Man Man @ The National (10-30-08)

This right here is one of the hardest reviews for me to write because I find it so heartbreaking that a group that last year I championed for putting on one of the most energetic live shows around has now oddly tamed themselves down into what looks in my eyes a wounded version of themselves.

There were a couple of issue that I had with the show that I think I can clearly point out in very bland bulletin style

* There felt to be a lack of teamwork coming from the group. you noticed this clearly with everyone in the group wearing white except for Honus Honus who was dressed in red. This color scheme might of been coincidence but I felt this almost diva like quality coming form him this night. Maybe he was in a pissy mood and this isn't his typical stage persona on tours now but something felt off about this whole thing.

* Man Man doesn't fit The National at all. they just don't have the ability yet to play to that big of an audience and keep the energy of the show going. Maybe one day they can fit this big change from 500 person venues to 1500 person venues, but i think it might to be to big of a jump for any group yet alone them

* Played to much off of Rabbit Habbits. while that is a personal opinion and is something most people had no issue with. I found there new album to lack the Man an growl that Six Demon Bags summed up so perfectly. The new album is more pop oriented than any of there material to date, and while that doesn't sound like a bad thing on paper, it is just something that didn't settle well with my stomach

The show last night did have some good moments, all of them coming from when they played songs off of Six Demon Bags. When they played those songs I saw the Man Man I knew and love come alive even if it was just for a glimpse.

My verdict is this. I don't think I can recommend anyone actually go see Man Man live now. I mean there is a good chance that if you enjoyed there new album then your gonna enjoy this show. But I just can't give it my stamp of approval. So go at your own risk and hopefully someday soon Man Man well get back on track with what made them such a vicious force in music, but in tell then I will weep for the lose of such a ecstatic group

*photo courtisy of ACE McMANAGAN PHOTO!*

Jay Reatard @ The Outback Lodge (10-29-08)

When I heard that Jay Reatard was going to be playing @ The Outback Lodge you missed me do this very very humiliating dance involving me flailing around in pure excitement. Sure I live in Richmond and that would mean i would have to Greyhound down to the see show, but there was no way in hell i was gonna miss Jay Reatard live if he was actually coming to Virginia

So I got to the venue around 9:45 around the time this localish group ORDER was playing. i had heard about them from a few people in town and was intrigued to see what there set would be like. I did feel a little bit disappointed by the set. I mean it wasn't bad by any means, it was just a sort of simple garage rock/punk set. not like that's a bad thing but it was obvious that these guys were openers.

The next group to come on was this group called Cola Freaks. I hadn't done any research on them before the show but after there set I made a mental check to find some of these guys mp3. I was impressed by this good fun energy coming for these guys set. Maybe its the fact that I just can't help but love europeans making punk music, or maybe these guys have taped into some sort of creative garagepunk/newwave hybrid that I have never heard before in till just then. either way though the set was good and if I seem to come to my local village I will probably check them out

Now after a little wait Jay Reatard brought the fury that everyone was anticipating and I must saying it was certainly worth the trip down for it. Everyone was just having a good time moshing and just generally acting ridiculous. Jay Reatard seemed to be enjoying himself (aka not punching anyone in the face and refusing to play). but in all seriousness its hard to actually write a review about a jay reatard show because in some ways its just so simple, he has found this perfect balance of rock and punk and he is now on what seems like a never ending tour releasing this demon to other participants and it's hard for anyone to not be amazed but the fury that he brings.

Monotonix @ Gallery 5 (10-15-08)

I first discovered Monotonix when I caught the set they put on when the fuck yeah fest rolled into DC. There show is a frenzy of insanity with the main singer drinking liquor out of a show, putting his head up some girls shirt, sticking his mic up to his asshole, and the very infamous DRUM SURFING. After seeing that set I was just blown away and very impressed that someone at that show was able to over-eclipse that fantastic fury that was Dan Deacon (the main act of the fuck yeah fest that night)

So when I learned Monotonix were coming to Richmond I was quite pumped because lets be honest there is nothing wrong with more Monotonix’s in ones life.

