Some shots from last night’s Green Day show at the forum. More will be featured in a follow-up review of the show that will be posted sometime tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Billie Joe Armstrong and 12-year-old fan Giovanni Sosto, from Costa Rica, share some stage time during “Know Your Enemy.”

Metal Monday came early this week with Sunday evening’s show at Czar’s Imperial Palace featuring Torche, House of Lightning and Averkiou. Death Metal, one of Tampa’s more unqiue claims to fame, has influenced a plethora of subgenres including the hardcore scene I grew up in. It was awesome to see how many old school hardcore kids made it out on a Sunday night along with a whole new group of metal afficiandos.

Torche

Hailing from Miami, Torche has a rabid fan base hooked on their unique sound – part thrash with a twist of melodic hardcore, and dare I say a bit of twang, all against a solid metal foundation. Decibel Magazine called Torche’s music a “whole new beast built from the DNA up.” Ever since Torche’s Meanderthal (Hydrahead Records) took the No. 1 spot on Decibel’s 2008 Top 40 Extreme Albums list, the band’s fan base has rapidly expanded. Thankfully, their intensity remains intact. (MORE PICS AFTER THE JUMP)

Live, the band exceeds expectations, drawing in the audience until everyone is at least nodding along if not full-on head-banging. You can see that these musicians love what they do and are having a party on stage to which the whole crowd is invited. As a gift to fans from back in the Floor days, the crowd went nuts when “Scimitar” was played. When the audience demanded an encore, the band requested a bit of patience while Rick re-assembled drums that had come undone in the intensity of Torche’s climactic conclusion. The audience happily obliged, waiting late on a Sunday night for the band to squeeze in just a couple more songs.

Their energetic stage presence had me capturing Steve and Jonathan nonchalantly hanging out in mid-air repetitively:

To really experience the mid-air nonchalance, click on the photo to view them in a larger size.

Torche’s 2009 EP (with DVD) Healer / Across the Shields (Hydrahead Records) is out now for your home enjoyment.

Torche is Steve Brooks (Guitars/Vocals), Jonathan Nuñez (Bass), and Rick Smith (Drums)

House of Lightning

The elusive and mysterious House of Lightning (ex-Dove) made one of their too rare appearances opening up for Torche. The crowd reveled as the waves of thrash crashed down upon them.

As a music photographer, few things are as entertaining to capture as the myriad faces of metal framed by hair swirling around like awful red lighting. As you can see, during House of Lightning’s set, the opportunities for capturing metal mugging were endless.

Word on the street is that House of Lightning has been recording, so hopefully a record will be coming soon!

Averkiou

In spite of being the only non-metal band of the evening, Gainesville’s Averikou did a good job of holding the attention of the mostly metal mania audience. Averkiou is, on the one hand, a prototypical shoegaze band, and are frequently compared to Swervedriver, Guided By Voices and, of course, My Bloody Valentine. Averkiou produces a delicious sound that is nearly tactile while at the same time, straight up indie pop. Check out their new album, Throwing Sparks (Clairecords/Barracuda Sound), which has received universal praise with the most common complaint from reviewers being that it is too short!

Averikou is Matt Brink, David Quarles, Chad Darby, James Hernandez and Jason Shusterman

Check out my shots from the Maxwell show at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater this past Thursday, July 30. Apparently the neo-soul singer is bashful; the handful of photographers were granted access to shoot the first three songs, but only from the very back of the auditorium.

It was ridiculously hot. It took me 15 minutes to realize that my white wife beater would become my face towel for the day. It was loud. It was colorful. It was my first time at Vinoy Park. And finally, at the age of 24, it was my first time experiencing Warped Tour.

It’s been three years since I attended a music festival and as I walked through the ticket line into a field filled with tents, stages, beer stands and even a slip n’ slide, I instantly recalled why I love outdoor fests; passing through the gates meant entering a world of the unpredictable and the unexpected. I didn’t know what kind of crazies I’d come across (there were bound to be some amidst the 10,000 attendees), what kind of new music I’d hear, or how pleased I’d be with the bands I was there to support.

