that didn’t make much sense,” Jones said.
Thanks to these young production companies, the vets center is drawing popular bands from Portland and Lewiston to the scene. This Saturday, bands like Cambiata, Acta Non Verba and Dead Cities are playing along with Kelso.
Lead guitarist and vocalist for Acta Non Verba is Chad Chamberlain. While the band usually plays shows at venues like the SPACE gallery in Portland or down in Boston, Acta Non Verba enjoys shows that cater to a younger crowd.
“The all-ages shows are fun. There seems to be a more enthusiastic response,” Chamberlain said. “There’s definitely a really high energy.”
Acta Non Verba’s music, he says, is a blend of indie and emo rock, mixing ambient “math rock” with pop sensibility.
And the band has heard good things about Windham and its local rock scene.
President of the Windham Veterans Association Don Swander occasionally gets an earful of wailing guitars and screams when he comes to pick up the rent during these weekend rock shows.
Though it’s not his type of music, Swander is amazed by the bands and the fans that crowd into the vet center.
“I don’t know how these guys do it. They line up five, six, seven bands,” Swander said. “I think it’s great. People certainly seem to enjoy the shows. And they all seem to have a good time.”
Vocalist Steve Odum bangs his head to the music of his band, Kelso, while singing at the Windham Veterans Center. This unlikely venue has slowly become the hub of the local rock scene. Send questions/comments to the editors.
