This Week's Shows (4/18 - 4/24)

The big event of this week, the 800-pound gorilla in the room, is the three-day Sweetwater 420 Fest in Centennial Park this weekend.  I won't be going as the bands booked don't quite align with my personal tastes; they didn't last year either, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Snoop Dog perform.  In any event, it's been impressive to watch the festival grow from a single-day event in Candler Park with mostly local bands to a large, three-day event with nationally touring acts.

But even without the Fest, this is still a better-than-average week for Atlanta music, with sets by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Esperanza Spalding, Mother Falcon, American Authors, and Hurray For The Riff-Raff, and revivals of bands like LA punks MDC, as well as 90s radio stalwarts Bush and Sister Hazel.  Finally, for a week that begins with a band called Must Be The Holy Ghost and features a set by Spirits and the Melchizedek Children, there will be not one, not two, but three separate Christian rock bands performing this week.

As always, please keep in mind that musicians and night-club proprietors lead complicated lives and I'm prone to errors, mistakes, typos, and fubars; it's advisable to confirm any of the information below on your own before making plans. 

MONDAY, APRIL 18

MDC, Deathwish, The Swingin' Dicks, Nag (The Drunken Unicorn)

Alternately known as Multi-Death Corporation, Millions of Dead Cops, and Millions of Damn Christians, hardcore punk legends MDC topped the Dead Kennedys in the 1980s by performing politically charged songs that were arguably more extreme than what got the Kennedys into trouble. 

Must Be The Holy Ghost, Slowriter,  Kakune (529)

We last saw Raleigh's loop-crazed Must Be The Holy Ghost at a day party during 2014's Hopscotch Fest.  For this show, he will be supported by Atlanta's Slowriter (Bryan Taylor).

Must Be The Holy Ghost at Hopscotch, September 2014

Trevor Jackson, B. Justice, GOLDe, Vedo the Singer, Skooly (Vinyl)
Indianapolis' Trevor Jackson launched his singing career in 2013 with a string of R&B singles, including Like We Grownand Superman, both of which landed on his New Thang EP later that same year. A handful of singles scattered across 2014 and early 2015 led to In My Feelings, the singer's guest-filled debut album.

TUESDAY, APRIL 19

American Authors, Ryan Star (Vinyl)
Falling somewhere between the heady introspection of Alt-J, the arena-sized folk-rock of Mumford & Sons, and the urban, heartfelt grandeur of Fun., Brooklyn's American Authors offer an emotional and propulsive mix of summery indie pop and meticulously crafted, commercial modern rock.

Audacity, The Rodney Kings, The Mumzees (529)

Audacity play scrappy Californian garage punk. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down (Terminal West)

Thao & the Get Down Stay Down is an indie pop band led by Thao Nguyen, whose songwriting tends toward the musically playful and lyrically heavy-hearted. Before forming The Get Down Stay Down, she collaborated on a single under the name Merrillthaocracy with tUnE-yArDs' Merrill Garbus, who produced The Get Down Stay Down's fourth album, Man Alive, which was just released last month.

Robyn Hitchcock, Eugene Mirman (Variety Playhouse)

Robyn Hitchcock is one of England's most enduring contemporary singer/songwriters and live performers. Despite having been persistently branded as eccentric or quirky for much of his career, Hitchcock has continued to develop his whimsical repertoire, deepen his surreal catalog, and expand his devoted audience beyond the boundaries of cult stature. He is among alternative rock's father figures and is the closest thing the genre has to a Bob Dylan (not coincidentally his biggest inspiration).  Comedian Eugene Mirman opens.

Robyn Hitchcock at Eddie's Attic, February 2014

Eugene Mirman opening for Andrew Bird, March 2012

Har Mar Superstar, Pls Pls (Aisle 5)

Har Mar Superstar (Sean Tillmann) is a balding, out-of-shape white man with a pencil-thin moustache who croons sex-laden R&B tunes while break dancing. His live shows, sung to the backing of a small boom box, usually culminate in Har Mar stripping down to his underwear (often of the tighty whitey variety).  So there's that.  Atlanta's Pls Pls opens.

