By Justin Lyons

Whether it was the frigid temp in Atlanta or the numbness of the New Orleans’ Saints heartbreaking loss, it took Givers some time to warm up to the Masquerade crowd. The Louisiana-based five-piece showed off plenty of potential with shared harmonies by lead vocalists Taylor Guarisco and Tiffany Lamson and thundering percussion. However, the abbreviated set length only hinted at Givers’ pop sensibilities and stage presence.

Early on, Givers lacked the energy the band’s much lauded live performance had earned in 2011.  Despite the overall lethargy, Lamson’s raspy vocals shone and sounded even more enthralling than on the band’s debut album In Light.  The band finally hit their stride with the inescapable “Ceiling of Plankton,” but unfortunately it was almost too late to get the crowd fully engaged. With only one album worth of material on deck, by the time the encore hit fans looked perplexed the band was wrapping up so soon.  After a short break, Givers sounded particularly accomplished in covering Talking Heads’ new wave classic “This Is Where I Want To Be.”

“Up Up Up” closed the night in raucous fashion with Lamson and Guarisco helping out beating side drums and one could finally see why Givers had made so much noise on the 2011 festival circuit. The bright and sun-ready cut mixed with a calypso/Afro pop influence would most certainly shine mid afternoon at southern festivals such as Hangout or Music Midtown.  The most puzzling decision was album favorite and Amazon commercial licensed “Words” was left off the set list, which could have been a show closing winner with the additional percussion in the mix.  Givers have plenty of talent to breakthrough further than their recent success suggests, but their short live set left a lot to be desired.

Review and photos by Ellen Eldridge

The resilient, Atlanta-based band Groove Stain played a packed show in The Masquerade’s Purgatory room Friday night. The show began a southeastern tour with Maryland-based Pasadena. The band’s loyal and fun-loving fans danced all the way up to the edge of stage so that trombonist Sam Szpendyk had to watch carefully how he played to avoid hitting someone. The intense energy warmed Purgatory, and genuinely felt like a family reunion for the fans who have loved Groove Stain since the late ‘90s.

Full gallery at the bottom of the post.

Though fewer people caught Pasadena’s show, those who did enjoyed it fully. The working-class lyrical themes truly tap into a feeling that artists and musicians can identify with. The humbling experience of being a band on tour, united in a pursuit of passion for music, comes out clearly when looking at the sincere smiles on tired faces. Personal favorites of Pasadena included “Realize” and “Sweet Surrender,” but the song the boys closed with brought smiles to everyone’s faces. Singer Joe Harkum looked at bassist Aaron Hooper and said he wrote the song for him after being a friend and roommate for all these years. The song involved a conversation between both vocalists; it was called “Shut the Fuck Up” and really loosened the crowd up for an easy-going, tongue-in-cheek evening.

Also local to Atlanta, the artist Beauregard appeared as a guest of Groove Stain. I wasn’t surprised that I liked his brand of ska-crossed rock because it fit perfectly between the songs of Pasadena and Groove Stain. Favorites played by Groove Stain after opening with “Looking Sorta Down” included “The One” and the title-track off the 2012 release Out All Night.

Those who missed the show should make it a point to catch Groove Stain and Beauregard when back in Atlanta. Those in the Southeast should make it a point to catch this winter tour.

Pasadena:

Groove Stain:

Review and photos by: Stephanie Roman

The evening began as one of the ladies from Black Lodge, clad in black lace, casually swirled a glass of vino during sound check. Meanwhile, I settled in at a booth with my tasty mushroom and leek bruschetta app (gratefully breaking a three day detox fast). This authentic Italian deli and bar on Edgewood was a suitable backdrop for the quartet, who could have stepped out of an antique lithograph themselves.

Black Lodge’s set was short, loud, and bass-heavy – with two of them at war. The vocals tended to compete instead of complement each other, and the band definitely shines on the faster tempo songs. From what I understand, they have only played out a few times, and I’m eager to hear them again. Someone also pissed them off about halfway through the show, and my waiter rushed in to oust the fellow. (That waiter appeared dressed and ready for a fencing bout, so probably the best man for the job.) Adam, the drummer, tells me that all of their songs are numbered with Roman numerals. My inner ancient culture nerd rejoices! Here’s hoping that the killer closer, “Number VI,” is available as a single soon.

