Black Kids

Atlanta, GA I The EARL I Sept 23, 2008

Bloggers who witnessed the Black Kids’ performance at Athen’s Popfest in 2007 began the dialogue that eventually propelled the group out of Jacksonville, Fla. and onto the international stage. The band garnered worldwide acclaim for its Wizard of Ahhhs EP and started selling out gigs all over the U.S. and Europe. However, when the full-length album, Partie Traumatic, was finally released, many of the mags that once praised the band rejected it with very little explanation.

At the EARL on Septemer 23, Black Kids made the crowd stand around for an hour after The Virgins finished their set. James Brown and Kanye West filled the speakers as restlessness set in. Had a year of incessant touring and inconsistent acclaim turned the formerly humble quintet into a troup of arrogant pricks?

At midnight, blue and pink fluorescent tubes lit up the room as Reggie Youngblood slipped onto the stage sporting a second-skin, Cut Copy T-shirt. The band opened with “Hit the Heart Brakes” - a tightly-constructed, funky pop song comprised of spacey swirls and a clever hook.

“Goddamn’t Atlanta, I love you,” Youngblood said before making a slightly inaudible comment about how easy Atlanta girls are. Anyone offended? No one appeared to be and front-stage swooning resumed.

Black Kids have a strategically placed, provocative quality in their songwriting; layering melody with reverb, keys and electronic riffs. Youngblood often sings from a female perspective, blurring gender constructs while Ali Youngblood, his sister and back-up singer, replies to his ambiguous lust with doe-eyed teasing and sultry coos.

Black Kids wouldn’t work without Ali and Dawn Watley - the group’s utterly adorable keyboardists. The women are an undeniable force, standing side by side, rivaling their ubiquitous front man with intense talent. They do what is required of them with incredible capability.

They played “Hurricane Jane” as the final encore, it proved to be the best of the night. Reggie sung about lonely Friday nights to the sexy replies of Ali. She provided synths as drummer Kevin Snow and bassist Owen Holmes maintained order with controlled beats and a consistent bass line.

Black Kids’ overall stage presence has improved, along with the seemlessness with which they play. They frequently refused to break between songs, infusing one with the next. And though some tunes are becoming redundant, they remain compulsively addictive.

The band has a new confidence that comes with, not only selling tickets and being satiated with praise, but also from fending off bad press and living on the road for months at a time.

So no, Black Kids aren’t arrogant pricks - they’re rock stars.

-Review by Beth Malone

Trinumeral Music and Arts Festival

Dearfields, NC | August 8, 2008

The Mills River community came to life on Friday afternoon as thousands of like-minded friendly festival goers poured into the 940-acre family-owned campground for the start of the Trinumeral Music and Arts Festival. The weekend centered around the alignment of the month, day and year; the celebration of this “cosmic holiday” has been an annual practice since January 1, 2001 and has found a fitting home just outside of Asheville in the beautiful and magical mountains of Deerfields. The idea that the festival can only go for four more years makes it feel as though the weekend almost has to be epic. The evening progressed smoothly as the weather was warm and sunny, the air was thick with positive energy and the apple orchard was packed with kind, earth-conscious art and music lovers from all over the US.

The festival kicked off with the local favorite Your Momma’s Big Fat Booty Band, whose energy-filled performance set the tone for what would be a sun-filled day-long dance party, with all eyes fixated on the silk trapeze artists onstage flipping above a mass of horns. The hip-hop element was represented throughout Friday’s sets with GZA performing as well as Boots Riley laying lyrics on several songs during Galactic’s set and local hip-hop jam fusion favorites Granola Funk Express. Late night local favorite Sci Fi rocked the hills with an amazing LED light backdrop and closing with elaborately spacey Pinwheel. The main stage saw EOTO and Conspirator close out the night with heavy drum and bass jams.