Pls Pls at Criminal Records, L5Fest, 2013

True Widow, Slimy Member, Spirits and the Melchizedek Children (The Earl)

Heavy and melodic, True Widow has a heavy and melodic sound that takes its cues in equal parts from the worlds of drone, post-rock, and shoegaze, blending rumbling guitars, sprawling songs, and drifting, reverb-soaked vocals.  Atlanta's Spirits and the Melchizedek Children open.

Spirits and the Melchizedek Chilren at 529, January 2014

TacocaT, Boyfriends, Wet Nurse (529)

Seattle Weekly noted of the palindromic TacocaT, "If Pabst Blue Ribbon were a band, it would be TacocaT. TacocaT is discordant and goofy—like an R-rated Presidents [of the United States of America], but with Hillary(s) in the Oval Office.  They're an OK band to thrash around drunk to . . . so we'd recommend waiting for their next sweaty club gig to get the quintessential TacocaT experience." 529 should provide just the setting for the female-fronted Seattle quartet.

TacocaT at Bumbershoot, 2012

THURSDAY, APRIL 21

The Disco Biscuits (Terminal West)

First of a two-night stand by trance-fusion band The Disco Biscuits before their next-day set at the Sweetwater 420 Fest.  Sold out.

Amanda Cook (Center Stage)

Amanda Cook is a Canadian artist and worship leader known for her passionate, faith-based singer/songwriter pop music. Expect a lot of Christians in the audience. 

Roadkill Ghost Choir, Tedo Stone, Oak House (The Earl)

In case you missed them last week at The Earl, Roadkill Ghost Choir return to The Earl, this time backed by Atlanta's Tedo Stone and Athens' Oak House.

Roadkill Ghost Choir at The Earl, August 2013

Oak House at The Earl, January 2016

Thoth Nemesis, Black Mass, Spore Lord, Homicidal (529)

Metal.

FRIDAY, APRIL 22

Sweetwater 420 Fest (Centennial Olympic Park)

Kid Rock headlines the Day One lineup that includes The Disco Biscuits, Cypress Hill, Lucero, Pepper, Zoogma, Paper Diamond, Illenium, and Ployd.

Cypress Hill at the Sixth Annual Atlanta Pot Festival, April 1, 1995

Esperanza Spalding (Center Stage)

Esperanza Spalding is a fine jazz bassist, but has also distinguished herself playing blues, funk, hip-hop, pop fusion, and Brazilian and Afro-Cuban styles as well. The Portland musician's recent Emily's D+Evolution is an ambitious, prog-rock infused concept album revolving around a central character named Emily, Spalding's middle name.

The SteelDrivers (Terminal West)

Sold out show by the soulful Nashville bluegrass band.

The Disco Biscuits (Terminal West)

Late-night second show of the two-night stand by trance-fusion band The Disco Biscuits, following their set at the Sweetwater 420 Fest.  Sold out.

Sister Hazel, The Georgia Flood, Christian Lopez (Variety Playhouse)

Sister Hazel is an alternative rock band from Florida, whose style blends elements of folk rock, pop, classic rock 'n' roll and southern rock. Their music is characterized by highly melodic tunes and prominent harmonies. Their song All For You was a 90s radio staple.

Rend Collective (The Tabernacle)

The Rend Collective are a modern praise and worship band out of Northern Ireland that grew out of a group of Christian friends looking for a way to bring spirituality more in line with the complexities and confusions of life in the 21st century.  A nice second helping for fans of Amanda Cook (See Thursday night)

Mother Falcon, Takenobu (The Earl)

An ambitious symphonic rock/orchestral pop collective based out of Austin and spearheaded by bandleader and founder Nick Gregg, Mother Falcon was formed in 2008. Taking a cue from other classical-minded pop artists like Sufjan Stevens, Beirut, and the Polyphonic Spree, the group eventually added members and by the time they began performing, numbered anywhere from 11 to 20 musicians on any given night. Mother Falcon quickly became a must-see event around town, playing numerous high-profile festivals and releasing a string of well-received EPs and LPs. Atlanta's Takenobu opens.

Takenobu at 529, July 2013

Funk You, The Get Right Band (Aisle 5)

Funk.