So when the day came you would assume I would be in my best sprits, but sadly I was not. I was running a temperature, had a cold, and been having weird muscle pains in my legs, but I wasn’t goanna let this stop something as beautiful as a Monotonix Show

Got to the venue around 8, wanted to claim my territory for the show (even thought I’m not sure if that really matters so much) first act was this group named Hot Lava, which was not necessarily anything memorable, they had some fly keyboard beats, but it was just sort of there

The second opening act was a group named “The Amoeba Men”, I had heard much about this group, and have seen the snazzy poster they had made around town. Well I must say there set was just rubbish. It started with there guitar player trying to start a mosh with the crowd, and by trying to start a mosh I mean literally walking backwards and just bump into me. Also the singer was just a joke, he was trying to put on this weird guy persona, telling after before each song the name of the song (my personal favorite was tasty tounges) it was all just weird for the sake of weird, and also his vocals weren’t helping much either (you know when people sing all silly and high pitched just to be weird, well that guy had it going on).

After them there was “Snack Truck”. They were your typical rock group with the big change up there was 2 drummers instead of one. What they did in the field of precision was quite impressive there still felt like that was something lacking form there set. it also probably didn’t help that during there set I was starting to have this almost un-bearable pain in my leg occur so I wont lie I might of not been in the best state of mind judging things during there set

Now luckily this pain in my legs went away just about the time Monotonix came on and I’m really quite happy it did because Monotonix kicked so much ass last night.

The show started very mysteriously, and then hit like gangbusters. With the main singer shacking with a European flavor that is just hard not to love. There was various mooning, various chocking me with his mic cord, various me getting face hit by trash can, and other various things that happen at a monotonix show, its all very very very bad ass

After playing for about 40ish minutes Monotonix got the brilliant idea of playing outside in the street, you could tell the people who run gallery 5 were so not happy about this at all, and honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t get invited back anytime soon

So they basically brought there amazing fury outside, the man singer getting held up on a drum being held up in the air by the crowd, and then jumping off the drum into the crowd, it was just ridiculous, various other things like this happened but Its really all a fuzz in my head, and I’m not very surprised about this at all, there shows just seem to end in a sweaty haze and absolute bliss where everything just blends together.

The end of this story is very simple, go see Monotonix, no questions asked, DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

Also thanks very much to pjsykes for the awesome photos you took of the show (his photo is the one on the top of this article), there was no way in hell I was goanna risk my camera at that show, but I’m happy to see someone else took the risk.

HzCollective Presents: MegaHz (Day Two) (10-12-08)

First off right away I think you guys should know that this isn't going to be my most detailed review for a few reasons. First i was starting to feel quick sick and was having a very hard time keeping my eyes open during the show(espically when its whimsical ambient music being played). and also I had just gone to so many concerts that weekend that I had probably stretched myself to far.

Now the show itself was a very nice, very chill ambient music, there was one group espically that was a mix between The Books and Tickley Feather , it was very very sweet and hopefully I can figure out what the bands name was, but damn did they make me tired, still very good music

One act at least in my mind really stood out was this guy named "Embarker". He brought a show very similar to one of Charlottesville hero's "Doofgoblin". very good barrage of music, it also looked like he was making music with an flight simulator joystick but i might be wrong about it. still very amusing and hopefully some day this man gets some attention because I was hella impressed by his set.

Also while at the show I noticed they had lots of Gwar artwork around, lots of cool stage equipment. So if anyone is thinking about going to see Montonix this Wednesday, you should come down for that but maybe this Gwar shit will help motivate.

Richmond Folk Festival Adventures (10-11-08)

So in this jam-packed weekend of music in richmond I was only able to catch an afternoon of folk music, but in this is in no ways real something to frown on because even with my little time I spent there I really had a hell of a fun FREE time.

