The Preakness / Moresight / Luigi
Lenny’s
Atlanta, GA
January 6, 2007
Atlanta pop trio The Preakness has blossomed into something more than just a project named after a horse race. On this night, singer/guitarist Brandon Arnold, formerly of The Licentious 5, employed soft melodies and gentle vocals to create a slow-core platform on which the band could elevate. Bassist Tracy Clark, who quit her full-time duties in The Silent Kids and The Blue Hour to focus her energy on The Preakness, hopped about like a bunny and leaned back while playing, a style Clark claims she developed from straining to hear her amp.
Arnold sported an airbrushed hat that read “The Preakness: Panama City Beach,” with palm trees in the moonlight to match Clark’s airbrushed shirt that said “Tracy: Panama City Beach,” in front of a sun. Their playful tackiness was accompanied by foam fingers with the words “Preak Out.” Drummer Tim Genius turned the evening into a champagne jam by popping open a bottle of bubbly and passing it around.
Moresight played a delightfully jazzy folk-rock set. All four members shared singing duties, alternating from song to song and often times chanting in unison. Guitarist Brandon Morrison had singer/songwriter-style vocals reminiscent of Jack Johnson while his rhythmically steady and sharp guitar chords were more reggae and first wave ska. The group’s sound was a smorgasbord of genres, incorporating funk, Americana, jazz, rock, R&B and folk.
They dedicated their catchy tune, “James Brown,” to its namesake, the late godfather of soul, and it received boisterous applause from the audience. Bassist Matt Forsee switched instruments to display his saxophone skills on a few tracks as guitarist Justin Brooke switched to keys and Morrison to harmonica. Drummer Aaron Wood kept a steady beat, creating a galloping rhythm for some songs.
The headliner of the night was Atlanta’s Luigi, named after a soccer player rather than Mario’s green-outfitted brother. This group had well-choreographed power-pop arrangements and a fun, chipper attitude.
Lead singer/guitarist Michelle DuBois, of Ultrababyfat, sang sweetly and had a unique girl rock sound. Backing her was bassist Scott Rowe, of Magnapop, guitarist Johnny McConnell and drummer Brian Fletcher, of The Georgia Fireflies. McConnell had some incredible guitar solos that were accompanied by DuBois. The band members rocked out so hard that the stage lights blew out, leaving them playing in complete darkness for a few seconds before the backup lights kicked in, but they didn’t skip a beat or miss a note.
-Review and photo by Alex Adan
The Booze / Steadlur / The Heart Attacks
The Masquerade
Atlanta, GA
January 5, 2007
The Booze are a stylish Atlanta band that plays soulful garage rock. Lead singer Chaz Tolliver strutted around the stage and danced with the mic stand while singing his young, gap-toothed heart out. His short stature acted as a casing for his firecracker of a voice, full of energy and spark.
The combination of chiseled facial features, finely groomed afro, hat/sweater/tie ensemble and toothpick precariously hanging from the corner of his mouth made guitarist and The Booze’s creative center Randy Michael look like he walked out of a GQ photo shoot from the 1960s. The classic plunk of his Epiphone guitar formed crisp and clear solos and bridges over the flowing stream of blue-eyed soul created by bassist Wesley Flowers, guitarist Brian Roberts and drummer Shane Human. The band even did a cover of Martha & the Vandelles’ 1963 hit “Heat Wave.” While these mods didn’t really fit in so much on the punk rock bill, the audience was pleased nonetheless.
Steadlur was next and played very generic-sounding rock. The trio of brothers looked like they came out of the Butch Walker cloning factory and seemed very appreciative of the eager underage crowd full of jailbait ready to become groupies.
The headliner of the night was Atlanta’s epitome of punk, The Heart Attacks. This gang of five was homogenous with their skinny, black, girl jeans and New York Dolls-style hairdos. Lead singer Chase, a.k.a. Teenage Haircut, yelled and wailed. Rosy-cheeked rhythm guitarist Dave, a.k.a. Problem Child, sported a white tee shirt stained with a river of blood flowing straight down the center. Lead guitarist Tuk busted out short solos and writhed on the floor. Brad played the drums so fast that they started falling apart. And bassist Paulie, a.k.a. Nasty, took the reigns from their current bassist after the crowd chanted for his cameo.
