Blog Archives

July 19, 2012

Slack Fest 2012: “Exactly how I want it to be”

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Hobosexual The Moondoggies Zoe Muth Hounds of the Wild Hunt Slack Fest
Slack fest closes with the Moondoggies

Slack Fest closes with the Moondoggies ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

More. Faster. Harder. Coachella understands America’s on a perpetual ADHD thrill ride and this week added another climb and dive on the roller-coaster by announcing a cruise to go along with their now two-weekend festival. By comparison, with just one stage situated on a flatbed plopped in the middle of a racetrack out in podunk rural Washington, the modest one-day Slack Fest hardly seems recognizable as a music festival. Then again, I’d go for the leisurely pace and lengthy sandbar for swimming between bands any day. And I’m not the only one.

Overheard at Slack Fest:

“My Cheeks hurt so much from smiling!” – One Enthusiastic Two-Stepper taking a breather

“For me, this was my favorite Slack Fest.” – A Slack Fest Veteran

“Exactly how I want it to be.” – A friend who comes back decrying nearly every festival experience

Once again fest namesake Don Slack helped build a lineup true to his tastes, one that’s diverse, locally current, and also entertaining. Country Lips both on stage and by the bonfire distinguished themselves as energetic performers. Zoe Muth, on the cusp of releasing her new EP, counterpointed their eager delivery with her own lonesome lilt, both bands giving honky-tonk a high profile at the fest this year. Slack is a black t-shirt wearing rocker at heart though, which the rest of the line-up favored.

The (not actual) Rolling Stones pulled everyone in from the tents and river for their tribute set, drawing the largest audience of the afternoon. The Wayfinders touched down from phantasy land for an hour bringing tales of dragons and such, sounding as weird and good as on record. Closing out the stage Saturday the Moondoggies played what in a certain co-editor of this site’s estimation was her favorite set of theirs, ever. Having seen countless sets from these Everett road dogs in every setting imaginable, this is saying something.

Just an hour north of Seattle the fest is close enough to drive home, so many folks do; but camping really is part of the fun too, particularly if you were among the Slackers taking part in killing the kegs feeding the bottomless keg cups by late afternoon. (Hilliards is good beer.) This year’s after-hours experiences included: watching the lighting of the bonfire with a flame thrower. Twice. Meeting very nice people people in the dark I’d only recognize by voice in the morning. Finding more beer in my cooler than when I’d left it two hours before. Eating a 12.30 bowl of Kraft Macacroni and Cheese for the first time in probably a decade out of the back of a friendly VW Vanagon.

Slack Fest was a welcome break from worrying about missing something or competing for space with an inconsiderate crowd. To just hang, roam, enjoy music and swim with buds without the need of an app, an RFID bracelet to get through layers of security, or even a clock felt novel. In my ideal world, it wouldn’t be.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Dancing to Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers

Dancing to Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Kevin Murphy and Don Slack

The Moondoggies’ Kevin Murphy and Don Slack ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

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December 31, 2010

2011 is Full of Potential

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Beat Connection Campfire OK Dan Mangan Drew Grow & The Pastor’s Wives Land of Pines Lemolo Macklemore Macklemore & Ryan Lewis My Goodness Shabazz Palaces The Head and the Heart The Lonely Forest Zoe Muth
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Lemolo at Conor Byrne ::: Photo Josh Lovseth

In nearly every conversation I’ve been having lately, there’s been a reoccurring theme: that something is happening in the Seattle scene, across genres, and that a certain energy exists right now locally in a way not seen for years if not decades. This energy seems to have gathered independently in nearly all of the successful sub-genres in Seattle, but also across and within the larger community that supports the Seattle music scene.

For those outside of Seattle, thanks to the likes of Shabazz Palaces, THEESatisfaction and Macklemore, 206 hip hop has been getting national recognition in 2010, and we expect it will continue to do so in 2011 in part thanks to this marked diversity. The Lonely Forest, with the help of Chris Walla turned in a stellar EP that begs the question, if those were all album b-sides, how good is that full length in March going to sound? The band with the most people talking in Seattle in 2010 was (no surprise) the Head and the Heart, and we’ve no reason to believe that electricity isn’t going to translate on a national and international level in 2011.

