WKNC Double Barrel Benefit 8, Night One - King's - 02/04/11

On Friday morning February 4th, my maternal grandfather, Claude, (91) sat up in bed, asked my aunt for a Tylenol, laid back down and quietly passed away. It's not a surprising death; we had all asked ourselves for quite a while how much longer he could last without our Granny, his wife, who had passed away the year before. They were married for almost 70 years and never spent a night apart. (When people ask or wonder about my outrageous expectations for true love, my grandparents are all the example i need.) We all think he was waiting for us to be okay without them, that he was only going to let go when we were ready to let him go. It was heartbreaking; I was and am mostly brokenhearted for my mother and her siblings. There was no need to leave town just yet; mom and dad left right away and my brother and I left Sunday morning.

In my pity party state, in which i spent the majority of my day furiously cleaning the house and napping (I am denial master), Roo called and asked if I'd like to join him for the first night of the Double Barrel Benefit at King's that evening. He had recently discovered a local band, Cassis Orange, that he was very keen on checking out. Double Barrel was an event I wasn't really super hyped to check out... As i had told some other folks "this is one of those shows I'm not talking anyone into going to with me, but if someone wants to talk me into it, I'll go." I agreed to go because I had a feeling distraction was a good plan to not deal with the crushing sadness in my little heart.

I got up to King's around 9 or 9:30, and a band was already playing. it was Cassis Orange... wait, what? I creeped up front and found a couple friends. I heard two Madonna cover songs and then turned to ask my friend if they had only played Madonna cover songs? they replied that they thought so. then they announced they were about to play their last song, which, coincidentally, was a Madonna cover. This whole time I am texting Roo furiously. The night started backwards and only got worse.

I had a hard time this night (not surprisingly) and I asked Roo to tell his side of it all, as I lost the majority of the night in an alcohol soaked sadness haze.

Roo Review ... aka Roo-View #1 (in a hopeful to-come series!)
At about 9:30 p.m. this past Friday I thought to myself, "What's that? A text message during dinner? Hmm, it's a bit rude usually, but I'll check it anyway since we're expecting to meet up with people for the first night of WKNC's Double Barrel 8."


Text from Karla: "Cassis Orange is playing first. Now."

Dear Seamus Kenney, Congratulations on being in EVERY BAND EVER.

This was the point I started disliking this show. I never stopped disliking this show.

(Roo ponders the likability of this show.)

(Roo decides No. Does not like.)

We rushed through the last few bites of our dinner to get to Kings and hopefully not miss the entire Cassis Orange set. This band's myspace is really why I bought the tickets at all (http://www.myspace.com/cassisorangemusic). Now, some might be thinking it was my fault that I missed the band as the show started at 9 and we arrived around 10. However, I will squash your rebellious uprising by stating that EVERY PIECE OF MARKETING (including the websites) showed the line-up as The Old Ceremony then Bright Young Things then Luego THEN Cassis Orange. I will squash it, and I will put my thumbs to my ears and wiggle my fingers while making a childish garbled mess of mocking sounds at you.


We arrived while the second band was setting up. That second band was..? Yep, Luego. Apparently some college kid, in his infinite wisdom, decided to completely reverse the show from what all of the marketing had said. Now, you might think it was silly that I bought a ticket to a show if I only liked the one band. That is not the case. I like Bright Young Things, and I was eager to see Luego live for the first time. I listened to The Old Ceremony online and decided I could miss them. That is the reason I arrived at 10 for a 9 p.m. show.

Who is this band? Luego? Who cares. Beer.

Now, despite the fact that the line-up would have been spectacular as published (see: slow rock gaining speed and ultimately leading to a dance party), I was resigned to standing through what must have been one of the hottest nights I've ever suffered at Kings and occasionally fighting my way through a sea of people toward the bar. At one point I actually told Karla that I wanted to "stand toward the back so it wouldn't be so hard to leave."


Luego. I don't get them. They may be alright, but Friday wasn't their night. All I saw was a blonde boy speaking Spanish poorly.


BYT. I like them in general...but after missing the band which was my draw, suffering through the heat and Luego and realizing that the only thing yet to come was a band I had already decided once that day I could miss...we left half way through the set.


We crept down to Neptune's a few times to get easier drinks throughout the night, but even it was packed to capacity by the time we were leaving and the energy was getting crazy in a "where have all the locals gone?" sort of way. Walking away I quipped "Downstairs is too much and upstairs is too little."

The face of Peer Pressure. Talking Roo into doing shots in honor of my Poppa.

