Ten Foot Pole front man Dennis Jagard brought the punk band's songs to downtown Barrie on Thursday night with an acoustic set.
The Califonia band was formed in 1983 as Scared Straight before changing their name a several years later to disassociate themselves with the straight-edge scene.
Throughout the night at the Foxx Lounge Rock Bar and Hotdoggery on Dunlop Street, Jagard took song requests from the audience and regaled fans with stories of the band's past while also answering a myriad of questions on all manner of topics in what would have to be considered a very relaxed atmosphere.
Barrie bands Flight 97 and the High Dives opened Thursday night's show with acoustic sets of their own.
Jagard is working as a sound engineer on the road for 'Weird' Al Yankovic and has been taking acoustic dates where he can on off days. He said he expects the full band to come back through town in the fall.
Upcoming shows for the Ten Foot Pole acoustic tour include Toronto on Saturday at CineCycle followed by a stop in Brantford on Sunday at Our Place. More than two decades after it came out, Ten Foot Pole's 1994 album Rev, which was released on Epitaph Records, is still considered by many music fans to be a masterpiece in the skate-punk genre.
The band, which hails from Simi Valley, Calif., has released seven albums under the Ten Foot Pole name, including a live album in 2017 and a split EP with the Satanic Surfers in 1995.
After the split EP, original singer Scott Radinsky left the band to pursue his Major League Baseball League career. He was a relief pitcher, with stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Cleveland before switching to the coaching side of the game. Radinsky now fronts the punk band Pulley.
Upon Radinsky's departure, Jagard assumed the role of lead singer in the band, beginning with 1997's Unleashed.