Saturday afternoon, the hills rang with the powerful lyrics of the local vocal sensation Laura Reed and Deep Pocket as they exploded onto the lakeside stage, playing some new songs such as “Happy.” The barely five-foot songstress presents touching and relatable lyrics through her powerful, sultry and sexy voice perfectly paired with the heavily funky sound of the Deep Pocket members. The evening progressed with a high energy Lotus set with a surprise sit in from former Perpetual Groove keyboardist Matt MacDonald. Local Arabic jam masters Telepath brought their unique exotic style. With unmatched intensity it became quickly evident the band had played this stage before. When asked his thoughts on the weekend, Telepath bassist Curt Heiny said, “We had an awesome time playing in such a beautiful place for such awesome people. We really appreciate the support from everyone there and are honored to have been able to share the musical experience with them. Music is the future, and it is going to take every single person involved to make the much needed changes happen.”

MacDonald lent his heavy synth sound again, merging smoothly with the unique sound of SeepeopleS and Asheville’s own Will Bradford’s intricate, well-written ballads. The synths were heavy as the keyboards reached double digits with the addition of MacDonald to the four-piece psychedelic rock group. MacDonald arose Sunday with a solo live PA set. His new venture, My Subversive Media, fuses real world media clips and blends it with industrial/electronic hard thumping jams. His new material invokes deep felt emotions for social change, with MacDonald himself saying, “A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having.” By the looks of the people at Trinumeral this weekend the revolution is in full swing.

-Review Sean Petersen; photos by Rachel Sears

Rahbi

Sugarhill | Atlanta, GA | July 26, 2008

Atlanta’s Sugarhill was transformed to host Rahbi’s Strange Fruit III on a recent Saturday night. Overhead red lighting set the mood for a New Orleans-inspired bordello. The venue was packed from the balcony to the floor with beautiful people. Dressed in a jester’s robe, metallic leggings and dark shades, with “Prince Rahbi” etched into his close fade haircut, Rahbi slowly entered the crowd from an illuminated red carpet while staring into a silver plated hand held mirror admiring himself.

Deemed the Prince of Glam Soul, Rahbi opened his show with “Bitter Sweet Dreams” and effortlessly juggled singing on key while posing for pictures throughout the song. The first half of Rahbi’s set was packed with dance inspired tracks, which led directly into the debut of his brand new song “Rip Girl,” in which he raps the bridge of the song showcasing one of his other musical talents. Rahbi explained that a “Rip Girl” is an “it girl” who rips the runway. Throughout this performance, models took to the stage striking flawless poses in tempo to the high-energy club banger.

The second half of the show was absolutely for “grown folk.” Rahbi returned from intermission dressed in a preacher’s robe, bible in hand, and background singer’s adorned in choir robes singing “Giving Up.” Testifying about a lost love while staggering and drinking gin, Rahbi commanded the stage directing his band with both authority and ease. Next up, “Take U 2 A Dream” showcased Rahbi’s wide vocal range - hitting soprano notes while mimicking a female orgasm and titillating his adoring fanswith what could clearly be an instant bedroom classic. Rahbi cooed the second verse on top of a speaker sitting Indian style followed by remarkable runs.

The show came to a stunning conclusion with “Edge of My Life,” the performer’s nostalgic

recollection of meeting the woman of his dreams on his wedding day. Singing “Now there’s a simple solution / I know you’ve heard of polygamy / Ain’t tryin’ to start no confusion but two is every man’s fantasy / I’m so damn selfish but I can’t help it,” Rahbi manipulated his voice to mirror that of an electric guitar followed by an operatic vibrato. True to form, Rahbi’s theatrics continued with a fully dressed bride entering stage right and a scantily dressed mistress entering stage left. Everyone’s choreography was in perfect unison. Rahbi danced erotically with both women before passionately kissing his bride, then aggressively kissing his mistress. The show ended with Rahbi getting his wish: the bride and the mistress kiss, sending the audience into hysteria. Rahbi’s last words into the mic were “I’m the mutha fuckin shit!” Rahbi proved he is a triple threat and hands down a phenomenal performer.

-Review by Chas Jackson; photos by Kimble Joyner and R. Hagans

Big 10-4 / Gary Pfaff and the Heartwells / Mark

Gaignard / Beth Aires

The Social | Orlando, FL | August 9, 2008

The Social was packed early for this show, with such a stellar line-up and Big 10- 4’s return to the stage in the band’s hometown. Gainesville’s Mark Gaignard opened the show with a solo acoustic set featuring songs many from his latest CD We All Need Lies including “Tinseltown” and “One By One By One.” He admitted to not being very comfortable onstage alone as he is used to being the front man with a band behind him, but his songs went over well in just the same. The biggest fan reaction came when he performed a song from his former band, Big Sky, with the audience singing along to every word.