The highlight of my Double Barrel 8 experience was meeting Jonny Tunnell (Of The Big Picture)

We left and started having fun when we got to Mecca.

----------------------
Snob's Points to Ponder/Announcements:

Jackpot Alumni Club, Alert: We have lost Neptune's. There hasn't been a time in the past couple months it wasn't overrun with creepers and polo shirts. this makes me very sad because all of my friends who work there. It makes me really sad to think of my bartender boys and favorite DJs having to deal with that crowd. I'm sure I'll still make it downstairs once in a while, but as Roo said; too much. Go to Mecca. go to Slim's. Hopefully this crowd will tire of our spot soon enough. I'll keep you posted.

I don't remember much of this show because I dealt with my Poppa's death in the true German tradition: I got way too drunk. One of those nights were I was on a beer-leash. I went where the alcohol gods took me. Here are some of those places now:

In summation, despite the waste of a show night, I have incredible friends and Thank you very much for all the calls, support and love in this painful and sensitive time. My family and I are very grateful. I wouldn't mind a hug or a beer or three next time you see me out... xoxo

Monotonix - King's - 02/03/11

For my 13th birthday, my parents took me to Kanki Japanese House of Steaks for the first time. Mom had gone to the then newly opened restaurant a few months before and billboards were all over town, claiming “The Best Tasting Show in Town!” My pre-pubescent brain was insatiably curious about what this could mean… Was it like- dinner theater? Kabuki? What the hell? I had to know. I pestered my folks until they finally took me as a birthday treat (an annual tradition, still 20 years later!) Once the meal started I realized pretty quickly that A) this was probably my favorite food ever (I am a teppanyaki addict) and B) Ohhhh…. PARADOX! Gotcha… the food itself is the “show”, or the preparation of it, that is.

So Monotonix; the Kanki of the music world… I’m not going to lie and try to act like I knew all about these guys. I’m not a huge fan of this type of music… I am not a major Stooges/MC5 fan, I only know enough to recognize. (ps – This is what these guys sound like... ish.) I’m not the kind of person to “chill out with punk music”. I don’t really get people that can do that… (Drive to target on a Sunday afternoon blasting Black Flag or something? I dunno… I don’t get it… PS- AND it’s almost always dudes. PS- all dudes love Pink Floyd and Tool.) Monotonix is a Dude Band; fueled by mayhem and testosterone… but I wanted to be part of the boy’s club for the night. After hearing years of horror/war stories about their live performances, the King’s show was announced and I definitely jumped on board. I convinced Roo to partake in the anticipated madness via the convincing plethora of youtube videos available of the band.

There were two opening acts: Federation X and Pujol. I watched part of FedX and none of Pujol (sorry Pujol, Neptune’s was a’ callin!) All I am going to say about Federation X is what I told Michele & Jamie I was going to say about them:
.....MAN THAT GUY WON’T STOP SPITTING.
.....WHY IS HE SPITTING EVERYWHERE GROSSSSS
.....IF HE SPITS AGAIN I AM LEAVING

He spit again. I left.

Roo & I had an "adult conversation" at Neptune's and managed to take the best picture ever.

I resurfaced upstairs in a bit to a madhouse. Apparently the band (Monotonix) had set up shop in the middle of the venue and Ami Shalev (LV) and Yonatan Gat (guitarist) were stomping around furiously on top of the bar; kicking beers out of people’s hands and crumpling them with his hands and flinging them across the crowd. I literally had no idea what was going on, but it was intoxicating! I pushed my way forward and got up in the thick of it. There was no definition between the band and the crowd; you could be wherever you wanted to be with these guys. Some random dude behind me had his own drumsticks and was crashing the cymbals along with the drummer. I was practically propping myself up on the drummer (Haggai Fershtman) to keep from losing total footing in the crowd.

Not even sure how it happened, but suddenly Ami is standing in front of me, and his long-ass freaky sweaty hair is smacking me in the face over and over. I had two thoughts… “Man, I can’t wait to see Valient Thorr again” and “Fuckin’ Nasty-ass Sweaty Hair Face Smackin’ Rock n Roll, man... Rock ‘n’ Roooolllll!” (PS – these guys smell really bad. I put everything I was wearing that night directly into the washing machine as soon as I got home… I was doused in beer and covered in dirty hair/pit-sweat... Motherflippin Rock ‘n’ roll, man.)

I had absolutely no idea where Roo was during any of this. I began to scan the crowd for him when suddenly someone or a whole giant group of kids had the brilliant idea to hold Ami up on the drum stool above the crowd and then hold the drum itself up to him to play.

good job, these kids!

