Unexpected Surprise | Archers of Loaf Reunite @ Cat's Cradle 1/16/11 | Hi Def Videos of Concert

          Last Saturday night was a homecoming for The Love Language, who have made a name for themselves nationally this year, at Cat's Cradle [Jan. 16th]. After enlisting a Carrboro band, Cellar Seas [not really up-and-coming, but they don't have a disc out yet] and a special guest I headed to the Cradle ready for some up-and-up pop music to forget about this bitter cold NC has been facing this past week. I really didn't expect there to be a big-name band slipping between the two bands, maybe a well-known, local Merge artist playing alongside the LL. Boy, was I mistaken.

           I idly slept through the 90's when it comes to music. I had no idea who the older fellas taking the stage were instead of the LL. I did recognize Mac McCaughan and Jon Wurster from Superchunk and one of those bearded guys from Megafaun, so I figured something was up because the LL is worthy of these names but I didn't think . Then I got the word from my editor at Diversions that Archers of Loaf were about to play.

Me: Cool, I'm texting my dad, he'll know who this is.

My Buddy Garrett [who was at the show]: No Shit, Archers of Loaf, they broke up a decade ago.

My Dad texted me back that they were along the lines of Superchunk
    Me: legit, I can dig this [I'm putting two and two together after seeing Mac and Jon]

           I had no idea who these guys were and they struck me as a little hard for my scene after the first song. I was definitely hearing the Superchunk vibes and by the second song I was sold, even though it wasn't my usual cup o' tea. The set was full of energy and seemingly flawless, if I didn't know they had broken up 12 years ago and they hadn't told the crowd, I would have thought they were on tour with the LL. I'm assuming the best of the best/easiest to remember songs made up the set list, but regardless they made an impression and I'm going to scouring record stores and eBay for some AofL vinyl. I did however listen to Icky Mettle, their first album and it's beyond anything I would have expected, it's great.

           Check out Pt. 2, 3, & 4 [to view to whole concert in hi-def!!!!] after the jump & the set-list as well.

COACHELLA '11 LINEUP

• The Love Language are going.
• You know it's star packed when you have a hard time finding The New Pornographers on there.
• Mumford and Sons may be a size or two too big.
• KANYE AND THE STROKES ON THE SAME DAY.
• It's pretty awesome to see The Black Keys get some lovin'.
• Lil' B and OFWGKTA will draw bigger audiences than Kings of Leon, no doubt.

Recommended Spring Triangle Concerts

Cat’s Cradle[http://www.catscradle.com/schedule.html]

Sat. 1/29 Best Coast & Wavves w/ No Joy

Fri. 3/4 Superchunk w/ Velee

Thur. 4/7 Destroyer w/ The War on Drugs

Mon. 4/18 British Sea Power

King’s Barcade [http://kingsbarcade.com/calendar/]

Fri. 1/21 Megafaun w/ The Tender Fruit

Sat. 1/22 Megafaun w/ Cloudlines

Fri. 1/28 American Aquarium w/ The Delta Saints & Jack the Radio

Sat. 1/29 American Aquarium w/ Whiskey Gentry & Lee Bains and the Glory Fires

Local 506 [http://www.local506.com/]

Fri. 1/21 Holy Ghost Tent Revival

Sat. 1/22 Mandolin Orange w/ Sinful Savage Tigers & Alex Hall (of Big Al Hall & The Marching Rams)

Sun. 1/30 Smith Westerns w/ Yuck

Mon. 3/7 Tennis w/ La Sera & Holiday Shores

Tue. 3/8 Dum Dum Girls w/ Reading Rainbow & Dirty Beaches

Thur. 3/10 Cults w/ Small Black & Sun Airway

Sat. 3/12 Wye Oak w/ Lower Dens

Sun. 3/13 Telekinesis

Mon. 3/14 The Rural Alberta Advantage

Beach House w/ Washed Out @ Cat's Cradle 5/1

WASHED OUT
           So, I may be a few days late but between exams, papers, and going to the beach I haven't had much time to blog, a reason why last week was declared "video week." At any rate, Beach House can put on a good show, as well as Washed Out for that fact. Washed Out came out a put on a pretty good set, he had the crowd into it, at least the open-minded ones at the front of the stage, I didn't pay attention to the bar babes and hoodrats in the back. He was jumping around and getting the crowd singing along, a very unnatural and unexpected element this chillwave artist added. He also strategically placed his laptop out of sight to most of the crowd, hidden below his table. I feel that this is a good move for the image they project and acceptance of their music as a whole. [I saw Toro Y Moi and he had a bandanna over the back of his Mac] I picked up the Tour CD he was selling. 8 Tracks/$5. It was a disc with some stuff that he composed but didn't release on 2009's Life of Leisure. It was clear to me that he has evolved and stepped up his game since he started, a sign that Chillwave is  going to be here to stay, evolve, and pleasure the stoned for at least another round of releases.