Got there around 12 just in time to catch some taiko drumming. I later found out the group was called "San Jose Taiko" (yep very original). beside for the lack of original name there show was easily the highlight of my festival experience. just lots of great energy, and if you know anything about the taiko drum you will totally know that its sound is just quite fascinating (seriously if you have no clue what a taiko drum is, youtube that shit, asap)

After there set floated around, got my corndog on, more or less acting lazy for no good reason, did get the energy to stumble into some native american dance performance. this set was a mix of very good and very head-aching moments. while when the group played together and brought that traditional native american sound it was tight, real tight. but later on the show it almost turned into native american comedy hour, making fun on themselves and "white people". it felt real weird. I mean I enjoyed the set, it was worth seeing, but I just felt confused

After that more lazy laying in lush grass went on (very exciting i know), discussed how when you donate money for this festival you get a sticker saying "I dropped into the basket", something me and my comrades found oh so amusing.

Around 4 we decided to catch some glass harmonica live. this is really quite an interesting instruament that I really don't think i can do justice to so I'm gonna let wikipedia take a crack at it. and while the set of music was very neat the see live, the man who was playing the glass harmonica (dean shostak) totally came across as a total pampas ass (he is the man on the top of this article, he wasn't dressed like that for the show but i guess he has a fetish for colonialism or something).

After his set I decided to head home due to having a decent amount of homework I needed to do battle with, and to recuperate from long week and so I could be prepared to fully appreciate the noise festival going on at gallery 5 tomorrow (something I am very excited about).

Xrin Arms & Various Other Noisy Thingys @ The Church Of Crystal Light (10-10-08)

What sold me into coming to this show was when i was going threw Xrin Arms myspace. I ran across a song of his called "Wicked Heart" were he fusses together Gil Scott Heron & a blitzkrieg of noise into solid noise package that is as exciting as it is confusing. anyone who can pull something that amusing off deserves my attention, and my attention he got

Got to the show around the time the first act came on (10ish). I'll be honest I really don't know his name because he wasn't on the bill. His set up incorporated a couple stacks of speakers that for some reason reminded me of a robot or something mechanical. He put on your typical noise extravaganza, I flailed around like I usually do, it was fun but not extremely note worthy

The next artist was some girl who one again who like the first act I don't know the name of due to not originally being on the bill, she put on fun noise show, but at the same time there wasn't anything truly unique about it beside the fact that the shit was fuzzy.

Next came on Xrin Arms who most definitely kicked some ass. More or less going ape-shit and splicing Motown samples with his rampage of noisy sludge hitting you. Now somewhere during his set that son of a gun so hit me in the face with his mic (something I assume was intentional) good punk-vibes all around on this one. In simple terms his set was tight and if he ever stumbles nomadic like to your local village check him out.

But that right there isn't the end of the night. the next guy to come on was some cat named "Ironing". He put on a very weird sort of DJ Set. From what I noticed when he was setting up, he had these wires going threw an ironing board (hence his name). that turned the music into one hell of a staticy DJ Set, but i was just impressed by the whole set up, really got me thinking about how me and my bro should throw are next DJ Party. there was also some dude dressed in alien get up and dancing around during his set, I honestly couldn't tell you what it was about

I sort of skipped out on the last act, was feeling sleepy and had a decent walk ahead of myself to get home. but overall I can say that Friday night was a success and I'm really quite looking forward to this jam packed weekend of music ahead of me (Saturday = folk music fest / Sunday = experimental noise fest)

Sunburned Hand Of The Man @ The Bridge (10-06-08)

After getting a delicious dollar menu meal at McDonald's (6 PATTY BURGERS ARE THE BEST THING EVER) me and my boy Garth drove are way over to The Bridge to catch a night of far out music

When we got to The Bridge we noticed some really tight artwork that had been installed since the last time I was in Charlottesville. After looking at it I realized that it all had some sort of theme with an old-venue that used to be run in Charlottesville called the "Pudhouse". While I never did attend a show their (it was before my time in this game of me attending concerts) I did get some of the creative trickle effects that it left on the community of Charlottesvile. And after looking at these photos in made me realize that Charlottesville really needs to have some sort of creative spark happen again because I really do miss the good old days of the Charlottesville scene and would really like to see something happen soon.

Anyway after about an hour of waiting around and chattering about god knows what the first acted with the very ballin' name Articulate Chewbacca came on. They put on a fun little set of experimental music. It wasn't necessarily the most exciting set I have ever seen but it was a very chill opening act and their honestly isn't anything wrong with that.