Next up were Atlanta’s Gary Pfaff and the Heartwells. Pfaff and his band played a high-energy 50-minute set with the eager crowd singing along with him on almost every song including “This Town,” “Never Looking Back,” and the title track to his latest CD “White Stars.” One of the many highlights of his set was the jam-filled “Mississippi Streets,” complete with Pfaff using an empty beer bottle as a slide on his guitar. He was joined onstage by Dan Verduin (Big 10-4) for vocals on “Beautiful”.

Beth Aires took the stage next in what was supposed to be her last show in Orlando, but she has decided to defer law school for a year while she hones her musical talent. She played several of her well-known songs including “In Between” and “A Love Song.”

Finally, it was time for Big 10-4 to hit the stage. The Orlandobased band hasn’t had many shows recently due to recording and other projects, but it is back now and the crowd greeted the group with a rousing welcome. Band members Dan Verduin (vocals/guitar/piano), Matt Verduin (lead guitar), Jared Leevanus (bass), Greg Carilla (guitar), and Rob Columbus (drums) played a non-stop high energy set featuring many songs from the band’s CD Testing The Atmosphere including “Deadman,” “Superpowers” and “Irony Is Thick.” The band also played several new songs including “Flipside,” “No Hard Feelings,” and a crowd favorite, “We’ve Been Here.” The band closed out the show with another song from the CD, Walking Disaster. For an encore, Dan Verduin came back onstage and performed a solo acoustic version of another new song, “Let Me Know.”

The capacity crowd begrudgingly left, tired from a night of dancing, singing and cheering,

anxiously discussing the next opportunity to see these bands yet again.

-Review and photo by Kat Coffin

In the print version of this review, we mistakenly quoted Gary Pfaff as saying the song was "about the two best things in life - alcohol and drugs."

What he actually said was - "This is a song about alcohol and girls," Pfaff says."This is very disturbing to myself and my band. We don't use drugs and would never promote the use of them."

We regret the error.

Forecastle Festival

Louisville, KY | July 25-27, 2008

Once a small afternoon outdoor concert, Louisville’s Forecastle Festival has come a long way in the seven years of its existence. Starting in 2002 as a small neighborhood gathering in Louisville’s Highlands district, Forecastle debuted with just six bands on one stage in one day. It has now grown to be a 50-plus band roster with four stages over almost full three days. It has almost instantly become one the regions largest organized call to action showcases, combining music with art and environmental activism.

This year’s Forecastle Festival, held on Louisville’s Belvedere, brought together a wide array of social and cultural groups, from happy hippies to hip-hoppers and even some hillbillies. All of them were treated to their favorite musical dialect several times over with the lengthy roster of talent. Regardless of any perceived social difference, everyone rallied around the festival’s environmental activism keynote speech, delivered by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., prolific environmental activist (and, yes, a real Kennedy). His hour-long, extremely moving speech was given in such a context that only a hypocrite would have disagreed with him. But now, onto the music.

Louisville, Ky.-based Code Red, a hiphop act that fuses r e g g a e - i n s p i r e d instrumentation into its music, felt right at home during its performance on the opening night. Greeted by what seemed to be a predominantly hometown crowd, Code Red delivered an animated set, highlighted by a performance of “Summer Jam,” with the rest of the songs somewhat running together.

Snowden was one act that mailed out its latest studio album Anti Anti before heading to Louisville. An interesting band, Snowden’s music is delivered rather euphorically and pop rockish but not cheesy. The band’s bassist, Corinne Lee, was the best performer and possibly the best musician in the band. Playing bass as well as a synthesizer and managing two floor toms, she also had the best stage presence by far of her male comrades. You have to see Lee play her instruments to believe it.

Nashville’s Del McCoury Band brought a living room concert feel to its performance, playing to a setting sun and a bunch of shirtless, um, good ol’ boys who wanted more beer. McCoury seemed to be a happy old man, regularly laughing onstage at his own antics. He even provided an honest in-song admission of forgetting the lyrics, but laughed it off until his memory got him back on track. The crowd also laughed it off as McCoury continued on with the song.

