Mingo Fishtank parrades onto scene
By Matt Simpson
Skiff Staff

The Aardvark sits on Berry street in a plain white building just across the road from the TCU Bookstore. Aside from the large marquee hanging just above the door, it looks like a hole-in-the-wall nightclub. And really it is.

Inside it is always dark, too dark to avoid stumbling over empty beer bottles and plastic cups as you stroll from crowd to crowd. On one side of the club is a skinny little bar, and opposite it is a small stage that, except for a couple of short steps leading to the slightly elevated platform, is barely distinguishable from the rest of the floor. But this is where many of the more notable young local bands come to perform, and where excited young kids just looking for some place to listen to good music come to hang out.

Mingo Fishtrap will be the act Thursday night. They’re a swing band of sorts, playing what songwriter Roger Blevins Jr. calls a “deep fried soul with ‘60s and ‘70s influences and a New Orleans twist.” Now doesn’t that sound like fun? They hail from Denton, a bunch of University of North Texas music students who probably just got bored playing scales in tired old classrooms. Blevins’ father, also a member of the group, got the boys into New Orleans ragtime and now they’ve recorded two studio albums — 1997’s “Succotash” and 2000’s “From the Private Bag” — and were recently named Best Funk Band by the Austin Chronicle.

The group will probably be going on around 11:30 p.m. Thursday night, but you’ll want to show up before then. Mingo Fishtrap has been known to begin their set outside, blowing sweet tunes on horns and trumpets as they slowly make their way up Berry street towards The Aardvark. When they parade through the open door, they move quickly across the floor filled with cigarette smoke and restless young college students. They climb up to the stage at the front of the club they really get going. According to Aardvark manager Joe Rose, “If you’re not dancing, there’s something wrong with you.” Mingo Fishtrap’s lineup includes a horn section, keyboards, and Latin percussion, which provides enough variety to assure you of never getting bored and is good when you consider that the group will probably be playing all night long anyways.

So stop by The Aardvark this weekend. School’s starting and there has to be someplace to go where you can let loose and ignore responsibility for at least one more night.