BEACH HOUSE

         I wasn't sure what I should be expecting as the wait for Beach House became unnecessarily long. They had Cat's Cradle dressed up more than I have ever experienced. The spinning diamonds in the background and cotton candied pom-poms accompanied by smoke and an impressive light show made for a visual euphoria to accompany their auditory bliss. They came out with a bang, and didn't let up. They mixed in stuff from each of their albums, arguably each with a distinct sound, to create a smooth flowing concert. I'll have to add that there was a scrawny ginger teen on the front row who was [presumably] on some type of drug and flowing with the music and waving his arms around in circles the whole time; a rather odd yet humorous departure from the pop they mix on the rocks. Victoria Legrand and her head of hair were banging left to right while tapping on the organ. Though Alex Scally was playing guitar sitting down most of the show, when he got up he would break out some hard-rocking riffs, a sight I kept finding my self tip-toed and wishfully thinking. I hope that my calves weren't too mad. I was very impressed with the show overall. They were a little separated from the crowd, asked who has been at their other Chapel Hill shows in the past but other than that, the stage was their pedestal. I have some pretty good pictures to share from the concert taken by myself and Cameron Brown, as per usual, she has done another fabulous job.

See a ton of pictures after the jump...

[FREE] Dive Party @ Local 506 4/9

impressive local acts showcased by Dive

The Diversions section of the Daily Tar Heel, the UNC student publication, are throwing the biggest, most economically feasible bash that Chapel Hill has seen since last Dive Party [December 9th]. I'm not familiar with these acts at all but these videos have really gotten me excited for the concert. Opener Jason Kutchama is the lead singer of Red Collar, local band that put out an impressive album in 2009. The Dirty Little Heaters are "Pound For Pound The Heaviest Band In The Area" but produce some great tunes behind Reese McHenry's great voice. The Beast is a jazz/hip-hop influenced band who utilize a stand up bass, an awesome experimental group that have struck gold with their fusion of the two genres. Luego seems to be a band comprised of local accomplished solo artists who make some great soft alternative, blues-infused tunes.

Take a listen to the bands, come out to the show. It would mean a lot to our editor who has put all this together flawlessly. He's lassoed a great lineup, that is sure to leave those in attendance, in a musical frenzy.

If you're not convinced yet, the new MGMT album Congratulations will be playing in between sets. A first listen to it before it comes out next Tuesday, April 13th. A few copies of Congratulations will be raffled off as well.

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LUEGO - BIENVENIDOS/CARRY THE LOAD

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THE BEAST - FREEDOM

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THE DIRTY LITTLE HEATERS - DETROIT

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JASON KUTCHAMA - TONIGHT

The XX @ Cat's Cradle 3/25

UK band puts on a great show

¡As per usual, big thanks to Cameron Brown for awesome concert pics!

Now, I wasn't the biggest fan last year. I might have caught the last bit of the wave everyone was surfing all year. They left something to be desired with their debut release. That desirable piece of the XX missing from XX is a live performance. A live set completes the cycle of turning one from a listener into a fan. I can safely say that after this show, I am a fan of the XX. Whether it was the death stares from Oliver Sim [bassist] at Romy Madley-Croft [guitar] or the crazy light show [for a Cat's Cradle show, that is] or the music, the band rocked the stage at the sold out show. They sound wasn't impeccable, their thick British accents got  bogged down between mic and amp, but other than that, a sound performance. They played a planned encore, in which they turned on the lights in the back drop[pictured above]. They started the set off strong, knocking off their hits one by one until there weren't any hits left for the latter part of the show. If they haven't made it to your city yet, you'd be a fool to not snatch up a ticket right now. If they already came through your town, looks like you're S.O.L. on hitting up these UKer's first headlining US tour.

