WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student RadioThat’s right. We worked our WKNC magic and managed to score extra ticket giveaways for the Dave Matthews Band and Avett Brothers show at Time Warner Cable Pavilion at Walnut Creek April 22nd.
Here’s the catch:
At some point during this week, the daytime deejays will say the lyrics to an Avett Brothers’ or DMB’s song and you must complete the phrase.
Know the rights words, be the first caller, and you’ll find yourself on your way to a great show!
The Magic Babies and The Huguenots will be playing at WKNC’s and Tir Na Nog’s Local Beer Local Band Night this Thursday night at Tir Na Nog. It’s free! See you there!
On this edition of State of State M.C. talks with N.C. State graduate student Matt Robbins, chairman of the Traditions Commission, about Finish the Bell Tower, a student-initiated movement to raise money for a 54-bell carillon for the campus’s famous bell tower.
So I’ve been busy / lazy this week, and this post is about 24 hours overdue.
But either way, we have a hell of a show for you tonight:
At 5:00, Bombadil will be in studio, with instruments.
Lost in the Trees will be joining us after that.
At 6:15, we’ll have the Kingsbury Manx on for a phone interview.
And, as usual, we’ll be going over some of the (amazing) shows on tap for this weekend.
Tune in at 88.1 FM or online!
‘Homesick’ bridges gap for fans
Brian Dimsdale
A Day to Remember has been around for a while. The band, whose humble beginnings date back to 2003, has put out three albums, including the band’s latest, Homesick. They have toured relentlessly, creating a major following and making them a heavy contender in the alternative music scene. Over the years ADTR has tweaked their sound in order to combine catchy guitar riffs and an overall pop-punk sound with the signature metalcore voice of lead singer Jeremy McKinnon. Homesick proves that ADTR have finally reached the pinnacle of the pop-punk/hardcore sound that they have been striving for.
From the get go, Homesick grabs hold of your eardrums and doesn’t let go. Consisting of amazing vocals, heart throbbing beats and a number of vocal guests including Mike Hranica from The Devil Wears Prada and Sierra Kusterbeck from Versa Emerge, this album keeps you hooked throughout the entire 40 minutes. The first track, “The Downfall of us All”, sets the overall mood for this album with gang vocals followed by McKinnon screaming “Let’s go!"‚ and a guitar riff that gets your blood flowing and adrenaline pumping. From that moment on, the album takes you through twelve tracks dealing with the band’s inner turmoil of life on the road while missing their loved ones and the town they grew up in.
The album presses on with melodic tracks that have a catchy and pop-punk sound, such as "My Life for Hire"‚ and "I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made of?”, all the while intermingling McKinnon’s powerful voice and the ear-busting guitar riffs that the band is known for. From there the album transitions straight into the track “Mr. Highway’s Thinking About the End”, which has a sound reminiscent to the likes of Underoath’s Define The Great Line.
Midway through Homesick, the track “Have Faith in Me”, a song about never wanting to leave a loved one, starts off to a beautiful guitar solo helping to slow down the tempo. McKinnon’s soothing voice helps to bring the listener back out of the trance as the beat picks up with the lyrics “I said I’d never let you go, and I never did/I said I’d never let you fall, and I always meant it.” Just as you think the album is going in one direction, the next track “Welcome to My Family” hits you like a ton of bricks. It wakes you up and shows that ADTR has gotten transitioning from pop-punk to metalcore down to a science.
Homesick is A Day to Remember’s best album to date, intermingling what normally would be considered conflicting sounds into an alternative rock masterpiece. The band has bridged the gap for listeners on either side of the music spectrum and will continue to rule the pop-punk/hardcore scene, until they truly do become homesick, which hopefully won’t be any time soon.
88.1 WKNC DJ Pick of the Week is published in every Tuesday print edition of the Technician, as well as online at technicianonline.com and wknc.org.
