Author: Jamie Lynn Gilbert

Jamie Lynn (she/her) is the associate director of NC State Student Media, placing her in charge of student radio station WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2.

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Concert Review

Beggars save night from colossal failure

Kings Barcade hosted the kickoff of the Beggars and Colossus’s 2011 North Carolina statewide tour Thursday, Jan. 13. Fortunately for the audience, the opening act was worth the $6 admission price.

The Beggars, classified as punk/rock/soul on their MySpace page, is a five-piece band from Detroit proper. Almost 700 miles is a long way to come to play for the two dozen or so people milling around Kings at the beginning of the set, but the group didn’t seem to mind. Vocalist Steven Davis swaggered around the stage wearing a red polo, khaki pants and a pair of white wrist sweatbands looking like he could be right at home at a 1980s Sunday afternoon family reunion – until the music started. Davis and his band mates were, in a word, enthusiastic. The singer’s theatrics included frequent jumps into the audience, losing his loafers and socks on more than one occasion, tossing the microphone around, crawling on his knees across the stage, a string of “fuck, yeah!”s in between songs and a backwards somersault from the floor back onto the stage. With all the jumping around, he even split his pants (a fact they specifically requested to be put in this blog). Davis slipped off the stage at the start of the last song, returning with “super limited edition” tour merchandise – a six-song CD and spiffy black tee.

The 45-minute set opened with “Same Costume as Mine,” a quirky song about matching outfits punctuated by the superb saxophone work of Rod “Pool Party” Jones. That got the crowd pumped up and kept them there through “FRK,” “It’s All About Me,” “Gold (My Neck I’ll Hang Around),” “25 Miles,” “Us Dudes (Wee get so Rad),” “Sleepaway Camp” and “Thieves.” Their finale “Stop, Drop, Rock n’ Roll” had the crowd chanting the chorus and pumped for the show’s headliner.

Colossus lead singer Sean Buchanan joined the Beggars on stage for “Stop, Drop, Rock n’ Roll,” which gave the first hint of intoxication. He made it clear he had a few too many when he crashed in to the drum kit in the middle of the second song. After a brief interlude, Buchanan regained his composure and the show continued. When he knocked over another drum, the band called it quits after the fourth song. The lyrics weren’t coherent enough to get any song titles.

Those who saw Colossus before Thursday should choose to remember them from previous performances. For those experiencing the Raleigh rock/metal band for the first time, consider giving them another chance. Colossus really does display “talent like a Viking lets blood on a battlefield as Independent Weekly’s Bryan Reed wrote. While the crowd did grow from the original two dozen, perhaps it was best there were limited witnesses.

The 2011 North Carolina statewide tour continues Friday, Jan. 14 at Pinups in Greensboro and Saturday, Jan. 15 at Reggie’s in Wilmington. The Beggars conclude their trip of the Wolfpack state Sunday, Jan. 16 at the Reservoir in Carrboro. Colossus will play again Saturday, Feb. 5 for the second day of the Bull City Metal Fest at Casbah.

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Concert Preview

October’s a great month for music

There are always lots of awesome shows going on in the Triangle, but October seems to be just stuffed full of them. Below is a limited preview of some of the hippest, hottest acts to catch this month.

WKNC gets a lot of praise for our weekly Local Beer Local Band series at Tir Na Nog, but a good chunk of the credit belongs to Chris Tamplin. Help thank Chris for putting up with us Thursday, Oct. 1 as Local Beer Local Band doubles as Chris’s Birthday Local Band Bash. Prabir and The Substitutes and Goner are on the bill and rumor has it there may be a magician.

The much anticipated Hear Here finale show is Saturday, Oct. 3 at The Pour House. Motorskills opens, followed by Inflowential and The Love Language. Tickets are not available in advance so be sure to get there when doors open at 8 p.m. Once inside $5 will get you a copy of the Hear Here CD; there are less than 90 shopping days before Christmas so feel free to stock up.

St. Vincent was one of the hottest groups on 88.1 this summer. They open for Andrew Bird Wednesday, Oct. 7 and Thursday, Oct. 8. at the Cat’s Cradle. Both nights are sold out. If you aren’t one of the lucky ticket holders, personal favorites Everclear play Oct. 8 at the Lincoln Theatre.

Saturday, Oct. 10 is I Was Totally Destroying It’s release party for Horror Vacui at the Cat’s Cradle. The $7 advance and $10 door prices include a copy of the CD. If that isn’t enough to get you there, how about supporting bands Lonnie Walker, Des Ark, Rat Jackson and Lake Inferior?

Baltimore-based J. Roddy Walston and the Business is one of those bands you love as though they were native sons. Mike Roy joins them for their CD release party Wednesday, Oct. 14 at The Pour House.

Berkley Café hosts Lonnie Walker, Goner and Gray Young on Friday, Oct. 16. Try not to rock so hard you miss Luego’s CD release party Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Local 506. The Tomahawks and The Huguenots will be there too.