SATURDAY, APRIL 23

Sweetwater 420 Fest (Centennial Olympic Park)

Bastille headlines the Day Two lineup that includes The Roots, Rebelution, Dawes, Maceo Parker, The North Mississippi All-Stars, AWOLNation, The Word, Tokyo Police Club, Chrome Pony, and Minnesota (the band, not the state).

Tokyo Police Club at Shaky Knees, May 10, 2014

Dawes at Shaky Knees, May 10, 2014

Leftover Salmon, Ripe (Variety Playhouse)

Official Sweetwater 420 Fest late-night show featuring Leftover Salmon, who will be playing the festival the next day.

Questlove (The Loft) 

Another Official Sweetwater 420 Fest late-night show.

Hurray For The Riff Raff, Promised Land Sound (Terminal West)

New Orleans-based indie folk outfit Hurray for the Riff Raff were formed by singer/songwriter/banjo player Alynda Lee, a Bronx-raised Puerto Rican troubadour who left home at 17 to ride the rails and eventually landed in the Big Easy. After honing her skills on the washboard with a gang of train-yard musicians called the Dead Man's Street Orchestra, she picked up the banjo that a close friend had given her and began writing her own songs. Hurray for the Riff Raff's signature blend of folk-blues and Southern gothic Americana is often rounded out by a rotating cast of accordion, guitar, organ, and musical saw players.

The Explorer's Club, Robert Schneider, Casper & the Cookies (The Earl)

The Explorers Club is a pop rock band from South Carolina whose surf rock sound has drawn comparisons to the Beach Boys.  Supporting the band will be Elephant 6 collective member Robert Schneider of Apples In Stereo.

Underøath, Caspian (The Tabernacle)

Amanda Cook fans (see Thursday night) and Rend Collective fans (see Friday night) who want their Christian rock with a harder edge should enjoy Florida's Underøath, who have evolved from a run-of-the-mill Christian metalcore band into a fluid, dynamic, and energized rock group that adeptly blends emotive melody, charged punk rock rhythms, and a chunky, engaging bottom end.

Demonic Christ, Abysmal Lord, Ritual Decay, Hegemony (529)

Probably the other end of the spiritual spectrum from the Underøath show.

SUNDAY, APRIL 24

Sweetwater 420 Fest (Centennial Olympic Park)

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals headline the Day Three lineup that includes Leftover Salmon, Ludacris, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Atmosphere, Manchester Orchestra, Robert DeLong, The Bright Light Social Hour, Emancipator, and Waking Astronomer.

Manchester Orchestra on a far-distant stage at Music Midtown, 2011

Margo Price (Eddie's Attic)

Country traditionalist Margo Price's recent success has set all kinds of records for album sales in a decade when sales have been low, a tribute to the success she's earned as well as the connection she's established with her new fans. Price has the sound of a timeless country singer and has captivated the music industry with her true tales of loss, struggle and redemption. Her song Hurtin' (on the Bottle) has all the heartache of a classic song

Bush, The Dose (The Tabernacle)

Bush formed in London in 1992 and found immediate success with the release of their debut album Sixteen Stone in 1994, which has been certified 6× multi-platinum and launched a string of successful singles (Glycerine, Machine Head, Everything Zen, etc.) At this point, the band probably qualify as rock royalty, and lead singer Gavin Rossdale, aka the former Mr. Gwen Stefani, remains a potent sex symbol.

Bush at Music Midtown, 1995

Little 5 Fest, Sept. 14, 2013

After hearing 5 to 11 bands a day during Bumbershoot and MFNW, it felt a little odd, disorienting even, to be back home and hearing no live music at all for days on end.  Fortunately, the organizers of the Little Five Fest, the Little Five Points community's music festival, which last year was held on September 29, moved the date up to September 14, my first Saturday since coming back from the Northwest.  I like to think they did this just to satisfy my jones for hearing multiple bands in one day.

The L5Fest actually began with a few sets at L5P's Star Community Bar on Thursday and Friday, which I didn't attend, but on Saturday the venues expanded to include an outdoor stage behind the Star Bar, a very small performance space in the basement Vinyl Lounge of the Star Bar, The Criminal Records and Wax 'n' Facts record stores, and dj sets at the Elmyr Restaurant next to Variety Playhouse.

The bands performing were almost all exclusively up-and-coming local Atlanta bands (with a few exceptions), and the event gave me lots of opportunities to discover new (to me at least) bands as well as hear some of my local favorites.

