The Anaerobes

The tendency for archaeologists to form garage bands of varying levels of proficiency has been the subject of sporadic scholarly interest.  Some maintain that the constant, repetitive action of scraping a trowel is similar ergonomically to playing many stringed instruments.  More plausibly the impoverished life style common to diggers and musicians is simply a natural synergy.

Whichever theory you prefer the history of a band generally known as "The Anaerobes" is an interesting case study.

With the presence among its founding members of a certain "L.A. Scott"- who was an actual entertainment industry lawyer - one would imagine that the band would be on the fast track to stardom.

But problematically the members of the band could not even agree on a name.  Late nights at the pub were occupied not by practice but by pointless debate as to whether the group should be called "Willy and the Wellies" or "Welly and the Willies".

All struggling musicians are admonished with similar advice; "Don't Quit the Day Job".  And in fact this proved good counsel.  It was only when the group was fully engaged in excavating deep, villainous, organically preserved layers that there appeared both a name "The Anaerobes" and a lead singer who peered quizzically over from an adjacent but far less uncouth trench.

Sunny Delgato was certainly the most talented member of the group and the second most enigmatic. In this regard she lags slightly behind lead guitar "Pierre" who hails from an unspecified water logged European country.

Soon the band began to enjoy a modicum of popularity.  And even if it was mostly of the delusional sort it was for all of that, no less enjoyable.  A series of albums was forthcoming.

Happy times indeed, best captured by this photo of band and roadies.  The raised hand in the back is not a random fan but instead a passing groundskeeper on his lawnmower.

Of course there are a number of classic signs that a band is running out of creative energy, or perhaps falling apart from internal strife.  The appearance of a "Greatest Hits" album is usually the last you ever hear of a musical group.

And so it was with considerable surprise and delight that fans of the group - the entirety of which would fit around a single table at the Twice Brewed Inn - recently received a notification in the form of an ancient wax stylus tablet:

The Anaerobes Reunion Tour, Northern England.  May 2016.