Raleigh’s Cherry Bounce Music Festival starts Sunday, Oct. 18 and runs throughout the week at various local venues. I’ve been sworn to secrecy about the line-up, but I can tell you to tune in to Local Lunch on Thursday to find out more.

Experimental prog rockers The Mars Volta invade the Disco Rodeo on Friday, Oct. 23. They’ll be in Charlotte the day before if you’re a really big fan.

A bunch of KNC staff saw Charlotte’s Benji Hughes in April and they’re still talking about it. See him for yourself as he performs with The Light Pines Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Local 506.

Fridays on the Lawn continue Friday, Oct. 30 with Max Indian and Schooner. It’s a totally free show on Harris Field, right in front of our radio home in the Witherspoon Student Center (corner of Cates Ave and Dan Allen Drive) at N.C. State. WKNC and the Union Activities Board put on the show with support from Student Government and the Inter-residence Council.

Check out WKNC’s Rock Report for more shows and feel free to leave comments about who’s on your to see list for October.

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Miscellaneous

Remembering the Walkman

My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day. He had told me it was big, but I hadn’t realised he meant THAT big. It was the size of a small book.

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Sony Walkman. As someone nearly that old myself, I felt it necessary to share this BBC article in which a 13-year-old boy trades in his iPod for its much older, distant cousin.

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Concert Review

Band Together, June 6

As someone who has worked more than a dozen on-air fundraisers, practically begging for the telephone to ring, I wholeheartedly agree that the best way to raise money is through a rocking concert. WKNC does it through our annual Double Barrel Benefit and so does Band Together NC, a local non-profit whose mission is “to raise funds and awareness for select charities through events that showcase and support musical talent.” Since its formation in 2001, Band Together has raised more than $635,000 for Triangle charities.

Band Together’s latest effort took place Saturday, June 6 with Chatham County Line, The Rosebuds and Rusted Root performing on the Lincoln Theatre Street Stage. Band Together alumni HOBEX closed out the evening with a set inside the Lincoln. MyNC.com reports the Band Together committee presented a $108,000 check to the Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood just before Rusted Root took the stage.

Chatham County Line performs at Band Together, June 6, 2009. Photo by Jamie Lynn Gilbert.

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Chatham County Line took the stage at 6 p.m. I could hear the beginning notes of “The Carolinian” as I rushed to the blocked off area of Cabarrus Street between Blount and Wilmington in downtown Raleigh. The Lincoln Theatre street stage was against the Wilmington Street side, with the Silent Auction area, requisite Budweiser beer line and Southern Season Catering trailer leading to Blount.

With the banjo, mandolin and guitar players crowded around the microphone and the bassist two steps behind, the mic stand could have just as easily read WSM as Chatham Co Line. The Raleigh-based quartet makes appearances on Americana, Blues and Co. as well as during our daytime format, with their album IV. The set list included newer tunes “Chip of a Star” and “Whipping Boy” and older ones like “Route 23.” The crowd was a little thin when the band began, but filled in as the set wore on, prompting one of the band members to compliment the crowd for being much better than the one there 15 minutes prior.

The Rosebuds on stage at Band Together, raising money for the Lucy Daniels Center. Photo by Jamie Lynn Gilbert.

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Indie pop rockers The Rosebuds were the evening’s second act. Guitarist Ivan Howard led the crowd in a sing-a-long on “Nice Fox,” encouraging the crowd to yell so loud they could be heard in Fuquay. The decibel level didn’t get quite that high, but the crowd seemed genuinely engaged, swaying as they repeated “and it don’t mean nothing at all.” The Raleigh duo has a sparse performance schedule this summer, but will be at the Duke Gardens this Wednesday, June 10th.

Categories
Concert Review

Hands Up for 2009

I decided to ring in the new year at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill for their “Rockin’ Eve” show. Normally anything titled “Rockin’ Eve” would turn me away, but it the lineup was Hammer No More The Fingers, Red Collar and Kerbloki. I managed to miss all but about two songs from HNMTF and those were spent inching my way toward the bar. Let’s just say the place was a little crowded.

If you check out Red Collar’s MySpace, next to “sounds like” it says “there’s going to be a fire.” That’s actually a pretty accurate description. The band is VERY high energy. It didn’t hurt that it was New Year’s Eve and before their set the crowd celebrated the birthdays of drummer Jonathan Truesdale and bassist Beth Kutchma and the two year anniversary of Hammer No More The Fingers. There was cake.

It’s about 15 minutes to midnight, we’re all ready to rock, the lights dim and the band launches into Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.” After appropriately pumping up the crowd, they squeezed in “Hands Up” before the countdown. I won’t rely exactly what the band suggested we do with 2008, should there be any children reading, but the idea was to move forward.

The first time I saw Red Collar was at the WKNC Double Barrel Benefit 5 in Feb. 2008. I caught them again in the fall at one our Local Beer Local Band nights at Tir Na Nog. If you are serious about making yourself “a better you” in 2009, I suggest you add “see more local shows” to your resolution list and put Red Collar at the top.