This is really just a small, one-day community event, so it would be unfair to compare it to Bumbershoot or MFNW (or for that matter, Atlanta's Music Midtown or Shaky Knees Festival).  Even the smaller events I went to in Portland, the Marmoset party and the OPB party at Mississippi Studios, were off-shoots of MFNW, so comparisons are not appropriate.  But given what it was, the L5Fest was a fine day of music, with a rich and interesting lineup that illustrated not only the diversity, but also the interconnectedness, of the Atlanta music scene.

When I arrived, the band Starfighter were playing at the outdoors stage behind the Star Bar.  We've seen Starfighter at the 2012 Tunes From The Tombs event at Oakland Cemetery, but as I had just arrived and wanted to get a little more oriented to the festivities, I didn't stay around long.

Upstairs and inside, the band Factory were playing the Star Bar stage.  

Factory were new to me, but appear to be Naomi Lavender (Muleskinner McQueen, the Dracula rock opera) and Alice Kim, formerly of São Paulo, Brazil, along with half of the Young Orchids (guitarist Michael Kai and drummer Tak Takemura), and Zombie Zombie's Stuart Roane on bass. (Okay, I only recognized Naomi and looked the rest up on line).

Their music has been described as "possibly the dreamiest dream pop" in Atlanta, to which I concur.

Following Factory, I went over to Criminal Records in time to hear the last couple of songs by Fit of Body.

Fit of Body is Atlanta's Ryan Nicholas Parks, who performs solo accompanied only by spare samples and keyboard loops. Commenting on his song Deserter, Dummy Mag wrote, "There’s something rather elegant about the sparseness of Deserter. . . Listening is like chasing half a dozen unravelling balls of wool down a hill in slow motion. It’s an enchanting muddle, and I look forward to more."

Back at the Star Bar, it was the band Mammabear, the Brit-pop-influenced project of Atlanta's Kyle Gordon. To be honest, I actually wasn't expecting to watch them, but while walking past the Star Bar from Criminal Records on my way to the outdoor stage, their tuneful rock caught my ear, and I would up staying, listening to, and enjoying them.   

Back at Criminal Records, I heard Feast of Violet, which is the solo project of electronic musician Allen Taylor of Mirror Mode and Lotus Plaza.  Taylor also has a new project with Mood Rings' William Fussell called Promise Keeper who played later in the day, but we'll get to that in due time.  Meanwhile, as Feast of Violet, Taylor played a great set of ambient electronica.

For some reason, most of the acts that I wanted to see were at the Criminal Records in-store stage, and Feast of Violet was followed by Atlanta's Adron.  We've seen Adron lots of times before, but this performance was unique in that she played solo, and instead of performing material from her fine CD Pyramids, she instead performed a few Brazilian covers, some Portuguese songs she'd written herself, and some other material she doesn't usually perform with her full band. It was a wonderful set, a primer to her approach to Brazilian pop and neo-bossa-nova sound as well as an opportunity to hear her play some new material.  

Mike Doughty played next and was really the anomaly to the L5Fest lineup, in that he wasn't from Atlanta and was an already established musician in his own right.  But here's the odd synchronicity - some 20 years ago, I heard Doughty's former band, the terrific Soul Coughing, give a free in-store performance at the old Criminal Records location (still in L5P, but around the corner on Moreland Avenue instead of its current, Euclid Ave. location).  Their 1993 set blew me away at the time, and I thought their combination of folk-rock, hip-hop, and jazz was just about the coolest thing imaginable, and Doughty's post-hipster approach to singing was the epitome of cool.  For various reasons, Soul Coughing broke up in 2000, but I still followed Doughty's subsequent solo career, including the fine albums Skittish and Rockity Roll.  

Both he and I, as well as Criminal Records, have changed a lot since that 1993 show, and Doughty now has a new album coming out of beloved Soul Coughing songs rearranged, or as he puts it, "re-imagined," for solo performance.  His nearly hour-long performance yesterday at Criminal Records was of this new-old material, and it still sounds great in its new format.

