Tons Of Bands (see below)
Friday, April 6 at Macrock, Harrisonburg VA
After months of anticipation, Macrock weekend was finally upon us. I jumped into the car with one of The Snowy Owls and we began our trek through mountain ranges, finally arriving a few hours later in Harrisonburg. The last time I had attended this festival was in 2005. As I imagined, a lot had changed. A lot had also stayed the same. It was a weekend full of being exposed to new music, indulging in copious amounts of alcohol, spending late nights wandering about the city, and seeing many of Richmond’s finest kill it.
Tons Of Bands (see below)
Friday, April 6 at Macrock, Harrisonburg VA
After months of anticipation, Macrock weekend was finally upon us. I jumped into the car with one of The Snowy Owls and we began our trek through mountain ranges, finally arriving a few hours later in Harrisonburg. The last time I had attended this festival was in 2005. As I imagined, a lot had changed. A lot had also stayed the same. It was a weekend full of being exposed to new music, indulging in copious amounts of alcohol, spending late nights wandering about the city, and seeing many of Richmond’s finest kill it.
photo by Crystal Davis
Upon discovering that Jimmy Held of White Laces had yet to arrive at the Artful Dodger, where his band was playing, I was provided the perfect opportunity to catch the tail end of Nick Coward and the Last Battle’s set. Given their early set time, the masses had yet to assemble at Court Square Theater. However, “Funeral” was met with great enthusiasm, as was one of their newest tunes, “Thieves.” Since taking on an electric approach to their nuanced folk sound, the energy found in The Last Battle has only intensified. The horn parts never seem to overwhelm Coward’s poetic lyricism, as he provides a sense of beauty to the most tragic of thoughts.
photo by Kristel Poole
As would prove to be quite convenient, the Theater was located right next to the Artful Dodger, the venue where I would spend a large portion of my weekend. White Laces had finally assembled, and their set received instant raves. Despite technical difficulties happening left and right, along with guitarist Alex French’s constant battles with getting electrocuted, they delved straight into a brief selection of new material. With the exception of opener “Dissolve into Color,” which has been released on their split 7″ with Arches, White Laces demonstrated where they are headed with the upcoming full-length that they are working on. Working through every obstacle placed in their way, White Laces reminded everyone why Macrock has been a regular visit for them since their inception.
During the intermission between bands at the Artful Dodger, I ran to Downtown 34 to see what the story was over there. A nice and spacious music shop with a stage awaited me, as did The Vaginasaurs from Virginia Beach. This group was a three piece with a surf rock vibe that played well against their unique charm. It can’t be denied that part of my interest was piqued by the group’s name. If I had made my way back to Downtown 34, I would have most certainly checked out Slutever as well. The Vaginasaurs were a nice alternative to the psychedelic sounds happening down the street, and I enjoyed the short snippet of their set that I was able to catch.
photo by Aaron Bailey
One of the first acts that really surprised me on Friday was Nashville’s Ttotals. The psychedelic rock duo had a dynamic live setup that encouraged the audience to take immediate notice of them. A stand-up drummer with several programming tools at his disposal and a guitarist/singer with a wonderful assortment of pedals to fool around with were the heart and soul of Ttotals. They could run through a tune that would lend itself more towards a straightforward garage rock track and have it conclude with walls and walls of feedback. It was even more impressive to see this sound emanate from two very talented individuals that knew how to work through bouts of minimalism for the greatest end result. Word is that they are coming through Richmond in July and are working hard on a new release. If you’re willing to trust the tourmates of Richmond favorite The Diamond Center, Ttotals could easily blow your mind when they descend upon our town.
Speaking of The Diamond Center, they achieved one of the best sets by a Richmond band all weekend. After having seen them play here in RVA so many times, it’s difficult to imagine what it’s like for them to play to different markets. Let it be known that Harrisonburg seems to love them just as much as we do. After seeing their righteous set at the Real Estate show in Richmond the night prior, it came as no surprise that they were able to do it all over again. The set focused on new material that they have fine-tuned since becoming a four piece. The new stuff helps to highlight the instrumentation as well as the ghostly harmonies of Lindsay Phillips, Brandi Price, and Kyle Harris. A new trend of the group closing with the two selections featured on their most recent seven-inch has emerged. “California” flowing into “Bells” feels natural and organic in such a way that I think the days of their sets closing with “The Deer Pistol” are behind us. The Diamond Center has risen to the challenge of maintaining their place on the cusp of popular trends in Richmond music, and they remain at the top of the game.
photo by Kromatic.org
The only downside that happens at festivals of this nature, with simultaneous shows spread across multiple venues, is that you do end up missing quite a bit of stuff. While I was catching The Diamond Center play to a full house at the Artful Dodger, Alison Self was just getting started at the Little Grill Collective and Mannequin Pussy were rocking out at Downtown 34. When it came time to grab food, Chris Staples and La Des Les were playing at Court Square Theatre and Bastard Sapling were probably killing it at the Blue Nile. Our descent for food would eventually lead us to the Clementine Café, one of our last stops for the evening.
photo by Paradigm Magazine
Clementine Café had the aesthetic of a fancier bar/restaurant, which made for a really quaint setting to host music of this caliber. The Philadelphia based outfit Banned Books were the first to take the stage, and it was really astounding to behold what the trio pulled off musically. They were reminiscent of Deerhoof and spacey Nintendo-core at it’s finest. With gentle, high-pitched vocals accompanying their frantic sound, songs like “Intergalactic Singalong” resonated with a strong, developed fervor that felt unique to the band. The precedent set by the group would carry through most of the evening.
photo by Rich Tarbell
Following Banned Books were Charlottesville’s Invisible Hand. Their set focused on soon-to-be-released material, and the pop gems emanating from the stage were glorious. The group took many cues from pop’s heydays in the sixties, and surrounded each song with a very nineties aesthetic, which created a phenomenal amalgam of both musical eras. It was great to be able to catch their set, considering I won’t be able to when they drop by Richmond again for the Shadrock Festival happening at the end of the month. If this performance was indicative, it should be exciting to see them play to a huge crowd and convert more music fans to their remarkable, contagious pop creations.
The last band that I caught at the official Macrock showcases was Brooklyn’s Total Slacker. I am truly on the fence with this band. Part of it has to do with the caliber of performances that preceded their performance, as well as certain musical cues that they would throw around. One song in particular just felt like a dead-ringer for Nirvana, with very few moments feeling like Total Slacker’s own. Perhaps it had a lot to do with excitement brewing about a house show that was in the works for later that night, but the group never really got around to impressing me all that much.
photo by Jay Armstrong
From what I hear, Lower Dens were pretty incredible, but I was not there to catch their set. The Snowy Owls and I are were anticipating a potentially awesome house show that, unfortunately, never did come to fruition. It turned very quickly into a train wreck, and that story will be told in The House Show That Never Was–coming next week!
To be continued…
