- {Bishop Allen}
Continuing my trend of showing up just before shit gets crazy, I managed to snag a spot up front for Bishop Allen's set at Mohawk. The music project of Harvard alums Justin Rice and Christian Rudder was wildly popular among my friends in college, so I was glad to finally see them, but I honestly couldn't imagine listening to their records. They're incredibly cute, with clear, pretty vocal harmonies over guitar, vibraphone, and drums, and their set was much to the delight of the adorable teenage couple in the front row, who I overheard telling someone about how they'd been staking out their spot for an hour. Perfect for handholding young lovers, but my grumpy, prematurely crotchety old mind wants a little more substance. Bishop Allen released a new record this month, entitled Grrr...
- {Julie Doiron}
Got a text saying “bak room grl is awesome,” and so I decided to see if this was true. It was! Canadian singer/songwriter Julie Doiron is best known for her work in Eric's Trip (and, as of late, with Mount Eerie's Phil Elverum) and gained critical acclaim for her split 7-inch with Okkervil River, but she holds her own quite well with a nonchalant, vaguely foreign style. Squinting through messy hair, Doiron's style is autobiographical and honest, backed simply by her own acoustic guitar and a drum set. Her latest album, I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day, was recently released on Jagjaguwar.
I decided to conserve my energy for the next two acts and decided a fajita break was in order. En route to food, I was given a YouTube sweatband. For my wrist. In case I want to advertise YouTube while exercising. Okay.
- {Akron/Family}
Akron/Family, instead of looking vaguely annoyed at the house music playing over their soundcheck as most bands do, decided to air-guitar their way through most of it, which I think exhibits good sportsmanship. With a nod to rigidly short sets at SXSW, Seth Olinsky implored us: “We don't have a lot of time, so if you don't start moving, we're gonna have to stop!” It's impossible NOT to dance to Akron/Family's primal take on folk music, and more than one shout-a-long erupted spontaneously throughout the set. Also, Akron/Family may be the only band to actually get away with wearing sweatbands on their heads, which will continue to be true unless they get into short shorts. Olinsky's stage dive would have been a BIT more interesting that way.
- {Dinosaur Jr}
Although most people were probably in-the-know by the time they hit the stage, Dinosaur Jr were the “secret special guest” of the showcase, completing their massive setup by 1 AM. How J Mascis has any hearing left at all completely astounds me, as he plays surrounded by at least seven powerful amps. Dinosaur Jr are all business, delivering an aural assault with little ceremony, as only the fathers of lo-fi indie rock can. While I had my own intense fangirl moments with older tunes “Little Fury Things” and “Freak Scene,” new track “Been There All the Time” from 2007 comeback album Beyond is nothing but a fucking barn-burner, showing that Dinosaur Jr have still got it, even after becoming “old and weird” (as quoted from their Pitchfork.tv feature). Surprise guest Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene stepped in for “The Wagon,” as if seeing Dinosaur Jr wasn't fantastic enough. The crowd was stirred into a frenzy, prompting a burly security guard to... scowl at them. Effective. As the horde of photographers became steadily annoyed at being hit by the wave of revelers, they eventually turned around and shot the crowd in retaliation, which was interesting drama to observe from my balcony spot. Dinosaur Jr remained completely unfazed, with Lou Barlow heckling the crowd good-naturedly (I think). “Thanks for coming,” said J, and that was it. What you see is what you get with Dinosaur Jr, and since it's worked for this long, I don't see why they should ever change.
