Chvrches at the Doug Fir, Portland, September 5, 2013

KEXP has released the video of their early morning (10:30 am) set by Scotland's Chvrches during MFNW, and dude, I was there!  The set kicked off what was quite likely the most awesome day of the whole six-day festival, which reminds me that I'm past due on posting a retrospective (I did finally get caught up on posting the pics to Flickr, though).  KEXP had a photo-nazi volunteer working the show, though, who kept stopping anybody trying to take a picture (even though the sign said "No flash photography," implying non-flash photography was acceptable as in years past), but whatever, I was still able to sneak in a couple of close-ups of Lauren Mayberry.

Chvrches will be playing Variety Playhouse in Atlanta on Tuesday, November 26.  No word yet on the opening band.

Local Natives & Wild Nothing at The Tabernacle, Atlanta, 9/30/2013

In what is probably the first official set of Rocktober 2013, Local Natives performed last night at The Tabernacle.  Wild Nothing opened.

Wild Nothing play a particular blissful hybrid of dream pop and indie shoegaze, characterized by catchy songs with spacey instrumental passages.  Here's a Wild Nothing song featuring a verse sung by Twin Sister's Andrea Estella.

Wild Nothing's set was a particularly enjoyable warm-up to the headliner, L.A.'s Local Natives.

We've seen Local Natives twice before, both times at the godforsaken Masquerade, once in Hell and later in Heaven (that's the upstairs and downstairs stages for those unfamiliar with the venue).  Since those performances, the band has released a new album, Hummingbird, early this year and their fan base has grown considerably, to the point where they're now packing the large Tabernacle.

Local Natives have been touring extensively since Hummingbird was released, but this is the first time they've come to Atlanta since The Masquerade appearances in 2011.  They kept raving about how much they liked the crazy, enthusiastic audiences at the Masquerade shows, begging the question what's kept them away for two years?

According to the indefatigable Wikipedia, their sound has been described as psych folk, new-fangled folk, and "afropop-influenced guitars with hyperactive drumming and hooky three-part harmonies."  

After a nearly 70-minute set, they ended the show with a three-song encore, culminating in their stand-out Sun Hands.  During the dramatic finale of the song, it looked like singer Taylor Rice was about to crowd-surf the audience, but security kept a hold of the back of his belt and wouldn't let him loose.  

I had a nice spot to watch the show, about three persons back from center stage, but when Rice jumped off the stage the crowd surged forward and I had to do my Charles Barkley move (bent slightly over with the butt stuck out as far as possible) to keep from getting trampled.  That was fun, and capped off an enjoyable evening of music.

For those interested, more pics from this show are posted over at the Flickr site.  

Washed Out

Washed Out at Bumbershoot 2013

Washed Out on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic.

The Coathangers

The Coasthangers at L5Fest,, September 14, 2013

Adderall, a new song by Atlanta's The Coathangers from their forthcoming split 7" with Orange County's Audacity, finds the band moving into Au Pairs territory.

Dude, I Was There!

Superchunk at Bumbershoot, Sept. 2, 2013

Better than black coffee:  an early afternoon Music Lounge set by Superchunk to get things going on the final day of Bumbershoot 2013.  Video by KEXP.

OMG Savages

After some 40-plus years of looking, I may finally have found the perfect band.  London's Savages just announced yesterday that they'll be playing at Midtown's Vinyl on October 9, a mere two weeks after the announcement (talk about confidence in ticket sales).

The Savages show will be just two days after Junip at Terminal West, and the day before Menomena and The Helio Sequence at the same venue.   Rocktober, baby.  Rocktober.

Speaking of Junip, they're the band playing in the background in the trailer for the much-hyped Breaking Bad series finale.

Let's see, what else?  Oh yeah - Robert Fripp has just announced that King Crimson's getting back together again.

The original Crimson line-up may formerly have held the "perfect band" title before Savages took it away.  Of course, this is all UK Division.  Vancouver's Black Mountain still safely holds the North American title.