Tuesday night (2-20-07) was one for the ages. After a long day, I headed to Little Five Points to check out the in-store
Criminal Records performance of
Black Lips. This was the first in-store performance I've ever checked out, so I got there early not knowing what to expect. After picking up the new
Explosions In The Sky, the Black Lips album they were promoting,
Los Valientes Del Mundo Nuveo, and the
Moorish Idols EP, I discovered that Criminal Records was giving out free PBR for the show. +1 . I went to chat with a taper I saw outside and it turned out to be Rich from
Cable & Tweed, who was really cool. The crowd was pretty large despite the drizzling and it looked like a mini mardi gras outside the record shop with all the PBR drinking outdoors. Black Lips came out with guitarist "Old king Cole Younger" dressed in nothing but boots, a cowboy hat, and tighty whities:
Black Lips rocked out hard and had a docile crowd transformed into a rowdy mob throwing more PBR cans at each other than hippies throwing glowsticks at a Phish show by the end. A truly great live band that certainly needed to put out a great live album (and it is a great album). The finale came with the other guitarist, "Ian St. Pe'" lighting a pack of firecrackers hanging from his mouth and swinging it around into the audience. From what i understand, this was one of their tamer performances. You should catch them at the
Whirley Ball place in Roswell friday night or the
40 Watt in Athens saturday night. Thanks to Chelsea for the pics:
After meeting up with BiggieC and getting some grub at
Six Feet Under, we headed to the East Atlanta Village to catch the nights' show at
the Earl.
Untied States opened up and put it down as only they can. One of my favourite bands in Atlanta cuz they just balls to the wall noise rock and I love it. As far as quality progressive music goes in this town, these guys are king. Finally picked up a copy of
Retail Detail, and it kicks much ass. Don't know why it took me so long to get it considering I've listened to
Ineffable, By Design like 200 times. BiggieC brings you the visuals:
I really didn't know what to expect with
Akron/Family. I had heard a couple of songs and had alot of people who know music suggest them to me, so I bought a ticket. It was an extremely wise decision. They started out with a sweet, beautiful sounding folk slow jam and then blasted out some in-your-face-drog-rock. This schizophrenic style-switching characterized this just simply amazing show. They went from silly 4-part vocal harmonization, to Neil Young-esque rock songs, to sugary lullabyes, to post-rock noise jams, to even pulling out a cover of
I Know You Rider from nowhere.
On top of being musical wizards, they put forth one of the most entertaining stage shows i've ever whitnessed. These highly animated characters brought an armada of music toys ranging from strumming bells with a bow, to the drummer playing a banjo, to sqeezing stuffed animal sound affects into the mic, to not 1, not 2, but 3 plastic recorders. At one point Miles Seaton was playing his bass with a cellphone.
They engaged the crowd with sing alongs (which i usually hate but these were great) and had huge heart shaped lolly-pops for audience members to dance with. The only thing i didn't like about the show was the audience talking, which Akron/Family had no problem calling out and rising above. Seriously, why does every person at a show at the Earl gotta talk through the whole thing? wankers.
After performing for about 2 hours straight, they invited much of the audience on stage for one last massive jam and sing along. BiggieC played the hell out of the tambourine while I even got to sing a metal rendition of "circle, triangle, square" into the mic. These guys were the coolest mofos. From
my cellphone on stage:
It's amazing what a bunch of hippies can do when they aren't locked in the box of the jamband scene and culture. I mean these guys are essentially the greatest jamband on Earth right now. Where the Grateful Dead took folk and American music and pushed it to another planet, these guys drop-kick it into another galaxy. The Widespreads, and the String Cheeses, and the Moes of the world forget what made bands like the Dead and Phish truly great is that they pushed music to a new level, they were pioneers and experimental and progressive. Akron/Family is all of these things and more and I cannot stress to you enough that you must go see this band if you get the chance. Rarely does a band I've barely ever heard before become an instant favourite, but these guys are that good. What a night!
Check out Akron/FamilyLabels: Akron/Family, Black Lips, Criminal Records, Explosions In The Sky, Moorish Idols, The Earl, Untied States
