We’ve been following Good Day RVA‘s work with keen interest since they started releasing videos over a year ago–their work with Black Girls, Houdan The Mystic, and Nelly Kate resulted in live performance vidoes that, by virtue of being filmed in unusual places around RVA, were a cut above the typical.
We’ve been following Good Day RVA‘s work with keen interest since they started releasing videos over a year ago–their work with Black Girls, Houdan The Mystic, and Nelly Kate resulted in live performance vidoes that, by virtue of being filmed in unusual places around RVA, were a cut above the typical. With their choice to focus their latest video on White Laces, one of Richmond’s best live acts, they’ve created what just might be their best work yet.
The filmmakers of Good Day RVA–Matt Cowan, Evan Hoffman, Chris Damon and Will Weaver–set their latest creation at Main Street Station, a beautiful historic structure in the Shockoe Bottom area that has seen quite a few ups and downs over the course of its 120-year existence. However, it is currently a fully functioning passenger train station, so we’re not exactly sure how the band and filmmakers managed to record a full electric performance in the midddle of a seemingly empty concourse. Regardless, we’re glad they did, as it results in a pretty amazing performance from the always-energetic White Laces. Sound is credited to “The Collective,” and whoever that is, they did a bangup job of getting the natural acoustics of the station into the recording without having the whole thing turn into a big boomy mess–especially remarkable considering I can’t see any recording mics in the finished video.
The live footage of White Laces’ performance is mixed in with some excellent footage of their surroundings, from detailed views of the inner workings of Main Street Station to time-lapse footage of cars streaming past its clock tower on I-95. Good Day RVA usually go for natural, outdoor settings with their videos, so this video’s focus on manmade structures has a somewhat different flavor than what they’ve done before. Nonetheless, their ability to create a unique atmosphere that makes their work so much more than a standard live performance video comes through just as well in this video as in their previous efforts. There’s also a weird little subplot involving an old landline phone that sits on top of bassist Jay Ward’s amp during the performance… we’re still not really sure what that’s about, but it’s interesting.
Photo by Coldon Martin
White Laces knocks out an excellent version of their song, “Invocation,” which comes from last year’s debut LP, Moves. This tune is a personal favorite–its musical resemblance to early New Order and underrated early 90s Creation Records band Ride, along with its excellent KLF-referencing lyrics, result in an outstanding song that only rules that much harder when it’s performed in such an inspired, energetic manner. If you want to see more from White Laces in a live environment, you’re in luck–they’re doing a couple of dates with Slumberland recording artists Weekend, including a show tonight at Strange Matter. Tickets for that show are $8, and can be ordered here: http://weekendsf.eventbrite.com/ White Laces will also be playing in Chapel Hill with Weekend tomorrow night, so if you’re reading this from North Carolina, check that out! And keep an eye out for White Laces’ upcoming contribution to the new cassingle series from Treetop Sorbet Records, which has previously featured Young Sinclairs and Philly duo Alpine Roses. The White Laces contribution will be a cassette version of their “Ascend”/”Deep Moves” single from earlier this year, so if you didn’t grab that one on vinyl (or even if you did!), pick up the Treetop Sorbet tape version, and jam it in your car’s tape deck! And on top of all that, White Laces will be recording a new LP this December in Philadelphia with producer Jeff Ziegler (Kurt Vile, War On Drugs, Purling Hiss), so that’s something to look forward to in 2014. Get stoked!
By Andrew Necci