Almost immediately after Mike Doughty's set, Atlanta's Dog Bite took the Criminal Records stage.  Dog Bite is primarily the vehicle for singer and guitarist Phil Jones, formerly of Washed Out's touring band, and much of that dreamy, chilled sound remains in their music.  We've seen a lot of different line-ups to Dog Bite in the past, including one that had Mood Rings' (and Promise Keeper) William Fussell on guitar, and another that had powerhouse drummer Sarah Wilson of Odist on drums.  Yesterday, he had Young Orchids' (and Factory's) Tak Takemura on drums, and Shepherds' Jonathan Merenivitch on guitar.  Merenivitch also plays for Janelle Monae, and as we shall see later, for Del Venicci, and his playing added significant contributions to Dog Bite's sound yesterday. 

Eric of Criminal Records assured the audience that Dog Bite is going to go on to great things, and someday we'll look back in fondness at the chance to have seen them perform an in-store show like this.  Their Sound Cloud page says that "Dog Bite combines all your hopes and dreams, fuses them with grapes and butterflies, and then lays them out on a tray with sliced oranges."  If that's a little abstract, here's a sample from their forthcoming LA EP.

After Dog Bite, I finally left Criminal Records and wandered into the tiny Vinyl Lounge in the Star Bar basement.  The band is TV Dinner, a new one on me, but what the heck is this music they're playing?  Rock? Jazz? Chip tunes? Space-age pop? Some sort of fusion of all four?  The instrumental band defies any easy categorization, but I still loved their sound, as apparently did the small number of people able to squeeze into their performance space.   This is what I love about these kinds of events - discovering something new and out of the ordinary, just as I did last year in this very same room with Spencer Garn.

There are apparently a number of bands across the country that go by the name "TV Dinner," but I did find this BandCamp by a "TV Dinner" that included "Atlanta" among their taglines.  The songs include vocalists, which they did not have at their L5Fest appearance, but the backing band does sound like it could be them (but I'm still not completely sure).

You can't judge an album by its cover, and you can't judge a band by their t-shirts.  Atlanta's Calm White Noise wore Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective t-shirts so I thought I might like them and was correct. They played a type of electronic rock that would have satisfied fans of both bands while sounding like neither.  

Oh look!  It's our old friend Jonathan Merenivitch (Shepherds, Janelle Monae) who we saw barely an hour or so ago playing guitar for Dog Bite in Criminal Records, now in the Wax 'n' Facts record store playing guitar for Del Venicci.  We've seen Del Venicci at the Artlantis event earlier this year (where Shepherds played earlier, but Merenivitch did not play with Del Venicci), and when they opened for Mikal Cronin at The Earl (when they did include Merenivitch).

 The performance space was so tiny that the quartet couldn't even all stand together but were spread out among the rows of records, and customers found themselves trapped between the performers for the duration of their set.  Unfortunately, I arrived in time only to hear the last few songs of their set. 

Meanwhile, back at Criminal Records, as indicated earlier, Allen Taylor (Feast of Violet, Mirror Mode,  Lotus Plaza) was performing with Mood Rings' William Fussell as Promise Keeper.  Anything these two guys touch is going to have an ambient, dreamy feel to it, and their Promise Keeper performance was no exception.  I don't know where this collaboration is heading, but I like it and hope that it leads at least to a CD or two.

Back at the outdoor stage (it's been a while since I had been there - the last time I headed that way I got hijacked by Mammabear into the Star Bar), these guys were playing surf-rock instrumentals as Fiend Without a Face to a delirious crowd.  A sort of Southern version of Los Straightjackets.

Upstairs in the Star Bar, Hollywood, Florida's Beach Day (not to be confused with Beach House, Beach Fossils, Dirty Beaches, or the Beach Boys) were playing infectious, garagey, 60s-influenced power pop.  

Back outside, The Coathangers performance was in full swing.  The Coathangers are an all-female band that play raw, noisy, near-perfect punk rock.  Their dissonant and cathartic vocals bear only the most casual of relationships with harmony.  For some reason, they played last night as a trio; keyboardist Candice Jones was apparently absent. 

A mosh pit usually develops during a set like this, but the pit last night was pretty much confined to one fairly well-defined area of about 6 to 10 people.  However, one person in particular seemed more aggressive than the rest, and soon a few women outside of the pit area called security over to complain about his crossing the line.  The guards didn't intervene, but their presence temporarily subdued the person to just pogoing in place. That is, until bassist Meredith Franco jumped off the stage into the audience and the moshmaster decided to he just had to punch her.  