Mosh pits and crowd surfing ensued as soon as they started playing and didn’t falter for the rest of the evening. At one point during their performance a mannequin was tossed into the audience and was quickly disrobed and destroyed as if by a wild pack of starving hyenas. Infamous around Atlanta for their drug habits and fights at venues, The Heart Attacks attract fans with the same brawling attitude. They are constantly touring and recently released an album on Hellcat Records after being discovered by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong during the Vans Warped Tour.
-Review and photo by Alex Adan
Benjamin Blake
The Basement
Nashville, TN
January 5, 2007
After three years in Nashville, Benjamin Blake has begun to settle in, finding his place and his sound. He originally hails from Boston, but his time in the South has laced his jazzy pop with threads of Southern folk. On a rainy Friday night at The Basement, Blake was an apt opener for Ricky Young’s hipster country and for Oblio, who headlined the show with their folk-soul psychedelia. Blake began the night on a mellow note, easing the crowd into his set with a gentle vibe of soothing, mellow fun. Though comparisons to John Mayer and Jack Johnson are tempting, Blake is much more genuine than the former and has a more sophisticated grasp of melody than the latter. But all three suffer, to varying degrees, from the same musical blunder: despite diversity of sound from song to song, each individual track features little dynamic progression. Because of this fact, Blake’s songs — though full of charm and heart — deliver no breaking point, no goose bumps, no release from the building sonic tension.
One notable exception was later in the set — a simple but powerfully heartfelt love song about a girl he met soon after moving to Nashville. The song, “You Got Me,” featured the most build of all the tracks performed that night, both in terms of emotional intensity and musical dynamics.
At least for this show, Blake stuck to simple strumming and gentle finger picking on the acoustic guitar, focusing his intensity instead on his lyrical message. His delivery was the highlight, with his angelic, honey-sweet voice floating easily through fireplace-friendly melodies, soaring into the higher range and even scatting for a moment on “Maybe Tonight” with a shy, sly smile. His fellow musicians were class acts, painting tasteful, elegant backdrops with care and open space, allowing Blake’s tender lyrics to pierce through with arrow-like precision.
One of the more moving songs of the evening, “When Autumn in New England Falls,” was a smooth, sweet ode to the beauty of the Northeast, and his passion echoed throughout the room. So he may still call Boston home, but he’s ours now. So the next time you plan a picnic for a lazy afternoon, be sure to take him with you.
-Kat Amano
Matt Mackelcan / Michael Tolcher / Gary Pfaff
Andrews Upstairs
Atlanta, GA
January 11, 2007
What’s better in Buckhead than some good old acoustic rock? Nothing. So the crowd gathered in suits and skirts as the round red lanterns illuminated the stage at Andrews Upstairs, preparing for a night of perpetual acoustic goodness.
To kick off the CD release show for Gary Pfaff, Orlando native Matt Mackelcan jumped on stage, complete with a snug sock hat with his hair flowing out the bottom, to perform a solo acoustic set from his new album, No Turning Back. As he strummed his Taylor with simple chords, he sang songs of hope, love and anticipation in a very Edwin McCain/Matt Nathanson manner. Mackelcan ended his set with the hokey five-cover-songs-blended-into-one-song arrangement, which the Buckhead crowd ultimately ate up with delight.
After Mackelcan exited with applause, Michael Tolcher took the stage as many anxious faces stared up at him. Hailing from Atlanta, Tolcher has grown to be quite a national sensation and is always welcomed with beer-holding arms when he’s in town. Only playing a short, solo acoustic set of three songs, Tolcher and his catchy compositions rang out as devoted fans sang along. Tolcher was mainly there to support his long-time friend, Gary Pfaff.
Everyone went wild, and Tolcher modestly bowed out, when his good pal, Mr. Pfaff, geared up with his backing band. Pfaff, who you would normally see fronting the well-known Atlanta band Obsession Day, recently recorded a solo album entitled White Stars, produced by Tim DeLaney, who also holds down bassist duties in Pfaff’s band. Although some might be distracted by Pfaff’s bulging muscles and long, blond, surfer hair, they should not discard him as just another pretty face because this boy has talent. Pfaff sang sweet songs like “Perfect,” which naturally made all the girls weak in the knees, and powerful songs like “White Stars” and “Innocent.” Throughout the set, friends of Pfaff’s jumped on stage to sing a few songs with him, including Tolcher, who came up and sang “Naked” (the song of course) with him. Towards the end of the set, Pfaff grabbed an old, beat-up Gibson and proceeded to play solo slide guitar with a beer bottle. Acting like they’d never seen it done before, the crowd cheered with excitement.