The second thing I love about music festivals is people-watching. Scenesters were everywhere. I saw blue hair, purple hair, mohawks, rainbow socks, mesh shirts, ripped shirts, patched pants, asses hanging out of daisy dukes, bikini tops, all kinds of neon clothing, hundreds of tattoos as well as band shirts ranging from Minor Threat to Run-DMC to Hank Williams Jr. It was refreshing and entertaining.

I’m not going to lie, I was only interested in seven bands playing at Warped — Bad Religion, Less Than Jake, Streetlight Manifesto, Bouncing Souls, NOFX, Flogging Molly and Shooter Jennings (a surprising addition ) — but I was disappointed to find that the latter three acts fell off the line-up. However, Flogging Molly still had a merch tent set up, which Greg Graffin — lead singer of Bad Religion — made sure to knock at the end of Bad Religion’s set. Quite hilarious.

After arriving, my friend Zach and I checked out a couple of bands we’d never heard. I was able to tolerate the first, Chiodos, for about five minutes. Though the band seemed to have a solid fan base, the music just wasn’t for me; I’m not into the hardcore, scream-your-head-off fare with moments of melodic singing sprinkled in between.

When I asked a young girl the name of the next band I saw, she replied, “I set my friends on fire.” I stared at her with what must have been horror and contemplated whether or not she was on acid. “I’m sorry, what?” I asked. She replied, “The name of the band is I Set My Friends On Fire.” I laughed, thanked her and walked a safe distance to check out the two-man band from Miami. I only caught about five minutes of the show, and the music wasn’t memorable. Although, the one thing I did like about ISMFOF — and something I noticed at a few other stages — was the band’s intense energy and easy engagement with the crowd.

I found out the name of Cash Cash from a red-headed girl with cute freckles and braces, which should have been a warning sign. One of the musicians had a keytar so I had high hopes that the band would be better than the last two I’d seen. The members’ colorful attire and spunky attitudes perfectly correlated with their catchy, bubblegum, uber-pop sound. After listening to two songs, Zach summed it up perfectly: “They are the next stage of evolution for the boy bands.”

It was 3: 45 p.m.; time for Bouncing Souls.

I like Bouncing Souls, but it was my friend Zach who was eager to see them perform. I started out with him in the pit, but the second the push circles and moshing began, I backed away in fear of smashing my good camera and breaking my neck. Bouncing Souls delivered big for their fans, opening with “Kate Is Great” off 1997’s self-titled album. They also played cuts off Hopeless Romantic and How I Spent My Summer Vacation. I was happy to hear “Lean On Sheena” off their late, The Gold Record, because it’s the only Bouncing Soul song I know every word to thanks to its overplay on Sirius Radio. At the end of the set and in the middle of a song, vocalist Greg Attonito had fun with the crowd when he declared he was doing a first at Warped Tour — asking the audience to be as quiet as possible. “Everyone wants us to be loud, so we’re asking you to be quiet,” he said. It worked. The crowd was silent. He added, “Well done everybody, thank you, we appreciate it,” and then the crowd began devotedly clapping in sync and the song started back up for a strong finish. Zach’s description of the show: “Fucking brutal.”

Less Than Jake (LTJ) immediately followed Bouncing Souls. This was my third time seeing LTJ and the band was as good as ever. The musicians came out to the Star Wars theme and then picked up the tune with their own instruments. Trombonist Buddy Schaub never ceases to amaze me with his electrifying energy. He was all over the place, interacting with the crowd and loving the fans’ rowdiness. At one point he ran around, spraying the crowd with a water gun (pictured at left). I wondered how he had any breath left to play the trombone. As the band launched into “The Science of Selling Yourself Short,” I had a surprising revelation: I’ve always loved lead vocalist Chris Demakes, but for the first time I realized I’m more partial to bassist Roger Manganelli’s vocals. The Gainesville band had strong support from family members who’d turned out to see the show. Demakes’ mom (who appeared at the last LTJ show at Jannus) stood stage left and sang every word to every song — it was so endearing. Demakes’ mom wasn’t the only one singing along — of the two St. Pete policemen behind the barricades, one appeared to hate his job while the other sang along to LTJ’s tunes when he thought no one was looking.

