AccessAtlanta > Music > Music Midtown > Blog > Archives > 2005 > June > 11
Saturday, June 11, 2005
The Killers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How did the Killers get so popular, anyway? What do they do that, say, Franz Ferdinand or the Futureheads don’t do better? Their rock is too soft to feel dangerous, their musicianship is too tame to be exciting, and their act is too cool for its own good.
At the 99X stage, lead singer Brandon Flowers went from sounding like a rock frontman to sounding like a bored lounge act — Dean Martin fronting a slower, less sexy version of the Strokes. Yes, “Mr. Brightsideâ€? is a great pop song, but it’s not enough to hang a career on. Actually, maybe it is — a massive crowd turned up for this stuff, and many people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Well, whatever. They all should’ve been there earlier in the day for Bloc Party, a band that makes better, smarter, more intricate, more rewarding music. Maybe one day.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Miller Lite/99X Stage
Clay Walker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the first few songs of Clay Walker’s set, you might think he’s a direct descendant of fellow Beaumont, Texas native George Jones or, even more to the point, George Strait. A couple of tunes later and he ditches the acoustic guitar and the microphone stand to rock it up with a little bump and grind.
Suddenly, we’re not in Strait-land anymore.
When he gets to a cover of “Sweet Home Alabama,â€? and you can hear where he gets his rock rowdiness. Then he takes on “Play That Funky Musicâ€? and Steve Miller’s “The Jokerâ€? and it’s as clear as a non-Music Midtown weekend where the man’s coming from. Though he has more than enough hits of his own to fill an hour-long set, he’s going to do anything he can to make his audience happy. And that’s what any good festival set should do.
Permalink | | Categories: Hooters/Kicks 101.5 Stage
John Fogerty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just as the Saturday night deluge was winding down, leaving a soaked but intensely dedicated core crowd, John Fogerty had the chance to open his set with one of the greatest rock songs about rain. After all, he’s written two of them.
He opened with “Travelling Manâ€? instead, but got to “Who’ll Stop the Rainâ€? by the third song of his set. The audience sang along enthusiastically with the chorus, many pointing one finger aloft at the wet, gray skies, as if trying to summon some primeval power.
(He got to “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?� later in the set, and man had we ever by that point.)
Forgerty gave the people just what they wanted, all the old hits, played pretty much the way they remember them - “Down on the Corner,â€? “Green River,â€? “Midnight Special,â€? “Lodi,â€? and so on. Even one of his post-Credence songs, “Centerfield,â€? which really wasn’t a huge hit when he released it in the mid ’80s, has been played so much by every baseball team in America that the crowd knew the chorus as well as if it had been “Happy Birthday to You.â€?
No frills, not a great deal of patter, just Fogerty, the hits, a singalong crowd and a tapering off of rain. More than enough. � Phil Kloer
a fir-ju well
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In regard to a fir-ju well’s performance Saturday at Music Midtown, a typical conversation between two audience members might have gone something like this: Dude #1: “Hey, dude. What did you think of a fir-ju well?� Dude #2: “Well, dude, at least the music was interesting.� Even with four vocalists and the use of harmonies, not one member could deliver a decent sound. Someone get these guys singing lessons. And, by calling the music interesting, Dude #2 really meant they were all over the place.
Keane
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“We’re sorry about the rain,” said Keane’s babyfaced, big-voiced frontman, Tom Chapin. “It’s a special gift we brought with us from England.” In truth, the steady rain seemed like a perfect backdrop for the Brit trio’s soaring, sweet melancholy.
The trio can be light-hearted too. “Here’s a glaringly inappropriate song called ‘Sunshine,’ Chapin quipped to the drenched crowd.
The tune everyone was waiting for though was the band’s first US hit, “Somewhere Only We Know.” And, wonder of wonders, the rain stopped for the first time during the entire set. The respite lasted just as long as the song. By the time the band started the gorgeous final tune, “The Last Time,” the rain had returned.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Best Buy/99X Locals Only Stage
Boyz N Da Hood
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The rap troupe Boyz N Da Hood has a trick: splitting the difference between Atlanta’s hard-hitting crunk music and the slow, swerving “screwedâ€? sound from Houston. The resulting hybrid drove Saturday’s crowd bananas, causing at least one swirling mosh pit near the stage. The waving hands, the throbbing bodies, the heavy music — it made for a scene akin to last year’s absurdly exciting Lil Jon show at this same location. Word from the stage was that the group would drop its record June 21. Don’t be surprised if the thing goes massive.