Gary Pfaff ended the night with a very successful CD release party to celebrate the new album. This singer/songwriter definitely proved himself to be one of Atlanta’s finest.
-Review and photo by Katie Bricker
Beautiful Mess
Vinyl
Atlanta, GA
January 11, 2007
For the past three months, 99X’s (WNNX/99.7FM) “Sunday School on the Road” concert series has opened the doors of local venues and showcased some of Atlanta’s brightest talent. Accompanied by a slew of radio commercials and spins, these free shows offer a substantial amount of radio exposure for young bands.
It also recently served as some well-deserved attention for Atlanta transplants Beautiful Mess. The pop-rock threesome from Jacksonville moved to Atlanta about a year ago, and it was due time for recognition. Although the crowd at Vinyl was timid with sobriety at 9 p.m., audience members quickly rushed up and out of their seats to greet Beautiful Mess as the band took the stage.
Matching the crowd’s enthusiasm, Beautiful Mess launched straight into the rollicking “Go Kart,” with an array of colorful cubes of light flashing behind them. For a band that hasn’t been in town all too long, it was impressive how familiar the crowd seemed to be with all the tunes. There were even some young fans up front that blushed with giddiness when singer Michael LeSage acknowledged their obscure song requests.
Showing off their versatility as musicians, drummer Andy Boesenecker and keyboardist Chris Blais effortlessly swapped instruments about halfway through the set. Carrying on in this new configuration, Beautiful Mess successfully tackled songs old and new. Highlights from the diverse set included country-romp gem “Austin, Etc.” off the band’s debut release and the mysterious, unreleased track, tentatively titled “Sarah Jessica Parker Has a Horse Face.”
As the latter title suggests, Beautiful Mess has a lively sense of humor and playfulness. LeSage’s onstage antics and banter are always entertaining but at times can even verge on the obscene.
Case in point: the infamous LeSage free-style song improvisation. Soon to become legendary in this town, LeSage likes to pull random strangers from the audience and generally embarrass them with an improvised song highlighting all the rude and crude things they might like to do together. Our victims tonight were a man LeSage claimed to know from MySpace and a female who clutched her oversized Newcastle tightly, as if pained by the experience. It was all in good fun, of course, and this time around the unknowing volunteers were great sports.
After all the shenanigans are accounted for, what’s left is a band with finely tuned pop sensibilities and a penchant for reckless abandon. Clever, catchy melodies like the compelling outro of “Great Dayne” beg for a drunken sing-along in a packed club. All the boys of Beautiful Mess need now are a few more airwaves to flood in order to intoxicate listeners far beyond Atlanta.
-Review and photo by Michelle Gilzenrat
Ide / Coy
Rhythm & Brews
Chattanooga, TN
January 11, 2007
Two bands with three-letter names and seven band members between them gave a Thursday night crowd two hours of good times. In true Chattanooga style, the evening kicked off 30 minutes later than scheduled, but as Nashville-based Ide took the stage, the only thing on anyone’s mind was what these three guys would do with their instruments.
Without a word to anyone, Ide’s drummer, two guitarists (the singer also occasionally played the keyboard) and computerized bass player blasted off. The set initially tasted of an airy openness akin to Coldplay, but Ide gradually spread its musical wings.
As singer Layne Ihde put passion to words, his brother Landon Ihde (guitar) filled in the open space and gave an increased depth to each song with whispered background vocals. Mark Niemiee (drums), it seemed, never played the same parts more than four measures at a time — an impressive feat.
By the time the band ended its last song, Ide had ventured through an array of musical layers. Whereas the set started with a Coldplay feel, the final song included some chugga-chugga guitar parts. The three politely thanked the crowd and promoted their Myspace page and CD, setting the stage for the next act.
Once Chattanooga group Coy took the stage, the crowd had grown to a decent size, with most people sitting comfortably in anticipation. From the first song, Coy smacked the crowd with upbeat piano-driven pop. The band members interacted frequently with the crowd, endured some friendly heckling from Ide and called “Thanks for coming, old person,” to a man probably in his 50s. Coy sings and plays music to match its appearance — gentle and lighthearted — and probably very few venues in the Southeast have been privy to as many three-part harmonies as these guys pumped out on this night.
Throughout Coy’s set, the crowd was smiling. From old and new originals to a well-done cover of Radiohead’s “Karma Police,” Coy’s 90-minute set moved quickly. It didn’t seem long enough, but it was midnight, and everyone had class or work to get to in a few hours.