From a local perspective, the energy on display also emanates from the more general creative musical M.O. that Seattle’s been fostering. While Seattle may be known across the world for Cobain and Vedder, the current batch of musicians aren’t cognizant of any expectation toward filling their shoes, and instead seem to relish building something as unique as possible for themselves. And aside from a creative standpoint, the young guns in town are building new self-supporting scenes of their own that will endure beyond the interest of the latest single. Truckasaurus and Head Like a Kite have welcomed all kinds of collaboration this year, and on both counts local hip hop rose to the challenge. The Campfire OK, Artists Home and Bombs over Bellevue families are all actively feeding back within their own groups and producing their own narrative of what will be the next thing. A walk down to Conor Byrne open Mic on Sunday night will reveal the scene in live action motion before your eyes, some of our area’s best songwriters out on the sidewalk nervously practicing and performing songs they’ve just written yesterday.

Though the likes of My Goodness, Hobosexual, and Unnatural Helpers can still give Seattle the claim of being the hotbed of rock n’ roll that it longs to retain, nowadays Seattle could just as easily brand itself a town of folk, modern rock, hip hop and or Americana. Outsider rock gained momentum here because that kind of unbridled creativity and feedback had the freedom to happen and thrive here, and now we’re seeing those values manifest on a larger scale two decades later. Above any reputation begotten of a vaunted time, that feedback is what makes the larger Seattle scene special.

Below you’ll find a list of the local bands who we think will be making the biggest impact on a local and/or national level in 2011, in no particular order. Ten come out of Seattle, in addition to one from each of the larger metropolis’ to the north and south.

 

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July 1, 2010

Tomorrow! Sound on the Sound Presents the Maldives at the Columbia City Theater

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Zoe Muth The Maldives Sound on the Sound Presents
columbiatheatersotsposter

 

It’s here! It’s finally here! Since February, we’ve been eagerly awaiting the day we could fling the door open and invite you to join us in celebrating the Seattle’s newest old venue, Columbia City Theater and our partnership with them.

Tomorrow you can see for yourself just why we think Columbia City Theater is on its way to becoming one of Seattle’s most beloved venues and get your first glimpse at where we’ll be hosting monthly Sound on the Sound sponsored showcases. And of course, then there’s the real attraction: a FREE show featuring two of Seattle’s best bands and one of our very favorite pairings, The Maldives and Zoe Muth and Her Lost High Rollers. We’ve seen these guys share the stage a few times and each time has been better than the last, so we’re eager to see just what kind of honky tonk heaven they’ll deliver us to tomorrow.

So put on your party flannel and groom your summer beard, because we’re bringing a little bit of Old Ballard Avenue to Rainier Avenue for the night and we’re hoping you’ll all join us. It’s going to be a night of drinking, dancing, singing and celebrating … and if you have yet to see the Theater, a night of jaw-dropped discovery. We can’t wait to cheers a can of Vitamin R with you all to the success of Columbia City Theater, the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Sound on the Sound and what’s sure to be a great night of local music.

 

 

 

 

January 21, 2010

Sound on the Sound Presented: The Maldives at the Blue Moon

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The Maldives Zoe Muth People Eating People Blue Moon Tavern Sound on the Sound Presents

The Maldives at the Blue Moon ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

It’s fair to say we were tempting fate by trying to sneak The Maldives, one of the biggest bands in Seattle (both literally and figuratively), onto one of the city’s smallest and crustiest rock stages. Don Slack, host of KEXP’s Americana show, Swinging Doors dropped hints on his show heavily. Various other bloggers who were in-the-know made only lightly veiled references to a band that matched the secret headliner’s unmistakable description. Really all anyone really had to do was Google their alias “JD & the Schmidty Boys” and the answer would have been obvious. But we did it anyway. Come what may. And the night couldn’t have gone any better.

Opener People Eating People had her own contingent of super fans, ready to stand up at the very front of the stage and set the tone for the crowd from song one. Nouela Johnston sings as if pulling from a deep well of internal conflict and the sheer force of her emotion, accented by a piano she’s been playing for decades, can leave one feeling just as palpably overwhelmed as she must have been when committing these songs to paper. As soon as Nouela finished her set, a line of impressed audience members snaked to buy her debut CD.

