Saturday Adventures - Valient Thorr @ Neptune's, Yacht @ Cat's Cradle, The Big Pic @506

You’ll rarely you’ll never see a review posted the day after or day of a show on this blog. (If that ever happens I promise you all a handshake and a smile.) I need time to think, I need time to be inspired. I absolutely refuse to let this become just an informative blog. The blogworld is already full of “information” and “facts” and “true things” that “make sense” about “events” that have happened in the “real world”. I keep trying to tell you folks, if you want band bio and a set list, look to your right. Maybe scroll down a little, I don’t know how your resolution is set.

Yesterday I was blabbing with The Hills about how it suddenly feels like I am doing everything I ever wanted to do with my life all in one; seeing live music, discovering new music, making cool friends, dressing beautifully and fixing my hair just right and then getting to write it all down in a public forum. In retrospect, I think even my most elementary diaries were intended for public use. (I think I read and fell in love with Anne Frank too soon. That may be a bad analogy, but it makes sense in my noodle. Lighten up.) I’ve always been writing for you people, you just didn’t know it yet. So Hillary said something to the effect of “But you actually *update*, there is a relevant currency with your blog.” YES. THAT. I may not get it to you super fast, but there is no show I won’t tell you something about. Have you guys figured this out yet? I go to a lot of shows. I LOVE to go to shows. I love live music. A lot.

Anyway. This past Saturday was so many things I wasn’t even sure where to start. How to start. 3 different... venues, bands, and cities? Road trips and day drinking, playing wingman, bar hopping and avoiding exes… where do I go with that? Here is my advice for writers; Just Wait. Hey, some people wait for years for inspiration. I can’t help it I’m so magnanimously brilliant that I get inspired literally within days of a show, this is my gift to the world. Lucky you. But I do wait, sometimes it’s a few hours, usually it’s a day or two. It has to sink in, I wait it out and I am patiently open to suggestions of inspiration from the universe.

Here is how my inspiration for this post reared its lil head… every day I go to the same coffee shop downtown and I get the same coffee; sometimes hot, today it was iced. (I mixed it up a little) and I had narrowly missed an afternoon showerburst. I got my drink and talked a table wipe down out of the Times folks and sat down with my old standby; the Viking Library Portable Dorothy Parker. Sometimes when I’m feeling all feminist-y and sassy, she calls to me. (ps – I am a nerd. I love to read! I’m a ‘classics’ whore. Throw a penguin classic at me and I devour it. One of my particular weaknesses is Parker; she’s up there with my Brontë sisters and Woolf in my “I don’t need no man” mindset of classic cravings.) I was perusing the poetry parts and peeped this particular passage:

 On Cheating The Fiddler

 "Then we will have tonight!" we said.

"Tomorrow- may we not be dead?"

The morrow touched our eyes, and found

Us walking firm above the ground,

Our pulses quick, our blood alight.

Tomorrow's gone- we'll have tonight!

I instantly thought of my dear Jonny Tunnell and my friends in The Big Picture. This sums up so eloquently exactly how I feel when I see them play out…. Joy, recklessness, perfection, happiness, kindredness, kindness, impermanence, and transience. And there was my inspiration; there was my gateway to this review. This was my process.

Saturday began at Neptune’s. Valient Thorr had sent out a call for “hot chicks” et.al. to show up between 3-6pm to be background for their newest music video. Hey man, I’m a hot chick, right?? Or at least, I play one in the scene. I’m real good at assuming. Also, I wanted to check it out and be in a video with my friends. So I went. I did not, however, take any pictures of the shoot because I wanted to respect the vision of the band and the production staff; it’s their baby – no spoiler alerts! I will tell you this, the song was awesome, I smooched on Herbie a little (of course,) and it was incredibly fun. I met some really awesome people. I really only knew the bar staff, the band and Matt. Before I left I was besties with a couple girls that rocked my world. However, apparently after I left, Snoop Dogg showed up? This is too ridiculous for me to comprehend. 