I then spied Jen Varani across the room making a video... Bless her! I can almost always remember the camera & I take a million awful pictures; Varani remembers the video…. I got her facebook approval to share this video with you. I absolutely love when I can spy myself in the crown in someone else’s video of a show.

Fist pumping and jazz hands? How drunk WAS I?

Later adventures with the band included a scaling of the wall and performance from the level of Statler and Waldorf (almost!) and then a setup in front of but not on the stage.

AAAAAMMMMOOOOSSSSS!

(ps, amos is my neighbor.)

(ps, everyone in this picture is covered in beer.)

Sometime around this point is when Roo found me and told me he had to leave… Then came an announcement we all apparently knew was coming; that this was the last tour for the band. I then realized the majority of my friends were actually on the stage behind the band, so I joined them, of course!

Michele asked me to take a picture of the drummer’s beautiful back and then miraculously, the best picture ever happened:

whoa.

It was a short show, full of songs I have never heard and can’t see myself jamming along to on my ipod or anything, but it certainly was one of the best tasting shows in town... A PARADOX! For what it was, it was a lot of fun, but I can’t imagine anyone being a huge fan of these guys’ music and I’m sure the majority of their followers are huge followers of the live shows, which are in essence a circus/battlefield/clusterfuck. Am I wrong in thinking this band is more performance art than solely music? Anyone?

I’d recommend seeing these guys live if you ever got the chance, but it would appear that chance may have passed you by! Sorry, kids. Try Valient thorr instead… Just as hairy; possibly even sweatier and certainly harder rockin’. 



Anybody want to go to Kanki?

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!

Moving Island 2011 Buoyancy Benefit - Day One - 01/28/11

There hasn’t been the influx of shows or reviews happening that I had hoped for in the beginning; I blame this horrifically shitty never-ending weather; it’s keeping me in hibernation mode. Since my last write-up, I had tickets for 2 shows which I basically just didn’t attend (because I was exhausted and cold), saw about 1/3 of a LBLB (an evening cut short by again; exhaustion and coldness) and performed with my own little band thingy I have going on (more on this later, perhaps). It would appear life was saving up this month for one big blow out, I feel almost rewarded for being patient by this weekend’s festivities…

Friday and Saturday night saw the first ever (may be annual?) Buoyancy Benefit show for the Moving Island Project. Googling “Moving Island” will see pretty much the same blurb regurgitated over and over again; (seemingly the only “official” info on the “about us” section of the site… It is community education “focused on emerging arts, empowering technology and the business of living.”) From what I understand and was told, this is what’s up: Maria from Schooner, Kelly from the Rosebuds, Adam Crane and Chris from Motor Skills got together and figured out that artists are poor…. And wouldn’t it be nice to reach out to kids (people in general) and teach them how to live successfully while still acquiring some sense of creative integrity? Maybe teaching bands how to do their taxes right? Or showing print artists how to make money on Etsy? I don’t know, I might be way off base with those examples, but this was a 2am drunk conversation in the parking lot. There is a good interview/description on New Raleigh, if you're interested... It sounds like kinda the best idea ever and I’m absolutely down with getting involved with or at the very least supporting these guys. And of course I’m going to support my friends in the local music scene and the probability of hearing some great tunes is always a draw. I got tickets.

The lineup was irresistible. There are literally only a couple (maaaaybe) other bands I would have thrown in to pump it up a little more, but overall, I’d say these kids did an amazing job getting some really stellar local talent in to play the space… which; first of all let me say, is incredible. Incredible in that La bohème kinda way… aesthetically, I’m not going to lie and say this is the most beautiful space for shows in town (that doorway was serious treachery after a few drinks) but there was an extremely welcoming/loving vibe in this space. And I don’t mean to get all earth-mothery on you all, but I am a notoriously pathetic slave to my instincts and the moment I got in the door, I knew I was in a good place. That everyone there was really happy to be there and was there for a good reason. I never once got that icky “There people are here because this is where the kids are tonight” vibe; I met tons of new people. Tons! Both nights of shows I will tell you, I felt nothing but welcomed, appreciated and face melted with pure awesome rock in a truly acoustically amazing space. (Srsly you guys – it sounded SO GOOD in there!)