If People Eating People is bold, Zoe Muth & the Lost High Rollers on the other hand, traffics in a more subtle expression of heartbreak and hardship. And the audience was enamored of  every moment, with plenty of appropriate (and some inappropriate) hooting and whistling in appreciation of her long set and her ace accompaniment on mandolin and pedal steel. Zoe took the opportunity to play a full hour and I don’t think a soul left the packed room while it was going on. Since the headliner was a secret, I’d venture to say most of the people who Sound on the Sound didn’t know personally were filling the very packed Blue Moon for Zoe Muth and her Lost High Rollers.

The Maldives didn’t get started until after midnight and, considering they were playing the next night in Portland (and the following night in Bellingham) and it was a set that they weren’t commanding their usual fee for, I fully expected it to be a short and sweet. Instead, they played until 1.45am on the demand of a still healthy crowd at last call.  Not a single solo opportunity was abbreviated or missed. I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever seen that many people in the Blue Moon past 1am. Someone else perfectly described the night as having “a special ‘packed in and we don’t want to leave till the sun comes up’ feeling.” For the night’s show, The Maldives were an eight-piece (sans keyboard) and managed to fit on the stage with just enough room for guitarist Jesse Bonn to get some good follow-through with his Gibson whilst rocking out (though he did knock out lead singer Jason Dodson’s guitar cable mid-song). That these gentlemen decided to shut the bar down, playing our dream Maldives set list with huge smiles on their faces,  when nothing of the sort was expected of them, well, I felt the love. Big time.

In a nutshell, this show set the bar for how we hope all Sound on the Sound Presents… shows can go. That we were able to bring onto a single bill three of Seattle’s most exciting up-and-coming  acts is a privilege and a something we’re continually striving for. We’re blessed to be so appreciated by those same bands we write about and for. We were beyond happy to just find them on our beloved historic Blue Moon stage,  but then the bands all went for broke and held nothing back, like they were headlining a sold-out Showbox.  Surrounded by friends, family and readers, embraced by our community and three of our favorite bands on stage… These moments remind us why we’re doing what we do and how worth all the time and effort we put forth is. I, at least, have got a bounce in my step because of last Friday night, and I suspect it’ll be there for a good while.

Thank you Maldives. Thank you Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers. And Thank you Nouela and Brian. I’ve got a feeling 2010 is going to be a big year for all of you. We can’t wait to share it with you and our readers.

people eating people

People Eating People ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Zoe Muth ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Country Dave ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

The Maldives ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

The Maldives ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Maldives ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Maldives ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Flickr: The Maldives, Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers, People Eating People at the Blue Moon Tavern, January 15th, 2010

Video: The Maldives, Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers, People Eating People at the Blue Moon Tavern, January 15th, 2010

January 18, 2010

The Round 56

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The Maldives The Moondoggies Zoe Muth Fremont Abbey The Round

Kevin and Jason ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Last Tuesday the 56th edition of The Round packed the Fremont Abbey to the gills, featuring some of Seattle’s foremost poets, a painter working throughout the night, and for this Round, three of the more notable names out of our area’s burgeoning Americana-slash-Country scene. The Moondoggies Kevin Murphy and the Maldives Jason Dodson guested on each others songs and after the intermission they jointly played medley of songs from a side-project they’ve been fronting called Cosmic Panther Land Band (see the video below). Zoe Muth brought along her mandolin player Ethan, who took the opportunity to guest on just about every song of the night.

Other than the Cosmic Panther Land Band material, my favorite group of the songs night from the night came from the Moondoggies Murphy. He played two new songs he said were just recorded for the next Moondoggies LP, including a stunning rendition of “Empress of the North” to start off the night. My favorite song of the night I don’t think I’d heard before and he intro’d it by saying “I don’t know if I’m ever going to doing anything with this song. But it exists.” It began “When you’re young, you think you’re better off…” Please do something with it Kevin. Afterward, Murphy who still get’s a bit wound up before performing in front of people (even after some time now fronting the Moondoggies), said that he was just finding his groove when it was time to end, and was ready to go for another couple hours. I was ready too. If only.

Watch a clip of the Cosmic Panther Land Band medley below the fold. And get thyself to a Round. The next one is a Valentines edition happening on February 13th at the Fremont Abbey, with Benjamin Verdoes of Mt. St. Helens Vietnam band and a string quartet, two painters, and a slam poet.