Hillary picked me up and we jetsetted out to Carborro. I had tickets for Yacht, Who I had seen in Paris in 2008 at La Maroquinerie where he opened for Architecture in Helsinki back when it was just Jona, a jewfro and a macbook. We hit ‘lunch’ at Acme, stopped in for the show and I found a new comrade.

 Fuck those fried green maters.

 ARMY REPRESENT!

I was pretty coherent, despite the fact that I had, at this point, been drinking for approximately 5 hours straight. So it was completely understandable that Jeffrey Jerusalem, (part of Yacht’s new backing band, Straight Gaze, who opened solo,) BLEW MY EVERLOVING MIND. He was all over the place.

 

 

Then hell, I don’t know what happened. I got led astray to the OCSC by Hillary and ½ of “the lovers”.  The other half met us later at local 506, whereupon we saw and had our minds blown by The Big Picture.

 

I don’t even know why it surprises me to say that every time I see TBP they become more and more my favorite thing on earth. Is it because I adore them on such personal, friendly levels? Is it because the feeling that comes out of their sound is so all-encompassingly …. Photophilous and amatory. The music, the feeling, the sound, the vision, the good intentions... There is something all kinds of magical about these guys. Something giving and kind, like a communal garden or a soup kitchen, they want to share this experience with you, not just the sound. When they play for you, they are playing FOR YOU. They have no ulterior motives or intentions; they are a group of good people making good music, sharing it with their friends. The Big Picture is the sound of Carpe Diem.

 

 

 

To summate, I will share with you a quote from Hillary, who texted me during their set: “Is it just me or you feel bass in your uterus as well?”

Indeed. Uterine Bass; this is the Zen of The Big Pic.

Later, I apparently drunkenly orated in the street about my ex. That’s always classy. I don’t remember much else other than lamenting the fact that I didn’t go pee before we left Carrboro. When I got home, I peed. I peed so good.

Faute De Mieux

Travel, trouble, music, art,

A kiss, a frock, a rhyme-

I never said they feed my heart,

But still they pass my time.

(Dorothy Parker)

Auralmemories Springjam Mixtape - Jan-May 2011

This is something I have been promising my friends would happen for a while now. I did not throw any links in this post, (you can google just as well as I can) and if i procrastinate on this post any longer, I'll never get Saturday's review up!

I've been struggling to find the right file hosting situation and I guess this will work for now, but if you have troubles downloading, please, hit me up. If anything, I swear I will burn 100 cds to hand out to you guys - Just want to say thanks for your support and for sticking around!

----

AURALMEMORIES SPRINGJAM MIXTAPE <-click to download from mediafire!

1) Purity Ring - Ungirthed

You know GOBBLE GOBBLE, right? c’mon. You know you do. They played Motorco a few weeks back and I didn’t get to go (chose another show. I suck.) Purity Ring is a piece of Gobble Gobble, ungrateful children of, prodigals, something. This track is a little Dubby, a little glitchy, and totally adorable. The more I tried to piece this mixtape together, the more this track made it higher and higher up the playlist. I think it’s a good road trip/all windows down song.

2) Donnis - Ring My Bell (feat. Dev) (produced by Syience)

Donnis – ATL hip-hop, Assume that is good. This track is pretty minimal but there is something very tricky about that keeps me coming back to it. I admit, like most mid 30’s white girls, I tend to gloss over  hip-hop, but the mix of just a couple backtrack loops and the sexy girl-vocals on the chorus; mix that all up with clever rhymes… This keeps getting played in my car. I don’t know much about this guy’s other stuff but I know he opened for Erykah Badu on one of her tours.

3) Alex Winston - Sister Wife (Star Slinger Remix)

I like the original mix of this song (easily searchable on hypem, btw) but I cannot resist my lil’ star slinger. Alex Winston, from Detroit; a bit twee, a bit pop, a bit gnome huffing helium. Her soundcloud page is crawling with covers. I’m about 50/50 on most, but her single “locomotive” was getting some heavy rotation with me a while back. The lyrics to this song are bizarre. Internet trolling tell me “sister wife” is actually what she calls her backing band.

