The Wheel's Still In Spin

Okkervil River and The New Pornographers - Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH - April 11th, 2008

Okkervil River and The New Pornographers will complete their tour together on Tuesday, April 22, at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, OH. Two days later, on Thursday, April 24, Okkervil River will perform at The Mad Hatter in Covington, KY, with two prominent local bands, Wussy and Turnbull ACs. The Wheel’s Still In Spin highly recommends this show and will definitely be present for a double dose of live Okkervil River this month. Buy tickets here.

Bands focus the majority of their sets on their more recent works. Therefore, logic would propose that it is best to witness a performance after the band’s best work. With that said, the double billing of Okkervil River and The New Pornographers posed a dichotomy. For this reviewer, The New Pornographers’ best album was 2000's Mass Romantic. The band’s three subsequent releases were not as strong as that debut. Okkervil River, on the other hand, released their best album, The Stage Names, in August of 2007. Each of their four full-length albums has been a step up in production, skill, and songwriting.

Okkervil River, however, was in the first position in the lineup. As they took to the stage, a majority of the audience was present and prepare for a spectacular double bill. The evening opened with “The President’s Dead,” from a 12 inch single, as singer Will Sheff played the first verses solo on his acoustic guitar. They also selected songs from all four of their full-length albums while concentrating the majority of the set to tracks from The Stage Names.

Spoon, The Walkmen, and White Rabbits - Bogarts, Cincinnati, OH - April 5th, 2008

Last October, Spoon was scheduled to play at Bogart’s on a Friday night. That show was cancelled so the band could play on Saturday Night Live. However, the band promised to return in the spring. Last night, Saturday, April 5, 2008, Spoon not only kept true to their promise, they played an incredibly searing set that lasted well over an hour and a half.

They opened their show with “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case,” a song that swells and builds around a steady drumbeat from Jim Eno. The band then moved smoothly into the slower, chaotic song “The Beast And Dragon, Adored” with its fitting lyrics, “When you don’t feel it it shows they tear out your soul/ And when you believe they call it rock and roll.”

Later in the set, when the band rolled on to “Finer Feelings,” some of the band’s strengths became evident. Britt Daniel’s precise enunciation creates very appealing melodies. The band has a faultless selectivity to their instrumentation, often creating breaks where one of two instruments drive a section. All of this is set amongst the high energy the four members of the band share onstage.

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks, John Vanderslice, and The Pasties - The Southgate House, Newport, KY - March 23rd, 2008

“Happy Easter. Happy Easter. Fucking pagans.”

With this opening greeting, Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks broke in to the opening track from Real Emotional Trash, “Dragonfly Pie.” Focusing primarily on material from the band’s most recent release, the four-piece performed one of the best sets the Southgate House has seen in a while *. Between the raucous but concordant songs, Malkmus often bantered with the audience, making such comments as, “Newport has really grown up. It used to be a sup-port to Cincinnati. Now it’s its own place.”

During “Baby C’Mon,” from the previous Malkmus album, Face The Truth, it became apparent that Pavement should not get back together. With all of the talk recently about Pavement reuniting, I cannot imagine why Malkmus would want to get his former band together. Pavement has some great songs, which Malkmus rarely plays these days, and is seen as the ultimate band from the ‘90s. But the band Malkmus is currently touring and recording with is better than a reunited Pavement could be.

Vampire Weekend - The Gypsy Hut, Cincinnati, OH - February 13th, 2008

Near the end of August 2007, Vampire Weekend made their first venture to Cincinnati, Ohio. The now closed contemporary art gallery Publico hosted the band. At that show, the band played for an intimate crowd and lead singer Ezra Koenig discussed his fondness for Cincinnati Bengal’s DE Frostee Rucker. It was more fondness for a grown man who stood 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 280 lbs still going by the name Frostee.

Tonight the band took the stage at The Gypsy Hut. It was a frosty night. The day after freezing rain and icy conditions overpowered the city of Cincinnati, Vampire Weekend walked on stage, half the band clad in V-neck sweaters and Koenig wrapped in a scarf. The sold out crowd of 300 tightly fans packed into the stage area of The Gypsy Hut’s multi-room bar. The rooms with billbiards, ping-pong, and dartboards were emptied for the duration of the band’s set.

Launching in to “Mansard Roof,” the opening track from their self-titled debut for XL Recordings, the band established their live sound as firmly and succinctly distinct as their recorded material. The song began by showcasing keyboardist, Rostam Batmanglij, while the pulsating stop beats of the punctually tight rhythm section established the uptempo direction of the entire set. As the other instruments flushed out the sound with quickened parts, Koenig’s guitar line was added with a blistering single note strum.