Permalink | | Categories: Coca-Cola/Verizon Wireless/Hot 107.9/Fox 5 Stage
Robert Randolph & the Family Band
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Every year, Music Midtown throws up a few unexpected musical moments, and pedal steel guitarist Robert Randoph offered one Saturday when he launched into a bluesy, jam-band-inflected “Billie Jean.” He made no comment pro, con or otherwise about the song’s creator, Michael Jackson, awaiting a jury’s verdict on his future this weekend. The scene was made even stranger as it took place in a steady downpour, so from the back of the crowd, it looked like a bunch of multicolored poncho hoods bobbing and bouncing along to the music.
“There’s nothing like rockin’ in the rain — can I get a witness?” he called to the throng, rain glistening on his face under a black doo-rag.
Randoph is one of those musicians known to people who care about music, unknown to those who only follow commercial radio and MTV. He plays pedal steel guitar, normally a back-up instrument in country, only he plays it in a searing blues/soul style reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix, with some of the physical antics of Jerry Lee Lewis in his heyday thrown in when he gets going. And Randolph and his four-man Family Band got going from the beginning, laying down grooves so deep you could get lost in them.
For the closer, the original “Nobody,” he did a trick he loves to do at live shows where the band switches instruments several times. And when Randolph attacked the drums, his grin was so big he seemed to be having more fun than everyone else at Music Midtown put together.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Ford/Best Buy/96 Rock/UPN Atlanta Stage
Darryl Worley
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No matter how hard Darryl Worley tries, he’ll never claw his way into country music’s pantheon. At least not with the B-grade collection of songs he brought to Music Midtown.
Worley is the kind of guy who will always find himself in a midday festival time slot. His image — that of a country boy who has done some crazy things in his life yet still had parents who instilled in him a love for America and respect for God — is nothing country music hasn’t already seen.
And while there is nothing wrong with it, if it’s all the Nashville artist plans to offer, he should start writing songs original enough to make him stand out from the pack.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Hooters/Kicks 101.5 Stage
Slim Thug
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
H-Town, welcome to A-Town.
Houston rapper Slim Thug — a lanky, dreadlocked former MC wearing a cap slightly askew with an “H” embossed on it — received a warm welcome from a soaked Atlanta crowd. He quickly swept through a 25-minute set that included big songs “Like a Boss” and “Ain’t Heard of That.”
He’s had radio hits floating around for almost a year, but his long-delayed debut release, dubbed “Almost Platinum,” finally comes out July 12 under the Neptunes’ Star Trak label. Powerful producer Pharrell Williams provides Slim Thug a solid platform for his slow-down music, backed by powerful bass beats, distinctive from the Atlanta sound. The pace works great for lounging by the pool — if not in the rain.
“It’s raining like the [expletive], but you’re still partying!” Slim Thug yelled.
Permalink | | Categories: Coca-Cola/Verizon Wireless/Hot 107.9/Fox 5 Stage
Bloc Party
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A soft, diagonal rain fell from an overcast sky during this British post-punk quartet’s set, which was somehow appropriate. After all, Bloc Party’s music has a certain gray sensibility, something like the mopey parts of Blur crossed with the twitchy parts of the Cure. As on their excellent album “Silent Alarm,” the band’s two electric guitars rang and clanged. And secret weapon drummer Matt Tong propelled the action forward with intricate, halting beats.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Miller Lite/99X Stage
American Minor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This babyfaced Southern rock quintet looks like something out of “Almost Famous,” and sounds like a contemporary garage band obsessed with Lynyrd Skynyrd. The West Virginia group’s set of retro rock found them not as tuneful as the Black Crowes, as jammy as the Allmans, as weighty as the Drive-By Truckers or as tight as the Kings of Leon. They were somewhere in the middle—a vaguely sludgy band that aimed to bowl you over rather than cut you to pieces.
Permalink | | Categories: Ford/Best Buy/96 Rock/UPN Atlanta Stage
Mofro
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If Mofro frontman John Grey is a prophet of love, the human race is doomed. According to Grey, “The war between men and women is the greatest war in humanity.”
While this grandiose statement might seem like the kind of remark to preface a great discourse about human nature, what it boiled down to was that men know nothing about women.
Grey dispersed these such nuggets of wisdom during the breakdowns of the band’s spastic jazz/bluegrass fusions. While all of his ramblings about crackheads and love may not have been coherent, at least his music was. Mofro’s organ jams were jazzy enough to scat along to and funky enough to tear the roof off the sucker.
Permalink | | Categories: Ford/Best Buy/96 Rock/UPN Atlanta Stage
Louis XIV
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Louis XIV demonstrated Saturday afternoon that they have all the rock-star tricks down pat.
Sunglasses — even though it was overcast — to camouflage the bedroom eyes the singer surely was making at the girls in the crowd. Chic black ensembles to complement the ultra-glam eyeliner and rocker mullets the band members were sporting. And plenty of hip-swiveling, strutting and stomping, punctuated by high-flying kicks.
