RVA Mag

Richmond, VA Culture & Politics Since 2005

Menu

Hardcore Makes A Welcome Return At The Camel

|

Topics: , , , , , ,

On a Tuesday night in September, North Carolina straight edge band Magnitude joined with a few Virginia bands to stir up some of that good old-fashioned HC energy. Hardcore novice Kieran Cleary was on hand to check out the scene and enjoy the overdue return of all genres of live music.

On September 21, Magnitude, a North Carolina straightedge hardcore band, headlined at Broad Street’s The Camel on a previously quiet Tuesday night, along with Virginia bands Fanfare, Reckoning Force, and another straightedge group, No Other Way. I drove down the strip, and with the sidewalks empty and the lit-up food places glowing, I could almost feel grit flaking off the curbs into the cool evening breezes that have recently arrived, bringing with them a promise of browning leaves. As new seasons refreshed and transformed the city, I was the escapist nerd venturing up the sleeping sidewalk. 

Sometimes when I drive by, the Camel is the only place along Broad Street with a congregating crowd. It jumps out of the darkness, and the sudden movement startles and compels me. On September 21, I joined the crowd. The people were decidedly clad in black, while I was fresh (IRL grunging) from planet folk. Once I presented my vaccine card and funds at the gate, I walked up the hallway entrance to the venue and emerged into The Camel, no longer feeling out of place for a moment amid the mix of friendly patrons. 

Fanfare. Photo by Kieran Cleary

I arrived in time to hear the second of four groups of the night — VA Beach hardcore group Reckoning Force, a trio of musicians fronted by a lead screamer. They played great music and do have a particularly shreddy lead guitar. Then, from back in the bar area, I watched the occupants of every table stand up and head to the stage room for RVA pop punk group Fanfare. The youngest band of the three I saw, they stole my heart with a Jimmy Eat World cover. Where their original songs were concerned, I loved the lead singer’s vocals. There was a little of that abandon, calling-out, edge-of-screamo tone like in Paramore, but also a rumbly toughness from the music that fit the band nicely in between the hardcore acts. For their closing piece, Fanfare played a single, “Pulling Punches.” And when I checked out their Bandcamp discography afterwards, I also enjoyed the lyrics of acoustic tune “Cross My Fingers.” 

The final act, Magnitude, included the lead singer from Fanfare on guitar. I heard a hint of a melody, almost, in one of their songs. At this performance, they dedicated one song to their choice to stay independent as a musical group, turning a cold shoulder to the commercial industry. I was fascinated, standing on a bench watching the skanking dancers. They cleared out the area in front of the stage for a bit, furiously windmilling their arms and flying up into a wall of people on the bench across from me like… Beyblades! in an arena. Thinking back to a nice-looking middle-aged couple I saw by the bar, I wondered for a moment if this dance is the modern version of the sprinkler. 

Between songs, Magnitude thanked their audience, saying that hardcore music is the center of their lives and that they are glad to be back at live shows after a year and a half. Several t-shirts in the audience showed straight-edge solidarity. I watched one straight edge person clasp a bandmember’s hand in sincere thanks and thought to myself, “Even though this music is new to me, I’m just as grateful as they are to be back at a show.” All in all, I enjoyed the hardcore music of Magnitude best when I bowed my head and let the furiously changing rhythms roll right off my back.    

Vintage straight edge t-shirt. Photo by Kieran Cleary

If, last century’s 20s were the roaring twenties, today I was thinking maybe these 20s are the uncertain ones. Between sets, and even between songs, I felt a subdued atmosphere in this well-established bar. Maybe it was just comfort. Between sets, I ate sausage dip in little wonton wraps (with sriracha, obviously, but it was drawn on my plate like a spider web!), watched the end of Beetlejuice thanks to closed captions, and gazed as the bartenders emptied cases of PBR cans into bar coolers. All night long, I did not tire under the gaze of a small display of awesomely strange paintings that stared (or bared their teeth!) from their hangings on the acoustic sound panels. 

I noticed the waves of people arriving for each different band and then leaving afterwards, wondering who the nice-looking middle-aged people were and then realizing, when they whipped out their cameras. How many youthful shows have I been to where the parents are in the crowd? Or some caring adult? Every single one. Meanwhile, I gloated because I basically wore pajamas. Me? In the pants? I’m unofficially covering the event! Beyond any journalistic duties, though, I was genuinely excited to be at my first hardcore show since supporting friends at AlleyKatz on the Shockoe Bottom cobblestones back in high school days. Here’s to many more.