4) Keep Shelly in Athens - Song to Cheer You Up

Greeks! So, KSiA is a band that pops up so often on GorillaV.Bear that I assumed everyone knew them. And then when I started playing this song for everyone they were like “WHATS THAT CRAZY 808SYNTH POP MADNESS?!” and I said, the Greeks. Or, actually, I probably had to clarify some, I dunno. KSiA has never disappointed and I feel like I am possibly letting you guys in on a secret which I assumed everyone knew already. This is a teaser for the amazingness. Last summer-ish I was rocking their remix of Body Language’s “You Can” so much it might as well be my ringtone.

5) MF/MB/ - Seconds Away

So something happened with this track where I didn’t know the name of the band forever. I thought maybe the band was “seconds” and the song was “away”.  But no. This was a track I grabbed off http://www.listenbeforeyoubuy.net that, knowing me, would probably not be a song you think I’d be into. But I would listen to this song and then moments later I realized I was still thinking about it. Quick info: Swedish, teenagers, rock, I like it a lot.

6) Wavves – Horse Shoes

Flippin wavves. This is a “why in god’s name would you think Karla would ever be so into these guys?” band. Almost on par with Gauntlet hair; I deafen myself with Wavves sometimes; lots of noise pop, reminds me of the stuff my dad would have listened to at my age. These guys would have been on my dream hopscotch lineup, too. But, hey.

7) Anna Calvi - Suzanne And I

Heard this randomly on WKNC one morning at like 630am on the way to work. And I couldn’t soundhound it fast enough. Total wildcard in this mix, but it’s superhuman. If you like Pj Harvey or like, Siouxsie and the Banshees, You’ll like Anna Calvi. She’s becoming a mild obsession for me. I know I really like someone when I wish I was them. I wish I was Anna Calvi. Find some youtube vids of her… *swoon*

8) Forbidden Friends - Tiny Hands

Side project of Hutch Harris from the Thermals. All I know is this is probably one of the most precious songs I’ve heard in a while. It makes me want to bang pots with wooden spoons.

9 Gomez – Options

OMG you guys Gomez is coming to Raleigh like, 2 days before my birthday. I FINALLY GET TO SEE GOMEZ LIVE. I WILL HUMP BEN OTTEWELL IN THE FACE.

 

IN.

THE.

FACE.

Also the new album, Whatever's On Your Mind, comes out first week ‘o’ June. This is the new single. Too much good for these two little ears!

10) Hey Rosetta! - Yer Spring

Something about these guys reminds me of Arcade Fire, so this song keeps getting played. It builds and builds and builds. This is the kinda drama in a song that I really dig.

11) Dawn Golden and Rosy Cross - White Sun

One guy, lots of layering and a lot of replays. I was about to start bugging people with this single when they announced he (Dexter Tortoriello from Houses) was playing the ‘Scotch. So I’m on it. Give it a listen. A little slower than you’ll find in most of my mixes but it’s too beautiful to resist.

12) The Submarines - 1940 (AmpLive Remix)

Whaaaaaaaaaaa! Okay, I’m sorry. This is the “oldest” song on this mix, some of you may have had this one around for a while but Pandora only recently threw it on my face and I couldn’t bookmark that fucker hard enough.If you see this in time, the Subs are playing Local 506 this Friday; Get smart and get out there!

13) Yila Ft Scroobius Pip - Astronaut (Chris Clark Remix)

So the original single has been out a minute, this crunchy Chris Clark mix has not. Barring the fact that I am festeringly in love with Scroobius Pip, (beardus maximus + Essex twang = too good to resist) – I threw this mix on a mixtape for a friend a couple months ago and made an extra copy or two for a few other friends. This one and the Blueprint song are the ones everyone keeps asking me about.

14) Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise

Oh, we’ve all heard it by now. But it’s just so good, right? And now you have it in mp3 format.