See the plethora of pictures Cameron took

jj @ Cat's Cradle 3/25

|:|Worst Act at Concert I've Been To?|:| 

I'll have to admit, when I saw that jj was coming to Cat's Cradle, I snatched up tickets asap. I knew the XX were the headliner and I wasn't too keen to their music, but I didn't care who the headliner was, I wanted to see jj. Boy, was I let down.

There might have been some pretty interesting videos being played on that white sheet behind her, but it was just a clever ploy to distract from a most disengaging performance. Besides the fact that the chatter by the sold out crowd almost drowned out any sound that she was producing [I was on the 2nd row], she didn't even look like she was enjoying herself. She played the first song with guitar then sang over backing instrumentals for the rest of the show. Her boyfriend, the other side of jj I'm supposing, came out in [most likely] an elevated state of mind, barely able to play the guitar, even though it was already playing on the backing instrumentals, so I don't know why he was up there. Though the music is great and creative, a dismal live performance has really questioned my judgement and enjoyment I receive from their music. Saying little to the audience, she stood poised with a head full of hair, fidgeting with her Blue Moon like a child in an Elementary School play. She made her rounds through all their hits then when it came time for the final song, a guitar malfunction led to an abrupt end to the show. Luckily an astoundingly stellar performance from The XX made up for the lack of one by jj.

As always, I would like to thank Cameron Brown for taking some pretty awesome pictures.

Toro Y Moi @ Local 506 3/23

|:|What happens at a Chillwave concert?|:|

I have been listening and listening to "Causers of This" by Toro Y Moi to no end. A sentiment to the music that Chaz Bundick highly distorts then loops to make impeccably entertaining music. After messing around with the looping system for a few minutes concocting a magic potion to hypnotize the audience. Then after a short pause in sound the bass hits and the song begins and the whines into the microphone and exhausted synthesizers mesh to form an engrossing song. This set was amazing, it was about 45 minutes of straight hits. He had the attention of the audience, of whom were mostly there to see him, as I made some friends that were there to just see him [as I was]. There was about an 8 minute song that was either a spontaneous tangent or something of the UPCOMING album. Yes, he has another 2010 album coming out.

[CONCERT] Citizen Cope @ Cat's Cradle

       Despite a large number of blunders, concerts are about the music and Citizen Cope delivered on that end. It’s been a while since I have been to Cat’s Cradle, but I am pretty sure that pat-downs are not a regular thing to get in. Then Clarence Greenwood (Citizen Cope) had the decency to emerge from backstage at 10 PM, an hour after the show was supposed to start. That is the normal time a band with an opening act would come on, there was no opening act. The hour did leave time to check out the merchandise. $25 for a tee is a little lopsided considering the tickets were only $22. Once the five members of the band overtook the stage, the smell of some of their habits pierced our nostrils like Vick’s Vapo-Rub.

       Once the tunes started blaring (and I mean blaring) everything was in its right place. Cope’s stage presence is comparable to a statue. His tranquil persona is displayed through much of his music and it emerges on an elevated platform in front of 600 people. He rarely moved away from the mic and while he was there, very sparse hand motions accounted for 80% of any movement (including his mouth which he hardly opens to sing). A little more engagement with the crowd would evolve him into an entertainer but he is still at the musician stage. He fed off the crowd (singing-a-long and clapping) instead of the crowd feeding from the artist’s energy.

       He did play all of the hits. “Let the Drummer Kick,” “Son’s Gonna Rise,””Comin’ Back,” and “Brother Lee” among others. He also played some new stuff of which I know “Healing Hands.” One song I am presuming is new which started with a keyboard intro that slapped you in the face then built up to a sure to be classic Citizen Cope song.

       None of the instruments really stood out, which is a good thing, because it means they’re all doing their jobs. But, the bass pumped through veins like blood. The cool cat in the leather jacket, scarf, and gold-rimmed shades shook my pants like a maraca. The music was a tad bit loud, not always a bad thing, but I went to bed with ringing ears. It sounded like I didn’t turn my iPod off when I set it down on my desk.

       The encore was the highlight of the show. After catering to his habit, he came back out and performed solo. It included “Pablo Picasso,” (snippet below) “Salvation,” “Sideways,” and a full band kick-ass cover version of Radiohead’s “Karma Police.” My girlfriend saw him in Raleigh last year and he played it there to. So it’s a signature ‘adieu’ at Cope shows but that’s besides the fact, it is a beautiful song.

I would like to thank the incredible Cameron Brown for all the pictures and video from the show. She did a great job.