Featureless Ghost had about 50 people packed into the doorway and surrounding stage area. Duo Matt Weiner and Elise Tippins hit the synths to create danceable, atmospheric layers of sound that had the crowd rocking. The two have a bit of a  Human League thing going, and on the upbeat tracks, Tippins’ vocals harken back to Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons.  Slower songs evoke the minimalism of ’90s British electronica outfits such as The Orb or Meat Beat Manifesto.

Featureless Ghost also pays homage to formats of the past, as they offer their recordings on both vinyl and cassette tape! Visit their website www.featurelessghost.com for some videos, too.

Review and photos by Ellen Eldridge

Full gallery at the bottom of the post.

Anyone who read my review of Staind knows that the new material returns to the earliest days of angst-driven rock. But even fans of Aaron Lewis’s solo country-style material enjoyed the rescheduled show at the Tabernacle on Sunday night. After opening with “Falling” and “Right Here” off the fifth studio album, Chapter V, Staind kicked right into, “Eyes Wide Open,” the opening track on the recently released self-titled album. The setlist included several of the new songs, which made fans who hadn’t had a chance to check out Staind aware of the band’s continued ability to craft tight, powerful songs that crowds can croon along to.

During “So Far Away,” the lyrics took on the ever-personal, connected feeling as the crowd sang along. Lewis rested his voice for the crowd to cry out the chorus with a wave of fingers pointing, pulsing in time. It truly felt like every voice sang, “Afraid of waking, please don’t shake me….” Those singular voices parted ways to push and pull against one another in a makeshift mosh pit during “Throw It All Away,” also off Staind. From the top balcony, looking down, I could sense the intensity of sharing personal space when it becomes a personal euphoria to commingle fan voices with the breath of the songwriter.

When the band left Lewis alone onstage to announce his forthcoming solo album, scheduled for March 2012 release according to Lewis, he tuned his voice to a southern drawl, and instantly became a sincere, if not clichéd, archetype of classic country music as he sang about his love of the “Red, White, and Blue.” The sincerity shined through his smirk when he bantered at the audience that he figured his ease at writing songs like “Red, White, and Blue” came from being a simple country boy. Then he played “Country Boy” with its opening lyric, “Well, I grew up on an old dirt road in a town you wouldn’t know.” A twangy guitar accompanied further lyrics about whiskey, weed, and living in the sticks. While not a fan of country or particularly of Lewis’ solo work, I did really appreciate the story in “Country Boy” about the Devil’s offer to rocket his career to the top. It felt like the Robert Johnson tale told in a modern setting; it nearly made me think I liked country.

I felt a bit relieved when Staind rejoined Lewis for lyrics directed, “To my mother, to my father…” in “For You.” The kick of the guitars fueled my love for Staind while I contemplated the range of musical style that Lewis does, and does well. Following the song from Break the Cycle with “Paper Wings” from Staind again showed me just how heavy and down-right angry Lewis’ lyrics get. The image of “Paper Wings” representing the craft of songwriting itself appeared as I focused on the chorus, “Make some paper wings and learn to fly; if there’s no tomorrow, burn your paper wings and say goodbye.” The paper wings could actually be a metaphor for a songwriter’s method of experiencing a catharsis through writing.

I don’t think Staind could have chosen a more fitting encore that the soft-spoken, closing track to Staind, “Something to Remind You.” On the second to last date on the tour, playing a makeup show in Atlanta before closing in Orlando, this song felt like a cool down after an intensive and emotional workout. Many fans chose to beat the traffic, walking out as Lewis called, “the road to Hell along the way is paved with good intentions so they say…” and it just fit so perfectly as he continued, “tell the ones who cared enough that I’ve finally left this place.”

Man Made Machine:

Staind:

Review & photos by Ken Lackner

Full gallery at the bottom of the post.

I’ve never been a fan of cover bands. As with most rules, this one has an exception. Two exceptions, actually.