Now, on to the actual bands! I won’t lie and say I knew every single one of these folks, I didn’t. But I am now fans of many new folks. Starting with these guys: the Big Picture... wow! …. WOW! I didn’t expect THAT! What had happened was: Jay, Roo, etc and I were at dinner. Jay is antsy because his friends are playing first and he wants to see them, I scoot him out the door whilst Roo and I finish our dinner and dilly dally (buying beer, etc…) and while at Roo’s house putting the final touches on our departure (the space is barely 5 minutes from us in Cameron Village) I get a call from Jay… the goof has called and is taunting me with the show!!! And I throw the phone on speakerphone and it seems abundantly clear we have to get down there ASAP! Roo and I, with the phone still on speakerphone, jump in the car and take off… a few moments later I hear Jay yell over the music “IM HANGING UP NOW I WANNA LISTEN” or something... Something like that. (He later tells me he pocket dialed, realized what was going on and said “hey fuckit” and just let me listen. He is awesome like that.)

So! The Big Picture! Much like every local band ever, this band is a band full of people from other bands, from what I was told (Annuals, Lost in the Trees, Hogg, etc). I do know this: Big sound! Not at all expected! These guys should *not* have been an opener, they should have been in the middle maybe, next time whoever is booking these guys; you need to give them the spot they deserve. There were certainly not enough people there when they went on to appreciate how spectacular they were. I totally have to wonder if whoever set up the lineup was kicking themselves after they went off… Their entire set consisted of Roo and I turning back and forth saying “Can you believe this?!” and “They are incredible!” and doing that flamboyantly gratuitous “GOURL” face over and over at one another. Where was the magic, you say? This is the part I knew enough to warn you guys about: I don’t know who was who in this band, I met them later but hey, I was drinking.  These are the things I can tell you: Lead singer’s voice was a FORCE! Black dude playing the big toms like he was in Kodo was blowing my mind. There was some seriously good energy all over these guys and I am really psyched to see them again! New Friends! Yay!

Organos. I can’t be mean because I’m not mean but I am so hesitant to even say anything. I think these gals just had an off night... When the music actually started, it was fine. But that was the thing; there was a lot of talking. They were talking for 5 mins then would play a 3 minute song. And the talking was all complaining about stuff. It was a little off putting. But the really awkward thing was that later I got to meet and talk to the majority of this band and I really like them! So I am certainly going to give them another chance and I could honestly swear I have seen them before and liked them, anyway, thus confirming the “off night” theory. Roo and I decided that the issue was the refusal to turn the “house lights” off during the show. It’s all good, do what you need to do, but it just killed the mood.  Sorry kids, I feel as if I have failed you. Hard truth: we left in the middle of this set to get more beer. :(

Back just in time for Wowser Bowser from ATL! Or as I have decided to dub them “Baby Future Islands” or “FI-lite”, or “Hey these guys remind me so much of Future Islands, but like, not quite as show stopping and wild and dramatic, but hey - totally good!” These kids drew me in with their gypsy magic... I was kinda feeling it, then I was REALLY feeling it, then before I knew it was in the middle of a wild ass dance party covered in balloons and bouncing all over the room! I don’t know how, but it suddenly seemed like everyone within a 15 foot radius of the stage was somehow involved with this band. The LV as all over the crowd, random people were all over the stage, it was a total clusterfuck of “I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON BUT HOLD ON HERE WE GO!” As I said, they were very Future Islands-esque (one of my favorite bands ever, btw) and there is a fine line between imitation and inspiration, and I think these kids very delicately took a step towards “inspired by” so I didn’t feel any resentful dedication to Sam and the boys. I had mentioned in the previous post how each band had the Superfan… I don’t know how I had never heard of these guys, but they had an entourage of superfans! As I said, everyone within a 15 foot radius of the stage LOVED these guys. I was seduced by not only the music, but the energy of the people that love the music as well. I later, after their set, made each member of the band pinky swear they would come back to Raleigh for another show. It was confirmed, It has been sworn. In the middle of the pinky swearing ceremony I left mid sentence because I knew the time had come for…

…Dun dun DUNNNN! …GRAY YOUNG! I am so super excited to finally be doing a write up of a Gray Young show. In my own way, (which hey, let’s admit, I’m not that great at) I hope I can do them justice. This blog is me being all “I’m just a dumb girl with excellent taste in music and I like to write some” and is in no way professional… (Obviously) but I am passionate. And certain artists bring a certain frenzy of passion out of me that literally doesn’t compare to anything else you will ever read about in this blog. Unless I wind up at a U2 or Morrissey show in the future, the most spazzy and overzealous you will see me get about a band is when I see Gray Young. I love Gray Young.