15) Cinnamon Chasers - Cuts like Fire

Uhoh. We are treading into dangerous territory, here. I am stretching the limits of your electro boundaries! British Djs. Give it a chance. This is the exact BPM and nice level of bass that gets me gooey.

16) Blueprint - So Alive

This is it. The song I feel like I gave to the world. I can’t even remember where I found it. Rcrdlbl maybe. I do know that every person I play this song for instantly begs me for it and asks WHO and WHERE. This song would charm the crap out OF A CRAP.

17) Low - Try To Sleep

And…. the crescendo. This is new album was recorded in a church. The video for this song stars Uncle Jesse from Full House. Every time I hear it I wish I was driving in the desert at night with a boy who loves me.

Heads on Sticks and SPCL GST (and The Rosebuds, sorta) - LBLB - 04/21/11

If you've hung around me enough, you will know certain indelible facts bout me that i will continue to reiterate as i have an incessant tic in my brain that persists in the need to explain myself at all times. I am obsessed with people understanding me. I don't know what that's all about, it's not necessarily a bad thing. My dad does it, too. I blame him. But I also really like my dad, so there's not really any blame inferred. Anyway. There are many things I will tell you over and over again about myself. For example, did you know I was born at the Old Rex Hospital on Wade Avenue? (that was for J9, btw.) Basically this entire blog began as a place to get down all these obnoxiously repetitive stories, always ALWAYS centered around music, into one place so I could stop bugging the shit out of my friends with them. Basically J9, as she seems to be the one person who has spent the most amount of time with me and still answers the phone when I call.

The most important thing you need to know about me is the music. I hit on this a few times back in the old incarnation of this blog, but I won't assume anyone reads back in these entries, so I'll do my best to paraphrase: My dad raised my brother and I as musically encyclopedic rainmen. We spent our Saturday mornings lying in the floor listening to the Who's Tommy and quizzing each other on Motown. My mom worked most weekends at her salon, so my brother and I spent our free time with Dad, who inadvertently insisted we learn and obsess over his record collection the way he did. We were glad to comply. My childhood is a swirling memory of running errands with Dad and the Beatles. Eating lunch with Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. Playing Gi Joes with my brother and the Ventures. Long and short; I never really learned to turn to TV for entertainment; It was always the music.

Mom got me in piano lessons at age 6, which i continued for upwards of 13 years. No one was really surprised when I went to college for Musical Theater. The fact that I am now incessantly dedicating my every moment of free time to attending shows, making music with my own band and now writing about music when not doing these other things isn't that shocking either, i would seem. To not be this person who does these things, who surrounds herself with music at every possible moment, seems almost heretical to me. This post has, obviously ventured into one of those posts where I am all personal-n-shit, but as I utterly convinced no one cares and I am a blazing egomaniac, I continue.

My whole point of this was to explain to you why I liked Spcl Gst. ha! But i have to backpedal even more... can you handle it? Read on, reader! here is a handy visual guide to my lifetime (so far) of the musics.

What you really need to pay attention to here is the purple line. this happened sometime around my senior year. Christy and I had already completely obsessed ourselves with Ace of Base, Real McCoy, the Scatman and the like, compliments of her French foreign exchange student, Veronique, our junior year. Opening the door to BPM, it was like finding a magic lamp, a gateway drug, something else majestic... I took that one step and I never stopped running. It may surprise some of you and sound completely derp-y to others to find out that yes, my first true love (after the holy U2/Moz/Byrne trifecta,) is House music. You give me a swingy discohouse beat and I'm happy as a pig in glittershit. Legends on a Saturday night is pretty much heaven to me. There are certain DJs that are like Gods to me. I went to Paris to the Technoparade in 2008 to follow Benny Benassi, Carl Cox and David Guetta like a zombie through the city. I've written about that before and that entry is more than enough to explain all this, if you give any kind of shit.