LTJ’s setlist included: “Sugar in Your Gas Tank,” “Last One out of Liberty City,” “All My Best Friends Are Metal Heads,” “Help Save the Youth of America from Exploding” “Scott Farcus Takes It on the Chin” “Look What Happened,” “The Ghosts of Me and You” and “Conviction Notice.”

After LTJ we had an hour to kill before Bad Religion and Streetlight Manifesto. We took the opportunity to sit, cool down and take it all in. The Truth.com tent was having a contest to the sounds of Spice Girls and Aqua — it was bizarre and out of place. As I watched dirt that had turned into mud drip down my leg, I finally paid attention to the band that was playing in front of us, SET IT OFF from Clearwater. They were my favorite “new” band of the day, their songs catchy without being obnoxious. The musicians performed amazingly, breaking it down hard on stage.

At 6:55 p.m., we headed over to see Bad Religion.

I was psyched. I think it’s cool to see any band that’s been around for almost 30 years, and apparently so did a lot of other people. Bad Religion pulled one of the biggest, if not the biggest crowd at Warped Tour. After it started raining a couple minutes into the show, Graffin declared that whenever they play, it rains, because someone “up there” doesn’t like Bad Religion.” I got a good chuckle out of that one. The band was phenomenal. Graffin’s voice hadn’t changed; whether he screamed or sang melodiously, it was flawless. As much as the rain sucked, it was worth it to stick out the show. The set included “Infected,” “21st Century (Digital Boy),” “Requiem for Dissent” and “Sorrow.” On a side note, “Sorrow” was the last song I karaoked and let’s just say it was a real buzz kill for the crowd.

It was still raining when Bad Religion finished; a slight chill had replaced the unbearable heat. There was one band left I wanted to see — Streetlight Manifesto. I became a fan of the ska band over the past year and quickly fell in love with their first album, Everything Goes Numb. The band played a short set and there were some technical difficulties with the microphone. During a crowd favorite, “Here’s to Life,” the mic went completely dead, but the fans made sure to fill in the void with the appropriate lyrics. Even though lead singer Tomas Kalnoky’s vocals weren’t as strong live, the band was on point. There is something about Streetlight’s horn section that makes me want to dance … and I did.

My first Warped Tour experience was a blast. However it did somewhat defy my idea of the unexpected and unpredictable (at least when it came to the crowd): I had no exciting random conversations with strangers; I witnessed no fights or streaking; I came across no obliterated drunks; and I smelled weed less than five times. Maybe those are good things.

“I’m so blessed to / have spent the time / with my family and the friends I love/ with my short life / I have met so many people I deeply care for”

These final chanted lyrics of Yeasayer’s “Red Cave” go a ridiculously long way in summarizing exactly what my recent trip to Chicago for the fifth annual Pitchfork Festival meant to me. While I’d been to the fest several times in the past (the first three, actually), this marked the first time that a huge group of old friends (LBHS stand up!) were able to meet up and enjoy the city and the music and the drunken shenanigans together. (Pictured at right: Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips; all photos by R. Kevin Rose.)

What’d I learn? well, for starters… we are all official members of the POSI-ADULT CREW. Not straight edge — not even close — but definitely upbeat and affable. Positive, if you will. A group of kids raised on (amongst many, many other things) Bad Brains’ “P.M.A.”, Seven Seconds, Dag Nasty, Gorilla Biscuits, etc., who grew into a geographically dispersed crew of adults … all of us still kinda “Screaming For Change” in our own unique ways. (LOTS MORE PICS AND SHENANIGANS AFTER THE JUMP)

Admittedly, the relentless POSI-CORE tunes we were simultaneously improvising & singing all weekend (titles I somehow managed to remember include “Don’t Die!,” “Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes,” “Si Se Puede,” “Why Did You Leave?” … you get the picture) were more than a touch tongue-in-cheek. But facts are facts; my old school crew only jokes about mosh-ing kids to a nub — we don’t actually do it.

So that’s the scene — about 20 of us (ages: 35-40) lazily taking in the festival during day followed by way-too-long nights of heavy drinking / mild partying at night. By the end of the weekend, a ringing, unifying consensus had emerged: We’re all getting way too fucking old to ride hard for days on end like that. Realization aside — wow. What a blast!!! I saw some great bands / acts, got plenty of much-needed re-connect time (I hadn’t seen some of these fine folks in YEARS!!!), laughed ’til my sides hurt, punished my liver thoroughly and survived to write this little wrap-up piece about it.