Why I love gray young: An Essay

There are people who know what I like so well that it is off-putting and borderline invasive. Roo has me pegged. Jay is learning what I like. My brother. My best friend. And my musical soul mate, Eric. Eric and I met in the Indie music store I worked at for several years near NC State campus. He and his wife were scouting out a vinyl copy of “Do they know it’s Christmas” or was it “Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey” – I don’t know how or why, but we became friends. Good, good friends. Eric, his wife, and his BFF would come and spend hours lazing around the coffee shop next door, as I would take about 6 cigarette breaks an hour, I would most likely be sitting with and talking to these guys for most of my shift. (Thank you for enduring my digression, the point is this:) No one and I mean NO ONE can come up to me and be like “You should check these guys out, you’ll really like them” and nail it the way Eric can. Eric dropped Gray Young on me. Many times. I don’t know if it was laziness or apathy (or those might be the same thing in this instance) or what it was that kept me vague about checking them out. But then; Hopscotch. GY played the first night of the first set of the first show of the first-first-first of anything I saw that weekend. (At tir na nog, of course.)

GY Digression #2: The moment they got on stage at Hopscotch, I said out loud to my friend Varani, “Oh! THAT guy!” … The lead singer, Chas, I see pretty much every day at the coffee shop I walk to for lunch. We literally sat across from each other, headphoned and reading, every day for the entire summer. Now apparently he works there sometimes… The best thing? This still happens. I have, as yet, still not spoken to him; it’s almost become a game to me now. There is no real reason why I continue to do this, and I suppose the secret is out now and if he reads this, he might spoil the game but there it is. I have spoken with both Dan and Jeff many times, but not Chas. This adds some sort of mystery for me. I am a strange person; let’s all just agree on that. My *main* and possibly only deterrence is an interview I read in the Indy where he got snarky about “new” U2. This makes me bonkers! I understand people that like only certain “levels” of the boys; it’s almost impossible with the length and diversity of their career, but I’m so all or nothing… you can’t pick and choose! I don’t mean to discriminate against a picky U2 fan, because a little love is better than none, right? But this sticks with me. I just googled it and read it again and got all judgey… Fuckin’ Chas. I love you, but you suck. I also have this theory that he is probably my soul mate, so I just want to put that stress off as long as possible. // digression end.

So back to Hopscotch: from note one, I was stunned. After the first song I knew I was falling in love. Second and third songs, I knew I was in on something. Getting all earth-mothery again, but I honestly felt like this aligning of planets and like I was a part of this intricate universal design to put me in exactly that spot to hear exactly those notes that I knew were going to be a part of my life forever. Maybe change me, maybe just make me happy, but whatever it was, I knew I was hearing something bigger and better than what I maybe even deserved to hear.

When GY plays, (and I have used this as my selling pitch, slight reference to digression #2,) I feel like I have somehow taken a time machine back to 1981-ish and I am watching the birth of U2. They may not have identical sounds but there are definite elements to the structure and tone of almost all GY songs where I can hear echoes of U2. They seem to know how to speak U2’s language and in a musical equivalency that no other band has yet to come close (in my not-so-humble-opinion). But this way of ‘speaking’, this interpretation of the guidelines that U2 may have set up for them are uniquely, delicately, and perfectly their own. They are completely separate entities on a ballistic level that no other bands have seemed to touch. And this is flipping BIZARRE! U2, the biggest band in the world, perhaps and then GY… these three random dudes I see out at the bar… I don’t know how I am not star struck around them at all times, I was playing the “I don’t want to talk to you and turn you into mortals” game for a while, but sometimes I get drunk and I need to hug… anyway…  When I see Gray Young, I know I am witnessing the birth of something incredible; something life changing. I feel like I am in on this big secret that not everyone has figured out quite yet. I’ve seen them play many times and every time I see them, I always walk up on a group of people afterwards saying “Who were those three guys? That was amazing!” and I interrupt to tell all about them, like I am a one-woman GY-PR Machine.