 

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December 29, 2009

Josh’s Favorite Shows of 2009

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David Bazan Grizzly Bear Hopscotch Boys Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Macklemore Zoe Muth Widower What What Now The Whore Moans Thee Emergency Nurses Pearly Gate Music The Lonely Forest The Maldives The Moondoggies

The Ironclads CD Release Show ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

As a person who goes to grippa shows, it’s a hopeless task to put properly put into any meaningful order the favorite shows they’ve been two beyond saying a few were the very best or stand out as special moments and deserve recognition as such for the annals. So I’ve chosen a list of twenty shows and sets from this year that I’ll never forget, presented in chronological order.

Blind Pilot @ The Triple Door (January 2009) – read the full review

The Murder City Devils first show back at the Showbox at the Market (February 2009) – read the full review

Dan Auerbach at the Showbox at the Market (March 2009) – read the full review

The Ironclads CD Release w/ Hands, Whore Moans, What What Now (April 2009) – read the full review

Blue Moon 75th Anniversary Show w/ High Class Wreckage, Thee Emergency, Hopscotch Boys, and The Whore Moans (April 2009) – read the full review

The Lonely Forest CD Release at the Vera Project (April 2009) – read the full review

Bon Iver at Sasquatch (May 2009) – read the full review

Nurses at the South Pole (DIY venue) (June 2009) – read the full review

David Bazan in a Living Room in Edmonds (June 2009) – read the full review

 

Robin and Josh ::: Photo on Film by Josh Lovseth

Robin Pecknold at Neumos (July 2009) – read the full review

Rural Alberta Advantage at the Sunset Tavern (July 2009) – read the full review

Widower, Pearly Gate Music, Final Spins at Sunset Tavern (July 2009) – read the full review

Doe Bay Fest (August 2009) – read the full review

The Maldives CD Release at the Tractor Tavern w/ The Moondoggies and Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers (August 2009) – read the full review

Macklemore at Bumbershoot (September 2009) – read the full review

Dirty Three at the Crocodile (September 2009) – read the full review

Fanfarlo at Chop Suey (September 2009) – read the full review

Grizzly Bear at the Moore (October 2009) – read the full review

Black Eyes & Neckties Last Show (October 31, 2009) – eulogy never written

Regina Spektor at the Paramount (November 2009) – read the full review

 

Taking in the Bay at Doe Bay Music Fest ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

December 28, 2009

Josh’s Favorite Songs of 2009

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David Bazan Japandroids Grizzly Bear Fresh Espresso Zoe Muth Widower The Maldives The Moondoggies The Ironclads The Cave Singers People Eating People Nurses Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Macklemore

“Eet” by Regina Spektor

Here is my list of thirty songs that dominated my iTunes, the songs that moved me to learn them on guitar, and the songs I will identify with 2009 forever. In no particular order. Though I suppose the top five could be my top five.

“Walkabout” by Atlas Sound + guest Noah Lennox from Logos (Kranky/4AD) Listen: Get mp3 via FADER

“Technicolor” by Nurses from Apple’s Acre (Dead Oceans) Listen: Download mp3 courtesy of Dead Oceans

“Lisztomania” by Phoenix from Wolfgang Amadaeus Phoenix (Glassnote) Listen: Stream at Myspace

“World News” by the Local Natives from Gorilla Manor (Rough Trade/Frenchkiss) Listen: Download a live version via a Daytrotter Session

“Come Monday Morning” by Widower from Widower (self-released) Listen: Stream at Myspace

“At the Cut” by the Cave Singers from Welcome Joy (Matador) Listen: Download mp3 courtesy of Matador Records

“Comets” by Fanfarlo from Fanfarlo (Canvasback Music) Listen: Stream at Fanfarlo.com

“Alamagordo” by the Ironclads from The Space Between the Maps (self-released) Listen: Download MP3 courtesy of the Ironclads

“Young Heart Sparks Fire” by Japandroids from Post-Nothing (Polyvinyl Records) Listen: Download MP3 courtesy of Polyvinyl Records

“Eet” by Regina Spektor from Far (Sire Records) Listen: Watch the Video above, Stream at Myspace

“Walk Away” by The Maldives from Listen to the Thunder (Mt. Fuji Records) Listen: Stream a Video from a KEXP In-Studio

“Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” by Mayer Hawthorne from A Strange Arrangement (Stones Throw Records) Listen: Stream the Video at Vimeo

