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!