Kings of Leon’s Surprise Nashville Show
Twenty-four hours before the Nashville show happened no one even knew it would. The day prior, the band’s management quickly rounded up a couple hundred fans online to attend the intimate showcase – a preview of new tracks from Come Around Sundown, due out Oct. 19 in North America and Oct. 18 in the U.K. Besides playing tried-and-true KOL hits “Sex on Fire,” “Use Somebody,” “Closer” and “Notion,” the band trotted out many of their new songs, among them “Radioactive” and “Back Down South.”
Clutching the 1972 ES-325 that Gibson Repair & Restoration rebuilt after he smashed it on-stage in 2009, frontman Caleb Followill apologized to the audience that he’d be playing mostly new songs but asked that they act like they knew the songs because, “It’ll look better on television.” (The event also served as a videotaping for European television network ITV.)
Now that they’ve become international arena rock superstars, this little Nashville show was a rare opportunity for KOL fans to observe the band up-close in a small venue. Their new songs, which pay tribute to the band’s Tennessee roots, sounded beautiful in the setting. Frontman Caleb Followill mopped his face with a towel between songs. Drummer Nathan Followill blew hunks of pink gum into bubbles. Bassist Jared Followill looked pretty, and guitarist Matthew Followill played his guitar with the pick positioned between his teeth. It was like any other Kings of Leon show, except that these weren’t details captured on a Jumbotron but within plain sight. And it turns out; no one had to fake excitement over the new tracks for television’s sake.
Kings of Leon’s surprise hometown show came in the midst of their rigorous touring schedule, which will continue on this fall in the U.S. and into the U.K. this winter. The band recorded Come Around Sundown at Avatar Studios in New York, with the help of their longtime producer and songwriting buddy Angelo Petraglia, who was in attendance at last night’s show.
May 18th, 2010. The Swellers
may 18th, 2010. the swellers, crime in stereo, this time next year, and hawkboy. rocketown. nashville, tennessee.
Review by: Michael Jackson email facebook
hawkboy setlist. ???. ???. ???. pirate blues [as cities burn cover].
this time next year setlist. alex in wonderland. liquid diet. new florence. rise & fall, curtain call. new sensation. sweetest air. silver springs. no bed of broken glass. cheers to a late night.
crime in stereo setlist. xxxx (the first thousand years of solitude). not dead. …but you are vast. animal pharm. type one. i cannot answer you tonight. i am everything i am not. small skeletal. drugwolf. i, stateside.
the swellers setlist. vehicle city. welcome back riders. sleeper. ups and downsizing. bottles. do you feel better yet?. feet first. dirt. 2009. fire away.
—————
crime in stereo and the swellers found their way to nashville, tennessee’s rocketown music venue on the fifth night of their twelve-date co-headlining tour, bringing along tourmates this time next year and the recently-formed hawkboy. i arrived at the venue early (i’d been waiting to see the swellers ever since they played at rocketown’s previous location last november), which meant two things — one, i was amongst the first few inside of the building. and two? the only other people in the building were the staff, the bands, and hayley williams. so essentially, i wound up spending the first thirty minutes hanging out with the swellers and hayley williams. (and by “hanging out,” i do mean leaning against the front desk talking to michael cheng whilst they all hung out a few feet away at the merch area… but i digress!)
opening the night shortly after 7:00pm were hawkboy — the brand new project from cody bonnette & aaron lunsford of the recently-disbanded as cities burn. bonnette (vocals/guitar) & lunsford (drums) played a brief fifteen-minute set, which consisted of — to my knowledge — three originals and a closing cover of their former band’s “pirate blues.” unfortunately, i never got around to checking out as cities burn, so i’m not in the position to compare; i have read, however, that the band progressed from a screaming-vocals/post-hardcore sound into a clean-vocals/indie rock sound, and bonnette/lunsford appear to be staying true to that as they move forward with hawkboy. an impressive showing for their one-off appearance on the tour (they currently reside in nashville), and i look forward to hearing more from them as time progresses.
“we want to be five genuine kids who play good pop-punk. that’s all we’ve ever wanted to be,” is the calling card of walnut creek, california’s this time next year, whose nine-song set proved to be exactly that: good pop-punk. despite a relatively small crowd, the five-piece certainly didn’t lack energy, packing a punch with their thirty-minute set fit for a new found glory-sized turnout. (or the movielife, from whom the band’s name is derived.) frontman pete dowdalls bounced vocals with guitarist brad wiseman, as the band — including guitarist denis cohen, bassist tony allio, and drummer robbie coran — played through a majority of their 2009 equal vision debut full-length, road maps and heart attacks, as well as a couple of throwbacks (“sweetest air” and “silver springs,” each from 2007’s self-released a place for you). this time next year don’t quite deliver anything the genre has yet to see, but the set was nonetheless a solid collection of good pop-punk songs.
