Rocketown’s Raucous Ruckus, 2/27/10
Rocketown’s Raucous Ruckus, 2/27/10
Erin Manning, The Deli Nashville, http://nashville.thedelimagazine.com/
If anyone was in the mood to do something a little out of the norm on Saturday afternoon, their best option was probably the Seventh Anniversary Party at Rocketown. Not only did this event feature 28 bands of varying origins and genres, but it also offered a dodgeball tournament, and free pizza. (Or at least it seemed like the right thing to do to just take some pizza). Bearing in mind that the main focus of Rocketown is functioning as a regional youth outreach, it could only be assumed that the audience was going to be a younger one. And indeed, it was. One would have thought that the Jonas Brothers were playing at the Sommet Center, what with the hundreds—more like thousands—of kids and teens, teeming through the streets of downtown. But the throngs were formed by skaters, gutter punks, metal fans, and all-around music lovers, (and let’s just say there wasn’t a single pair of wide-leg or flare jeans spotted in a 3 mile radius of Rocketown), so a Disney artist was out of the question.
The celebration was definitely a cultural eye-opener, especially for a 20-something that doesn’t know much about teens, skateboarding, or Nashville’s metal community. All of the kids were dressed way cooler than the kids most of us remember from our middle/high school days, and they also seemed unusually comfortable around violent dancing/moshing/diving, and listening to music that they weren’t familiar with, or that wasn’t necessarily the “cool” thing to be listening to. (Let’s be honest—these kids are going to make up the Infinity Cat crowd when they graduate from high school, so going to this party was merely preparation for the future). What stood out the most about the Rocketown youths was the overall sense of support and excitement for the music. It was extremely refreshing to see passionate musicians being rewarded for their efforts for once, by audience participation, and a mutual artist/audience attitude of appreciation, interest, and camaraderie. At a typical Nashville indie rock show at an 18+ or 21+ venue, it’s uncommon to see friends and fans that are dedicated enough to do things like carry around large signs for hours, advertising upcoming sets from their favorite bands, and actually have fun and enjoy what they’re doing. If only the older show-goers would follow the example of Saturday’s crowd, and play the part of the open-minded, fanatical, supportive music fan. (Perhaps Nashville local musicians would actually make some money playing shows). This was one of the more appealing things about the day, because who doesn’t appreciate kids being able to hang out in a healthy, safe environment, and enjoy quality music?
And as far as the music goes, Social Jet Lag, Gnarwhal, and some other bigger name metal bands seemed to get the most hype for the evening shows, but the two standout performances were from Kiddo and Flashbulb Fires. Kiddo, (formerly known as Out of Order), was a punk trio that put on an unexpectedly awesome show, considering that all the boys were in middle school. Their setup was extremely tight, blending sounds from the likes of The Ramones, Alice Cooper, and The Clash. It was obvious that they had been playing together for several years, AANNDD they were legitimately entertaining to watch. Kiddo was a double whammy. Front man/guitarist, Greyson Anderson, looked like a mix between the prepubescent Scotty Farkus from “A Christmas Story,” and Sid Vicious, what with his coon-skin cap and erratic stage energy. (Unrelated side note: the bassist, Jimmy Grogan, was the doppelganger of Wailin’ Canes member, Kyle Whalum). This performance also served as the release show of their first EP, “Roadkill Whiskey,” and while they don’t have any upcoming performances, Kiddo is definitely a band to be on the lookout for in the next few years. Unless they all get fake I.D.’s and start playing shows at The End.
Flashbulb Fires was a touring band from Denver, combining electro-folky synths and guitars with the pretty voice of lead singer, Patrick McGuire. Their sound was somewhere along the lines of a less whiny Death Cab, with the ethereal layering and melancholy feel of Broken Social Scene. The creativity that was put into the instrumentation of their songs deserved an honorable mention; the drummer and the guitarist both had glockenspiels, and the guitarist had also fashioned some additional percussive instruments out of trash can lids. “Foot stompers,” is probably an appropriate name for them. They won’t be returning to Nashville on their current tour, but after seeing their performance, they’re worth checking out. In fact, the entire celebration on Saturday was well worth checking out. Hats off to the employees and volunteers at Rocketown for putting on such a well-organized and enjoyable day of shows. Congratulations on seven years of bad-assedness.
Review by: Erin Manning, The Deli Magazine-Nashville
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