That was the line not to be crossed.  Security and several of the audience who were fed up with his antics anyway proceeded to give him a fairly vigorous ass-kicking, dragging him out of the audience and throwing him up against the porto-potties, while drummer Stephanie Luke got up screaming "Who punched my sister?" and demanding that he be ejected (she was apparently under the impression that he was hiding inside the porto-potty and not crawling away behind it).  The band then closed their set with an improvised (I'm pretty sure) chant of "Don't punch my sister." 

This is not a band you want to mess with.  Just because I can't resist it, here's one of my favorite videos, The Coathangers performing Hurricane, one of my favorite of their songs.  Shot at The Goat Farm. 

There's nothing like a full-throttle punk performance and a little unexpected mob violence to get the adrenaline flowing.

Let's see, what else was there yesterday?  Oh yes, back at Criminal Records, the fine band Women's Work put on one of their typically fine performances of Southern Gothic songs.

The band's music revolves around the tension between the gentle vocals and viola playing of frontwoman Lindsey Harbour and the almost shoegazey guitars of the rest of the band.  It sounds unusual (and it is), but it works.  Plus, they're recently added a new backup singer to the band.

Back at the smoky Star Bar, The N.E.C. put on a strong and loud showcase of their guitar-driven psychedelic rock.

The audience for Atlanta's PLS PLS ("please please") filled Criminal Records to hear their melodic "electronic infused alternative rock" (their description).

Here's another Goat Farm video.  I was at this event earlier in the evening, but the cold temperatures drove me off before PLS PLS performed, so last night was my first time hearing them.

Joseph Arthur is an American singer-songwriter from Akron, Ohio, although he lived in Atlanta for a time in the early 1990s, where he recorded a bunch of home demo tapes, one of which he dropped off to Eric of Criminal Records.  Before his set began last night, Arthur was presented with that very tape by Eric, who told him that he has never listened to it, "not once," as he's been given hundreds of demos over the years. But Peter Gabriel apparently did, and signed Arthur to Real World music.  Last night, Arthur seemed genuinely touched to be given the relic of his early career.  

Arthur played a nearly hour-long set accompanied only by a drummer.  His poetic lyrics were layered over a sonic palette generated by a number of distortion pedals and generous loop effects, making one quickly forget the limited number of musicians on the stage.

It was a wonderful performance, full of nuance and beauty.  Kimmy Drake of Beach Day was in the audience, enjoying the set.

There were still several more bands scheduled to play at The Star Bar to conclude the L5Fest, but after Joesph Arthur, I called it a night.  By my count, I had seen 19 bands (a new single-day record!), including some local favorites like Adron, The Coathangers, and Dog Bite, discovered several new bands like Factory and TV Dinner, and heard established music stars Mike Doughty and Joseph Arthur.  

Last year, the L5Fest, held as it was on the 29th of September, marked the start of Rocktober 2012.  This year, with the number of shows coming up, I can't decide if it marks an early beginning to Rocktober 2013, or if it's the coda at the end of the Bumbershoot/MFNW Labor Day marathon.

Or if it matters. 

Atlanta Film Festival Sound & Vision at The Goat Farm, March 20, 2013

So, how cold was it?  That's the question that dominates any recollection of last night's Atlanta Film Festival Sound & Vision event at The Goat Farm.

The event, held in connection with the on-going Atlanta Film Festival, was billed as a showcase of bad-ass Atlanta bands, a music video stand-off projected on a humongous screen, a screening of experimental films, art installations, d.j. sets by Atlanta musician Cousin Dan, and the usual food trucks.  

What I didn't know until I arrived was that the bad asses were staged outdoors to the west of Building 1.  Most events at The Goat Farm have been staged in The Rodriquez Room (aka, Building 3); this is the first time I've seen an event at Building 1.  Located at the western edge of the property, the building is a low, rectangular, one-story detached structure constructed in 1919 and originally used as a machine shop and later as a crating, storing, and shipping facility. The building has a concrete floor and a flat, plank-on-timber roof with two continuous, full-length, northward-facing skylights. In modern (i.e., post–World War II) times, the building has been used as a metal fabrication plant, although it is now vacant and the roof is in a state of disrepair.  The industrial disrepair of the building provided a funky backdrop to the stage, and also offered great views of the Atlanta skyline over the adjacent railroad yards.

