Columbus Alive: Locals Only - Bob City

Back in 2009, after years of inactivity aside from a one-off show, Bob City go together to play at Cafe Bourbon Street. The Columbus Alive dove into the history of the band, including the important aspect of the Athens and Columbus connection, which has a ties going back decades as far as being a musical pipeline between the two cities. Here's a bit of that:

Back in the mid-1990s, Route 33 got a lot of traction from hard-nosed, whiskey-swilling rock bands. Athens and Columbus bands have always mingled to a certain extent, but the set of roughshod rockers who fellowshipped in those days left a legacy that extends beyond the fuzzy memories of a close-knit clique. 

So there’s reason to anticipate the pair of reunion shows this weekend that bring together long-lost rockers Bob City, Geraldine and (at the Athens show only, unfortunately) the Spiveys. 

Each of those bands merits an article of its own, but because Bob City represents the Columbus contingent - and because Grafton, the other Columbus band on the bill, is still together - let’s focus on Bob City, starting with a warmly remembered era of undergrad excess. 

“It started out like any band, just like a fun art project,” drummer Brad Swiniarski said. “The longer we did it, the better we got, the more seriously some of us took it.”