DODOS // PREACHER // ELEPHANT CHILD @ Artful Doger - 6/24/10

Isn't it nice when dreams come true?  When I first heard of The Dodos they had just come through Charlottesville's own Tea Bazaar in the spring of 2008 after the release of their critically acclaimed album "Visiter," which shortly became one of my favorite albums of all time.  Of course, I found out how great The Dodos were AFTER they came through town, so I wasn't able to see them.  After they played the Tea Bazaar it seemed they might never play a venue that small again.  Maybe they won't, but last night's set at the Artful Dodger in Harrisonburg, there only stop in the state of VA after stopping at the 9:30 Club the night before may be the smallest gig they play within the next couple years.

The gig started off with Elephant Child, a great rock and roll band from good ol' Hburg.  I have to admit that it's a little embarrassing, but this was actually my first time seeing Elephant Child, and I was really impressed.  A bit on the harder side as compared to The Dodos and Preacher, they seemed to never miss a beat, and ended up rocking that place pretty hard, especially for an opening band.  Expect big things as they play more and more gigs outside of the Hburg area and move into C'ville and surrounding areas.

"Garbage Man"

Elephant Child from Tim Skirven on Vimeo.


Next up, Preacher.  If you've never seen Preacher before, essentially they treat the whole show like they're in church doing a sermon.  They pass out "bulletins," they call each other "brother" and address the crowd as "brothers and sisters."  Yeah, it's a little gimmicky, and sometimes that can get in the way of the music sometimes.  But it's a fun little band, and if you have the opportunity to go see them I'd recommend it.  I'd at least check them out.


"He is a Rock"



Next up, Dodos.  Let me preface this by restating that I'm a big Dodos fan.  There, I said it.


When I arrived at the show, I was surprised to see that they were now a three piece band, it looks like they added a band member for the tour, or perhaps he joined before the recording of Time to Die.  Either way, it was an excellent addition, as I think the band can sound a little empty with only two band members.  So as it was, the band consisted of three members:  A guitar player/lead vocalist switching between an acoustic and an electric, a drummer with no hi-hat and a tambourine strapped to his foot, and a guy playing a xylophone with a violin bow.  Needless to say, they do things a little differently that most other bands that share their genre, and it paid off.  They ended up playing a lot songs from Visiter, some stuff from Time to Die, as well as a lot of new, most likely unreleased material (WITCHMOND XXXCLUSIVE), and it ended up being a pretty good show.  It was such a prize to see them just a few blocks from my house after blowing up so much last year, and it was also nice to hear that it was a sellout for the Dodger.  It's hard to fill up a room like that with school not in session, they did a good job booking a great show.  Well done, Harrisonburg/The Dodos. Well done.


"Fables"

Probably the worst music video of 2009... but a great song nonetheless.


-Parker


Camera didn't turn on when I got to the venue = no pictures of the show.  Here's a link to BrookVeg's coverage of them at Terminal 5 in NYC.  We're best buds these days so we link to each other's blog posts all the time these days, no big deal.