It takes a very talented and impressive voice to recreate the vocal styling of Geddy Lee. Matthew Trautwein — better known to some as String of the Renaissance rock ‘n’ roll group The Lost Boys — has the necessary talent. His newest band Permanent Waves covers the early career of Canadian rock legends Rush, from the ’70s through the early ’80s. The set opened with “Working Man” off Rush’s self-titled debut album. Near the end, fans were treated to the entire Side A (anyone still remember what that even means?) of “Moving Pictures.” Permanent Waves closed with one of my all-time favorite Rush tracks, “Subdivisions,” from the 1982 album Signals. I can never get enough of that record.

Permanent Waves was an excellent treat and a great warm-up. But we came to thrash. And thrash, we did. The headliner of the evening was Atlanta’s own “Big Four” thrash metal cover band, SciaticA. These guys definitely know how to keep metal alive. Their set consisted of covers of Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, and Metallica. Personally, I’m not particularly familiar with the former two. It’s not that I don’t like them, I’ve just not listened to them much. (Actually, I saw Megadeth open for Slayer last year and both bands were pretty incredible.) But the latter two are two of my favorite bands. As a fan of this music, standing there watching and listening to SciaticA perform was about the next best thing to watching the bands they were covering. Highlights of the set for me were Peace Sells and perhaps my all-time favorite Metallica track, “Master of Puppets.”

If you missed this show, you can catch SciaticA as they return to The Local on February 11 with fellow thrash tribute band, Ressurection. If you dig metal as much as I do, you won’t want to miss this!

Permanent Waves:

SciaticA:

By Jenna Hughes; photo by Lewis Lee, from the 2010 tour

“In the moments of our lives, both the joyous and the tragic, if the truth is to be told we are all pursuing magic.”

These words resonated through the crowd at Philips Arena in Atlanta on December 2, a poetic narrative that preceded the onslaught of lights, lasers and pyrotechnics of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The band erupted onto the stage with “Who I Am,” a fast-paced, heart-pounding song featuring all seven vocalists and an orchestra that had the crowd mesmerized from the very beginning of their two-and-a-half-hour set.

Amidst a backdrop of twinkling lights resembling the night sky, narrator Brian Hicks continued the story of an angel descending to Earth on Christmas Eve, his voice filled with trembling emotion as he spoke. Also heard on the band’s album Christmas Eve and Other Stories, the story tells the tale of a man who wanders into a bar on Christmas Eve and is approached by an old man who tells him about the angel coming to Earth to “bring back to God the one thing that best represents everything good that has been done in the name of this day.”

The band played Christmas Eve and Other Stories nearly in its entirety, beginning with “An Angel Came Down,” soaring through the lively “O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night,” slowing things down with the gorgeous “Promises To Keep” and ending with “Epilogue,” a grand finale to an epic and heartwarming story.

But this was only the beginning of what Trans Siberian Orchestra had to offer. Without missing a beat, they began the second half of the show with “Mozart and Memories,” from their newest album “Night Castle.” The stage lit up with dazzling pyrotechnics and lightning effects, synchronized to the music perfectly.

Vocalist Kayla Reeves had her chance to shine, performing a medley of “Someday/Child Unseen,” which was the highlight of the night for me. Her strong voice gave me chills and she owned the stage with a rock star persona reminiscent of Joan Jett. However, she was not the only standout vocalist of the night. Ashley Adamek’s soaring, operatic voice gave life to “The Queen of the Winter Night,” during which she rose from the middle of the arena on a platform, dancing and interacting with the crowd before returning to the stage.

After the array of lasers, pyrotechnics and falling snow, it was hard to imagine what Trans Siberian Orchestra could do to top it all off. Then the massive lighting rig that had been attached to the ceiling slowly descended over the crowd, resting inches above their heads and jutting out in three different directions. The band eagerly ran out to play on the moving platforms, the vocalists and dancers following and the fans cheering them on.

Returning to the stage, the band finished out their epic set with “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo,” ending with a lavish display of lasers, fireworks and pyrotechnics that left the crowd wanting more. If Trans Siberian Orchestra wanted to pursue magic, they need look no further. They’re made of the stuff.

