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: 

Veelee 2nd Anniversary Party with Juan Huevos & Motor Skills - King's - 02/13/11

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Moving Island 2011 Buoyancy Benefit - Day Two - 01/29/11

I didn’t make it on time for the afternoon session of day two... The lineup was as thus:

Young Volcanoes 3:00pm
Phil Cook & His Feat (of Megafaun) 3:45pm
Mac McCaughan (of Superchunk/Portastatic) 4:30pm
Old Bricks 5:15pm
Schooner 6:15pm
Intermission/Q&A About what Moving Island is/does/plans to do! 7:30pm
Kid Future 9:15pm
Naps 10:00pm

A good recap of the afternoon events can be found on the Secret Carrboro Ninja site (ps – who ARE these guys?)

I feel like a total dolt for not seeing these shows, but honestly? A hangover intervened… I had planned to be up at the site by 9 to catch Kid Future, but Jay called around 8:30 and said they/he had already begun the set, playing only a couple acoustics songs. So I took my time gathering my wits and my Roo and off we went. We showed up at the venue in just enough time for Jay to distract us with promise of a friend’s birthday party up the street a bit. We took off during Naps… (Sorry, naps) but made it back in time for the last song or two from them, and with plenty of time to spare to find my friend Hillary! We hadn’t hung out in forever, so I may have wandered off from everyone else in an effort to catch up and spend some time with my friend… We caught up on life for a bit, hit the beard a few times and then it was time for Juan Huevos!

 YAY HILLS! We have the same birthday, yo!

I had not ever seen Juan Huevos but I have heard legend… As prepared as I thought I was for this set, I was not prepared… Best things? The quasi-nakedness, the crunchy beats and rudely witty words, the overall stifling hotness of this guy. The set started at the top and only seemed to climb… absolutely wild! The freedom and good vibes from the night before certainly carried over to the second night of shows – the crowd was almost as much a part of Juan Huevos’s set as he was; people all over the stage, the man himself all over the crowd; hands in the air and heads bobbing all over… Why and how have I never seen this guy before? A little research tells me he has been around forever (well, a while at least) and yet I have never made it to a show before… this will change. I will definitely make an effort to be a part of that raging/rocking clusterfuck again. It was too much fun… I keep thinking of this one song that had a chorus along the lines of “Raleigh’s too small for my dick and my balls!” … truer words were never spoken... No more sloppy seconds!  

Heads on Sticks! Heads on Sticks! Dave Mueller’s band – Well, other people are in this band as well, but this is how I know them… David and Sara have been together forever, Sara is my friend… He is also in Birds of Avalon (we love them, we have all seen them) and most notoriously? Jackpot DJ. Some of the most obscurely random shit would be played when he would DJ. And he was completely un-manipulatable… I could at least talk BShaw into some Kate Bush now and then, but David Mueller had things the way he wanted them. You could ask, but your request wasn’t getting played. It always turned out well, either way. He could always find a way to transition some weird-ass Brian Eno sounding shit into a raging blue eyed soul hip hop party on a Friday night. We love ‘em. …However! Heads on Sticks!

This band, (and the last band to come, besides Gray Young obvs) are in the handful of local bands that I have on a pretty consistent rotation on my ipod. I really like HoS’s sound… They are sassy, they are quirky, and they are what I would probably do if I knew what the hell I was doing. There is an oddness about them that reminds me of something that should have been on the Wifflefist label back in the day (YES - I WENT THERE.) Their Eps/albums or what have you; they sound intentionally unfinished, unmixed, and very raw – but always fun and the kinds of songs that if were present in physical material form, I would pick up and squish. (i.e. - http://soundcloud.com/heads-on-sticks/01-ladys-in-the-lake ... SQUISH!) However when these songs translate into a live environment (second time I have seen them live – first time was at LBLB a while back) they become fuller…. Jay and I have had this conversation many times: the disconnect between sounding synthetic on an intentional vs. an unintentional basis… how you have to be careful to clearly define your path before going ahead with some 808s and very pc direct beats… (Theory/opinion: Unintentionally overly synthetic beats are gross; you just sound like you can’t afford a drum kit or the right software or that you are dumb.) HoS: intentionally quirky, I would say. This is good. These beats happen on the album and a little bit live, but putting it all on stage takes this whole experience to a whole other level; it’s almost like two different bands! And they are two bands I like! Lucky Me! Sure there are many electro-type bands that share similar live vs. album discrepancy; but this is one of those rare occasions where I happen to like both incarnations. 

In the land that time forgot between Heads on sticks and Motor Skills, Hillary and I found time to hit the beard again and participate in a peepee dance bathroom dance party!

We also decided to hide in my car to smoke cigarettes and harass Sam in the street.

I then found Jay and decided we should take turns smooshing our faces into each others’ faces. He complied; who wouldn’t?

NEXT: Motor Skills: I really like them. Let me say that first, because then I’m going to digress into randomness… Someone needs to make a triangle music family tree. Wouldn’t that be awesome? I don’t know who would be at the top? The Connells? Dillon Fence? Johnny Quest? (HA! JOHNNY QUEST I SAID!) I might as well have said sex police… (HA! SEX POLICE I SAID!) …anyway. Motor skills is another band made of bands. I love this about Raleigh… EVERYONE IS IN A BAND. I am in a band, for christs’ sake. Everyone is in a band. We are all in bands! We are all awesome! However: we are not all as talented and enjoyable as motor skills. Mikey I have known for perhaps 8,000 years, (adding confusion to the fact we are both in our late 20s/early 30s…) He was a Record Exchange patron turned doorman at the Old Kings… Chris is one of the founders/spokesmen/something of Moving Island, so of course he put his own band as headliner – wouldn’t you? I dunno, that sounds snarky, but it’s not. Motor Skills should be headliners. They are that good. The irony is not lost on me, however. The first time I really remember seeing Motor Skills was at 506 and I remember thinking “Haaaay! Not fair! I want to be in that band!” I know I have found a good band when I am seethingly jealous of how good they are and I am mad that I am not in the aforementioned band.  Motor Skills’ set on night two brought some much needed intense focus to an otherwise wild affair. (For me, anyway.) The crowd had a hard time settling down after Juan huevos and Heads on Sticks kept the pace up as well… then Motor Skills got it all serious up in there. It was like seeing oh, I dunno, The B-52s open for Portishead. Like, it makes sense in a way, but your feet don’t know where to go after a while; do you tap the toes? Do you stand and bob the head respectfully? Do you suddenly realize you are a little too drunk and start a 2 person dance party by the PAs? I may have done all of these things. When a Motor Skills set is over, it’s such a bummer. It’s always over way too soon.

Again, thanks to Moving Island for putting on such a great show and having us over! It’s always events like these that make me the proudest Raleigher in town! 

 we lurve you!