Burlington Bands 101

New to the Burlington music scene? Come to our cram session.

On Wednesday, September 23, Triple Major presents Burlington Bands 101 at Nectar's and Club Metronome. Musical guests include:

• In Memory of Pluto (rock)
• Anais Mitchell (singer-songwriter)
• Gordon Stone (bluegrass)
• Burnt MD (hip-hop)
• Lendway (indie-rock)
• Amadis (metal)
• More bands TBA

The show starts at 9 p.m. It's 18+. Your $5 donation benefits the Radiator, 105.9 FM, WOMM-LP, Burlington's nonprofit, community radio station.

Click here to learn more about the Triple Major — 3 mountains, 1 college pass.

The Continuing Saga of Asher Roth

Though Asher Roth's opening set for the St. Michael's spring concert was canceled over a week ago now, the controversy over his invitation-and-subsequent-uninvitation rages on.

First of all, the S.A programming folks announced Roth's replacement. Local hip-hop group The Aztext will be opening for Lupe Fiasco tomorrow night.

However, a sizable and vocal group of St. Michael's students won't be seeing either act, as they're planning to boycott the concert in protest of Roth's absence. One St. Michael's student, Kate Reynolds, emailed Roth to tell him that students were disappointed in his cancellation, and that it was just "a few administrators and a few 'gender studies' students" that wanted the show canceled. (Quotes around "gender studies" were hers, not mine.) An associate of Roth's posted Reynolds's letter to Asher Roth's blog, along with a video of Roth calling Reynolds. There's also a Facebook event rallying Roth's supporters.

A few of those zany feminists posted their thoughts on the blog and the Facebook event wall, and received a few "fuck you bra-burner"s in response. Classy. Unfortunately the pro-Asher people have yet to really present a convincing argument:

• The views of a small group are ruining it for the majority. If the civil rights struggle (or even the more recent gay marriage debates around the country) have taught us anything, it's the majority cannot be allowed to decide the rights of the minority. When a group of students at SMC feels uncomfortable, offended, and hurt, it's pathetic to expect their concerns to be ignored so that everyone else can get their party on as usual. Besides, it's not just "gender studies" students, or the Center for Women and Gender that were upset. Hell, I'm a straight male journalism major and I was opposed to Roth's concert from the start. Pretending that six people conspired to ruin the fun for the other 1,994 students here is absurd and grossly inaccurate.
  
  
• Roth is just depicting college life as it is. Too bad not all of us can afford (or want) to treat college like it's a teen movie. And yes, girls get objectified at college parties — why is that okay to glorify? Just because that's what happens? It might be too close to reality but that doesn't make it alright. Unfortunately, too many people enjoy the college culture of female objectification to think about changing it.

• Roth has songs with positive messages, too. Uh, that's great, but having a positive song and having a song called "Rub On Your Titties" do not cancel each other out. Not how it works.

• Roth is the victim of censorship. I don't think anyone is denying his constitutional right to say what he does. But Roth does not have the constitutional right to get paid by our tuition money to play a concert at our school. Canceling his concert is not censorship, it's deciding who you want performing for (and representing) your campus.
  
  
• If you don't like Asher Roth, you just shouldn't go to the show. I haven't liked the last two spring concert acts, so I didn't go. This is beyond a sense of dislike. St. Michael's is like home to me and everyone else here, and any performance on-campus means someone is coming into our home. Plus, it sends a message about the school to the greater community — and I'm not okay with Burlington associating me with the college that wants Asher Roth. Maybe that doesn't matter to the people whose social life doesn't extend beyond the 300s townhouses, though.
  
  
• Everyone in hip-hop talks about stuff like this. Yes, so Wyclef Jean, who came to SMC last year, also has questionable lyrics. That doesn't set a precedent. I'm glad our campus has become more conscious in the past year. So you hear songs with similar content on the radio — they shouldn't come to our campus, either.

I don't understand how so many people now think next year's spring concert will now be Raffi, Celine Dion, or the Jonas Brothers, as if there's nothing in between these acts and Asher Roth. UVM's Springfest is headlined by Ratatat — apparently a good choice, since the show is already sold out. St. Anselm booked Third Eye Blind for their spring concert this year. Just a few years ago, St. Mike's had The Roots — a hip-hop group with socially aware lyrics. All of these acts would make for a successful spring concert, likely without sparking controversy and hurting feelings. (They're also all way more artistically relevant, but that's a different argument entirely.)

So, Asher Roth fans, stop blaming hippies, feminists, or evil administrators for ruining your Friday night. Grow up.