Oh yeah — there was music, too. Image seems to come first for the Californians with the stylish faux-Brit affectations, but the tunes measured up nicely. The swaggering horndog lyrics of “Finding Out True Love is Blind” and “Illegal Tender” created a salacious intensity when matched onstage with punky head-bobbing beats and grinding New Wave guitar crescendos. Louis XIV keeps their songs short, raunchy and rocking. Although in honor of their trip to the South, they did throw in an extended jam that sounded like what might happen if Lynyrd Skynyrd and David Bowie had a drunken jam session at CBGB’s.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Miller Lite/99X Stage
The Wrights
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The sky looked threatening, but the Atlanta husband-and-wife duo Shannon and Adam Wright were as comforting and welcome as a sunny spring day.
As the first performers of the day on the Kicks 101.5 stage, they suffered through a sparse crowd and a few sound issues. On the windblown set’s second song, “Butterflies,” the large screen at the back of the stage caught a close-up of Shannon mouthing to the back of the stage, “I have no vocal.” Presumably, what she meant was that she couldn’t hear herself in the monitors. That’s a nightmare for a singer. By the time they got to the bluesy shuffle of the troubled-marriage ditty “On the Rocks,” things were looking up in the sound department. It was obvious that Shannon could hear herself just fine when she delivered a clear, powerful vocal on a cover of KT Oslin’s “Do You Still Think of Me.”
The Wrights’ spine-tingling blend rang out strong on ““Hard Time,” dimming the rock ‘n’ roll din of American Minor coming from the nearby 96 Rock stage. The sparse crowd got just a small measure of what this twosome can do. If enough folks can hear their fine debut, “Down This Road,” maybe they’ll score a better spot on the bill next time around.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Hooters/Kicks 101.5 Stage
White Stripes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Related
- gallery: More White Stripes concert photos
Say this for the White Stripes: You’d be hard pressed to find another two musicians who can consume the vast concrete expanse in front of the 99X stage.
But that’s what Jack and Meg White did during their headlining set Friday night.
Swallowed it whole.
Oh, and while you’re talking about the blues-rock duo and its first outing since the release of its latest CD, “Get Behind Me Satan,” you might as well add that it wasn’t really a singalong either.
The approximately 90-minute set was more spectacle than anything. Watch Jack work the guitar like a weapon. Then the xylophone. Then the sitar. All while Meg gives it to the drums like the kit had stolen from her.
Then â€â€? oh, yeah â€â€? during the encore, the familiar seven-note guitar tug of “Seven Nation Army” filled the expanse and most of the crowd finally picked up its air guitars in recognition.
Permalink | Comments (22) | Categories: Miller Lite/99X Stage
Counting Crows
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While Counting Crows fans are accustomed to moody sentiment about rain and lost love, lead singer Adam Duritz had more weighing on him Friday night.
With a catch in his throat and rain beating on his face, Duritz told the crowd, “Just before we came out here gonight, I received a phone call telling me that one of my best friends had a heart attack and died today.”
At the time of the disclosure, the Crows were in the middle of a medley of “Rain King” and “Pale, Blue Eyes.” Duritz took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes and clung to a microphone stand for support. From across the way, sound bleed from Keith Urban’s Down Under honkytonk set threatened to drown out Duritz’s words. For a moment or two, the crowd of Crows fans who were shelling out $5 a can for beer lost their buzz.
But the mood lightened some. While the Crows resisted playing their Oscar-nominated, feel-good “Shrek 2” hit, “Accidentally in Love,” fans did have a chance to sing along to “Mr. Jones.”
Permalink | | Categories: Ford/Best Buy/96 Rock/UPN Atlanta Stage
Keith Urban
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Proof of Keith Urban’s pin-up status came when, during set opener “Days Go By,â€? a cameraman caught a sign that read “Thank God for Bob and Marienne for having you.â€? These fans even know the names (and correct spellings!) of the man’s mom and dad. His 70-minute show was slick, energetic and immaculately played. His country is mixed with a hefty dose of rock. There were considerable opportunities for the Australian heartthrob to display his considerable guitar prowess. The guy’s a natural showman, working the entire stage during his hit-packed set, with microphones stationed stage left, right and center. His rock tendencies came through loud and clear with a snippet of U2’s “Beautiful Day,â€? followed by Tom Petty’s “Free Falling.â€? The latter got a little bogged down by an audience participation element that went on too long, but he brought it back up to par with a high-energy take on one of his hookiest hits, “Somebody Like You.â€?
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: Hooters/Kicks 101.5 Stage
