Election Eve
In case you haven’t caught Saturday Night Live recently, there apparently is this election thing going on. Well we’re not immune to the vagaries of pop culture here at the A-List. In fact, I think that’s what we do (this week anyway – look for the the A-List to review our favorite Valdosta knitting circles next week…) so anyway we’re on the political bandwagon this week.
In the spirit of all things political, or at least commercial, let’s start with an invitation to Political Party 2008 tomorrow night at the brand new and not yet open to the public Aja in Buckhead. For those of you who need a reminder about how this thing works, click the underlined purple letters above to get the details. When you get there, type in “JL” (stands for Jungle Love) for your ticket and get a special discount courtesy of the A-List. GObama!
This Week in the Little Blue Island in the Big Red Sea of this State
Now, what may be the live music event of the week – Of Montreal at the Tabernacle on Saturday night. I think I first heard Of Montreal about 10 years ago (Clinton years) on a sampler and they could not have sounded more like the very worst of the Kink’s shtick rock (Nixon administration). Check out “One of a Very Few of a Kind” here and you will know what I mean. In the interim, the sound of this band has changed several times. The creative force behind the band, Kevin Barnes, describes himself as a boring guy “who watches ESPN” but transforms himself into something else on stage. One of the more infamous transformations occurred at the Langerado Music Festival where Kevin emerged from a coffin almost entirely naked but covered in shaving cream to perform “The Past is a Grotesque Animal“. (Feel free to do the side by side comparison to the earlier track and understand that every band matures). Decatur’s own Paste Magazine just put Kevin on the cover and proclaimed him “Heir to Bowie”, so the weirdness is now fully incorporated into the act and the art – expect multi-colored face paint, scarves, and other extravaganza to complement the music- which still has a decidedly psychedelic feel. An offshoot of Athen’s Elephant 6 Collective, Of Montreal may yet become the band you will wish you told could tell your kids you saw – sort of the way I wish my parents could have told me they saw Ziggy Stardust (instead I think they once saw The Everly Brothers- we all have scars momma).
In a little bit of a departure from our normal venues, let me mention one of Atlanta’s few remaining true blues clubs – Blind Willie’s. It can become a tight space quickly, because it is one of the few places in town where you can catch the real blues, and it will be like that on Thursday night, when Magic Slim & the Teardrops will drop in on Blind Willie’s stage. I first heard Magic Slim about 15 years ago (Bush one) when I went through the second step of what would become a twelve step program with me and the blues (I think I am on step 7), but he is one of those blues stalwarts that has been doing it for a lifetime, though without the same hype as Buddy Guy or B.B. King. There are not many guys left like this and at 71, you can’t imagine Magic will be around much longer. He’s been making his living on the road for about 50 years now (Eisenhower was president then) and you can help him continue do that, and get a taste of the real blues, for only three lincolns on Thursday night.
Friday night’s best choice is Oliver Woods at Eddie’s Attic. He’s sort of a folk/old school country sound and if you like Robert Earl Keen, the Band, or even the soundtrack to Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, you should enjoy Oliver. He will performing tracks from his new record, Loaded, which was published under the Wood Brothers moniker and includes accompaniment by his brother, Chris, who is best known as the rhythm section of the jazz trio Medeski, Martin and Wood. Oliver is a local boy and he and brother Chris brought a strong following to the Variety recently and I would not be surprised if Friday’s show sells out (will it be the Obama era by then?).
Hanging Chads & Butterfly Ballots
It occurs to me that I haven’t mentioned a show at Smith’s Olde Bar in a couple of weeks and that is a shame because it is always a solid venue for live music, so let me take a moment to skip ahead into next week and mention that Tim Reynolds & TR3 will be at Smith’s next Tuesday night. Most of you should know Tim from the live album he recorded with Dave Matthews a few years ago, but this OBX (think oval sticker on the back of a mini-van) guitar master is always a great show and no two performances are the same. When you’re there remember to give my heart to Brittany.
If you can’t catch Of Montreal on Saturday night, you might want to step back into the past and catch post-punk legends (yeah, that’s what they call themselves now) For Against at the Earl. In all honesty, like Elf Power and the Silver Jews (see 09/09 archive at atlantasalist.blogspot.com), this is a band that you should have seen about a decade ago (Clinton Era), but this show is for charity and that is something that the A-List always believes in.
Finally, thank you to the A-Listers who joined me (and those who came up to say hello) at Saturday night’s The Hold Steady/Drive By Truckers show…Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World.