For those who aren't boycotting the show, it's Friday night at the Ross Sports Center at St. Mike's.  Doors open at 7:00, show starts at 8:00, and tickets are $20 for SMC students and $30 for everyone else.

Happy Record Store Day!

This Saturday, April 18, marks the second annual celebration of Record Store Day, in which the culture of independent record stores is celebrated worldwide. Indie stores all over are celebrating with free giveaways, in-store performances, and tons of Record Store Day exclusives. During last year's Record Store Day celebration, Burlington's beloved Pure Pop Records even threw in a huge used vinyl sale, with so much selection the store's floor was nearly covered in boxes of records.

Check out the list of Record Store Day exclusive releases here. I'm looking most forward to the Wilco live DVD, the My Morning Jacket live album, and the 7" of two brand new Modest Mouse songs. But I hope and expect to discover more surprises on Saturday. So stop by Pure Pop on Saturday and support indie music stores--because without them, we'd have to rely on Best Buy and iTunes, and that's a scary thought.

Asher Roth Dropped

St. Michael's students who love college, drinking, women, and college again (in that order) are waking up disappointed this morning. Asher Roth, the "I Love College" singer who was announced a few weeks back as the opener for Lupe Fiasco at the SMC Spring Concert April 17, has been dropped from the bill due to outcry from students, faculty and staff.

A campus-wide email from the Student Association Secretaries of Programming last night said that Roth was being canceled because his images and messages are "obviously inconsistent with our institutional mission," which I think is code for "People are understandably pissed."

My feelings on the matter are known, and yes, I'm very pleased with this decision. I sincerely believe that a college is represented by who it brings in for concerts, and being represented by a disposable act who so obviously panders to the lowest common denominator wasn't very comforting. Oh, and the blatant misogyny in his video and his songs like "Rub On Your Titties" (charming, isn't he) was pretty awful, too. Having that on my campus would have been far from my proudest moment at this school.

So while I'm still concerned that no one on the S.A. Programming Committee saw anything wrong with Roth's music and videos when they were considering him initially, I'm glad they were willing to listen to the campus community who didn't want to be represented by sophomoric, sexist nonsense.

Thanks to the St. Michael's Center for Women and Gender, and everyone else who let their feelings on Roth be known — and thanks to the S.A. for making the right decision in the end.

Of Onions and Rock Bands

Enough about student government/media drama for a while. Let's discuss more important things: the arts. Today's a big day for arts of the written, visual, and musical kinds at St. Mike's.

Today is the release date for the 2009 edition of St. Michael's annual literary arts journal, the Onion River Review.  The Review contains poetry, prose, paintings, drawings, and photography, and competition is tough every year to get in. I'm impressed every year at how professional and well-curated it is (and I'm not just saying that because I finally got a photograph accepted this year). There's a release party tonight at 6:00 in the Hoehl Welcome Center, but if you can't make it, you can grab a (free!) copy of the Onion River Review at locations around the area, including Crow Bookstore and Muddy Waters in Burlington and the Green Closet in Winooski.

Later tonight, Higher Ground hosts three St. Michael's bands, all graduates of our campus's Saturday night Turtle Underground concert/open mic series. The headliner is Cadrin, a four piece rock band. The band's titular singer-songwriter, Tom Cadrin, received a lovely review in Seven Days late last year with his previous album, and his music is even more well-rounded with a full band. Cadrin's music is blends emotive, singer-songwriter rock music with prog/math-rock influences like odd time signatures and all kinds of unusual structures. The band's got some chops. It's like pop-rock for music majors.

Opening the show are Fink, a jammy rock band that reminds me of Dispatch or O.A.R. plus jazz, and Free Louis, a scarily-tight bunch that will bring the heady instrumental jams. Show starts at 8:00 and tickets are $10.

An Amazing Acoustic Night with Jeff Tweedy

I'll cut right to the chase: Jeff Tweedy's show Thursday night at Higher Ground was a masterpiece. The lead singer of Wilco (and Loose Fur and Uncle Tupelo) treated Vermont to a rare solo acoustic show that's been sold out for six weeks.

After a short but solid opening set of jazzy pop-rock by Pronto, a Brooklyn band led by Wilco keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen, Tweedy took the stage and went into "Via Chicago," a Wilco favorite from the album Summerteeth. The rest of the night similarly highlighted Tweedy's back catalogue, as he pulled most of the set from 1990s Wilco albums and his previous band, Uncle Tupelo. He did treat the audience to two brand new songs as previews of the upcoming Wilco album, due in June. (And if any snooty hipsters are wondering, no, they don't sound "dad-rock," thanks.)