By Rosie Judd

It was truly a treat to see Paul Simon perform at the Areana at Gwinnett Center Friday night, surrounded by an eight-piece multi-cultural ensemble. The set list showcased a veritable history of rhythm starting with the crowd-pleaser “Boy In A Bubble” which brought about a standing ovation from the enthusiastic arena crowd. Simon kept the audience on a rhythmical journey emphasizing multi-cultural grooves and syncopations in songs like “Dazzling Blue” and his medley of “Hearts and Bones” and blues standard “Mystery Train.” At times there were four of five musicians on percussion instruments alone, inspiring the audience to groove along in our seats.

With the length of Simon’s career, it was difficult to guess how he would choose to represent that time span in his set list. Simon’s renditions of “Mother and Child Reunion,” “That Was Your Mother,” “The Obvious Child,” and “Kodachrome” kept reminding the audience that the 69-year-old singer-songwriter has been able to write hit songs over the course of multiple decades and that we were indeed in the presence of a living legend.

Simon’s voice, while not typically his strong suit, perfectly illustrates his story-telling abilities and almost “off-the-cuff” delivery of favorites like “Diamonds On the Souls of Her Shoes,” and standout tracks from his newest release So Beautiful or So What: “The Afterlife,” “Rewrite” and “Love Is Eternal Sacred Light.” Stripping down the classics “The Only Living Boy In New York” and “The Sound of The Silence” to simple arrangements featuring mostly his guitar and voice was chill inducing.

As Simon sang “The smiles returning to the faces” while covering George Harrison’s “Here Comes The Sun” in the first encore, I looked around at the audience and indeed saw a sea of smiles around me. We were all happy to be in that place, at that time, listening to a living legend perform a variety of favorites for us. Closing out the show with the classic “Still Crazy After All These Years,” Simon left the audience with the feeling that he was amazed and humbled at the reactions his songs could elicit even after so many years. The heartfelt “Thank you’s” and “Goodnights” made me wonder if he was as grateful for my presence as I am for the beautiful songs that he’s given me over the years?

Set List:
1 The Boy in the Bubble
2 Dazzling Blue
3 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
4 The After Life (new)
5 Mother and Child Reunion
7 That Was Your Mother (zydeco)
8 Hearts and Bones + Mystery Train (Junior Parker cover)
9 Slip Slidin’ Away
10 Rewrite
11 Peace Like a River
12 The Obvious Child
13 The Only Living Boy in New York (Simon & Garfunkel)
14 Love Is Eternal Sacred Light (new)
15 Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes + Drum solo
16 Late In The Evening

Encore 1:
17 The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel)
18 Kodachrome
19 Here Comes the Sun (Beatles cover)
20 Gumboots

Encore 2:
21 Graceland
22 Pretty Thing (blues standard)
23 Still crazy after all these years

Review and photos by Ellen Eldridge

The key to success as a musician, over a period of a decade or more, lies in the need to constantly reinvent oneself. Everyone seated in the Cobb Energy Centre on Wednesday night understood the principles that Maynard James Keenan follows for his art, especially once his video montage from past Puscifer performances, played in-between Carina Round’s opening act and the main show, transitioned into his welcoming warning about no flash photography. Maynard’s menagerie of characters includes a Pattonesque soldier standing drunk before an American flag telling the crowd to verify the text on the ticket stub, and bullies them with a round of verbal mortar to remind them he thinks flash photography is rude and distracting. Many fans who have attended Puscifer shows have seen this skit before and will attest to the staff walking about the arena attempting to arrest anyone caught recording the show.

Full gallery at the bottom of the post.

What Puscifer does extremely well is entertain. As someone with an opportunity to see many shows, I sincerely appreciated the chance to have fun again. I laughed, literally, out loud at the skits from last tour with Billy D. and characters I longed to figure out. When Keenan finally walked onstage he did so pulling a trailer! The screen above stage right showed a Confederate flag bordered in the text “Welcome to Arizona,” and a picture of Keenan in a white t-shirt and mustache giving the finger. The singer-turned-actor exaggerated the weight of pulling the trailer out while the crowd called his name. Then he gave a monologue that, while tongue-in-cheek, showed off the simple elegance in his constant desire to create something meaningful during his lifetime be it music, wine or art. His encouragement for the crowd to follow in his footsteps felt inspiring.

