RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

I love Noncanon. They played the 5-square-foot stage at Dain's Place on 
election night last week, and yeah, I felt like they were more intense. 
Or maybe it was just the tension I was feeling from watching the Indiana 
returns inching closer & closer to a tie.

I was standing so close to the stage for Polvo that I couldn't be sure, 
but a friend standing further back confirmed that he thought that the 
guitars were panned hard-left and hard-right. I know that about all I 
could hear was Ash, but I assumed that was because I was standing 15 
feet from his amp. If his guitar was also  the only guitar in the PA on 
that side, then that's pretty stupid on the soundman's part.

I thought it was a great set, in large part due to the 
reworking/rewriting that a lot of the songs received. I assume it 
enabled them to engage with them on a level they might not otherwise 
have done; either that or they just couldn't remember how to play 'em 
the old way. Either way, I thought it worked really well.

And seeing them live again just reinforced for me how Steve Popson 
really is the crucial X Factor in that band. Everything that happens in 
those songs revolves around him at the center.

I can't really comment on Dave's repeated invocation of my name, other 
than to say that I swear I had nothing to do with his amp dying during 
the very next song. And to confirm that, yes, he & I had the 
conversation 15 years ago that he described, and that I knew he was just 
yanking my chain for fun.

And I don't know whether he knows how much I dearly love every Polvo 
release *after* Today's Active Lifestyles, but I do. I even like TAL OK, 
particularly "Lazy Comet," so I was psyched that they played it.


DJ Golf wrote:
> And by me in this post, for his sage advice in urging me to arrive
> early and check out the two fine opening bands.  (Early arrival also
> had the added bonus of Mrs. Golf finding a place to sit.  And if Mrs.
> Golf is happy, DJ is happy.)
>
> Mrs. Golf especially liked Noncanon.  She bought their CD, even.  I
> dug them too.  They're kind of low-key and would probably be brilliant
> playing in a quieter, more intimate setting.  The revelation for me,
> tho, was Des Ark.  Holy shit.  Why have I not seen them before?  Maybe
> because my friends simply said "Des Ark is good" instead of "Des Ark
> is the pissed-off sister of the Immortal Lee County Killers."  (And
> also capable of some absolutely wrenching acoustic material, which
> again would have been brilliant in a quiet setting.)  This would have
> made me go out of my way.
>
> I enjoyed Polvo more & more as the evening went along - did anybody
> else think they started off with about 70% enough volume?  Couple of
> songs about 3/4 of the way thru were primo - "Feathers of Forgiveness"
> in particular.  I also was somehow unaware of the level of fanaticism
> they inspire in some folks (Sat nite for said folks was probably like
> me seeing Mission of Burma in NYC a few years back.)  Mrs. Golf was
> hearing them for the first time and said they were "the punk rock
> version of Yes."  I admire the freshness of her perspective at times.
> (That was a positive review, BTW.)
>
> And, I did see some people I hadn't seen in quite a while.  Who no
> doubt will all be at Drive-By Truckers this week and X on the 27th.
> Does the Cradle have a senior discount?
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
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