-Daniel Brantley
The Blue Hour / Citified / Spectralux
Lenny’s
Atlanta, GA
January 12, 2007
A diverse lineup awaited the crowd that made it through the strip-mall parking lot and into the newly relocated Lenny’s for this early Friday night show. Local band The Blue Hour opened the evening in support of their soon-to-be-released LP. The band, led by lead singer Keith Vogelsong, played a heartfelt set full of emotional lyrics, jagged guitars and dominating soundscapes filled with drum machines and reverb. Solid musicianship highlighted the set while the band’s confidence and stage presence seemed to grow with each song, despite the relatively small crowd assembled in front of the stage.
Citified paced themselves through a workman-like set, choosing to focus on the most accurate replication of their studio sound as opposed to engaging the audience on anything more than the most basic level. Although they have only released a debut album to this point, the band looks and sounds as if it is made up of veteran musicians. Citified seemed a bit out of place in this lineup, as they present a much friendlier, Top-40 version of pop songs. Their smooth sound and easily accessible song structures seem perfect for late 1990s radio. Maybe the band’s lack of onstage energy belied its understanding that the hipster crowd at Lenny’s would most likely not be very open to such time-proven pop/rock standards.
Surrounded by neon, glowing reindeer and disco balls, Spectralux took the darkened stage just after 11 p.m. With a sound more European than Southern, the band played atmospheric electro-rock with an indie-pop sensibility. For the first time all night, the crowd was compelled to move closer to the stage on account of the band’s sound and stage presence alone. The band has been known to utilize various types of props and lights during its live show, although this does not seem to be compensation for a lack of skill or energy. With steadily building guitars, creative keyboard use and understated vocals that allowed the music to rush to the foreground, Spectralux seemed determined to get everyone within 100 feet of the stage to move along with them to some degree. The set was highlighted by standout tracks such as “Ghosts on Speed” and “Bunny” from the band’s second, self-titled LP. Maybe Spectralux has figured out what it takes to get indie kids to shake their asses: irresistibly catchy dance rock and a darkened room, almost freeing in its anonymity.
-Micah J. McLain
Christopher’s Liver / Paper Tanks / Bellyache / 63 Crayons
Caledonia
Athens, GA
January 12, 2007
Friday night at the Caledonia was a night for music, art and expression. Anyone lucky enough to swing by was treated to live tattooing and an art sale, all hosted by the Superfluous Umlaut Extravaganza. The smallish venue was loosely packed with house kids that would appreciate, well, art and live tattooing in a club setting. Small clusters of people hung out by the doorway as the first band of the evening took the stage. Christopher’s Liver played a wide-eyed set, an off-beat brand of acoustic folk and Sex Pistols-themed punk. The sound was melodious with a bit of edge, quite reminiscent of the noise-rock stylings of Animal Collective.
Up next was Paper Tanks, an abrasive alt-folk band with psychedelic, garage-rock leanings. The songs were nicely atmospheric, though the overdone distortion made the vocals nearly impossible to hear. Paper Tanks’ sound was undeniably folksy, but more influenced by 1970s folk than ‘30s or ‘40s. The drums overrode everything, but they weren’t complicated — just simple beat patterns, nothing amazing there. A few of the songs had a prog-rock backing to them, making them sound spacey and folky at the same time. In addition, some of the songs sounded off-key, until you realized it was done on purpose. Onstage, Paper Tanks had enough energy to make you wish you were in a band with that much heart.
After Paper Tanks finished, a surprising two-piece took to the stage and attempted a few jokes, which didn’t go over well. Bellyache was the name of the band and they came replete with a standing bass, harmonica, saw and acoustic guitar. The sound was overpoweringly Delta blues with a hint of country brashness and Cramps-laced psychobilly. Bellyache was the only band whose vocals were actually audible. The lyrics spoke of hard times, loose women, drinking and what it’s like to live in Georgia. Overall, the band sounded so lo-fi that it was hard to believe this wasn’t their first show.
The last band to take the stage that evening was 63 Crayons, who played their thrashy brand of keyboard laden psy-punk. The band sounded extraordinarily tight and together, while underneath the erratic punky groove lay the delicate hint of 1980s new wave synth-rock. The band jammed on into the late night, and slowly, with their heads full of folky punk rock, the kids all went home.
-Charley Lee |
