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In the beginning.....
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| First line up: Aaron Smith, Larry Sukys, Gary Airedale, and Taylor E. Ross |
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Before there was The Flesh Hungry Dog Show, there was the band "Flesh Hungry Dog" consisting of Aaron Smith
on drums, Taylor E. Ross on bass, Larry Sukys on guitar, and Gary Airdale on vocals. Originally called "Mars Attacks
(until that "cease and desist" letter from Warner Bros.) The band formed on a lark. What was supposed to be
a one time performance at an open mic night turned into a 4 year project with all the high-drama of Gone With The Wind.
Several lineup changes included the laid back Benjamin Banks, the incredible Tommy Klien, the larger than life Lisa Koffe,
the artistic, sensitive, and very creative Richard Doherty, funky Roxie, rock steady Jon Levitt, and music lover George Spataro. As
a band, Flesh Hungry Dog struggled to define itself and reconcile the various musical instincs of its members.
There weren't too many venues that were willing to host four gay men belting out songs called "Macho Pussy"
...a song about lesbian S&M sex, or "Goin' Down"...a dark blues influenced song about a married bi-sexual
looking for sexual satisfaction cruising the park in his mini-van, or "Call Boy" a 60's girl-group inspired
ditty about the trials and tribulations of dating a male escort. Gary Airedale decided to create and event called "The
Flesh Hungry Dog Show" at The Underground Lounge. The Underground Lounge gave them a Sunday night to fill however
they chose. The concept was to create a variety, underground cabaret style show that would feature the band and other
cutting edge performers. Some of the performers featured at the first Flesh Hungry Dog Shows were Gayco, Beazley Phillips,
Jen Porter, John Hasbrouck, Amy Cousino, and Raymond Wohl. Not to mention our good friend DJ Mercedez Ben spinning the
coolest tracks and setting the mood.
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| Taylor, Aaron, Larry and Gary |
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| Flesh Hungry Dog's finest moment performing at Schubas. Photo by Jason Smith |
After three years of spinning their wheels and cutting a cute little CD, the original members of the band started to
peel off, save for Gary Airdale (the founder and front-man of the band). Not quite prepared to throw in the towel, he
put together a new line up that was more diverse than the first including transgender guitarist Lisa Koffe, trangender bassist
Roxie, and their first hetero member, drummer Jon Leavitt. Roxie didn't last long...only a show or two; that
girl was just in a different time zone to put it mildly, and was replaced by George Spataro.
After much rehearsal
and a few shows, the sound was there, but the thrill was gone, and the new group lacked the social cohesiveness of the original
lineup. The final show was actually among their best, at the Milwaukee Pridefest Main Stage. What a blast!
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| December 2004 performance at Cell Block |
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| Gayco at an early Flesh Hungry Dog Show |
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| Gary Airedale performs at the Underground Lounge |
Unhappy with the shady business practices of The Underground Lounge, Airedale approached Jackhammer about hosting The
Flesh Hungry Dog Show there. Jackhammer agreed, and it's been a love affair ever since. The first FHD Show
at Jackhammer was in April 2005, and they've been doing monthly shows there since. The band itsself however, lumbered
along with few good gigs. Due to differing levels of commitment, increasing disagreement about the sound,
artistic approach and repetoire Flesh Hungry Dog was no longer the happy and fun experiment it started out to be. They
always had good publicity pictures though!
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| Ross, Airedale, and Smith in May 2005. The band was down to three after the departure of Sukys. |
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