RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Thursday - Saturday, December 2-4
The Great Cover-Up [http://www.kingsbarcade.com]
Kings, Raleigh

The umpteenth-annual Kings Cover-Up, and still the most
guiltily-entertaining 3 nights of local music all year. You know I
love so many of the local bands, and I like nothing more than seeing
them debut new original material & work out all the kinks onstage.
Except I secretly do love one thing more: seeing them dress up in
weird outfits and perform short sets of hastily-learnt covers of other
more famous bands' material.

Hard to come by a complete listing of what bands are playing on what
nights this year, but Thursday night, at least, looks to be a doozy,
with the likes of the Strugglers, the Weather, and the Sweet Militia,
who debuted as "Danzig" a couple of years ago--those of you who
witnessed Cy's bare chest covered in fake blood have likely dreamt of
nothing else since.

I'm guessing if those excellent bands are relegated to the
Thursday-night slot, then Friday and Saturday can't help but be even
more action-packed. Part of the thrill of the evening, of course, is
the good-natured attempt on everyone's part to keep the secret
identities secret until the curtain is drawn, so you're ultimately
just gonna have to show up early (first band at 9:30, no kidding, or
so they say) & pray you haven't already missed the best bits.



Thursday, December 2
Vaz [http://www.thevaz.com/], All Astronauts
[http://www.allastronauts.com/], des_ark [http://www.des-ark.org],
Calabi Yau [http://www.calabiyau.com/]
Joe & Jo's, Durham

Ooh, goody. Thanks to the massive back-scaling of live music at Ooh La
Latte, Durham is in full-on "oh shit we must save the music" mode, and
that always means at least a couple of months of one-off shows in
various venues, and a more-general level of excitement about live
rock. At least until the ice storms commence.

Aimee Argote of des_ark thoughtfully provided the following capsule
love-feasts of info about the other bands on the bill:

"i do love vaz, i really really do, they'll undoubtedly be laid to
rest in a really special place near god, right next to karp & elvis.
they're just unreal.  like if you melted down some old star trek
episodes, & then you remolded the lump into a very loud beautiful
band.  good for almost any mood & special every time.

all astronauts bring me so close to tears each time i see them, i
sort of hate them for that, but in the same way that i hated bruce
springsteen when he made me cry four times in front of my parents at
his show a few years back.   & actually if all astronauts were to be
laid to rest right now, i don't think it would be unreasonable to
expect them to totally boot elvis out of heaven & take the crown.

calabi yau are from charlotte, sorta skin graft-y herky jerky.  i've
only seen them once, they were goooood."



Thursday, December 2
Chris Stamey [http://www.chrisstamey.com/], Mitch Easter
[http://www.fidelitorium.com/], Dr. Gonzalez
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Thursday, December 2
John Harrison, Mike Walters [http://www.mysterycircuits.com/], Reid
Johnson, Matt Wood, Ryan Pound [http://www.pidgeonenglish.com/]
Bickett Gallery, Raleigh

This is a songwriters-night type of thing, but with a twist or two --
John Harrison, aka J.Phono, is the main instigator of Chapel Hill
psychedelic band North Elementary. Mike Walters is the
homebrew-synth-playing suit-wearing evil genius in Jett Rink. Reid
Johnson is the man responsible for the sweet mopery of Schooner.
Definitely not just another evening of guys-with-guitars, even if
everybody shows up with a guitar.



Thursday, December 2
The Reputation [http://www.reputationmusic.com/], Fashion Design
[http://fashiondesignband.com/], Dynasty Electric Duo
[http://dynastyelectricduo.com/]
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Friday, December 3
The Avett Brothers [http://www.theavettbrothers.com], Valient Thorr
[http://www.valientthorr.com/]
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Friday, December 3
RTX [http://www.truxrox.com/], Snatches of Pink
[http://www.snatchesofpink.com/], Universal Joint
[http://www.universaljoint.net/]
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Friday, December 3
Sharks With Wings [http://www.sharkswithwings.com/], Dynasty Electric
Duo [http://dynastyelectricduo.com/]
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Saturday, December 4
Entrance [http://www.trance-missions.net/], Heads on Sticks
[http://www.thisisstrange.org/]
Bickett Gallery, Raleigh



Saturday, December 4
Fin Fang Foom [http://www.lovitt.com/artists/finfangfoom.html], The
Nein [http://www.thenein.com/], Continent
[http://216.117.191.68/continent/]
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Unless I miss my guess, this is the first Fin Fang Foom show since
singer/guitarist Mike Triplett's battle with meningitis, so step out &
welcome them back. While you're at it, wish The Nein luck as they
embark on a short December tour of Canada[!] (dudes! it's colder up
there than it is here. Better practice playing in mittens).

Continent, by the way, are what happens when one member of the
Ladderback gets married and moves to Japan, and then some of the rest
of them start playing with ex-El Sucio singer/guitarist Sam Taylor.



Saturday, December 4
Jason Crumer [http://www.dadadrumming.org/jasoncrumer/],
Bucketovscissors
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Saturday, December 4
Snatches of Pink [http://www.snatchesofpink.com/], Universal Joint
[http://www.universaljoint.net/], Leadfoot [http://www.leadfoot.net/]
Martin Street Music Hall, Raleigh



Sunday, December 5
Fashion Design [http://fashiondesignband.com/]
WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham

Fashion Design are at the forefront of the current local/mini
late-80s/early-90s UK-invasion-revivalism thing, which basically means
some echo & some chorus and some MBV wall-of-sound and some big drums
and ethereal vocals and I dunno, whatever else springs to mind. Plus
they're young and sassy. Find out how, 5:00 p.m. 88.7 FM or
www.wxdu.org.



Tuesday, December 7
Le Tigre [http://www.letigreworld.com/], Measles Mumps Rubella,
Lesbians on Ecstasy
[http://www.alien8recordings.com/lesbiansonx.php3]
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Tuesday, December 7
Les Georges Leningrad [http://www.lesgeorgesleningrad.org/], des_ark
[http://www.des-ark.org], Cantwell, Gomez, Jordan
[http://www.cantwellgomezandjordan.com]
Local 506, Chapel Hill

I'll give you a break from my ranting about the greatness of des_ark
and Cantwell Gomez & Jordan (they're great, OK?) and instead feed you
PR-speak from Les Georges Leningrad's label website (p.s. they're a
trio from Montreal):

Les Georges Leningrad is made up of front person Poney P. She has a
jarring, yet captivating vocal delivery and a magnetic stage presence.
Mingo L'Indien is responsible for the bulk of electronics and
guitars, backing vocals and strange costumes. Bobo Boutin is the
masked mad man who literally destroys his drum kit with his precise
and unique playing style and also delivers some amazing backing
vocals.

"Super Doopa," already a crowd favorite in the band's live set, is
an instant classic that will also see a release as an EP on Troubleman
Unlimited featuring remixes by Akufen and Magas. "Gary" is a spastic
piece comprised of screaming and skronk, yet it remains oddly
accessible. "Fifi F." is another instant post-punk classic that
recalls the glory days of hard disco and the likes of Giorgio
Moroder.

Les Georges Leningrad have toured and performed with Erase Errata, The
Gossip, Le Tigre, The Locust, Magas, Sonic Youth, Trans Am and the
Unicorns.


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