Tampa Calling

Okay, Elvis Perkins in Dearland is probably a good choice musically to open for Bon Iver. The band is low key, but not low energy, and they built the show up well, especially having Bon Iver come on stage for the last song. That really hyped up the crowd. They started off slowly, though, and I wasn’t sure I was going to catch on. My notes through the first three songs read like strange musings: “Elvis can somehow pull off white jeans & a jingle bell necklace…” “Trombone guy has played like 4 instruments already, is hot, but has a huge hole in the crotch of his jeans…” Song number four picked up the pace and I got more involved. This is another really talented group of musicians, several multi-instrumentalists, and one local guy named David who was someone’s uncle and did a nice job even though he stuck out like a sore thumb (well, he was older and not dressed like he was from 1974). Anyway, they were a good time. When they successfully threw in a gospel tune that led into a sort of doo-wopish buddy holly kind of jam, things really got interesting. I enjoyed Elvis Perkins in Dearland, and they really seemed to be having fun, and it was sort of a love fest with Bon Iver (who said they were all now the best of friends). Happily ever after at The State. (Sigh.) (Photo of Perkins by Sam Goresh)

All photos by Sam Goresh.

To be totally honest, I went to this showing knowing only one Bon Iver song and a short version of a story about a guy who went into a cabin for the winter with a broken heart and came out in the spring as a rock star — kind of an indie Eric Carle tale. Maybe I was showing bad music journalism manners, setting out to review a rock show with no idea what I was about to get myself into (and I probably shouldn’t have admitted to it just now). I thought seriously for days about doing some homework in advance, but I really didn’t want to. The thing is, I love to hear something for the first time live, at the show, before I’ve ever laid ears on the album. So, if you tell me I just have to hear someone, I’ll Google them first to see if they’re coming to town. I’ve fallen in love with some great music that way, and here I am again, head over heels for Bon Iver. (Pictured: Justin Vernon)

The set-up between bands took a while. Maybe it just seemed like half my life because I was sweating it out on the railing at the back of the room downstairs. (Is there any club in town with really great A/C, even in summer?) When Elvis Perkins in Dearland performed (more on them in another post), there was this huge mass of band in the middle of the stage. After Bon Iver’s instruments were finally put in order, it looked like there were four separate stations. Almost as if four one-man-bands were going to play. Okay, I thought, this should be interesting. (More pics after the jump) Read the rest of this entry »

Dozens and dozens of acts will make it onto Tampa Bay area concert stages this summer. Here’s our best bets, in a wide range of genres.

Stanton Moore The bespectacled founder of NOLA funk purveyors Galactic is widely regarded as one of the best drummers currently drawing air. This show has him in a trio setting with estimable guitarist Will Bernard and keyboardist Robert Walter. The small ensemble allows room for Moore to strut his Crescent City-honed skills. Expect expansive jamming and finely honed interplay. (Video: Stanton Moore Trio performing at Emerald Lounge in Asheville, N.C., Sept. 10, 2008.) (May 28, Crowbar, Ybor City) —Eric Snider

Sunday, May 31 WMNF Jazz Jam feat. Sam Rivers/PBS/World Afro-Cuban Ensemble/Infinite Groove Orchestra/Impromptu/Trio Vibe/others TBA Tampa Bay’s community radio station has been putting together more jazz events of late — thank you for that — this being one of the more ambitious. Saxophonist Sam Rivers, 83, was once a front-rank player on the New York (and thus international) avant-garde scene. He’s settled into legendhood well, living in Orlando and taking gigs as he pleases. A potpourri of locally-based acts rounds out the bill. (May 31, Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) —ES Read the rest of this entry »

Got an email from State Media with their updated concert announcements and I literally gasped aloud when I saw that Bon Iver (the moniker of Wisconsin singer/songwriter Justin Vernon) will be making his way down to FLA before hitting Bonarroo, and will play State Theatre Wednesday, June 10. Bon Iver’s stunning, austerely beautiful For Emma Forever Ago was No. 2 on my top 10 album of ‘08 list, Vernon a vocalist who takes your breathe away with his delicate, soulful falsetto.

Of course, as these things go, I won’t actually be in town to see the show (and yes, realizing that did make me cry a tiny tear of ultimate sadness). But if you, dear readers, happen to be around, this is a musician you sure as hell don’t want to miss.

Here he is performing “Flume”  in the studios of 89.3-FM The Current.

Lots of great music this year; here’s my subjective list of the best. Snider’s will be posted later.

1. of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl)
I’ve lauded this album to the moon and back, and I love it for the very reason it turns other people off – the quick and abrupt rhythm changes within the songs, the clever and suggestive lyrics, and the layers upon layers of rainbow-hued sonics. Kevin Barnes’ refusal to dumb down his music for mainstream audiences is commendable and refreshing, especially since the result is a virtual masterpiece. I’ve listened to it at least 100 times over the past three months and I’m still not sick of it, which, in my book, makes it the best album of ’08.

2. Bon Iver: For Emma… Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)
Bon Iver is Wisconsin singer/songwriter Justin Vernon. His rootsy debut album under this moniker is the sort that takes your breathe away with its stunning, austere beauty — light drums, acoustic guitar, the occasional wash of background sonics. But the sole element that makes For Emma’s subtleties and well-crafted songs of longing and loss work so well is Vernon’s delicate, soulful falsetto, sometimes multi-tracked to elegant effect and so magnificently expressive it brings a tear to the eye.

3. TV on the Radio: Dear Science (Interscope)
Bumpin’ disco-funk dance music marked by out-of-the-box beats and brimming with sexiness and soul, Dear Science found a rather serious Brooklyn art rock band building upon their dark meditative style by letting loose and having fun with it.

4. MGMT: Oracular Spectacular (Columbia)
People use the word “derivative” a lot when discussing this band. But MGMT does ’70s-style psychedelic glam rock right, throws in some funky electro-pop for kicks, and presents it with the sort of cock-strutting confidence you’d expect from a band on its fifth record, not its first (or second, depending on who you’re asking). What really makes this album a top 10, however, is the production quality; I’ve heard demos and the songs wouldn’t be nearly so good if they hadn’t been jazzed up in the studio.

5. Icy Demons: Miami Ice (Obey Your Brain)
The experimental Chicago/Philadelphia ensemble departed from their distinctly Zappa-esque-jazzified-prog-rock-meets-New-Wave-pop sound to an album so out there that even I couldn’t wrap my mind around it at first – off-kilter melodies, shifting time-signatures colliding with warm and mellow samba beats, menacing cello and buzzing synthesizers broken up by a xylophone-infused vocal interlude. In the end, the novelty spoke to me.

Read the rest of this entry »