Mountain Goats and Bowerbirds - The Mad Hatter, Covington, KY - November 13th 2007

For the past five years I have been listening to the Mountain Goats. Throughout this time, I have wanted to see John Darnielle perform with any incarnation of the band. Last night, finally, my wish was granted as the Mountain Goats performed at The Mad Hatter in Covington, KY.

The opening act for the evening’s show was Bowerbirds, a band that Darnielle has called his "favorite new band in forever." The stripped down, folk sound of the band worked well as an opener. Their set was full of sparse arrangements and harmonized vocals. Dulcet singing and a nylon-string guitar were constants throughout the set. The accompanying instrumentation varied between accordion, violin, pedal keyboard, and bass drum. While the band does not demonstrate the emotional dynamics that the Mountain Goats capture, the Bowerbirds’ songs were syrupy and serene. Their forty minutes of mellow music was a good warm up for the main attraction.

After a brief intermission, during which The Mad Hatter played Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga through the PA, John Darnielle, Peter Hughes, and Jon Wurster took the stage. With the opening lines of the first song, "Wild Sage," "I leave the house as soon as it gets light outside/ Like a prisoner breaking out of jail," the dynamics of the band were immediately apparent. The band started the set incredibly quiet. And the audience clung to the aural reticence.

Midpoint Music Festival - Cincinnati, OH - Overview

This year's Midpoint Music Festival was a successful event. Since 2002, the festival has focused on showcasing independent original musicians. Each year, the number of participating bands has grown. As the festival grows, more out of town bands are added to the list of performers. This year also brought an handful of international artists.

The festival does not book nationally known and signed acts to perform. There are no label showcases here. All of the bands playing must be independently releasing their music and/or on a small label. This year there were a number of great performances from independent musicians. Most of the showcases of local and national acts were playing to substantial crowds. The festival seemed to go off without a problem.

Midpoint Music Festival also offered a conference on Friday and Saturday. Due to scheduling conflicts, I was not able to attend the conference either day this year. I was disappointed to miss one of the two keynote addresses. Lyle Preslar discussed his time with Minor Threat, as an A&R rep and label executive, and law degree and copyright analysis. Most of the panel discussions were guided towards the musicians in attendance and addressed recording, business, and licensing options.

The highlight of the festival was the evening's live performances. Breaking Laces, Coltrane Motion, Southeast Engine, Paper Airplane, and Western Civ were some of the standout acts. Here were some more of my favorites.

Midpoint Music Festival - Day Three - Cincinnati, OH - Sept 29th, 2007

Day 3 was the final night of the Midpoint Music Festival. Once again, there were full venues throughout downtown Cincinnati. Tonight I was able to squeeze in seeing and hearing these bands: Breaking Laces, leerone, Otter Petter, Paper Airplane, Ferdinand Fox, Lonesome Tumblers, Church Of The Red Museum, Turnbull AC's, Beau Alquizola Band, Miranda Sound, The Seedy Seeds, Hotpipes, and Stephanie's Id. The following is a list of my favorite performances.

Midpoint Music Festival - Day Two - Cincinnati, OH - Sept 28th, 2007

Day 2 of Cincinnati's Midpoint Music Festival showed a strong increase in attendance from Thursday night. The attendance for the opening performances this evening appeared to be equal to the strongest attendance from Day 1. The crowd continue to increase throughout the night, filling Cincinnati's Main Street in its Over The Rhine district. While Day 1 seemed to gather momentum as the night progressed, Day 2 was full of powerful bands from the evening's first notes played. With more people in attendance, it was a little harder to bounce around to venues. I was able to see these bands: Western Civ, For Algernon, Direc-T, Arrow Sparrow, Brice Woodall, Loyal Divide, The Wrenfields, Twilight Revival, Coltrane Motion, Southeast Engine, Of God And Science, The Newbees, The Electric Souls, and The Jack Fords. The following is a list of some of the strongest performances.

Midpoint Music Festival - Day One - Cincinnati, OH - Sept 27th, 2007

The sixth annual Midpoint Music Festival has descended upon Cincinnati, OH. With 19 stages and 240 bands, the festival is run by an all-volunteer staff and focuses on showcasing independent original musicians. With this many bands, I find it's best to try to catch a 3-4 songs of one band and then keep moving. Last night I was able to see: The Nathan Corsi Band, Mark Brecknell, The Prime Ministers, Josh Weinstein, Ruetschle, Elliott Ruther Trio, Hojas Rojas, Liz Pahl & The Pahlbearers, The Teenage Prayers, darynyck, Industrial Jazz Group, Angelo M., murmur, Cabin, and The Swarthy Band. What follows is a list of the highlights from the first day of showcases.