Staysail, to me, is almost as perfectly a crafted album as I have ever heard. It is, literally, on par to me (and I really hope my closest friends know the depth and severity of my making this statement); it rivals Peter Gabriel’s US or U2’s Joshua Tree… in the sense of flow and basically just this… story; this heartbreaking/hopeful/terrifying/redeeming story… Let me tell you about one song, Vermillion. It’s one of those songs that on paper, in a literal translation, you could say it was a good, solid rock song. But there is a depth. There is a yearning, a pain; something you want so bad to understand but maybe it’s not meant for you to… The little quietness about a minute and a half in that turns into just this … BURST of everything! It’s like that moment when you know you’re falling in love with someone and you’re just screwed… everything is so big, delicate, too bright and too sensitive but then there is just that “awww fuck it!” moment and you throw everything on the table and you say “Here is my heart… what are you going to do with it?” I could, and probably am very wrong. I could just ask the guys what this song is about, could be about someone’s grandma’s apple pies and just how yummy they are, what do I know? But that’s the best part… Chas’s voice is almost unintelligible to the point where it becomes an instrument in itself and not a cipher for whatever emotion you feel like you’re supposed to feel when you know the words.  Then there is a point where it almost feels like the subtlest of key changes, it may not be, but it is a fever pitch to an already heart wrenching song. You get lost in whatever you need this song to be for you. I do. Every time. That is this whole album. Every song is specifically crafted to be what you need it to be. Every song is dramatic, yet tender. Every song is raw. Really fucking raw. I vibe on raw. I totally vibe on red bloody hearts on sleeves. Gray Young is like an open chest wound for me. Like someone is reading my diary. Staysail almost feels like an invasion of privacy. I really love this band.

End of Essay //Actual review of show

As previously stated, the vibe at the venue was off the charts groovy. Everyone was really happy to be there… the sound was amazing and the almost non-existent stage lighting added a depth of, I dunno, mystery to the whole situation. I knew I needed to be taking notes/pictures something… I got some pics, of course, but it irritated me to have to open my eyes and come back to reality to take them. I tried to talk Roo into doing it, but I got so distracted that I forgot to give him the camera… When GY hits the stage it is akin to seeing some of the larger/more famous something-something bands. Every time I get to see Gray Young live, I feel really fucking lucky I get to see Gray Young live. I don’t know why I still feel like this and I keep wondering when that magic is going to fade to mediocrity, but it just hasn’t and I am really starting to expect that it won’t. I have seen them play say… Tilling the Wind a dozen times live, right? I still get teary; I still “WOOOO!” like it’s the first time I’ve heard it. I still lose my shit at the raging guitar solo at the end of Meridian. I had almost gotten to the point where I had stopped listening to staysail quite so much but then after the show Dan ran up to me and gave me a copy of the newly more mixed down album (I think is what he said, either way…) and now it hasn’t let my cd player since Saturday morning. And here I am, all through the writing of this part I am watching/listening to the recording of the staysail release part at pour house, which was incredible. I feel very involved with Gray Young, not necessarily just an observer/fan. I feel like I am a part of something incredible when I see them live. Am I gushing? I think I’m just being unnecessarily gushy at this point. Hey guys, guess what? I get emotional about music. GY was amazing. It was one of the better sets I’ve ever seen of them. Thanks guys!

Soooo... Next was Veelee, who is fantastic and I love to see live, but after a smoke, a trip to the restroom ,and then a mission to find jay who had to be at work at 730am the next morning, we disappeared in the middle of their set. Sorry, Veelee. We love you. We also missed Lonnie Walker, whose set, I am told, was stellar. And I am sorry I missed that as well, even though I have seen them several times. Sorry, Lonnie walker. We love you. I will see both these bands again soon, I’m sure. WAIT! Yes Veelee is playing with Motor Skills at Kings in like, 2 weeks. See?

I am suddenly realizing this is very long and it is only day one! I will continue with day 2 in another post... 

The T's w/ Antibubbles - LBLB 01/06/11

Every great endeavor has to start with a feeble, pathetic beginning. I am being very gentle with myself for this first review. And I literally fight the temptation to include the aforementioned word review in quotation marks to indicate its possible insincerity. This reasoning is because... as I have spent the past 24 hours mentally preparing this entry, the more i realize I have to say about my night, the less and less it has to do with the actual show that I saw. Yet, I muddle on.

Thursday nights in Raleigh holds a well defined and strictly enforced tradition of hitting Local Beer, Local Band at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub in City Market. There are several factors: It is free. It is close to my home. It is most usually bands I have seen or would like to see. The crowd is usually on the low-douchey end of the spectrum. Wednesdays and then eventually Thursday afternoons see a typical exchange between Roo and I which mostly includes text messages asking A) Who is playing LBLB this week? B) What time are we heading up? It's never really a question of who, the point is we go. We always go. We support local music, we like the scene, it's free.

There were several lessons/revelations learned at this week's LBLB;
1) I, at one point or another, have been drunk with or met drunkenly at least one member for every band in existence.
2) Jamesons on an empty stomach when work starts at 7am the next day is never a good idea.
3) Bringing a guy you are dating and easily distracted by to a show of which you intend to write your first ever show review blog post is never a good idea.
4) Getting so drunk you forget to watch the band you intend to review is non-productive.
5) For the bajilliionth time ever I found myself thinking about how lucky I am to have Roo as a friend.

