Dramarama at the Wonder Bar

About this event

Rooted in distorted grit, punk energy, and American songbook eloquence, and sporting three of the original “four-ish” members (“four-ish,” you ask? Well, they didn’t start out with a permanent drummer), Dramarama has always been both classic and cutting-edge. This iconic alternative rock group was formed in the basement of a record store in Wayne, New Jersey by John Easdale [singer, songwriter], Mark Englert [lead, rhythm guitar] Peter Wood [lead, rhythm guitar], and have, for the past 20-plus years, been joined by Mike Davis [bass], and Tony Snow [drums], who not only preserve but strengthen the spirit that established Dramarama as a history-making force in 1982.. As the story goes, John, Peter and Mark traded New Jersey for Los Angeles. Long before the nineties alt rock radio boom, the West Coast initially embraced the group’s single, “Anything, Anything (I’ll Give You…)” (off their 1985 debut, Cinéma Vérité), as the de facto anthem of the nascent alternative nation. It notably made history as one of the most requested songs of all time on KROQ 106.7 FM in Los Angeles. It could also be heard loud and clear everywhere from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master to HBO’s Entourage. And although Dramarama has yet to become a household name (still the next big thing), Easdale’s work has been cited as an influence on several major bands of the last three decades. On the heels of Cinéma Vérité’s success the band delivered a decade of fan favorite albums: Box Office Bomb [1987], Stuck in Wonderamaland [1989], Vinyl [1991] and Hi-Fi Sci-Fi [1993], and after a 10-year hiatus served up Everybody Dies in 2005. As their legacy solidified, more critical praise followed. The Chicago Sun Times christened them “one of America’s best rock bands” and the Los Angeles Times proclaimed Easdale “one of the finest singer/songwriters of these times.” And the praise continues as Dramarama’s latest release, Color TV, was named one of the Top 10 Albums of 2020 by legendary music…