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| From | "Hastie, John" <HASTIE_J@sunybroome.edu> |
| Subject | IPO Nashville & Rolling Stone |
| Date | Fri, 18 Mar 2005 10:09:31 -0500 |
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Last Friday & Saturday I had the chance to attend IPO in Nashville. Had a great time re-visiting my old stomping grounds. Heard some great music both nights.
Sean Altman started Friday night off right with his extremely pleasant voice and humorous songs (if you bought one of his CD's you got the free single "Taller Than Jesus"!). Andy Ziff held the place spellbound with his haunting music. NO ONE was talking - probably because they didn't want to make Andy mad (as if fearing a 5'3" 130 pound guy is possible). Later Adam McIntyre entertained us sporting his version of an evil beard! (Saw him in the audience the next night & didn't even recognize him with his beard shaved to a more normal look.) Luckily the Elms were there to get everybody jumping around - they just released a live DVD if anyone is interested. Lost Anthem was good enough to get me to buy their CD and Jetpack ended the evening with an excellent set of real power pop. I bought their new EP and look forward to hearing it (I am SO far behind!).
Saturday night started with the bouncy Valley Downs (ex-Magnaphonic) from Chicago. Unfortunately the lead singer had a mild case of laryngitis, but she soldiered on. They brought their own cheering section and taped the performance. Next was the Barry Holdship Four which turned out to be only Barry but that was fine. He had some friends at the bar who pushed him to perform a well-played & sung set. Mark Johnson was eccentric in his own way - had a bass player to fatten the sound. Bought his "Night on a Roller Coaster" CD. Will Kimbrough was my favorite performer of both days - excellent voice, great guitar sound, well-written songs. The only bummer was he wasn't selling any CD's and now I need to find his CD's online somewhere. Cherry Blossom Clinic had a very powerful female drummer who also provided backup vocals. The Luxury Liners brought some of their fan club and their show convinced me to pick up their two latest releases. Walter Egan was fun - he had Bill Lloyd play some guitar on a couple of songs. Then Bill Lloyd played his own set - started off solo, then added a keyboard player (the esteemed Al Kooper!) (Al also sang a song off his soon to be released CD which was very good) and finally added Walter Egan on lead guitar - pretty fantastic trio! Bill had some rarities CD's for sale and I finally snagged a copy of "Confidence is High".
I was able to hit a couple of larger CD stores during the days and with the help of my friend Jay I raided the bargain bins of lots of CD's - most of which were $1 or less! Had some great fried chicken at the Elliston Place Soda Shop. Marveled at the building that is the Opryland Hotel - simply amazing. And an unexpected highlight was an in-store performance by John Davis (ex-Superdrag) at Grimey's. The place was packed and he sold a bunch of his newly released solo CD (which has a very religious slant to it if that's a problem). He played the Exit In that night, but I was not going to miss IPO! So it was a treat to see him on Saturday afternoon.
Wish I could have gone to IPO another night or two, but I guess I'll just have to wait for Dewey Beach.
As for Rolling Stone, I know that they get a bad rap (and mostly deservedly so), but the new issue (dedicated to Hunter Thompson) has a list of Ten Bands to watch in 2005. Included in the list are The Kaiser Chiefs, Louis XIV (ex-Convoy), The Like (female trio from L.A.), Gratitude ("emo & power pop collide") and Be Your Own Pet (Nashville teenage garage pop). Sounds like some bands right up my alley! Actually looking forward to hearing these bands.
Pop on!
John
n.p. The So & So's - Give Me Drama (wish they were playing Dewey Beach again this year - oh well, at least I have the CD to play at my convenience)
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