There is one thing I really like the absolute most about these oddball LBLB shows with bands that have been around and never really gone anywhere (as for as I know?) but continue to play out... First of all, Bless 'em for their perseverance. But mostly it's this; The One SuperFan factor. Go see any band in Any Town, USA and I promise you there will always be the One SuperFan right up front while the dance floor is clear and this person will know EVERY song and this person will love EVERY song. this person will "WOO!" louder than anyone. this person loves this band. It may be the lead guitarist's mom, the drummer's ex-girlfriend, the LV's ex-roommate from college... whoever this person is, this person loves this band and will never miss a show. I have been the One SuperFan; and there are a couple bands that I would never miss to see and I have never been ashamed to love out loud solo. so when I go see a band I just don't connect with, I see the One SuperFan and this person always makes me give whoever is on stage a little bit of a chance.

 The guy in the jean jacket is REALLY down with Antibubbles.

In the left corner (headbanging!) is Angela. Angela FUCKIN LOVES THE Ts MAN!!! WOOO!!!!

This past week's LBLB performers, Antibubbles and The T's each had at least one One SuperFan. I knew that if there was at least one person who really loved these guys, I could give them a chance. I gave these guys as much of a chance as my unnumbered shots of whiskey would permit. I won't lie, somewhere in the middle of The T's set, it all became a blur and goofy things started to happen.

Antibubbles were powerpop. However, a quick perusal of their myspace music page tells us their genre is: Concrete / Ghettotech / Hawaiian. One can only assume they're joking. I certainly heard no ukulele and WTF is Concrete? More shit for me to google... I didn't hate these guys. Additionally, the guy I've been hanging out with bought their vinyl, so I can only assume they are semi-descent as I trust his musical opinion (which is rare.) I would definitely give these guys another listen, but I wasn't blown off my rocker. Tolerable, yet not mind blowing. Powerpop can be really hit or miss with me. It's too easily tune-out-able. Note: cute band! LV = Cute! Keyboard girl = Adorable!

The T's! I have a semi-problem with seeing the T's as I have a stupid loyalty issue with the Ex-drummer who is a dear friend of mine. I considered trying to talk him into an interview and trying to get him to talk me out of going to see them. I had a theory that an anti-review of a show would *almost* be as cool as the review itself. However, this didn't happen.... Maybe some other time.

As the T's took the stage, things became clear. THIS is why I got drunk with Lutie so many time at Landmark, because she was in the band with the bartender. well, duh. then I formulated revelation number one as listed before. funny. then I realized I hadn't really seen the T's play out before. They are one of those local bands that have been around so long I just assumed I had seen them. I apparently hadn't. and they rock! (sorry, Gary.) It was around this time that I became more focused on stumbling drunkenly, focusing on the fellow and his inexhaustible cuteness, and then becoming utterly obsessed with talking everyone around me into coming outside for a cigarette.... these things happen. I'm sorry I can't tell you more about the T's except that I kept turning around to people and repeating the same thing (drunk stutter) which was along the lines of "Why haven't I seen these guys before?" / "Is Gary going to hate me for liking them?" / "FUCKIN' TAMBOURINE SOLO, MAN!" / "Come have a cigarette with me." I'm not sure if it was the whiskey or the fact these guys know what they are doing, but I am certainly going to make an effort to see the T's again. The magic of the internet tells me they will be at DIVEbar on Jan 28th. I have added this show to my tentative iphone show calendar. To be confirmed.


additional photos:

The Evolution Resolution

This blog began as a writing exercise and an existential experiment. My best friend, after years of listening to me dream out loud and tell my stories, helped me cultivate and execute the idea of creating a personal blog dedicated to my love of music. I am now nearing two years of an idea gone bland. I find myself retelling the same stories and trying to explain the same personality quirks over and over. I have found myself struggling for inspiration. I keep a list beside me at work with the names of songs to share stories about, and every day I look at this list and can't find the initiative to make it happen. I have had fun and I have done what I set out to do; find a voice, cultivate the confidence in my amateur writing to the point where I feel I can really do something I can be proud of. It's time to Evolve.