While I could easily re-count endless minutiae and I’ve written up several drafts about what our posse did, all the bars, all the food, all the hi-jinx, and so on & so forth, would likely be lost on y’all. Instead … I’m just gonna riff on what turned me on about this year’s fest. By day – check it:

FRIDAY: Got to the fest just in time for Tortoise (pictured below, at right). They took the stage to a relatively mellow response and got the party started. Confident, focused and tasteful without any over-arching sense of urgency … kind of a nice way to ease into the whole thing. They played “DJed,” which has gotta be pretty rare as the tune is long with a capital “L” and it travels in a multitude of directions. There was a little girl on her dad’s shoulders, maybe 3 years old, who was TOTALLY mouthing along to John McEntire & Jon Herndon’s boom-bap … made me smile ear to ear. One of my fave bands of the last 15+ years, these hometown heroes set the bar pretty high, even if it wasn’t the most intense set I’ve ever seen them play.

Yo La Tengo was next. They came on, did their thing, nice and simple and melodic indie jamming. I guess they’ve been steadily perfecting that schtick since I first saw them in the early ’90s. They probably should’ve opened.

Most of the crew had congregated by this point, all of us pumped for The Jesus Lizard, which ended up being great. David Yow told more than a few horribly tasteless jokes, spit a shit-ton of loogies, offered a snappy retort when a stage dive kinda fell apart (”Thanks for your support”) and proved himself a remarkably impressive reservoir of energy for someone that was unquestionably one of the best front-persons on the planet 20+ years ago. But y’know — Yow’s more or less icing. Duane Denison had that silly-stupid Fripp-ian fret stretch technique, sparks and shards of perfectly dischordant guitar. David William Sims laid the bass lines down, complete with his signature lunging head-snap move. And drummer Mac McNeilly had that metronomic and taut attack that kept it all chugging along. Got right up front for the end of the set and their sound was dialed in. They wrapped it up and I was left with the distinct sense that this was, unfortunately, as intense as things were gonna get all weekend … and I was right. The crew decided to forgo Built To Spill in favor of the Bottom Lounge, and while I kinda would’ve liked to have stuck around to see BTS, I was uncharacteristically going with the flow. Much much more drinking and silliness ensued.

SATURDAY: The cab dropped us off at Cobra Lounge, a coupla blocks from the park. We took some shots, had a few beers and got our minds right for Yeasayer. This was my first time seeing them and as I mentioned in my preview post, they were the only band I felt I HAD to see. And they were good and I was real happy to enjoy their live set. I guess they’ve parted ways with their drummer, which kinda sucks, but they’d replaced him with both a kit drummer and a percussion dude who was playing a barrage of samples like a human drum machine. Yeasayer played at least three new songs, and there were more than a few jams from All Hour Cymbals. About two-thirds of the way into their set, as one of the new songs started, so did the rain and most of us got a little wet, though that tiny shower subsided just as the band’s dancey outro kicked in. It was a pretty darned rave-y moment … more than a bit ecstatic. Then, the sun came poking through the clouds as they made their way through “Sunrise,” almost as if they’d planned the weather. They closed with the aforementioned “Red Cave” and I was content. That being said, their singer needs a little work on his live vocals. All in all, I was extremely pleased with my maiden Yeasayer voyage and I still can’t wait to hear their next record.

Doom (formerly known as MF Doom, pictured masked at left) was solid and it was nice to have some hip-hop front and center. But I preferred the small club set I saw him perform years ago. Watched a few of his tunes but was careful to hurry back to smallest stage in time to catch Lindstrøm (pictured at the bottom of the post). This Swedish disco / house producer definitely brought it: relentless thumping four-on-the-floor and Moroder-esque chord progressions. Fantastic stuff. Could’ve zoned out to him a lot longer than he performed as I was feeling prettay loose by that point. But that was that … my group was moving on.