Once the songs began, the large background screen turned into a desert road and Keenan, in usual form, took his place positioned to become a shadowy figure. I’ve come to understand that he really just wants to put on an entertaining act more than have his fans eye him. The jokes extended through skits including a backwoods-looking man dressed in fatigues sitting at a desk sharpening knives. Pictures of Hannah Montana and other pop stars decorated his shack and he answered questions like, “What do the aliens listen to?” with steady and serious eyes, “Well, the good aliens listen to Christina Aguilera…and the bad aliens, well they listen to Tool.” The crowd laughed as Puscifer continued their impressive concert.

Fans of Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer can agree that Keenan live is a treat; his powerful voice rivals well what one hears on the studio versions, and the energy in the room generates a heat tempered by his sarcastic, dry humor.

The entire set design brought fans to the desert, as Puscifer claims the latest release Conditions of My Parole does. Two different sets of drums were wheeled out on wagons and the band played the parts of campers in the desert, patrons of psychics, and wine connoisseurs. Keenan and Round continually sipped on Merkin wine from Caduceus Cellars. For anyone who may not already know, this is yet another of Keenan’s creative outlets; he makes and sells wine from the Verde Valley of Northern Arizona. Many of the references in the songs on Conditions of My Parole refer back to this part of the world.

The performance of songs like “Toma” with the screen showing “Arizona Border Patrol, we put the PANIC back in Hispanic,” and the recurring theme of water in “Monsoons” and “Oceans” with its dry desert roads viewed from above added insight into the imagery from the album. As with all other Keenan projects, Puscifer was visually striking with patterns of geometrical shapes projected from the screen. During “Man Overboard,” a ninja crossed the stage stealthily taking pictures. This was one of my favorite parts of the show because of the relationship Keenan has to the media and his rare allowance of photographers or interviews. If I’m not mistaken, nearly the entire new album was performed along with older songs like “Indigo Children,” “The Undertaker,” and “Rev 22:20.” Puscifer’s music follows the line of thinking that those who truly connect to Keenan understand. His creative outlet entertains immensely and I would recommend this show to anyone, though many just wouldn’t get it. As I said to one of the Cobb Centre staff people who asked me to describe the music, “Oh yeah, it’s alternative all right.”

Review and photos by Ellen Eldridge

Tori Amos spoke to me when I was 16. Not directly, but from the stage when another fan shouted, “I love you Tori!” Her return quip, “Where were you when I was 16?” instantly won me on her personality. Her persistent passion guided me through my own formative years, deeply impacting my own writing and thought patterns. During the time Amos’ own experimentation pulled away from the piano to entertain with a backing rock band, on albums like From the Choirgirl Hotel, I conducted my own experimentation in college, and pretty well lost touch with the songwriter. I certainly didn’t realize the amount of material I missed, and from Scarlet’s Walk through Midwinter Graces I’d probably only heard every other album released, and not even in full. After reviewing Night of Hunters, I felt reconnected with my idol, and after Tuesday night’s show at Cobb Energy Centre I feel my love for her resurrected.

Full gallery at the bottom of the post.

Amos asked the photography press to arrive early for a solo performance because she values her fans’ enjoyment of the show; she didn’t want us running around snapping photos during her opening number. This benefitted me well as I could concentrate fully from the start of “Shattering Sea” throughout her concert. She seemed sad or sorta seeking a sultry look, but when she started into a cover of “Landslide,” a song she has covered many times over the last decade, the aspects of aging hit home with all the fans who’ve followed her through the all-too-often silent years. Her blue dress flowed over silver stockings like water crashing on the coast of her tan spiked heels.

The fact that Night of Hunters was her first album released on a classical label (out of 12 total studio albums) surprises because the accompaniment of the Apollon Musagète Quartet fit so well with her style of music. The percussive tapping on the stringed instruments during songs like “Suede” and “Beulah Land” show that our cornflake girl has grown in an elegant woman capable of creating passionate and heavy-themed music without the aid of guitars and drums. She performed with a bittersweet air light that given off by candlelight. Throughout all her thematic collections of song she has grown, and has allowed her audience to grow with her.