Tweedy was in a great mood all night, engaging in plenty of funny and good-natured banter with the crowd, including his story of how earlier in the day he was nearly run off the road by overzealous fans while riding his bike around town, saying he "felt like Princess Di." More musicians should go for black comedy. He also entertained a few impromptu audience requests, and threw in some unexpected covers of Bob Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate" and, more surprisingly, The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog."

My fanboy meter was overloaded during Tweedy's first encore, as he played my favorite Wilco songs together.  "A Shot in the Arm" was even more desperate and affecting in acoustic form, while Tweedy transcribed the many parts and voices of "Muzzle of Bees" into a surprisingly complex, fascinating version.

He took another encore and returned with Jorgensen on keyboards to play a pair of songs from A Ghost is Born, "Hummingbird" and "Theologians," though it must be said that these songs were really sloppy. I'm glad they went for it, though. Tweedy capped off the night by playing Wilco's "Someone Else's Song" and Uncle Tupelo's "Acuff-Rose" totally unplugged, standing atop the stage monitors and belting out the words sans microphone. It was the most intimate, beautiful moment in a night full of them.

A major reason the show was so great was that the crowd was really fantastic. I've had quite a few experiences at Higher Ground where the crowd treats the venue as any Burlington dive bar, too busy drunkenly chatting to even pay attention to the show they paid to see. But the crowd at this show was amazingly attentive, staying eerily quiet at the right moments, saving the whoops and yells for between songs, and singing along fervently when the song merited it. I don't know if it was because the show was so hard to get tickets to that only the diehards were there, or if Wilco fans are just an amazingly cool bunch, but it made the show an absolute blast to be a part of, and created the sort of feeling of communal happiness that only a great rock show can provide.

UVM Springfest Tickets on Sale Today

The super-awesome instrumental hip-hop/electronic band Ratatat is headlining the 2009 edition of UVM's Springfest, with more bands TBA.  Tickets are set to go on sale today on uvmtickets.com and at the ticket office in the Patrick Gymnasium, and cost $5 for college students with ID and $20 for the general public.  Major, major props to UVM's SA Concert Board for making the student discount price good for all college students and not just UVM students--us St. Mike's kids have to rely on UVM to bring cool music to Burlington-area colleges, after all.

(If 90s nostalgia is more your bag, Higher Ground just announced that Third Eye Blind is coming to town May 5. Have to admit that band hasn't crossed my mind in about eight years, but uh...glad to see they're still alive.)

David Byrne is Playing at the Shelburne Museum on June 1

Yesterday, Higher Ground unveiled the lineup for the 2009 Ben & Jerry's Concerts on The Green, a series of concerts taking place over the summer out on the beautifully scenic green at the Shelburne Museum. Each of the previous summers I've attended one of the shows (Wilco in 2007, Feist last year), and I wondered how they'd top those acts this year.

Answer: David Byrne.

Yes, the same David Byrne who made his name as the frontman of Talking Heads. Last year he reunited with famed producer and electronic music pioneer Brian Eno for the album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, which contained perhaps Byrne's strongest songs since the heyday of Talking Heads in the mid 80s. Since then, Byrne has been touring with a new band and a setlist centering on the songs Byrne and Eno collaborated on--both from their two albums together as well as from the three Talking Heads albums Eno produced.

I got to see the tour's Montreal stop back in October and it was a brilliant show. Byrne hasn't lost a step, and his voice is as strong as ever (obviously thanks to all that bike riding he does). If this show is anything like that one, expect inspired dancing and Byrne sounding as fresh as ever.

Burlington is the New Brooklyn

I just wanted to take a moment to give props to the people over at Higher Ground for the fantastic lineup of shows they've booked for late March and April.

The big win is Jeff Tweedy of Wilco (pictured) playing a solo acoustic set on March 26. Considering all three Wilco shows I've seen have been at big outdoor amphitheaters with capacities in the thousands (including a show on a beautiful evening at the Shelburne Museum two summers ago), seeing Tweedy in such an intimate setting will be a treat. Better yet, Tweedy is known to play not just songs from the Wilco catalogue at his rare solo gigs, but also tunes by his numerous other bands (Uncle Tupelo, Loose Fur, etc.) plus unreleased songs and covers, so we're certain to get something special. One last bit of icing on the cake: Wilco's fantastically bespectacled keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen is opening the show with his other band, Pronto. No way this won't sell out, so don't procrastinate on getting tickets.

