I’m not one to deter anyone from getting drunk at a bar and belching up grandiose ideas, but when the inspiration strikes you to declare some genius endeavor with the phrase “we should totally start a …,” that inspiration should be met with a little bit of caution, as if it were a stray dog or an unlabeled spray bottle containing something yellowish. The danger is not in putting your name to some drunk-ass, half-baked idea. Rather, whomever you’re shouting at could very well take your four-drinks-in proclamation as if you really want to do it and then, the next day, get the ball rolling.
For most of us, the likelihood of two sober people following up on a previous night’s beer-flooded brainstorm and then actually making something happen about it is very, very slim. After all, who really wants to get together and make homemade candles, let alone hassle with the Etsy store and the pop-up markets? Are you sure nobody has ever made a movie about that? When would you even have time to start that band?
In spring 2024, singers Todd Camp and Melissa Cassidy and singer-guitarist Dan Gordon found the time, forming a Fort Worth-based tribute to the B-52s called the Bikini Whales in the wake of a boozy night at The Cicada.
The Bikini Whales “came out of a karaoke session,” Camp said.
He and Gordon had been at The Cicada, belting out their favorite New Wave jams, which led to a duet on a B-52s tune. “We did ‘Private Idaho.’ Dan sang the Kate [Pierson] and Cindy [Wilson] parts, and I did [Fred Schnieder’s], and, you know, through the haze of alcohol, we just decided, ‘Hey, we should start a B-52s cover band,’ and before I knew it, Dan had already found a couple of people to be in it. So, I was like, ‘Oh? Oh, we’re doing this.’ ”
Photo by Ash Adams
Cassidy said she happened to be there with some other friends. “I hadn’t seen Todd in probably six months or a year. … It was nice to see them, and then they were singing this B-52s song, and I was cheering them on … and then it was probably a couple months later that Todd texted me and was like, ‘Hey, we’re starting a band, and we’d love you to sing.’ I thought it was a joke. I thought they were drunk at brunch or something, because it’s like we’ve drunk-talked about stuff like that a million times, and it never happens. But this actually did!”
The band played their first show at the Chat Room on April 1, 2024, and they’ve played nearly every month since. This month, they’ll play three times: at the Tub Bar (2500 E 4th St, Fort Worth, 817-222-9500) on Sun, Jun 7, with Dallas-based ska-punk band Set the Tone; on day Sat, Jun 13, at Tulips FTW (112 St. Louis Av, Fort Worth, 817-367-9798), as part of the venue’s Live OUT Loud party, which showcases drag performers Shalula Davenport, Mr. August Edwards, Aalegra Dell Daze, Cecil B. D’Ville, Esq., Emo Channel, and Power Surge; and at a post-Trinity Pride Fest show on Sat, Jun 27, at the Chat Room (1263 W Magnolia Av, Fort Worth).
Camp, Cassidy, and Gordon, along with guitarist Jon Carney, have been the longest-tenured members in the lineup. The current roster also includes Maui Mang on keyboards, drummer Neil Saunders, and bassist David Tuttle. As the Bikini Whales are paying tribute to a band that’s been unabashedly queer since their 1976 debut, Camp, Cassidy, Gordon, et. al. are proud to carry on the B-52s’ legacy of acceptance and living out loud.
“I mean, we are a queer-fronted band,” Camp said. “Melissa and I are both in the LGTBQ alphabet, and we got to play both Trinity Pride and Pride Kel-So last year. Of course, you know, the B-52s are a very queer-heavy band, but most of the guys in our band are straight — we’re really open to anything.”
That includes gigs. Of late, the band, which often plays with Tom Petty-ish rockers Hotel Satellite (as both Maui Mang and Saunders play in that band), is looking to broaden their bookings, including with bands they haven’t shared a stage with, and they’d like to take their show on the road, especially if it’s east on I-30.
“You know, I would love to play Dallas,” Cassidy said. “We haven’t played Dallas yet, and in fact, the only city outside of Fort Worth that we played is Keller. I really just want to get out there and meet other bands.”
Maybe one of those other bands could be yours. All it requires is an open mind and some follow-through, perhaps while you and your friends are tipsy at brunch.
