Live Review: Jimmy Eat World @ Center Stage, September 21

For Atlanta Music Guide:



(Photo courtesy of Luca)

Live Review: Jimmy Eat World at Center Stage, September 21

As unseasonably hot inside the venue as the month of September has been outside, Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins took the stage and within a song had soaked through more than half of his shirt. Before long, the sweat started flying off the tips of his hair, and coupled with epic smoke-machine-meets-stage-lights effects, it felt like the pure essence of rock ‘n’ roll...[Read more]

Live Review: The National @ The Tabernacle 5/27/09

Photo taken by either myself or Sara Miller at Langerado 2008.

All I could think the whole time was, "This is my natural habitat." There's a certain kind of joy to be found in going to see The National play. It was the second time for me; the first was at Langerado last year when I was an intern at Paste. I (painstakingly) blogged this review of it for PasteMagazine.com at the time, and I remember the evening as being one of the happiest I've had-- not just because of the great shows (Of Montreal immediately preceded The National), but also thanks to good company and unexpectedly free hamburgers.

Though much closer to home, the venue for this show was no less romantic, and the band seemed equally comfortable in the Tabernacle's beautiful, welcoming environment. The crowd was appreciative, the chandelier glowed pleasantly from the ceiling and absolutely everything just seemed to glitter. If only all concert-going could be like this.

Here's the review, for Atlanta Music Guide:

Live Review: The National @ The Tabernacle, May 27

It began with "Runaway." The nine-member incarnation of The National, complete with three horn players and a keyboardist, began the set with a new, mesmerizing, post-Boxer song. Poignant and compelling even on the first go-around, everyone listened with rapt attention. Then, like one communal exhale, guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner launched into the opening riffs of "Start A War" and the place erupted. It wasn't the during-intro cheers that marked the change, it was that the baritone notes that spilled out of Matt Berninger as he clutched his microphone like a lifeline were now veiled in a delicate tenor and soprano cloak as thousands sang along with him. Our song shimmered in the background like the tinsel curtain behind the band itself...[Read more]

Live Review: Starfucker @ Drunken Unicorn, 4/25/09

For Atlanta Music Guide:

Live Review: Starfucker @ Drunken Unicorn, April 24


After two-piece Guidance Counselor, who shared drummer Keil Corcoran with the headliners, played to a moderate Saturday night crowd, the aforementioned headliners took the stage without all the attention-grubbing, social climbing behavior their band’s name might suggest. Leaving affectation at the door, Portland quartet Starfucker humbly launched into a mixture of tracks from their self-titled debut and from their forthcoming eight-song record Jupiter, out next month via Badman Recording Co.

Starfucker plays pop, the kind that relies heavily on synthesizer melodies, dance hall beats, bouncing guitar hooks and Josh Hodges’ breathy vocals, and the Unicorn was absolutely full of all of it. Though certainly not the only song with a transcendent, shiny dance vibe to it, the standout of the night had to be “Laadeedaa,” from Starfucker. It features a repetitive guitar riff that’s got a frantic, too-quick quality about it, to the point that when I heard the first notes of the song, my curiosity turned toward whether they’d be able to pull it off faithfully live. But pull it off they did (I made sure to watch the guitarist’s fingers to suss out whether the riffs were pre-recorded or not), along with feats from all of their other compositions, all performed enthusiastically to a boogeying audience...[Read more]

[MP3] Starfucker - "Myke Ptsyson"