Live Review: DJ Klever, Snowden, Variac (3-31-07) Lenny’s (Plus, The Ohmpark Kenny Crucial Challenge)
Saturday night while Biggie C and Sleo went to the Ted Leo show, I decided to play the hipster and go to Lenny’s. After grabbing some food and watching the first half of the Florida v. UCLA Final Four basketball game in Little Five Points I journeyed alone to the show. When I got there the place was very empty, but was packed tight by the end of Snowden’s set. The hipster bicycle club Faster Mustache was celebrating its second birthday and everyone who’s anyone in the Atlanta indie scene was in attendance including Bean Summer (Lenny’s booking agent), Preston Craig (KissAtlanta and Decatur Social Club), and Kenny Crucial. Ok, we’re going to stop the story here for a minute to talk about Kenny Crucial.
Last year at Bonnaroo, Sleo and I waited 6 hours to have a good spot for the Radiohead show. About midway through sitting and standing in a packed crowd, this guy is trying to squeeze past us and Sleo starts yelling at him. Apparently some other folks were holding his spot in front of us , and we eventually let him pass. Now I could go on a digression about concert attendee etiquette, but I’ll spare you. After we got back to Atlanta, we started to notice the same guy that cut in front of us at almost all of the shows we were going to. We even developed nicknames for him. Just a couple weeks ago, Creative Loafing here in Atlanta ran a cover story devoted to this same guy. He goes by the name “Kenny Crucial” and you can learn more about this “local legend” and “Philosopher” at his own site. Well, now the Atlanta scene is consumed with Kenny-Crucial-Mania. Even Atlanta Music Guide, who is always like 3 years behind the trends, has an article about him. So, I’m going to bite. We here at Ohmpark will feed into the hype and have some fun with this.
Another weird personality I met this year while hitting fests was Beatle Bob. Beatle Bob looks like a retarded Gallagher Brother( ok, a more retarded Gallagher Brother) and i first saw him at Wakarusa last year at the Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker show on stage dancing around in a really strange and ridiculous way. I later talked to him briefly at Bonnaroo and saw him go on stage and introduce both Sonic Youth and Sleater-Kinney at Lollapalooza. There are many mythical stories about Beatle Bob such as the fact that he has supposedly gone to a show every day since 1996 and disputed claims that he was a radio DJ in St. Louis (his hometown). He is known nationally , has a dance named after him, somebody is making a documentary about him and there is even a petition to have him stop being such a spectacle called Beatle Bob Sit Down.
So, here’s the deal. St. Louis can suck it. We’re going to try and make Atlanta’s own Kenny Crucial bigger than Beatle Bob. It’s going to be a difficult endeavor because Beatle Bob is very big. We are going to undertake a multi-phase plan. Phase one: We are announcing the Ohmpark Kenny Crucial Challenge. KC needs even more exposure. He needs full coverage. So, from here on out we are challenging you, the reader, to catch Kenny Crucial at shows with your camera phone. You can send your pics to icaughtkenny@ohmpark.com or just post them at Camura if you have an account. We will post the best phone logs here and keep up with the adventures of The Crucial One. After a yet-to-be-determined time, we will award the photographer of the best Kenny Crucial pic some concert tickets to a band they like. Most likely. So, be on the look-out. He is usually at the front of the most hipsterish show of the night. Here’s a pic to help you find him, but it’s not hard:
Good luck!
ok, what was i writing about? Oh yeah, the show. First I saw Variac and they were ok. Kinda sounded like a sloppy mix of Blur and the Black Crowes. They aren’t bad at what they do, it is just what they do is kind of boring and derivative. After a tri-cycle race inside the venue was held, Snowden went on. I had never seen Snowden, but they have been hyped pretty heavily lately and some believe they could be the Nirvana that breaks the Atlanta scene through. I listened to their music and I always thought it was good, but I just didn’t understand why everyone was so in love with them. Well, after seeing them live, now I know. They take that Bloc Party intensity and amplify it ten fold. They are the anti-Interpol in that way. I highly recommend you check them out live because it was amazing. I don’t know that they can single-handedly blow up the Atlanta scene, but they a great band:
Next up was DJ Klever. This was my first time seeing him as well and it was off the chain. I hadn’t seen a crowd in a club dance that hard since I was a raver. He led off with a Tomahawk Chop anthem with a beat and it then went all over the place. Just an amazing DJ. I mean, he is an international superstar and rightly so. I’ll be catching him and Snowden every chance i get:
Klever is touring with the Gza and they will be doing Atlanta on May 28th at the Loft. Snowden are playing with the Selmanaires on April 7th at Rob’s House.
- Posted by Davy Minor on April 2, 2007 at 2:28 am
