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Music Reviews                                       Live Show Reviews                                    Photo Journal         
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The weather is starting to get hot, and this helmet-wearing gentleman expresses my exact sentiment on the matter. 

Here's something awesome:  a selection of color photos from the early 1900s from all around the world.  It's amazing
how seeing these snaps in color as opposed to the typical black-and-white of the era makes the scenes feel much
more modern. 

Along similar lines:  Shorpy.  I look at this site every day, it's a great source of computer wallpaper.  Maybe not so much
for regular wallpaper. 

Also, my birthday is coming up soon...if you're looking for gift ideas, I'm in the market for a Sioux Falls Fighting
Pheasants t-shirt (XL please).  It's what all the cool kids are wearing. 

I put a small chunk of crappy band photos in the photo journal section.

Light Pines
with Kid Future
Tir Na Nog
4/22/10

The first band this night was Kid Future.  Now if I didn't know better and just saw the name listed, I'd assume Kid
Future was a DJ playing some sort of electronica music.  Do they even still call it electronica music, or is everything
specified by it's specific subgenre?  House, Downbeat, Jungly, Shitbizzle, Big Poppy, Horse Penis, whatever, I'm not
good with those fancy genres.  All I know is they didn't sound nothing like that  - rather, it was catchy indie pop.  The
singer had a great, deep voice, which was a little surprising given he was such a small guy.  I thought he looked
familiar, and it turns out his brother is the singer for another great local band Mount Weather (also apparently I've
played basketball with him, which means he probably scored over my shitty defense).  And where I compared Mount
Weather to the Psychedelic Furs, I'd compare the brother's band to another great group from the 80's, XTC.  They're
not a carbon copy or anything, but the keyboards and song structures reminded me of them somehow.  And those
keyboards are a huge part of the band's sound - at only three band members and no bass, the keys really have to
do a lot of heavy lifting to keep the songs together.  In this jackasses mind a bassist would really round their sound
out, but what the hell do I know.  I do know they are a very intriguing young band I hope to see more from in the future. 

Is it possible that the best local band I've seen in months I only half-ass watched because I was busy trying to catch
the fourth quarter of an NBA playoff game?  Well that was the case with the Light Pines.  I kept saying I was going
focus my attention at the stage when the stupid game ended or was out of reach, but the damn thing was close until
the end and actually lasted longer than Light Pine's set.  So while I can't speak with much authority about their live
show, they sounded absolutely fantastic.  They didn't really sound like anyone in particular but sounded like a lot of
things all at the same time.  There were a few songs that reminded me of Doves, but not enough so that I'd compare
the band to them as a whole.  One thing that really stuck with me was what a heavy drum sound they had - not heavy
as in heavy metal fast double-bass drumming, but just really forceful, domineering drums that really led the direction
of the band.  That probably doesn't make any sense and now it sounds like I'm describing some dirty hippie drum
circle.  Anyways, despite being distracted by Kevin Durant hanging a loss on the Los Angeles Kobes (sadly the
Zombie Sonics eventually lost the series), this band really left an impression on me and I can't wait to see them
again.  Or see them for the first time, if you will.

Midlake
with John Grant
The Cat's Cradle
4/3/10

I missed Midlake the last time they rolled through town, and nearly drove to Asheville to see them last time they were
in the state but caught a case of the lazies.  But this time, there would be no missing them - they were bringing John
Grant on tour. 

John Grant was the singer for the criminally underrated band the Czars.  And when I say "criminally", I mean to say if
you haven't listened to them you should be arrested for being an idiot.  Their album "The Ugly People Vs. the Beautiful
People" is easily one of my top ten favorite records of the previous decade, maybe even top five.  Sadly, the Czars
split up before I ever got a chance to see them play, but I did get to see Grant perform solo soon after the split and at
least got to hear him sing a few of those songs live.  And now I was going to get to see Grant again, making me as
excited as a teenage boy in a adult film superstore. 