i was unfamiliar with the work of crime in stereo until the announcement that they’d be co-headlining this tour; i spent the weeks ahead digging into their two latest full-lengths, i was trying to describe you to someone and is dead. and come to find out… crime in stereo is incredible. “incredible,” as in: if this is the new face of hardcore, i’m in. all the way. so it was no surprise that by the time they took the stage, the crowd had nearly tripled — and rightfully so. the long island, new york quintet delivered their unique brand of progressive, punk-infused post-hardcore with an amazing ten-song set, comprised of songs from 2010’s i was trying to describe you to someone and 2007’s is dead, as well as a set-closer reaching back to 2006’s the troubled stateside (“i, stateside”). their music is unpredictable, riding up & down feverishly, but all of the twists & turns ultimately come together for a cohesive, raw, and impassioned live performance. fronted by the rugged vocals of kristian hallbert. alex dunne (vocals/guitar), eric kuster (guitar), gary cioni (bass), and scotty giffin (drums) round out the bridge nine five-piece, who wrapped up their set at the thirty-four minute mark. i looked over crime in stereo for years; take my advice, and take a listen while you can. get ahold of i was trying to describe you to someone, get ahold of is dead, and perhaps more important that anything, get to a live performace. absolutely incredible.
and finally! after six long months, it was the nashville return of the best band in punk today — the swellers. the crowd had dwindled down after coming to see crime in stereo (such a complete shame), but the swellers — having spent recent months on much larger tours with the likes of motion city soundtrack and labelmates paramore — still played to the remaining few like it was their last show ever. banter was kept to a minimum, and the band packed as much as they could into their thirty-five minute set. the flint, michigan four-piece — brothers nick (lead vocals/guitar) & jonathan (backing vocals/drums) diener, ryan collins (guitar), and anto “the hitman” boros (bass) — pulled out a surprise immediately with opener “vehicle city,” a personal favorite of mine from 2007’s my everest. a trio of songs from 2009’s ups and downsizing — “welcome back riders” (the song that introduced me to the band), “sleeper” and its title track, “ups and downsizing” — followed, before the band checked back to 2007 with live staple “bottles.” “do you feel better yet?” preceded the epic “feet first,” whose anti-suicide sentiments were capped off with the equally-epic “whoa oh oh, whoa!” outro. “dirt,” the excellent “2009” (i’d been waiting forever to scream “this is my holiday!”), and “fire away” closed out the ten-song set. and i’m pretty sure i’ve never shouted along that much at a concert. “cathartic” would be the word here. i said it once, i’ll say it again: the swellers are the best band in punk today, and that set proved why. i waited six months for those thirty-five minutes, and i couldn’t have been more stoked on what i got out of them.
pick up the swellers’ ups and downsizing, their 2009 debut for fueled by ramen; top-to-bottom, one of my favorite albums ever, and easily one of the best of last year. do the same for 2007’s my everest, as well as 2005’s beginning of the end again (which i finally got ahold of at the show). and somebody find me a physical copy of end of discussion!
april 30th, 2010
april 30th, 2010. pujol, stan vs. wild, apathyedge, average age statue, the man in the moon, and debi burnett & the agape band. rocketown. nashville, tennessee.
Review by: Michael Jackson email facebook
debi burnett & the agape band setlist. you won’t relent [misty edwards cover]. give me your eyes [brandon heath cover]. by your side [tenth avenue north cover]. revelation song [phillips, craig & dean cover].
the man in the moon setlist. intro: we had voices. arrival on a higher plane (outta body). hit single. no party (new best friend). song for alexa. soil, soil. asleep in the field. postcards [an horse cover]. the deepest dream.
average age statue setlist. house of sisters. she was dancing for no other reason than to move. my wandering boy. electric zoos.
apathyedge setlist. the chance. damned if i do ya (damned if i don’t) [all time low cover]. crazy. tell me something. catch me if you can. home sweet home.
stan vs. wild setlist. take a deep breath. jack be nimble. sweet nightmares. bullfrogs. light years.
pujol setlist. black rabbit. endless mike. deathmask. mission from god. point of view. butterfly knife. too safe.
—————
as i’m writing this, the sixth avenue location of rocketown is offically no more. dead. gone. history. torn down earlier this afternoon, making way for the forthcoming nashville convention center. a “screw the convention center!” would be appropriate here, but the initial shock has worn off, leaving me intrigued about the whole rocketown situation.
and, hey. come to find out… rocketown is still rocketown. even at a new building. april thirtieth proved such, as the brand new level one opened its doors on fifth avenue (one street down from its previous location) for a genre-clashing showcase of local nashville talent.
the building’s first performance came from none other than rocketown staffer (& quite possibly the nicest woman alive) debi burnett (http://www.myspace.com/debiburnettmusic), whose five-member agape band joined her for a set of contemporary christian covers. selecting songs to represent “the mission statement of rocketown,” the band’s opening set consisted of four solid covers, including a closer number of “revelation song.”