Headed to a barbeque at a friend’s house, where we drank more beer, ate brats and listened to a healthy dose of Husker DU, Naked Raygun, Descendents, Rites Of Spring, Replacements, etc. Goooood times. The beer ran out and someone came back from a beer run with a bottle of Cazadores. Next thing I remember, we were clown-car packed into Brian Costello’s whip with Fear’s “Lets Have A War” blasting from the speakers (”There’s too many of us, there’s too many of us, there’s too many of us…”). The tequila was passed around and, well… I don’t remember much past that point.

SUNDAY: While I really wanted to strike out on my own and see DJ/Rupture and The Walkmen (pictured lat left), among various others, the crew was all meeting at Cos’ for his birthday grill out. In the end I acquiesced. Brian went big with the grilled meat and veggies, and I plowed through as much of the yumminess as I could manage.

We grabbed another cab (only used my $14 three-day-pass ONCE, on the initial trip from ORD), so as not to miss Grizzly Bear … who RULED! They fought through sound issues and executed a superb selection of tracks both old and new. I’ve actually listened to a bootleg of their set four or five times since after returning home, which is absolutely unheard of for me. (I think the only other live recording I’ve listened to that many times is Santana’s Lotus. Seriously.) But yeah – they were so good, soooo good. Really makes me wanna travel somewhere to see them in a darker, smaller space where they’ll obviously get to play longer. They’re on top right now. If you’re into dynamic, original music and you haven’t checked them out yet — well, you might wanna rectify that ASAP.

Flaming Lips were next, but I figured I’d check out The Very Best first and re-join my friends a little later. I stumbled back to the “C” stage and was treated to what, for me, was the biggest surprise of the weekend. Club beats laced with African singing and dancing, really really positive vibes. Gonna have to listen to that Mixtape from last year a little closer now that I have a better idea of what they’re all about. I watched their whole set, then stumbled back to my friends, who’d all pretty well decided that the Lips had turned into a novelty act. So we left. And just as we were headed out the front gate, the Lips started to tear into some older jams and they sounded pretty damn tight and I was somewhat bummed to miss it. We grabbed cabs, met at another bar where I randomly bumped into one of my favorite singers ever (Gared O’Donnell [ex-Planes Mistaken For Stars]).

So yeah, there’s more but I’ll save that for the memoirs. I’m so glad I was able to go (thanks to Joran and Leilani for hooking up the passes for Kevin and I). Seriously — so happy I got to get away for a few days and enjoy some great live music and some freakishly awesome Chicago weather (I dont think it got hotter than 80 degrees the whole trip) … but even more importantly, some great friends. Here’s hoping you get to do the same sometime real real soon!

MORE PICS:

Lindstrøm

Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear.

Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear.

Bassist Kathy Foster of The Thermals

Grizzly Bear

More Flaming Lips

And more …

And just a little more.

Anyone who pays any attention to music in Florida has heard about The Takers at some point in the past year, and since Suburban Home picked them up, the hype machine has been doing nothing but gaining momentum. By the time Virgil reached out to me with a copy of the band’s debut album, Taker Easy, I was already wondering if they’d be able to match the advance billing. Now, after spending some two months with the CD and managing to catch them live at the Citrus Circuit Tour, I can readily proclaim that yes, The Takers are worthy of the hype. Now hopefully with the CD finally coming out the rest of the country will get behind this little Florida band.

The Takers are a ragtag collection of bike mechanics, cooks, restaurant managers, cashiers and recycled ink salesmen out of Tim Tebow-land (Gainesville). They came together almost by accident when Devon Vlasin (singer) found himself in need of a backing band to open for an upcoming Willie Heath Neal show. A few phone calls and free beer bribes netted a temporary ensemble that decided to keep at it beyond the one-night gig. After some member revisions and additions, the band finally settled in with singer Devon Vlasin joined by Chad Smith and Ronnie Holmes on electric guitars, Jerome Goodman on bass, Mike Collins on pedal steel and drummer Jon Reinertsen.

Having caught his ear, Coody from Suburban Home’s Ninja Gun started talking them up to Virgil Dickerson, who took more than a passing interest (psst: Virgil, check out Truckstop Coffee from Lake Worth). After some phone calls, the label and the band agreed that Suburban Home would put out the “Curse of A Drunk” single and that they should all meet during Virgil’s trip to an 08 fest to discuss a future relationship. The rest, as they say, is history, and we’re now blessed with Taker Easy.