Amos told us her Bösendorfer had been left behind because it didn’t work so well having reached “middle age;” she smirked as she told us how the piano didn’t play those low tones as well as its hotter, younger replacement and Amos just had to get her back for the Atlanta show.

The powerful contrast of the red lights to her blue dress as she sprawled between her piano and her keyboard added to the visual performance of “Crucify.” After every song she threw her arms outward like she was breaking free from chains, but after “Crucify” the effect struck the lyrics, “Never going back again to crucify myself,” even more.

During the B-side performance of “Here. In My Head,” the stage lights appeared as a crown behind Amos’ head with three streams of white light bookended by two streams of purple light, majestically framing both the pianist and her song as she played. Having a history with an artist’s songs will always impact the perception of the live performance, and it was at this point of the show that I felt like I was having a religious experience. Watching Amos sing “Here. In My Head,” belting out “Hey, do you know what this is doing to me?” made me want to cry for having lost touch, but she lifted all spirits with her sexy yet classy pantomime during the repeated lyric “here” by touching her heart, her crotch, then her head.

Another favorite with personal history was “Maybe California,” during which my neighbor asked me to name the song for his girlfriend who left to use the restroom. Perhaps out of sheer love of the moment he decided to purchase a program for me when his girlfriend returned. This simple act of seemingly random kindness reaffirmed my faith in the fans of Tori Amos, genuinely making me smile.

One of the closing performances was an instrumental piece performed solely by the quartet, dedicated to Tori, according to the program, with the first letter in the song title, “A Multitude of Shades,” spelling Amos.

For those fans who have loved Amos since Little Earthquakes through those who only recently discovered her on Night of Hunters, the show felt spectacular in sound, emotion, and vision.

By Justin Lyons; photos by Matthew Smith

Lykke Li’s transformation from curious and blooming songsbird to take-charge chanteuse over the past few years was on great display at Buckhead Theatre on Sunday night.  Li’s latest album, Wounded Rhymes, brushes aside all of the come-ons and questions from her debut Youth Novels and transitions to actions and sexual prowess.  After a three-year hiatus, the maturation is welcome and Lykke Li’s strongest material to date.

Full gallery of pictures at the bottom of the post.

Fans who came to Buckhead Theatre early witnessed charming up-and-coming act First Aid Kit.  The fellow Swedes drifted between folk rock and alt-country in showcasing new material from upcoming album The Lion’s Roar.  The sister duo beautifully harmonized and tossed their lengthy locks on heavy set closer and the album’s title track.

While Wounded Rhymes isn’t a particularly dark album, Li’s second release does carry an angry edge that aptly displays her confident and aggressive new outlook.  Certainly one of the more theatrical indie shows touring in 2011, the dimly lit stage was draped in three hanging skinny black sheets.  The performance kicked off with an eerie sound effect-filled intro with fog and flashing strobe lights as the four-piece band assembled.  Adorned in black fabric of her own, Li erupted with powerful rendition of “Jerome” before diving into Novels dance ready favorite “I’m Good I’m Gone.”

Throughout the night, Li demonstrated confidence and pride, clearly embracing her role as an assertive songstress and bandleader while slithering around the stage.  As if two drummers weren’t enough, she commanded a side drum and cymbal, which punctuated songs like thumping female anthem “Get Some” and endearing proclamation “I Follow Rivers.”  “Youth Knows No Pain” shined with synth-inspired organ and interestingly included a segment backed by Kanye West’s “Power” instrumental.  As she shouted the final bars into a megaphone, you could almost feel her Kanye-like confidence build.

Standout performances of the night were breakout hit “Little Bit,” which inspired a crowd sing-along and “Silent My Song.” First Aid Kit joined Li for vocal harmonies on “Song” and strengthened an already hypnotizing track.  Melodies, thundering drum, electric organ and moaning vocal effects sounded like a spellbinding command.  Encore “Unrequited Love” underlined a night that displayed Lykke Li’s growth and assurance as she belted every line knowing she owned the room.