Pitchfork Music Festival – Union Park, Chicago, IL – July 14th-15th, 2007

I traveled to Chicago this past weekend for the Pitchfork Music Festival. I flew in to town after work on Friday and wasn’t able to make it to the first day of the event, which was the Don’t Look Back day. It featured Slint, GZA, and Sonic Youth each performing one of their albums in its entirety.

Saturday and Sunday were filled with great bands from early afternoon into the evening. The lineup was a diverse set of indie musicians, from De La Soul to Grizzly Bear, from Yoko Ono to Of Montreal. Here’s a list of some of my personal favorite performances.

Bright Eyes, Gillian Welch, and Oakley Hall - Wexner Center, Columbus, OH - May 20th, 2007

The last time I saw Bright Eyes perform live was five years ago. Conor Oberst and his two accompanists (droney keyboardist and drummer) opened for Wilco. This was about a month before Wilco would finally release Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Bright Eyes had yet to release There Is No Beginning To The Story. While Bright Eyes’ set that night was good, it was Wilco who owned the night. In addition to playing all of the songs from their aforementioned album, they played through the first seven songs from Being There in order for their first of two encores. It was a pretty amazing show.

This Columbus show had the promise of another memorable night. The lineup was another show of great performers. Oakley Hall, Gillian Welch, and Bright Eyes. I was ready for the next four hours of musical gratification.

Richard Swift and David Vandervelde - Southgate House Parlour, Newport, KY - April 15th 2007

My introduction to David Vandervelde came at SXSW 2006. He played drums, as the only accompaniment, for Jay Bennett. He was subdued, but seemed like a pretty good drummer. Then, in January, Vandervelde released The Moonstation House Band, an impressive album that showcased his musical, songwriting, and production skills.

A little less than two months ago, Vandervelde came through Cincinnati area. He played a free show at Alchemize after he stopped by WOXY.com to play a Lounge Act set. Since he played a free show so recently I wondered how many people would turn out to see Sunday night’s show at The Southgate House in Newport, KY.

Located on the south bank of the Ohio River, Newport’s Southgate House is a unique venue. It is a nineteenth century mansion converted into a multiple-leveled music venue. The second-floor Parlour is a small room. There’s a four-inch “stage” with a bookcase in each corner. Some people say The Southgate House is haunter. This is the room where most of the ghostly sightings have been. You can read more about that here.

The Decemberists - Brown Theatre, Louisville, KY - April 13th 2007

This was my third time seeing The Decemberists in concert. A few years ago I saw them at the Southgate House Ballroom in Newport, KY, with Bishop Allen. Last November I saw them at PromoWest in Columbus, OH. Friday night I drove down to Louisville, KY, to see them at the Brown Theatre. Driving from Cincinnati after work, I missed the opening band, My Brightest Diamond, whom started the show at 7:30 or 8:00. The first two Decemberists’ shows I attended were both in general admission venues. The Brown Theatre was lavish theatre that seated 1,400. That created a different atmosphere for this performance.

The band opened the show with “Oceanside.” The mood stayed light as they played “The Tain.” At this point, almost every member of the audience was still seated. Lead singer Colin Meloy asked, “Why don’t we all stand up for a minute?” From then no one sat back down. The set slowly picked up as the band played parts of “The Crane Wife.” For “Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then),” My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden joined the band on vocals.

The Hold Steady and The Thermals - Music Mill, Indianapolis, IN - March 16th 2007

When I saw that The Thermals and The Hold Steady were playing 7 shows together, I was very excited. The Thermals’ The Blood, The Body, The Machine was my favorite album of 2006 and The Hold Steady’s Boys And Girls In America made number 11 on the list. The Hold Steady’s Separation Sunday was also one of my favorite albums of 2005. This seemed like a great opportunity to see 2 of my favorite bands in one night.

Friday night of the tour was scheduled for The Music Mill in Indianapolis, IN. Saturday night was scheduled for The Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH. Both venues are about a 2-hour drive from Cincinnati. Since I’ve seen a number of shows at Newport Music Hall (from The Shins to Buddy Guy) and my girlfriend spends a fair amount of time in Columbus for work, we decided to make the trip to Indianapolis.

The drive gave us enough time to listen to The Blood, The Body, The Machine and Boys And Girls In America in their entirety. Mapquest gave us the directions. As we approached the venue, we couldn’t help noticing the fact that the area was full of new strip malls. Then we saw The Music Mill. It was in one of these strip malls, a few doors down from a Barnes & Noble and an Office Depot.