McCoury made his first public appearance in Nashville’s Grand Ole’ Opry playing with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys in 1963. Rounding out the rest of his band is Kentucky native Jason Carter (violin/fiddle), Ronnie McCoury (banjo), Rob McCoury (mandolin) and Alan Bartram (upright bass). This was by far one of the most musically entertaining acts of the entire festival.

-Review by Jason Ashcraft; photo by Kate Eldridge

Soft Targets / Billions and Billions

Swayze’s I Marietta, GA I September 27, 2008

Swayze’s celebrated its birthday this weekend with a set list of impressive, young bands including Soft Targets from Tallahassee, Fla. This venue sits quietly nestled in a shopping center off Barrett Parkway in Marietta and elicits an atmosphere of hope to independent artists wishing to get out a gig. Every suburb should have a club like Swayze’s to give the under 21 concert-goers a safe place to hang out with friends and hear great tunes without the hassle of alcohol and cigarette smoke.

Soft Targets toured for a month, closing their tour in Ga. after playing as far North as Philadelphia and as far West as Ohio and Indiana. Fans can read the tour diary at http://heavyrainbowtour.blogspot.com and visit the band’s website at www.softtargetsmusic.com.

Of the opening acts, Billions and Billions impressed the crowd with instrumental improvisational jams that worked well for bridging the gap before The Soft Targets took the stage.

The audience gathered around the stage as “Something Else” started the show with emotional yet mellow music eliciting sadness and sympathy with lyrics like, “I’ve got the shaky, sick feeling of a boy who just got forced to fight”. Soft Targets have a generational quality sound to which fans can find comfort relating. “The World Looks Bigger Now” with lyrics, “We’re finally figuring it out” seemed more inspired on stage at the end of an independent tour. Singer Jesse Corry invited the audience to check out T-shirts and albums with “all in-house art” celebrating the DIY nature of Soft Targets. After playing a 30-minute set of songs from both albums available Soft Targets closed with an impressive new song, “The Punch” which will be released on the next album.

Review & photos by Ellen E. Aldridge

Simone / Radio Suitcase / Arrythmia / Last Day Revolution

AKA Lounge I Orlando, FL I October 2, 2008

Simone’s four-piece band opened the show with a five-minute prog rock jam before she joined them onstage in front of the sparse Thursday night crowd at The AKA Lounge. The central Florida-based band’s sound is a complex blend incorporating an array of influences from jazz to hip-hop and everything in between. The last two songs of her half-hour set, “Synthetic Sugar” and “Built To Last” were her best, flaunting just how powerful her vocals really are.

Radio Suitcase, a rock/pop band from Orlando, took the stage next. The four-piece band, Tommy Liles (vocals, guitar), Trevor Gwillim (bass, vocals), Brett Lieberman (guitar) and Adam Dvorecky (drums) opened their set with “Summer Ends At 18” from their debut CD Kosmonaut. Dvorecky broke his bass drum head during the song and had to turn the drum around in order to complete the show. Lead guitarist Lieberman really showed off his amazing talent throughout the show, especially during the band’s cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along The Watch Tower.” Commenting on the sparse crowd for the show, Liles said, “We’d like to thank our fan for coming out.”

Another Orlando-based band, Arrythmia, was up next. The three-piece band has a prog metal sound incorporating screaming and growling along with their lyrics. Their set included their songs “It Is Now” and “Turn Off Your Brights” along with a Led Zeppelin cover “Immigrant Song.”

More of a crowd started showing up to see the night’s headliner; Fort Worth based Last Day Revolution. The five-piece hard rock/alternative band, Jason (drums), Gaylon North (bass, rhythm guitar), Scott Kimes(vocals), Matt (lead guitar), and Michael Wright (rhythm, bass guitar) played several of their more popular songs including “Sidewalk” and “Sometimes.” Their show is as much visual as musical with the band members each strutting around the stage lead by Kimes and his scarf strewn microphone.

The AKA is always a good place to catch a variety of bands playing any night they have live music, and this night was no exception. The crowd was happy and by the end of the night – well entertained.

Review & photos by Kat Coffin