I don’t see a lot of bad shows; I see a lot of shows, and there’s rarely no redeeming qualities in any of them. I don’t go see shitty locals, because there are too many good and great locals to see, and mostly my taste in music is pretty reliable when it comes to live…
Month: January 2011
frontier ruckus @ local 506
Frontier Ruckus and the Moondoggies put out two of my favorite underrated albums of 2010, the Moondoggies’ all sweeping vistas and huge sounds and Frontier Ruckus’ all creeping sadness and mournful Michigan landscape, so to get them both in a single weekend was a huge joy. But where the Moondoggies get their huge sound from,…
save our arts: a benefit for central park charter school
For the third year running, Heather Cook orchestrated a gorgeous benefit show for the arts programs at Durham’s Central Park Charter School, and it was a perfect kind of local music evening. Good bands, good company, good food (learned: cannot shoot and eat Only Burger at the same time; alas), in a gorgeous new venue…
the moondoggies @ local 506
The Moondoggies surprised the hell out of me last night: I assumed that they made their huge tidal-wave sound with two or three guitar players in addition to their keyboard player, but they don’t; it’s just four of them, wringing sweeping sounds out of guitar and bass and keyboards and drums, and it’s as slow-burn,…
hockey: leafs @ canes
The NHL All-Star Game is in Raleigh at the RBC Center this weekend. I don’t really care about hockey, frankly; I like to watch it live because it moves fast and it’s totally different to shoot than baseball and sometimes huge dudes punch each other in the face, which is always a good time. But…
two sentence reviews of new albums i listened to in january (mostly non-locals edition)
Modern Skirts — Gramahawk: my favorite electro-indie-pop band from Athens; probably my favorite electro-indie-pop band in general. Starts slow but grows on you; the slink of “American Gothic” and the pop of “Happy 81” make this one an early best of contender and a serious keeper. One of Athens’ most underrated indie rock bands, and Athens…
the big picture @ local 506
When I leave a show too long without posting about it, I’m never sure what to say, but the Big Picture and Soft Company were the second half of my Thursday night double header; they both make dreamy-driving indie rock that’s just on this side of weird, but in a good way — I really…
megafaun @ kings (night two)
I’ve got to bullet point this, y’all, I’m so shredded from the last few days that I can hardly think. Cloudlines opened. Cloudlines is a band full of my photographer buddies, and they were really excellent. Tight musically, catchy songs, and Abby can sing like nobody’s business. A+, will see again. (And get shots of…
holy ghost tent revival @ local 506
my heart is yours, honey what’s mine is yours, honey but only for a little while So almost exactly two years ago, on a Thursday night, when I was just getting to know Glenn, I leaned across the bar at the 506 between a Holy Ghost Tent Revival set and a New Familiars set, and…
death to false hope anniversary fest pre-party
I pulled a double-header last night, which is something I may be getting too old to do unless I take the next day off, but it was pretty well worth it. I started the evening in Durham at Motorco with Ash, for the pre-party for this weekend’s two day 60 band Death To False Hope…
brand new kind of photography 