“Ready, Able” by Grizzly Bear from Vecktamist (Warp Records) Listen: Stream the Video at Youtube

“For Now” by People Eating People from People Eating People (The Control Group) Listen: Stream at Myspace

“Lust for Life” by Girls from Lust for Life (True Panther Sounds/Matador Records) Listen: Download MP3 courtesy of True Panther Sounds/Matador Records | Watch the Video Below

 

“Lust for Life” by Girls (Safe Version)

“Lazerbeams” by Fresh Espresso from Glamour (Out for Stardom) Listen: Stream the Video at Youtube

“The Town” by Macklemore from The Unplanned Mixtape (self-released) Listen: Stream the Video at Youtube

“Otherside” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis from VS. (Sound Records) Listen: Download VS. EP courtesy of Ryan Lewis Productions

“You Only Believe Me When I’m Lying” by Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers from Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers (self-released) Listen: Download MP3 via KEXP Song of the Day

“Stillness is the Move” by the Dirty Projectors from Bitte Orca (Domino Records) Listen: Stream Track via Domino Records

“Magic Mtn” by Arthur & Yu from Don’t Piss into the Fire Sub Pop Singles Club Record Store Day Release and Hardly Art Label Sampler (Sub Pop/Hardly Art) Listen: Download Track at Amazon via Hardly Art

“Let Me Fall” by the Final Spins from THIS IS THEN/THAT WAS NOW (self-released) Listen: Download MP3 via KEXP Song of the Day

“Ed Jackson” by See Me River from The Great Unwashed EP (Aviation Records) Listen: Download MP3 via KEXP Song of the Day

“Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh” by Say Hi from Oohs and Aahs (Barsuk Records) Listen: Download MP3 courtesy of Barsuk Records

“Please Baby Please” by David Bazan from Curse Your Branches (Barsuk Records) Listen: Stream a solo version at youtube

“The Perfect Space” by the Avett Brothers from I and Love and You (Columbia) Listen: Stream via theavettbrothers.com

“What Took So Long” by the Moondoggies (unreleased) Listen: Download a live session version via Luxury Wafers

“Summer of Hate” by Crocodiles from Summer of Hate (Fat Possum Records) Listen: Download MP3 courtesy of Fat Possum Records

“Isabella” by Lands & Peoples from Lands & Peoples EP (self-released) Listen: Stream via Bandcamp

“Norway” by Beach House from Teen Dream (Sub Pop) Listen: Download MP3 courtesy of Sub Pop

December 12, 2009

Our Favorite Photos of 2009: Zoe Muth and The Lost High Rollers

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Zoe Muth Sound on the Sound Presents
zoe

Zoe Muth and The Lost High Rollers ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

Zoe Muth and her Lost High Rollers have come a ways since we  first got a glimpse of them before the band even had a name, some two and half years gone now. In that time Zoe’s grown into her music and her voice, now belting out her tunes with the presence of a sweet throated church-practiced not-so-southern belle. Not just her voice, but the whole package feels vintage country, Loretta Lynn circa Coal Miner’s Daughter. Given the timeless imagery of lead track from her debut album “You Only Believe Me When You’re Lying,” I don’t doubt people will be covering her songs in 50 years time alongside other the country classics.

As it happens both her confident performance and her new record beguiled us immediately, so much so that we eagerly asked her to play the Sound on the Sound Presents show on January 15th at the Blue Moon. And she accepted! (Do I sound like a giddy teen girl? I’m sorry.)

Not only that, but our latest obsession People Eating People has also agreed to be on the bill!

So just to spell it all out:

Sound on the Sound Presents: Josh & Abbey’s 3rd Annual BDAY Show Saturday, January 15th, 2010 at the Blue Moon

A SECRET HEADLINER we can’t mention Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers People Eating People

21+, 10pm, $5

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that once again this year we’ve managed convince a really great band to be our secret headliner. Other than to note that we may have outdone ourselves this time, I can say not a word more. As far as we’re concerned it’s one of January’s unmissable shows with just the two bands we can tell you about.