My previous live experience just had Grant sitting in front of a piano crooning,  but after the first song this time it was
a full live band experience, including members of Midlake.  He had just released his first solo record "Queen of
Denmark", and the set list mirrored most of this record (along with a an unreleased song or two from the same era). 
Grant has the best (or at least my favorite) voice going today, and I'm here to tell you it's just as strong if not stronger
live than it is on record.  The weird thing about these solo songs are how strange/cynical/funny they are, not nearly
as serious as you'd expect to hear from a voice like his.  It's really my only complaint about Grant, that the lyrical con-
tent almost lessens the power of his voice, but who am I to second guess a man's song choices.  It was still a damn
fine show, and while I'm sure most of the crowd had no idea who he was hopefully he won over a few new fans.  He
surely deserves it. 

Midlake was a clusterfuck of awesomeness.  The band had seven members, and four of them were guitarists.  Like
any good band there was a full time flutist, but there were occasions when a couple of dudes were blowing the metal
pipe (this description also works for gay robot porn).  In fact, the greatest moment of the night was when two of the
guitarists were playing leads in conjunction with two flute solos, it was almost as awesome as watching Jethro Tull play
in front of a mirror.   

Jokes aside, they played a great set.  All those guitars might have been overkill, but it sounded magical to my ears.  It
was a pretty long set, at least an hour and a half, and I'd guess they played pretty much every song from their last two
records "The Trial of Van Occupanther" and "The Courage of Others".  Yes, everyone went nuts when they played
"Roscoe", but for good reason as it's a fantastic song.  Even the (what looked like) Marines on shore leave standing in
front of me were loving the show, in between one of their two or three dozen trips to the bar and/or bathroom.  Seriously,
they probably drank fifteen beers each - they wanted to party with some slightly proggy art rock, and by god they did it
to the fullest.

Lonnie Walker
with Nuclear Power Pants
Tir Na Nog
4/1/10

Even at my advanced age, I still occasionally get surprised by an opening band.  Nuclear Power Pants showed up
on free night at Tir Na Nog, the rare out-of-town entry (they're from Baltimore according to the stage banter) to an
otherwise locals-only event.  They were an eight-piece band, with five musicians (drums, bass, two keyboardists and a
sax player, but no guitarists), two female back-up singers, and a lead singer wearing a poncho and looking like he
could be the brother to Les Savy Fav's Tim Harrington.  Everyone but the singers were dressed up in these weird pac-
man/trianglehead costumes covered in day-glo paint, and there were blacklights everywhere, so shit was glowing like
crazy.  It may take further listening to decide if the excitement was from their live performance, the crazy outfits, the
music, or some sort of combination of those elements, but the crowd was absolutely loving it.  The music was kind of a
punk/new wave combo, maybe Devo meets Brainiac with a little Residents thrown in there (though that may just be the
costumes forcing the final part of that comparison).  Anyways, they did a really weird and great cover of Bruce Spring-
steen's best song "Highway Patrolman", the crowd danced a lot, I took some shitty photos and bobbed my head, and
all was well in the world. 

And guess who else played that night - Lonnie Walker!  I think I've seen these guys play more often in the past year
than I've seen my family (not that there's anything wrong with that).  It was stripped down version of the band, just three
members (the non-singing guitarist dude and the keyboard lad were off gallivanting in Europe or something).  Some-
how they lost two members but got more rockin'.  It was a good show, but I did miss those soft organ lines trickling in
and out of the songs.  The set list was what you'd expect (this is code for me saying they played a lot of songs they
always play that I've never bothered to learn the names to, mostly because my brain is at capacity due to memorizing
crap like all of the G.I. Joe character names and the complete dialogue to "Blazing Saddles"), and Brian Corum was
the typical zany frontman he always is.  You're in a good place in life when one of your problems is seeing Lonnie
Walker play too often.