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  • From: grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: Ross Grady name-checked from the stage by Polvo
  • Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 13:03:57 -0400

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 --
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene





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