October 14, 2009

Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers [Album Review]

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Zoe Muth
zoe

 

[Editors Note: With this post Sound on the Sound welcome's our second new writer in a week to the fold. Man-about-Ballard Brady Sprouse offered to commit his opinions on local albums to digital ink for Sound on the Sound, and we graciously accepted. In this first review, he's giving few props to a fellow Ballardian. -josh]

A friend of mine jokingly referred to Zoe Muth and The Lost High Rollers self-titled debut as “the best Emmylou Harris record in the last ten years.” The comparison is easy to make. With a voice as sharp and equally as smooth as Harrisʼ, Muth lets her songwriting style – deftly reinforced by the serious country chops of The Lost High Rollers – create a sound, and record, distinctly her own.

You gotta love that she played some of her earliest gigs at the rough and tumble The Bit Saloon. Among some of the hardest punk and hardcore acts this side of The Funhouse, Zoe was styling her sound with songs like “You Only Believe Me When Iʼm Lying,” full of glossy pedal steel and dusty mountain strings, and “Hey Little Darlinʼ” a swinging folky kind of honky tonk, with equal parts Flying Burrito Brothers and Ira and Charlie Louvin. Together they make a perfect one-two opening to a record that takes you back somewhere in time when country music wasnʼt ruled by pop templates and crossover singles.

Stream: Zoe Muth & the Lost High Rollers – “You Only Believe Me When I’m Lying” Download it via KEXP’s Song of the Day (August 7, 2009)

As it evolves, the album starts to feel like driving an old pickup somewhere in Montana or the deserts of eastern Washington. The sixth song out of twelve is fittingly called “Middle of Nowhere”, which is how it sounds. A loping mosey of a song, lamenting that being home can be as far away as being lost in the middle of nowhere. “The Running Kind” with itʼs wispy folkiness and delta dobro, and “Hard Luck Love” and itʼs Cajun accordion create a couplet that keeps the listener moving through the lost times, through lost love, and eventually back home again.

The thing I like most about this record is, simply put, it sounds good in a bar. Itʼs the kind of thing you want to hear on a quiet afternoon with a beer and whiskey. Happy or sad, on the road, or two blocks from home.

September 2, 2009

The Maldives at the Tractor Tavern

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The Maldives The Moondoggies Zoe Muth Tractor Tavern

The Maldives ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Over the course of last weekend, what may end up being the last true weekend of summer, a muggy Tractor Tavern celebrated fifteen years of business by hosting three sold out nights in a row headlined by Seattle’s the Maldives, a band who was presenting their first LP to the world that very week. We caught the Friday night show, the second of three, which also featured Zoe Muth & the Lost High Rollers and the Moondoggies. Incidentally the last time we’d been scheduled to catch the Moondoggies and the Maldives perform on a bill together at the Tractor, a snowstorm intervened leaving us stranded across town.

Zoe Muth herself has just released a classic sounding country record, and her live performance impressed me with the ease at which she is with her role and voice. The local writers paying attention to her scene have been raving about her for months and it’s no wonder. For their set the Moondoggies chose a pretty upbeat setlist that kept the done-with-the-work-week crowd busy and hooting, while $5 Dollar Cover Seattle edition director Lynne Shelton rocked out next to the stage, occasionally busting out in an interpretive hand dance to add some flavor to the fun.

Kings for the weekend the Maldives delivered a lengthy set themselves, drawn largely from the upbeat and guitar driven side of their repertoire, favoring the strong lead moments of “Blood Relations” and “The Time is Right Now” to the soft and more romantic cuts. Warming up with the slow burn and epic jam of “Walk Away” the band kept the energy high, highlighting “Tequila Sunday” and “Someday Baby” with a special horn section. As is customary when the band has time to play it, they finished the set with “By the Wind Sailor,” bringing everyone hanging out backstage on-stage with them to harmonize, clap, generally sing along and be merry. A two song encore was even obliged for the late revelers, resulting in a rendition of one those elusive romance driven songs and one of my personal favorite songs from this band, “Cold November.”

Hanging out a bit backstage with the bands in what one person thought was the biggest group they’d ever seen milling about in the back alley of the Tractor, the feel of success was in the air. And for good reason. We asked ourselves with honesty, what other newish local bands would be able sell out the Tractor three nights in a row in such fashion, and we came up empty handed. As closing time came and we were finally booted out, we left with the inescapable feeling that not only were we right about the Maldives and their wide appeal, but that we were more right that we ever imagined.

 

Zoe Muth ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Zoe Muth ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Caleb of the Moondoggies ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Kevin of the Moondoggies ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Jesse ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Kevin ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

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