SO! that being all said, the lineup on this past Thursday's LBLB was glee-inducing for me. specifically SPCL GST and Heads on Sticks. Let me explain one thing, I'm not a huge rosebuds fan. I mean, they're cool and all, but I'll be honest; I haven't paid much attention. I'm all proud of them for being the hotshits of Raleigh, Ivan is a cool dude (we went to high school together,) but for some reason I never really got into them. I think I have a couple songs that I gloss over every once in a while, but nothing has ever really grabbed me. I don't dislike them, maybe it's time I start paying attention, I thought this night was going to be the bonding moment for me, but nope. I wonder if this confession will blacklist me from the scene? I wonder if i care. The biggest issue there was the crowd... Even I have my limits. Tir Na Nog was way beyond capacity. I wasn't braving that mess for just anyone.

the first "act" of the night was the Revolver fashion show, with choons provided by Raleigh's own Spcl Gst. If you don't know his style, then you know the name because there are stickers EVERYWHERE. I've personally heard him several times (including last year's Hopscotch, as he spun at 5star before one of my truest love DJs; Treasure Fingers! [le sigh!]) More hiphop than house, I really dig on spclgst regardless. Still almost always a good swingy, rude beat. Almost a little more scratching than I like, but in a live set, it's doable. The fashion show was fancy pants, I found myself pointing out several outfits I kinda wanted. Where the hell is revolver? maybe i need to go there. on a payday. The guys break dancing between models were fantastic. Jonny and I were, once again, playing fashion police. I threw down my bag at one point and pretended like I was gonna walk the runway as well, but cooler heads prevailed. I'll tell you, unabashedly, y'all I looked good Thursday night, Haaaaaay.

Heads on Sticks might be one of those bands you start seeing a lot of on this blog. I'm starting to like them more and more, it that's at all possible. The electronic/live mix is something I foam at the mouth for, regardless. The fact that these guys are so good at it, certainly helps feed that addiction. I was down front with Mikey and Matt and other people I don't remember because I was drinking tequila. I was about halfway through the set when I had this sudden realization that i should try to make a video of the performance, but as soon as I had this thought, I stifled it because there was no way I was going to stop dancing long enough to keep the shot steady. (I tried this once at a Gray Young show and it looks like I have Parkinson's and every 2 seconds is my dumbass going, "woooooooo!....woooooooooooooo!" no one can tolerate that. I didn't even bother trying to upload that.)

The show was fantastic, what I allowed myself to watch (basically HoS and about a song and a half of rosebuds,) and was officially billed as a Hopscotch launch party; as tickets have officially gone on sale and the lineup announced. I bought my VIP ticket at 10:02 am and subsequently grinned like an idiot for the rest of the day. The evening also served as an outlet to collect donations for the Triangle Red Cross for victims of the tornadoes. I'm curious to know how much was collected, I hope everyone pulled through, I know i threw down everything i had in my wallet. It was a pretty awesome night. Everyone I think Ive ever known was there at one point and I gave away almost all of my blog business cards... HELLO NEW READERS. heh.

speaking of hopscotch, (which I am sure I am going to be speaking of a lot until the time comes and I already cannot WAIT to do the writeup of these shows! AHHH! GAUNTLET HAIR!) here is a little youtube playlist i threw together for a couple friends to highlight some of the bands i am most excited to see. aka gauntlet hair, who i have been relentlessly harassing to tour the east coast for about a year now. *bliss*

Old Bricks CD Release Party with Nests and Wild Wild Geese - King's - 04/16/11

I'm not sure how rational, normal people react to deceit, disappointment and tornadoes; but this is how I do it: Go see an amazing show with a majority of the people you love and trust the most and then PRETEND TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THEM.

this post is extremely picture heavy but i promise you, it will be worth it. Well, I hope it will be worth it. I can only assume this will be another one of those instances where I am amusing myself and alienating anyone who ever comes here looking for actual "journalistic" or "musical" "integrity."

I had wandered downstairs to prowl around Neps when I got this text, (which I can only assume is absolute TRUTH.) So I HUSTLED:

IT MUST BE TRUE.