Next Sunburned Hand Of The Man came on and while there set was indeed enjoyable they where in many ways one of the more lifeless groups I've seen live. But at the same time maybe that is the point of the group, to sort of stay in the background and let the music take over the room and not have human interaction destroy that.

One very note worthy cool/interesting thing went down during the set. This was at the beginning of there second song when they sprinkled the ashes of one of there recently dead band mate over this pyramid thing they had built (which one in the center of the venue for some what sort of context). This was done to spread the creative mind of their friend to other people, to more or less catch his creative disease. This moment right here is quite easily one of the strangest and most unforgettable moments I've ever experience in a show.

So while I do sound like in lacking enthusiasm for Sunburned Hand Of The Man you are not totally wrong. It wasn't the greatest show I've ever attend, but it was still a fun night of chill experimental music, and it really was quite nice to catch up with my hometown of Charlottesville and see all the new things that are brewin'

The Cool Kids @ The Landmark Theater (10-03-08)

When I found out that The Cool Kids were playing Richmond I was at first very excited, but then when I found out it would be taking place at The Landmark Theater I was very confused, why it gods name would somewhat put on a hip-hop show at such a fancy place with designated seats. I mean it is a very beautifully built place but its just such an uptight place and just doesn't seem to be like the first place you deiced to put on a show (yet alone Hip-Hop)

So on the day of the show i meet up with my friend Parker. He had just come in from JMU to catch up with are high school friend group and while he was in Richmond catch The Cool Kids in action. I myself had seen them earlier this year when i stumbled upon there set at "Rock The Bells". and it was something to not be missed, just so much fun energy that comes from these guys music and live sets that it's really no wonder so much buzz has been brewing about these guys this year

So we got the venue around 7:30 (Right on time) because we really weren't sure when "The Cool Kids" were going to be playing so we made sure we weren't gonna miss anything (they did play last if you care to know)

now lets do a quick rundown of the 4 other acts that played (and I mean quick)

*Ryan Leslie: Bad BMT Soul Hip-Hop Fusion (Man supposedly went to Harvard, only amusing fact about his set)

* Then some other artist came on that were quite forgettable (there was something I found funny during this set but now I have forgotten, must of not been that important, hell I can't even remember their name)

* Tyga was next, he had a shitty/funny song about obama, uhhh his music just isn't my style of hip-hop, lacks any real umph you know

* FUCK SHWAYZE, WHAT ASS-HATS OF BITHCHES. SERIOUSLY ANY BAND THAT HAS LINES SUCH AS "GETTING DRUNK, GETTING DRUNK, HAVING SEX IN BETWEEN" IS JUST TRASH

Ok now there is one very important detail i should mention that went down during the Shwayze set. People decided to not stay in there set and rush up to the stage, which would probably be quite appropriate for a hip-hop show, but the Landmark Theater was having none of this and threatened to shut down the show if people didn't go back to there sets (something that would have pissed me off because I was honestly only there for The Cool Kids, and if i had sat through all this rubbish for nothing I would be very disgruntled) luckily everyone did go back to there seats so no shut down of show

Luckily after all this rubbish i have spoken on The Cool Kids came on around 9: 30 to bring there party. But this almost didn't last long because everyone once again rushed up the front of the stage right when The Cool Kids came on. When this happened you could just feel this negative energy coming from the security (espically when you saw the security guards yelling at The Cool Kids for letting this sort of thing to go down, honestly the whole thing was just silly). So throughout the show you could tell The Cool Kids felt somewhat disheartened by this interaction but they were still able to bring there party to Richmond (AKA jumping off the stage and dancing with the crowd, or raping from the on top of the Amps, and various other COOL THINGS)

So my verdict is this. If you have the opportunity to see The Cool Kids I really do highly recommend it. They really are bring something quite special to the game of hip-hop that I really do quite appreciate. But at the same time I really hope they or no other hip-hop shows take place at the Landmark Theater. That place is just not meant to host Hip-Hop