my good friend michael cheng took to the stage next, playing under the moniker the man in the moon (http://www.myspace.com/themaninthemoonmusic). consider me a bit biased, but cheng killed it; i’d waited nearly a year for my second man in the moon set, and the wait was well worth it. his hiding in the dark ep was represented with “arrival on a higher plane (outta body),” “asleep in the field,” and the ever-popular “no party (new best friend),” and even the explosions and experiments ep saw the light of day, with set-closer “the deepest dream.” the recently-released “hit single” found its way into the set earlier on, as well as a cover of an horse’s “postcards;” but standing out amongst the crowd was “song for alexa,” cheng’s ode to alexa zöe sullivant, which saw cheng invite sullivant onstage for the greatest serenade i’ve ever seen in my life. jake davis would be proud.
average age statue (http://www.myspace.com/averageagestatue) followed with their second rocketown performance — plugged in this time around, as opposed to their debut at rocketown unplugged three. their four-song, half-hour set kicked off with live staples “house of sisters” and “she was dancing for no other reason than to move,” before the ten-minute epic “my wandering boy” took over. and by the time “electric zoos” had closed out the set, average age statue had impressed both the audience (marking the first known average age mosh pit) and the venue’s staff (and i quote, via twitter: “first time actually listening to @aastatue. wow.”) the band’s best performance to date? it’d be hard to argue.
electronic/power-pop outfit apathyedge (http://www.myspace.com/apathyedge) graced the stage at 8:00pm, off-brand-juices in tow. the six-song set included a cover of all time low’s “damned if i do ya (damned if i don’t),” in addition to five original cuts. highlight of the performance? the inclusion of an old-school gameboy in set-closer “home sweet home.” heyoooooo!
stan vs. wild (http://www.myspace.com/stanvswild) caught my attention before the show with their merch (handmade tie-dye shirts!), but it was their live performance that sealed the deal. frontman tom markham’s vocals struck me as strangely intriguing, but it’s the musicianship — of guitarist markham, guitarist ford garrard, bassist carter callaway, and drummer john wyse — that carries the weight of stan vs. wild. “take a deep breath,” “jack be nimble,” “sweet nightmares,” and “light years” each delivered, with personal favorite “bullfrogs” standing out, resulting in a considerably impressive half-hour set.
and who more fitting than pujol (http://www.myspace.com/danielluccapujol) to headline? despite forgotten instruments & technical difficulties, the band (& the art of hula hooping!) prevailed, closing out the evening with seven down-in-the-dirt originals. vocalist/guitarist daniel pujol, guitarist sean thompson, bassist joey scala, and drummer greg meredith opened with “black rabbit,” and spent the next half-hour proving that — despite living in the age of computerized, digitalized, unnaturalized music — the spirit of straight up rock and roll is still very much alive, with cuts like “deathmask,” “mission from god,” “butterfly knife,” and set-closer “too safe.”
the nashville convention center could force rocketown into a cardboard box underneath a bridge, for all i care.* despite a digging claw tearing through the past seven years and leaving them in a pile of debris on sixth avenue, nights like this are proof that the venue’s future is as promising as ever. because regardless of location, rocketown will still be rocketown.
* a cardboard box would be cool and all. but to find out exactly what rocketown has in store, including its temporary/permanent locations, visit http://www.rocketown.com.
The Rocket Summer Review
march 18th, 2010. the rocket summer, parachute musical, have you heard, and half priced hearts. rocketown. nashville, tennessee.
Review by: Michael Jackson email facebook
half priced hearts setlist. taking on the world. always be. sunrise. hollywood disco. us tonight.
have you heard setlist. answers. where you want me. something different. breathe in. your reputation’s safe. never gonna let you go. you’ve got me singing (whoa oh).
parachute musical setlist. hometown. no comfort. leave me. drop me a line. on the ground. here the whole time. one more song. stubborn young manhood.
the rocket summer setlist. hills & valleys. do you feel. save. blackbird [the beatles cover]. break it out. brat pack. maps [yeah yeah yeahs cover]. roses. i need a break… but i’d rather have a breakthrough. walls. cross my heart. so, in this hour…. [encore:] never knew —> around the clock —> the fight [medley]. so much love. light.
A.F.I. Review
march 12th, 2010. a.f.i., the loved ones, and scarlet grey. rocketown. nashville, tennessee.
Review by: Michael Jackson email facebook
scarlet grey setlist. business colors. violent like vanilla. fancy blood. a pirate’s song. mr. sinister. no boys in the ballroom.
the loved ones setlist. chicken. the inquirer. suture yourself. the bridge. breathe in. pretty good year. distracted. jane. i don’t want to die (in the hospital) [conor oberst cover]. 100k. louisiana.
a.f.i. setlist. medicate. girl’s not grey. the leaving song, pt. ii. i am trying very hard to be here. kill caustic. end transmission. ever and a day. love is a many splendored thing. beautiful thieves. dancing through sunday. okay, i feel better now. on the arrow. death of seasons. miss murder. [encore:] the interview. love like winter. silver and cold.
—————
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?