This was the second time I got to see Nests play live, and each time seems to get better. I definitely think the sound was clearer and a bit more... stabilized than the last time I saw them at Tir Na Nog. If you are not in a deeply introspective, semi-melancholy, ethereal mood before Nests plays, then you will be once they start. This is in no way a bad thing. (Melancholy breeds inspiration; pain makes art, etc...) I like to describe Nests as "the sound of a dying cowboy, counting his regrets"... Earlier in the evening, during the storm, Benny lost both his home and his car to the tornado. I am having trouble accepting this just yet and my heart goes out to him entirely. During this set, our collective pain for him hovered over us all and definitely set the mood for this sound. However, they announced a new song, the last song, which was fully upbeat and featured the drums and my god; people DANCED.

It was somewhere around this time when the tornado anxiety, heartbreak of another failed attempt at a relationship, alcohol consumption, and security of some closest friends turned some wild switch in me and I raged. I blame Hillary. We posed for a sparring pic, which swiftly turned into the theme of the evening.

I asked Roo what he thought of the show: “I only stayed for Nests. I wasn’t in a show mood, but I didn’t realize it until I got there… so everything was kind of un-enjoyable for that reason. I will say their (Nests) sound was much better than at LBLB because their volumes were where they needed to be. I understood the role of the saw better this time.”

Hillary does not approve. And I do not approve of the lackluster approach to her disapproval. I show her how to make it count!

I asked N'abney what she thought of the show, BUT THEN DIDN’T EVEN GIVE HER A CHANCE TO RESPOND.

I showed my sympathies and appreciation for the set to benny with a loving CHOKEHOLD:

Selma and I had a full battle. When I asked her later to give me a quote for the review, she said “No one looks good in loafers without socks?” (the question mark was hers, btw)

We are such good friends!

In between the Nests/Wild Wild Geese set, it seemed only appropriate to gang up on Juan Huevos. When I asked him later how it felt to get his eggs scrambled, he said “I was so drunk (your) fists felt like pesky gnats. But the bruises were very real.” Or “karla. she hits like a girl.”

"pretty sure old bricks was awesome, but what with all the brawling going on it was hard to be sure"

 

"i was at a show?"

"was i the only one getting turned on by all this?"

Wild Wild Geese! This was the second time I got to see them play, and this time, even despite all the rampaging going on, I did actually get to pay better attention to them this time! And I have to tell you I really am starting to like these guys a lot. I think I texted Roo at one point and said “It is the rarest of the species, I think the superfan of WWG is the bass player! He is going wild!” His excitement got me excited! Too fun!

I SHOWED MY APPRECIATION BY BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF HIM.

After their set, I took a toddle down to Neps to beat up Sarah and Jonny from The Big Pic!

Then back upstairs and I spied Abby:  
“So there was this fucking tornado, and I’d been wandering the earth for many hours charging my devices and so I end up at this rock and roll show, and Karla comes over and punches me in the face, and I’m just thinking, “Bad timing, Crazy Woman!” In other news, Benny’s house is fucked and Old Bricks blew my mind with their intense double drumming.”

She then instructed me to beat up Grayson and Tina. Only Happy to oblige!

"The Hopscotch Lineup this year is incredibleeeeeeeeee!"

Speaking of Old Bricks Intense Double Drumming! YES! Absolutely one of the best things I’ve seen in a while. Old Bricks was a duo, I thought? But then I see parts of Motor Skills on stage, so I can only assume magic is happening. I'm not sure if this was a special occasion line-up, but i heartily approve! I think on any other day, from what I’ve heard before, Old Bricks is pretty mellow; like an almost ambient-folk experimental thing. Could be because it was the CD release party, but this set was certainly high energy (mostly).Thanks guys! See Youse at Hopscotch!