Over the past few weeks I have had numerous un-ignorable suggestions from the universe, pointing me in a new direction. I have inexplicably, randomly been asked by several people "What do you want to do with your life?" ... Maybe it's a conspiracy. Maybe my friends all got together and figured out how to challenge and manipulate me in just the right way as to steer me towards making a decision for once. Maybe it's just coincidence, who can say? Long time readers of this blog, (aka Jeannine,) can attest to my constant soul-searching/inability to commit to a plan for my future/the depression that follows when I lose heart and don't allow myself to follow through. This pattern could be your a-typical fear of failure scenario? Or perhaps the pressure I put on myself to make a decision that makes sense has kept me from the follow-through. It has been so easy for so long to make excuses for my lack of direction, It has been easier to create an affliction, "Dream-Out-Load-Disease", than it has been to take a chance at making my dreams actually come true. I have so many (as we all do) obligations on my life and standards which i have always let myself feel I should be on Path A when everything in my heart yearns for Path B. Society and my Dad tell me I have to have a college degree to be useful. My biological clock and my lonesome Tuesday nights tell me I need a husband and a family to be complete. My floundering financial status and my boring-ass job screams at me constantly to move forward and find an emotionally fulfilling and pocket stuffing job. But where is my heart? Where is my soul? What do I want to be when I grow up? I've known it all along, but I've never let myself do it. My New Year's Resolution, which i typically never bother making, has been decided. I'm letting myself do it, consequences or complete lack of public interest be damned!

If you asked me 15 years ago and if you asked me now, "Hey Karla, What do you want to be when you grow up? What's your dream job?" the answer now and has always been the same... I would write reviews of live shows. I would travel the world listening to live music, sharing my experiences and emotional responses to these shows. I would write for major sites like Stereogum or even magazines and I would be the person the masses turn to for opinions on what is worth their time and money. I would be happy doing the thing I love the most. The funny thing is, I go to enough shows. I have the tools to make this work (internet access? moderate grasp of the English language? fingers?) What has held me back? Me. I'm not standing in my own way anymore.

Yesterday the BFF sent me a link to an article. I had already decided in my mind to do this thing, to make this happen, but I was stalling; "waiting for the right time?" I read this article and when I was done i literally said out loud; "okay. it's time." and my whole plan for today was to come to this coffee shop and write this entry and make this announcement... This blog is now a show review blog. This is what I want to do with my life. And I'm not expecting anyone to care, anyone to read, anyone to take my advice or agree with my assessments. I only know this is the only way I know how to make my life make sense. If no one cares or reads, then at the very least I can use the better entries as writing samples for other site submissions? I don't really know what I'm doing, but I do know I'm not afraid to try.

What I think and hope will make my "reviews" different is the emotional element I hope to bring to the table. This is how i write, this is how i think. I read enough other local music blogs and I know the style and the template for the typical show review; Band Background, set list, audience participation/response, etc... and I can do that, to an extent... I can't promise I'm going to know every band the bassist for Band #23 has been in, And I won't know all the songs, I won't know the specifics, but I will certainly know if it was good; If it was worth the cover. Another one of my big reasons for wanting to do this is that of all the blogs i follow for local music, there is no consistency, and there is certainly no frequency. I go to a lot of shows. At least once a week. I maybe see one review every couple weeks for a show I was attending. My hope is to update often, and with the bands I like to see. I am even hoping to review the same bands over and over again (go ahead and assume you will see a lot of Gray Young or IWTDI updates!)

What I can't promise is any less digressions, any better grammar, any coherent train of thought (read through older entries and you will see I only do first person narrative and am a stickler for the stream of consciousness,) or that i will see the bands you wish I would. What I can promise is a lot of exclamation points, photos and overly emotional reviews of otherwise seemingly standard performances. Mostly what I can promise is that I am happy and confident with my decision. I can promise you that for the first time in my life I am doing exactly what I want to be doing without any fear of disappointing anyone and with no expectations. Wish me luck!

I do, however, plan to still share musical memories as they come and the inspiration strikes. No plan on a blog name change, but depending on how well this works, I may eventually move the reviews to a different site, I'll certainly keep you in the know. In the mean time, I am the quintessential show-buddy... If there is a show you want to see and can't find a pal, feel free to email me at karlaanne at gmail and I'll be there. You can assume I'll probably be there anyway, I am notorious for going to shows alone. As a look ahead, here are the more "exciting" shows on my calendar at the moment that you may read about, let me know if you want to tag along!

Jan 21/22 - DTFH fest @ Motorco
Jan 27 - Girl Talk @ disco rodeo
Jan 29 - Best Coast @ Cat's Cradle
Feb 3 - Monotonix @ King's
Feb 6 - Deerhoof @ King's
Feb 10 - Baths / Star Slinger @ Duke Coffeehouse
Mar 3 & 4 - Future Islands @ King's