The following week, the Welsh indie pop/punk group Los Campesinos are playing the little room at HG. The week after that gives us two nights of awesome with the brilliant singer/violinist/whistler Andrew Bird playing Sunday night (guess he liked us from the last Higher Ground show he played in 2007), followed the next night by the punk cabaret act World/Inferno Friendship Society. Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Robyn Hitchcock plays April 14, and finally O.C.-approved singer Alexi Murdoch closes out this great run of shows on April 19.

It's really cool to see such a nice chunk of indie rock shows lumped in with the more common Higher Ground fare of jam bands, rappers, and NPR-friendly acts. Here's hoping that this trend keeps up. And here's my public plea to the Higher Ground people: Bring M. Ward to town. Please.

And who knows--maybe we can turn Burlington's reputation as a haven for smelly hippie jam bands around...

Free Live Music is the Best Kind

This Saturday, the St. Michael's student radio station WWPV 88.7 The Mike is hosting a double-bill concert for the always agreeable price of free.

The headliner is a band called Grimis, from Boston. They bill themselves as a "rock/folk/jazz" band, and that's actually fairly accurate. They've got the chops and the improvisational spirit of the jam band world, but with the structure and focused songwriting of the indie rock world — similar to bands like The Slip and Apollo Sunshine, both of whom Grimis has shared a stage with in the past.

Kicking off the night will be a progressive rock/jam group called Delta 9 and the Flo, from Connecticut. Fans of Phish and Umphrey's McGee will be sure to dig this bunch.

This all goes down Saturday in Eddie's Lounge, upstairs in Alliot Hall on the St. Mike's campus. The show starts at 7:00 p.m., and once again, it's free and open to all. Here's the Facebook event page.

It's Like Guitar Hero, But Real

Thursday will see the stately halls of the McCarthy Arts Center at St. Michael's College torn to shreds with PURE ROCK'N'ROLL... and some singer/songwriter folky stuff... and probably some noodley jamming... and at least one a cappella group.

The occasion is a Battle of the Bands happening Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. The lineup consists of SMC and UVM-affiliated artists Maga, Mic Check, The Sepia Tones, Fink, Free Louis, The Billy Collins Band, Fall Line, John Howland, and Davin. A winner will be decided by the august judging panel of Seven Days music editor Dan Bolles, St. Michael's fine arts department chair Susan Summerfeld, and SMC senior Tom Cadrin, who happens to be a fine musician himself. Admission is $3 for students with ID, and $5 for everyone else. All proceeds benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, so it's all for a good cause.

Who knows...maybe the next In Memory of Pluto or Japhy Ryder, who got their respective starts as SMC students, is in this bunch.

TONIGHT! Radiator Benefit Show @ Club Metronome

This is a pretty good week for music (of local and national varieties) in Burlington.  There's a show with four great local rock'n'roll bands going down at Club Metronome TONIGHT at 8 p.m.  The lineup and show times follow:

Fatal Flaws 8:30
Cave Bees 9:30
In Memory of Pluto 10:30
Nosebleed Island 11:30

Cover charge is $5 for those 21 and over, and $8 if you're 18-21, and all proceeds benefit 105.9 The Radiator, Burlington's amazingly great low-power indie radio station.  Check it out if you're free tonight — good music, great cause, and hey, nothing interesting ever happens on Mondays.

Photo of In Memory of Pluto by Jeremy Gantz.

Rubblebucket: On WWPV Monday, at Higher Ground Thursday

So there is a real solid band out of Boston by the name of Rubblebucket, known in a past musical life as Rubblebucket Orchestra. They play music that's best described as a cross between Fela Kuti-style Afrobeat and groove-oriented rock. Rubblebucket also shares members Kalmia Traver and Alex Toth with the prog-reggae outfit John Brown's Body. They've even got a local connection, as the band has its roots in a jam session at the 2007 edition of the always-awesome Burlington Jazz Fest. Back in April their album, Rose's Dream, got a positive review from Seven Days.

If this sounds promising to your ears, good news. Rubblebucket will be on the St. Mike's radio station, WWPV 88.7 The Mike, on Monday night with 'PV music director Mary Cate from 10 p.m. to midnight. If you're not within the station's listening area, you can listen to a live stream on the WWPV Web site. And then on Thursday, Rubblebucket's headlining a show at the Higher Ground Ballroom. Tickets are still available and are just $13 in advance. Dig it.

The Flaming Lips are Must See TV

So I've got to guess that at least some of the older members of this blog's audience remember The Flaming Lips' concert/rave/euphoric tent revival at UVM in September 2006. If you were there, you probably have an understanding of Wayne Coyne's bizarro brilliance.