 ("this song goes out to benny!" xoxoox)

Jeninan-itorial:

"With the stealth of a puppy at the park, I crept into Kings and set my ears at the ready. I surveyed the scene. Old Bricks were a few strands away, tuning up for tornadoes. Indie expatriates grazed on beer like all too fine gazelles in the African veldt. Had my supersonic skills safely shielded me from the arrows of outrageous hipster fortunes? Umm. No. Boot to the head. A punch from the left in 3/4 time by a pixie in plaid. Back to the soundboard for me. Restrain, restring, retune. Next time, my amp will be on."

 
Text conversation between Hills and I on Sunday evening:
Me: "Hey, you wanna add any quotes to my review?"
H: "I don't think so. Cock Guac was the highlight."

"Goodbye, lovers!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please support the recovery efforts of the recently abused Juan Huevos by checking out this new single, a collaboration with our dearly beloved Heads on Sticks: 

Johnny Handlebars The Musical (with Valley Young) at King's - 04/10/11

If you are looking for answers, you will find answers. If you are looking for an excuse, you’ll find one. If you’re desperate to find meaning, you will find enlightenment in everything you see.  These are true for all things except love; if you are looking for love, it will elude you.  That’s what they say, anyway. (Fuckin’ “they.”) ANYWHO, if you are looking to be entertained, you will be entertained. If you walk into a show with an open mind and an eager ear, you will hear what you need to hear. Thus was my experience Sunday night.

I keep stumbling into these last minute excursions, (and I certainly don’t mind by the way,) where someone cancels out on a show and has an extra ticket or gets a wild hair and says “Hey, you wanna?” and they know to call me. I always wanna. Live music – yes; I wanna. Jay asked me about Johnny Handlebars, something I had thought about doing anyway, and I only needed the gentlest of shoves and I of course, went. And it was one of those rare and pleasurable instances where I went totally alone (Jay was with his GF) and I sat alone and was able to completely focus on what was in front of me; I had no one to keep up with, to check in with or to split a tab with… nice once in a while.

First off, let me tell you Daytime!Kings is weeeeeeeeeird. I know they’ve had day functions and shows before, but I’d not experienced it before. It felt so wrong, like… digging in your mom’s underwear drawer wrong. Like that horrible feeling the first day of class in college when the teacher says "This is Buttscratch 101, make sure you're in the right class." and you have that awkward stumble out of the room being all "damn I was supposed to be in math for total idiots" and EVERYONE IS LOOKING AT YOU. You shouldn’t be able to see King's people in direct sunlight. I think it's a rule somewhere. If it's not a rule, I'm making a rule right now. It's like seeing your fifth grade teacher at the gay bar. It's a total “something isn’t right here” feeling. This is the dumbest paragraph I've ever written but look at me go! I ain't erasing it! Long to short: King's in the daylight is bizzarro.

So for the second time ever, (first being Ed Schrader,) perhaps attributed to the fact that I was alone and sober, I actually took notes on a performance. But as I said in the beginning of this post, if you are looking for magic, you will find it. And I had had a magical/loving weekend so far and when Valley Young took the stage this early evening, as I was not actually expecting a musical act, I was already surprised. And I LOVE surprises, good or bad, so I was already having the happies.

I had never heard of Valley Young. They announced three facts, the only three facts I can confirm for you now: They are from Tennessee. They opened the last time Johnny Handlebars was performed. They were only two of a larger outfit band. One guy, one girl. Later introductions, gushings, and business card exchanges later I discover another fact that somehow amplified my already blossoming crush on this duo, and if this doesn't convince you to check them out I don’t know what will: Their names are Artemus and Annabelle… ARTEMUS AND ANNABELLE! I shit you not! That is the cutest thing I have ever heard in my whole life. Their names might as well have been BABY PANDA and PILE OF KITTENS.

Silly intros aside, let me tell you about Valley Young... (Maybe I just have a thing for bands with the word 'young' in them?) I loved it, maybe I was just in that magic happy open minded lovey dovey mood, but I think anyone who was there early enough and paid attention heard what I heard. It was pretty much one of my favorite new things I've heard in a really long time.