What I also didn't know until I arrived was that the temperatures were going to fall into the low 30s during the course of the night.  I had worked outside all of that day, and although it was overcast for much of the time, by the afternoon, the sun had come out and I was working in shirt sleeves.  I didn't know that the clear skies were a part of a cold front that had moved into Georgia, and I almost headed out to The Goat Farm in just a long-sleeved shirt, but at the last minute threw on a fleece.  As it turns out, I should have worn a hoodie on top of that and another layer of fleece.  It got cold, baby.

Anyhow, this isn't a blog about the weather.  The first band on the Building 1 stage was Shantih Shantih, a relatively new all-girl quartet, playing their first home-town show.  

As you can see, the industrial ruin of Building 1 provided a picturesque backdrop to the stage.  As the sun settled down somewhere over the State of Alabama, the last afternoon light cast silhouettes of the audience and all of the amateur photographers onto the riser for the stage, looking almost like a shadow puppet show.

Shantih Shantih plays a highly enjoyable brand of punk-pop with girl-band influences.  The band consists of Anna K on lead guitar and vocals:

Another Anna, Anna B, on vocals and guitar, and Julia F on drums.

Valentina T plays drums.

Anyway, despite the jackets and sunshine, the band was visibly cold, and commented a couple times about how chilly it was getting.

Cousin Dan, who d.j.'s under the clever name Moreland Brando (Moreland Avenue is the main thoroughfare leading to East Atlanta Village, home of many if not most of the city's rock clubs (The Earl, 529, The Basement, etc.)), provided a pleasing retro-funk mix between sets.  The next band up, second of the night, was Atlanta's Cute Boots.  I can enjoy their country-influenced roots rock but tend to lose patience with the scripted dialogues during their performances, as the corny scripts are usually lacking any semblance of spontaneity and are delivered so woodenly that it distracts from the music.  Fortunately, they kept the dialogues to a minimum last night, possibly just to get off the stage and back to the warmth that much sooner.

By the time Cute Boots finished, it was dark enough out for some of the art installations to begin, the most impressive of which were a series of projections on the windows of the 200-foot-long Building 1.

It wasn't nearly as cold in the rest of The Goat Farm as it was at the Building 1 stage, and between sets I would step into Building 2 for the experimental film screenings just to warm up. Even the outdoor music video show in the central courtyard wasn't nearly as cold as the stage. But eventually, I zipped up my fleece and pulled the collar up over as much of my neck as I could to go see Tikka, one of the bands I was most looking forward to hearing.

I've seen Tikka before, opening for someone at The Earl, although I can't remember who.  Tikka is led by singer and guitarist Asha Lakra, and they play a showgaze-y brand of experimental noise pop, which you can hear on their fine, eponymous EP, avialable on their Bandcamp page.

Tikka put on a great set but due to the cold, before a sparse audience, and I have to admit I was distracted myself by the cold temperatures and a wind that seemed determined to find every opening and seam in my insufficient little fleece jacket.  After Tikka's terrific set, I quickly retreated back to the relative warmth of the other Sound & Vision attractions.  

By the time the band PLS PLS was to take the stage at 9:15, I realized that I had now been outside for over 12 hours during the day, and most of that time on my feet.  Although I had been looking forward to seeing Dog Bite again, it was simply getting too damn cold to be enjoyable.  The alternative of sitting on my sofa in the warmth of my home with a glass of bourbon to warm my insides and watching The Americans on FX seemed preferable to standing around in the cold any longer, and I decided to bag it for the rest of the night.  I'm sure that PLS PLs, Dog Bite and Gringo Star (the headliner) all put on great sets, and I'm sure that I'll get a chance to catch them again some evening.  

I commend IndieATL and the organizers of the Sound & Vision event for putting together a great show, and the selection of Building 1 for the outdoor stage was a great choice - I hope I can get to see bands play there again in the future. No one could have foreseen that blast of cold arctic air sweeping into Georgia on a late March evening.  Hey, at least it didn't rain.