Taker Easy is, at the risk of sounding trite, exactly what I think of when I think about “Florida Country”, which is to say they’re as much rock and roll as they are shit kickers and twang. Suburban is selling the album as their “outlaw country” band, a modern version of Waylon Jennings, if you will. I’d say they have a little more rock and roll in them than that description suggests, but otherwise I have no qualms with it. I could go into long, descriptive, RIYL tangents, but why should I? Suburban Home has been gracious enough to allow us to stream the entire album over on ninebullets, so why not just check it out for yourself. Personally I think, like me, that you’ll find Taker Easy to not only be Essential Listening, but also that it’ll probably end up being a Top 10 of the year. And as a Floridian, I am proud that these fellas are from my state.

The Takers – Curse of a Drunk
The Takers – Taker Easy

Looking over my notes from Thursday night’s show, I’m inclined to call Nightmare of You unique. Words like “nuts,” “dub” and “sultry” jump off the page, infiltrating my consciousness and recreating the music of this NYC band.

The four-piece put on an incredible show. After a little bit of gambling with members of other bands (Plushgun, Brian Bonz, and Aushua), these guys jumped on stage and rocked it. There was no need for onstage shenanigans — the music said it all.

Frontman Brandon Reilly (formerly of The Movielife) sang in a somewhat nasally falsetto, but it was a surprisingly pleasant. His vocals took me to another place and put me in a near trance when paired with the band’s overall sound, which combined elements of classic rock, pop, and alt rock. All of the songs had their own twist and were laced with intricate melodies and enchanting lyrics. Bassist Brandon Meyer threw down some badass basslines (at one point, Reilly actually commented “That is nasty!“) and drummer Michael Fleichmann dropped some serious beats, sometimes flavored with a hint of hip-hop. And guitarist Jospeh McCaffery blew my mind. He played so fast that his hand was a virtual blur!

Nightmare of You put out their self-titled debut in 2005, released videos for three of their singles, and soon became popular on FUSE TV’s Steven’s Untitled Rock Show and Oven Fresh. Currently, the band is gearing up to release their sophmore effort, Infomaniac, on August 4. If you enjoy music that is creepy, but in a good way — a more upbeat Shins mixed with Radiohead and a dash of The Matches — I would suggest picking up a copy.

A series of shots from the Wednesday, July 22 show featuring Reel Big Fish, the English Beat and The Supervillains at The Ritz Theater in Ybor City.

Reel Big Fish

(More pics after the jump)

The English Beat

The Suppervillains’ guitarist Skart pictured below.

Pedals on our Pirate Ships finally sailed into Tampa on July 21! Which explains how I found myself out late on a Tuesday work night at Transitions Art Gallery to see Pedals on our Pirate Ships (Richmond), The Wild (Atlanta) and Regular Size People Fight (Tampa).

Pedals on our Pirate Ships

My friend Jeff made me some mix CDs last winter and the song that immediately caught my attention was “Peter Pan Syndrome,” with its chorus “Will you be my Wendy? Will you be my Tinkerbell? / Don’t be silly you can be my Tiger Lily still” and lines like “We don’t have goals but we have lots of fun” and “but secretly we all miss our mothers, we seek security in the arms of lovers.” When I couldn’t get the song out of my head, I looked up the band with a peculiar name, Pedals on our Pirate Ships, listened to the rest of the songs posted on their Myspace page, and was hooked.

Hailing from Richmond, VA, these folk punk rockers play extremely fun and catchy tunes with just a tinge of introspection. In “Reinventing Bryan Adams” Matt belts out “Why do they call it goodbye, doesn’t feel so good to me, why don’t we call a spade a spade, say what we really mean… look me in the eye and say loving you is fucking killing me” At the show, a small but enthusiastic crowd sang along at the top of their lungs to the crowd favorites, including “Peter Pan Syndrome” and “Night of the Living Wage.”

