Prompt: "A song that reminds you of the leaves changing colors"
Selected by Sam
"We Don't Need Our Heads"
A Great Big Pile of Leaves
Have You Seen My Prefrontal Cortex?, 2010
I'm going a bit literal here (plus, we all can't choose the Mamas and the Papas, right?).
The opening act at an indie rock show can be perilous. You never quite know if you'll get stuck with some also-ran that an A&R person conned their way on to the bill (a la Juiceboxxx at the Danger Danger Gallery) or just some bland nobody (most people opening for the Old 97s). On occasion, there's a related performance, like when Craig Finn or Neko Case opens for their own bands.
But sometimes you strike gold or some sort of live music equivalence. An opening act has a tough job. They need to properly grease the wheels for the headliner, win over the usually clueless audience, do their songs, and mostly importantly, get the fuck off the stage.
Some prompt this summer will allow me to wax poetically about Limbeck opening for Motion City Soundtrack and Tsunami Bomb at the TLA (as I have previously done). And this week, Record Club will explore my find from a recent Mountain Goats' show (tease!).
Today is about autumn. I came across this seasonally relevant artist performing with the Front Bottoms and Cheap Girls at the Mighty North Star Bar (RIP).
As far as openers go, this band was like your nine-hole hitter smacking a game-winning dinger, i.e., surprising. Concert co-attender (and one-time PoYB contributor) Gilson hailed their virtues coming in, and he was right! The band perfectly bridged the gap between the more rocking, beer-swilling Cheap Girls with the poppier emo dudes in Front Bottoms. The guitar tones reminded me of Minus the Bear; the vocals hit a not-quite as weird as A. Savage vibe, but in the same ballpark. This song forever bops, too.
Google also tells me this show was likely Oct. 20, 2012, so at least that night was thoroughly in leaf-jumping range, too.
The opening act at an indie rock show can be perilous. You never quite know if you'll get stuck with some also-ran that an A&R person conned their way on to the bill (a la Juiceboxxx at the Danger Danger Gallery) or just some bland nobody (most people opening for the Old 97s). On occasion, there's a related performance, like when Craig Finn or Neko Case opens for their own bands.
But sometimes you strike gold or some sort of live music equivalence. An opening act has a tough job. They need to properly grease the wheels for the headliner, win over the usually clueless audience, do their songs, and mostly importantly, get the fuck off the stage.
Some prompt this summer will allow me to wax poetically about Limbeck opening for Motion City Soundtrack and Tsunami Bomb at the TLA (as I have previously done). And this week, Record Club will explore my find from a recent Mountain Goats' show (tease!).
Today is about autumn. I came across this seasonally relevant artist performing with the Front Bottoms and Cheap Girls at the Mighty North Star Bar (RIP).
As far as openers go, this band was like your nine-hole hitter smacking a game-winning dinger, i.e., surprising. Concert co-attender (and one-time PoYB contributor) Gilson hailed their virtues coming in, and he was right! The band perfectly bridged the gap between the more rocking, beer-swilling Cheap Girls with the poppier emo dudes in Front Bottoms. The guitar tones reminded me of Minus the Bear; the vocals hit a not-quite as weird as A. Savage vibe, but in the same ballpark. This song forever bops, too.
Google also tells me this show was likely Oct. 20, 2012, so at least that night was thoroughly in leaf-jumping range, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment