Corndogorama 2009: Sunday (Day 2)
All photos by Clint Miller
I made my way into the festival to grab some breakfast, and then caught the end of The Slackey Family, who weren’t very memorable. As soon as that ended, This Piano Plays Itself unleashed a sonic assault that brought most of the sparse festival crowd over to witness. Their set was only comprised of two newer songs, but they were probably each about ten minutes long. This was the first show with Doug from the now defunct Athens band Kebert Xela in the lineup, and this new 5-piece incarnation was blissful controlled chaos.
Next up were two bands that would broadly fit in the genre of 90’s Frat Rock. I would guess these bands would kill it in Buckhead, but totally weak sauce for Corndogorama.
Get Small:
Niagra Mohawk:
Then Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun (someone needs to coin a short, catchy nickname for this band) took the main stage and played a stunningly compelling set, as they always do. It is hard for me to think of another young band in this city that combines accessibility with more talent than these guys and gals. I definitely wish this set would have been longer.
After that I watched UKU, which I’m told features ex members of Sleep Therapy. They sounded like a band that was on the right track, but were a few significant steps away from being a good band. I wouldn’t recommend seeing them, but I’ll be keeping tabs on them to see if it develops into something a little more interesting.
Then Grinder Nova marched from the front gate on to the main stage in a parade formation wearing matching outfits and playing various unplugged instruments. Once they took the stage they revealed themselves to be a Big Band of sorts, and were good entertainers but the music itself had very little appeal to me. I hung out with some ATL superstars back stage and then watched Jeffrey Butzer play a set in complete one-man-band fashion. He is someone that I had been wanting to catch again live for a while, and he did not disappoint. The guy is a total virtuoso.
Next up was A Fight To The Death, another act that I had been looking forward to seeing, and they were also pretty darn good. Thoroughly enjoying a band playing a genre that I’m not that interested in is a tell-tale sign of a good band.
I listened to Soulphonics & Ruby Velle from afar, and it wasn’t my thing to say the least. Next up Batata Doce took over the main stage and played a great set. Another band that takes an aesthetic I don’t normally enjoy and does it so well I can’t deny getting down with the groove.
The world music theme continued with Cordero and Cadillac Jones, and by then I had grown far too tired of listening to that style to give either of those bands a fair shake. Especially since I was anxiously waiting to see Twin Tigers again. When Twin Tigers did finally take the stage, they were everything I was hoping for. These guys are in the top tier of Athens bands as far as i am concerned.
I was worn out from the heat and the festivities by the end of that set, and because I had just caught Dead Confederate, Abby Go Go, and Judi Chicago a few weeks ago, I opted out to get a little rest before catching an afterparty. I’m sure those bands were crowd pleasers though. I’ll have a post giving you my final thoughts on the weekend very soon.
- Posted by Davy Minor on June 30, 2009 at 11:23 am