In addition to the Shakori Hills giveaways this week, we have other shows we’re giving free passes to that you might want to check out:
The Design w/ Sun Domingo playing @ Lincoln Theatre Thursday April 9th
Bombadil w/ Benji Hughesand Lost in the Trees playing @ Lincoln Theatre Friday April 10th
Urban Sophisticates w/ O Period playing @ Lincoln Theatre Saturday April 11th
Nappy Luv 7.5 Hosted by Amanda Diva featuring 9th Wonder playing @ Lincoln Theatre Sunday April 12th
On Photon and The Magpies will be playing at Local Beer Local Band Night at Tir Na Nog this Thursday, April 9. For those that don’t know, Local Beer Local Band Night is WKNC’s and Tir Na Nog’s weekly event showcasing the best local bands with local beer specials! So come out and support your community!! You can write off the money you spend on beer on your taxes! Oh yeah, it’s FREE to get in!
Tune in on Wednesday at 1pm as DJ Chuck will be interviewing On Photon!
Break out your chain belts, leather vests, and peace symbols and join WKNC at the Shakori Hills Grassroots music festival on Saturday April 18th. We’ll be broadcasting live all day and to celebrate, we’re giving away 5 pairs of day passes for the festival this week. Make sure to tune in for your chances to win and don’t forget to check out the live interviews with some of the performing bands.
The Line Up:
Wednesday April 8th, DJ Chuck will be kickin’ it with Holy Ghost Tent Revivial from 1-3pm
Monday April 13th, DJ Special K will be hanging with the guys from Butterflies from 4-5pm
Interviews with Lost in the Trees, New Familars, and The Old Ceremony are TBA
While it was a beautiful day in Raleigh, NC (and a perfect day for First Friday), the rain seemed to follow our baseball team all the way to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It’s been a rough year for the Pack, and the constant rain delays turned into double headers can’t have helped their focus or consistency.
While it might have been frustrating for baseball fans, it did mean that the Local Beat received an impromptu extra hour–back to the 5-8 timeblock! A little before the 6:00 hour, Brian Walsby, drummer of Double Negative and renowned comic artist, and Charles Cardello, co-founder of Bifocal Media, joined us in the studio. We talked a little bit about the Manchild 4 comic and Melvins CD release party. Walsby described Double Negative as a cross between Cat Stevens and Bread.
A little later on, Scott Phillips of Goner, Scott Williams (also of Double Negative) and Chris Jones (of The Loners) stopped in. We talked about party/show events as well as the growth of Raleigh as it relates to the cultural scene, and the unofficial pre-party dining location, The Remedy. But mostly, we chewed the fat.
Brian Walsby and Friend Interview 4/3
So once again, the party is at Tir Na Nog tonight (Saturday the 4th) and will feature the following lineup:
Goner
Double Negative
With the $10 price of admission comes food, a copy of the 4th installment in Walsby’s Manchild comic series, and a previously unreleased Melvins CD entitled Pick Your Battles, which features live music from two shows: one in Berkeley, Ca, in 1989, and the other in Boston, Ma, in 2008.
After the crew left, we played “Automobiles,” a cut off of the new Hammer No More the Fingers album Looking for Bruce. They are releasing the album tonight at the Duke Coffeehouse alongside the Dry Heathens, the Future Kings of Nowhere, Deleted Scenes, and The Beast. This is all part of what they’re calling “Viking Storm.”
So whether you’re in Raleigh or Durham tonight, you have a pretty epic event to attend. Decisions, decisions.
Our good friends with The North Carolina Museum of Art Contemporaries and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance present the second annual First Friday Scavenger Hunt this Friday, April 3rd. It’s a race to discover the abundance of art in downtown Raleigh with a $1,000 cash prize to the top team. If you missed the pre-registation deadline, you can show up for on-site registration at the City Market between 5 and 6 p.m. Yours truly The Revolution will be on hand, so be sure to stop by our table, say hey and pick up a new WKNC T-shirt.