Originally, Pedals on our Pirate Ships was Matt Seymour’s solo acoustic project featuring an extensive guest and former member list including the following musicians: Michael Otley, Jameson Price, Tim Baker, Casey Martin, Lindsay Sisk, Tim Barry, Nick Bergheimer, Tim Carroll, Ian Cassidy, David Donaldson, Lindsey Driscoll, David Hughes, Joe Hunt, Joe Mager, Josh Small, Daniel Rickey, and Adam Thompson. It’s amazing how much more fun a show is when the band is having as much fun as the audience and that was certainly true at this show. Adding to the visual joy of Pedals on our Pirate Ships, the drummer uses a steamer trunk as a bass drum.

Pedals on our Pirate Ships currently are Matt Seymour (vocals/guitar) with Adrienne Brown (vocals/melodica/tambourine) and Louis Cyrtmus (drummer)

The Wild

We arrived during The Wild’s set. I liked them immediately and not just because they had a banjo in their punk rock band. Hailing from Atlanta, The Wild also plays music in the folk punk genre. Like Pedals on our Pirate Ships, they had a great time playing and as a consequence the audience had a great time listening. I look forward to checking out their recorded material.

The Wild is Kylee (drums), Ben (Bass), Dianna (Tambourine and vocals and more!) and Witt (guitar and vocals)

Regular Size People Fight

Regular Size People Fight features a group of talented Tampa musicians from Dukes of Hillsborough, Watson and The Tim Version playing post-punk. It was fun to see these guys doing something a bit different… I haven’t heard their record Yowza! (Fast Crowd Records) yet but No Idea Records describes it as “Smart lyrics and clever guitar riffs that will make you want to crack open a cold one and sing along.”

For more photos, please check out the following links:

(All photos by elawgrrl)

This past Saturday night, the Cuban Club Bandshell played host to a long awaited and twice-delayed show by the Avett Brothers. Once for the birth of Scott Avett’s daughter, the other due to a scheduling conflict as the North Carolina foursome opened for the Dave Mathews Band earlier in the summer. Accordingly, fans packed into the charmingly-neglected Cuban Club awaiting a trademark, knock-you-on-your-ass Avett Brothers’ performance — and they delivered.

The Avetts opened with a track from their upcoming release, I and Love and You (September 29, American Recordings) — “Laundry Room,” an entrancing song with a refrain I still can’t get out of my head. Then the band traversed through their entire catalog, with highlights that included “Distraction #74,” “Gimmeakiss,” “I and Love and You” and “Shame.”

As NPR’s Bob Boilen recently pointed out, Scott Avett sings as if he swallowed an amplifier. The long-haired, banjo thrashing hillbilly yells love songs at the top of his lungs. It’s a sweaty mess, but still ends up being captivating, raw and beautiful. The younger (and only other brother), Seth Avett, plays George to Scott’s John, Paul and Ringo, as the older Avett will sometimes take to the drum kit and keyboard. Often when drums are interspersed within a set, the music lacks punch and suffers inconsistencies — but the energy of Avetts made up for it. Not to mention the brothers, along with Bob Crawford on upright and electric bass and Joe Kwon on cello, pound the hell out of the back of their respective instruments. (Setlist and more after the jump…)

The 18-song set closed with the sing-a-long, fan favorite, “Salvation Song” off 2004’s Mignonette. Most of the crowd left happy and content after a three-song encore ended with the fitting “Four Thieves Gone,” but the gluttonous could be heard muttering “They still had 14 minutes they could have played.”

Saturday night also served as another reminder that the Cuban Club Bandshell doesn’t get nearly as much use as it should. It’s the red-headed stepchild to Jannus Landing. So now with Jannus Landing having some serious issues, hopefully Cuban Club can step up its game  and become the mid-size outdoor venue that Tampa so desperately needs.

(For more photos by Nicole, check out her entire Avett Brothers set.)

SETLIST:
Avett Brothers, Cuban Club Bandshell, Ybor City, July 18th, 2009

Laundry Room, Paranoia in B-Flat Major, Distraction #74, Living of Love, Gimmeakiss, Pretty Girl from Raleigh, I and Love and You, Signs, Wanted Man, Dream Appointed, Talk on Indolence, Murder in the City, The Fall, Shame, A Gift for Melody Anne, Down With the Shine, The Perfect Space, Salvation Song

E: At the Beach, Kick Drum Heart, Four Thieves Gone