These are my actual iphone notes:
-Valley Young - East Tennessee - CHARMING!
-When she sings, I like her voice best, but then he sings and I like his voice best, but then those harmonies! Delicate, gentle, and comforting. Almost hymnal. Her chord progressions are angelic. Something more spiritual than folk, more depth than alt-country, grittier than gospel.
-Sounds like driving the Blue Ridge Parkway in spring with the windows down. Reminds me of family. Makes me miss Granny and Poppa. But a good missing. Bittersweet. Reminds me I was lucky to love & be loved by granny and poppa.
-Cried during song they just announced "ink wasn't dry on yet" - ask what the name of this song is! (Note: I forgot to ask – hey Valley Young, if you see this, record that song asap and send it to me! It was the second to last song?)
-Really hope they have merch. I need this music on my ipod stat so I can lay in the yard on the grass and clear an afternoon for daydreaming asap. So good!

After their set, I literally raced downstairs to have a smoke and call J9 and tell her about what I had just heard. It was the first time in my whole life that I wished I had my own label because I would honestly pursue these two. As I was raving on the phone, they started their load out and I hung up on J9 to have a quick chat (see above re: card exchange, etc.) Even now, listening to the handful of songs they have their MySpace; I can feel myself tearing up. So beautiful. It's so amazing what you find when you don't even know you're looking. 

I honestly didn't mean for the main event, aka Johnny Handlebars to be a side note in this review. I hope that everyone involved with its production understands that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was like... “The Sad True Story of Everyone at Jackpot Ever Kinda Starring Everyone That Ever Worked at Jackpot or Slims. Written and Produced by Everyone Else in Raleigh You've Ever Known.” I don't want that at all to sound smarmy or contemptuous, it is meant in the "holy-crap-every-single-person-that-walks-out-on-the-stage-is-someone-I-have-known-and-seen-around-forever-and-this-is-cracking-me-up-oh-holy-god-Brad-is-too-much-and-I-think-David-Mueller-just-gave-me-a-coronary" way.

I can’t give you any sort of history or facts about this show. What I can tell you, obviously, is about my experience. I had no idea what to expect. Johnny Handlebars is a Raleigh Legend, one of those things that I think you have to experience to say you are truly a Cap-City-Kid; (other required experiences: Drunk waffles at Hillsborough IHOP any time between the hours of 3 and 5am, Have sat in the parking lot stalking the “Hot Donuts Now” sign at Krispy Kreme on Person Street, Barfing somewhere in [or on] Slim’s, ‘Serious’ grocery shopping at or around 3am at Hipster Teeter in Cameron Village, Have attended at least one Goth Night at Legends, Would rather die than live OTB, hooking up with someone at the Lassiter Mill waterfall, Have hooked up with someone at the Rose Garden, Have attended and/or gotten blisteringly stoned at an Amateur’s show, Have lost the inability to survive without Cup A Joe coffee, Have attended and thoroughly enjoyed a show at Sadlack’s that you never intended to attend in the first place, Barfing in [or on] Jackpot, Attended at least 2 or 3 “omg Jackpot is closing” night parties, Have road tripped post-midnight to Acid Park, etc…)

The story of Johnny Handlebars is pathetic and sad and almost too true, like uncomfortably true. As in, we all know a Johnny Handlebars; a down on their luck, perpetually drunk, forever alone, heart of gold awkward antihero that’s always at the bar. The plot is simplistic I suppose (loser meets girl, takes a chance on love, heart gets broken, makes the right choice in the name of [unrequited] love, the end.) But what makes it are the songs, Lisa’s badass voice, and the cast of ridiculous characters. I guffawed, LITERALLY GUFFAWED, several times, and since I can’t hear shit I was sitting kinda up front under the speakers, so I know everyone must have thought I was an asshole, but whatever. I wasn’t patronizing anyone, I was honestly that amused. Been thinking about it a lot the past few days and I really can’t decide if it was the story, the lines, or the people that amused me quite so much.

I hope they do this show again, so I can convince more people to come with me next time.