Top Photo: Magnitude, via Bandcamp

EVOLFO Brings Psychedelic Goodness to The Camel

|

Topics: , , ,

Brooklyn’s EVOLFO come to The Camel on Wednesday, September 8 with a heavy dose of psych for the Richmond music heads. To whet your appetite for the musical festivities, Kieran Cleary gives us a guided tour of their new album, Site Out Of Mind.

Artistic Brooklyn rockers EVOLFO make a return to the Camel this Wednesday night. EVOLFO formed in Boston in 2011, bringing together members from the East and West coasts, as well as the Midwest. These days, they are based in Brooklyn and play “garage soul with the force of a devil’s belly-laugh” under the leadership of Matt Gibbs, the founder, guitarist and vocalist. Their name derives from Shakespeare, but it’s not actually a word, so that it’s meaning can constantly be redefined by it’s participants. Their live shows have been called raucous bacchanalia. If you’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name, you might enjoy a play-through of Site Out of Mind, the 7-piece band’s sophomore album, released in June through New York-based label Royal Potato Family.  

Track 1, “Give Me Time,” is richly layered with tinny reverb vocals, the jangle of gypsy folk, roundabout trance melodies of a sun-kissed variety of psych rock, and even a little jazz. Shake it all up in the tin can amplifier, close your eyes and roll imaginary credits of a grainy surf movie, then turn the lights up on a wilderness beach in India. After several evolutions, the rhythm draws layers of sound down to a simple stamp stamp, and I find myself trotting exhaustedly down the silk road amidst a visual overload of colorful fabrics and jangling medallions, dodging the feet of a herd of stamping… CAMELS? An inspiring coincidence. I don’t want to miss what could be a very special melding of music and atmosphere. 

Texture, improvisation, mixing, looking at death as an inspiration, and the paranormal are the strong points and inspirations for Site Out of Mind. Material developed in live performances, tiny attic studio sessions, and extra-tour-estrial field trips forms this work, and with many references to sleeplessness and failures, the music expresses exhaustion through the stifling reverb.

Track 2, “Strange Lights,” picks up the pace with a distinctively British pop-punk flavor. The lyrics are straightforward and repetitive, the story a little indecipherable and obscure — like a song about Jimmy Jazz or whoever. But over all this, the band’s signature sound is kind of oppressive and heavy, crossing my signals. The Punji-like horns make me think of mirages, and sometimes sound like urban sirens. The band is proud of their work in their tiny attic because the close quarters helped them interact, but perhaps it mirrored the feeling their music evokes. 

Track 3, “Zuma Loop,” sounds blasé and kind of forcibly even-keeled. Ascending arpeggios level off and hold. “Tides rise, so be at ease,” the singer’s voice wavers over a forming rhythm.

With a touch of blues and soul, the acoustic notes now shine with the same tinny feel of the vocals, leaving me thinking of Mac DeMarco. Track 4, “Blossom in Void,” takes a turn, and then keeps turning, fluid and transformative. I practice letting things go as the band moves evenly through several musical themes.    

My favorite song, Track 5, “Drying Out Your Eyes,” sends a hint of Appalachia in its guitar intro, which quickly picks up into a rousing classic riff like CCR would do. But it quickly departs as the strange vocals have all the manner of a classic CCR song in the rhythm and delivery, and would-be Jethro Tull sound, slashed by a piercing bass line, a truly paranormal element and such strong vocal distortion even cut into its melody, melting its peaks. Simultaneous distortions don’t stop the song from settling into a jam rhythm. I really enjoyed this one!

The following tracks depart from this point to a much more rock-and-roll place. They sound like the B side. They are a little lighter in texture, and more distant. On the journey of the album, they have departed a little. I think critics are right to make connections between EVOLFO’s sound and, like, Rush. But then again, on the next song, “Let Go,” they return to a very indie, modern sound and touch on velvety lounge and luxury. Back to the gritty, pre-metal, story rock, and then, the album makes a quick but much quieter, lighter return to sirens, to India, to jazz, on Track 11, “White Foam.” 

EVOLFO comes to The Camel tonight, Wednesday September 8, from summer performances in Portland — where I think one might find some roots of their sound — and Queens. Now, like cooler temperatures, the band will sweep through our region with a 3-day run that also brings them to Raleigh’s Pour House and Norfolk’s LAVA mini-fest. But the best place for Richmond music fans to see them is at The Camel tonight, so grab tickets, which are $8, at The Camel’s website. Bring a mask and your vax card (or a recent negative COVID test)!