Well, The Flaming Lips (among others) were recently approached by NBC to reimagine the network's signature three-note theme. EW.com has the video of The Lips' interpretation of those famous chimes — not to mention the mad scientist Coyne's custom-built, Guitar Hero-inspired double-neck guitar. Take that, Jimmy Page.

Also, the long-in-the-works Flaming Lips movie, Christmas on Mars, is finally hitting DVD on Nov. 11. Perfect holiday season viewing, assuming someone spikes your Christmas party eggnog with hallucinogens.

Press photo by Jay Blakesberg.

The Genius of Marco Benevento

Did you happen to catch the Benevento/Russo Duo last week at Higher Ground?  Hope you did, because it was fantastic, as Duo shows tend to be. I wrote a review of the show here.

If you're like me, and you can't get enough of Marco Benevento and his keyboard wizardry, you're in luck. He'll be returning to Burlington on Nov. 10 with a Marco Benevento Trio show at FlynnSpace, which will include bassist Reed Mathis (Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Tea Leaf Green) and drummer Jon Fishman (a band called Phish, maybe you've heard of them). They'll be playing material off Marco's solo album, Invisible Baby, which came out earlier this year and has been a recent favorite of mine. Folk singer-songwriter Nathan Moore, who often plays along with members of The Slip in the band Surprise Me Mr. Davis, opens the show.

I haven't seen the show advertised much, but it's in a tiny room and the presence of a Phish member will undoubtedly catch some attention, so I wouldn't procrastinate on buying tickets.

Getting Cultured

This week's issue of Seven Days had an interview with Abigail Washburn of the Sparrow Quartet under the headline "Culture Club," which is a particularly apt headline for St. Michael's students, thanks to our Flynn Center Cultural Pass program.

I know I've spent a fair bit of time on this blog and elsewhere registering my various complaints with my college, but the Cultural Pass is a really awesome idea and a great perk for SMC students. Essentially, students who wish to purchase one just pay a fee of $30 for the academic year, and then get to attend any performance of the 2008-09 Flynn Season. So, for less than the price of a normal ticket to one show at the Flynn, St. Mike's students can attend as many Flynn events as they like during the year. This year I'm going to get to see Abigail Washburn, Cecil Taylor, and Chick Corea and John McLaughlin, all for $30. That's $10 per legend. Brilliant.

Of course these things are what I'm interested in given that I'm a music dork, but it's not just the musical performances that apply. Broadway shows, theater productions, and dance performances are all included in the Cultural Pass too. There's something for just about everyone.

I apologize if I sound like a Flynn sales rep here, but this really is one of the coolest things we've got. Of course Higher Ground and Nectar's (and Tick Tick!) do a fantastic job bringing a wide array of musical talent to town, but concerts at the Flynn are very different experiences that you can't get anywhere else in Vermont. Sweaty, dancey rock club shows are fun, but seeing a jazz legend in a beautiful theater is pretty amazing too. It's really cool that the Flynn Center and St. Michael's work together to make these world-class performances (which are WAY out of the pricing range of the average college student) accessible to us.

Last thing about the Bands of Burlington show. Promise.

Has it really been two weeks already since the Bands of Burlington showcase? Goodness. Anyway, I know plenty of pixels have been devoted to that event already, so this is the last I'll say of it. But this week's issue of the St. Mike's online publication, The Echo (for which I'm the tech editor), has a little write-up and slideshow of the event.

And while I'm self-promoting, I guess I'll mention that I'll be on the St. Mike's radio station, WWPV 88.7, from noon-2pm today, and every Thursday this semester.  I promise to deliver the radio-listening citizens of Burlington and Colchester nothing but pure awesome.

If a Good Show Happens in a Half-Empty Club, Does it Make a Sound?

Did anyone else catch Sonya Kitchell and The Slip at Higher Ground on Wednesday night? Actually, you don't need to answer that. Because there was nobody there. That, and I can't hear you through the Internet.

Brad Barr, best known as the singer/guitarist of The Slip (not to mention his other bands — Surprise Me Mr. Davis, Super Little, probably others no one knows about), played a solo opening set. He mixed acoustic, instrumental pieces from his newly-released album The Fall Apartment with solo renditions of vocal tunes from his other projects. He also displayed an incredible skill, using an electric guitar, an array of effects, and a loop pedal to craft some really beautiful sonic textures. Unfortunately, only about 20 people were there for Brad's set, at least for the start. I truly believe that The Slip are the most underrated, overlooked band of our time, and it appears that injustice persists even when Brad's by himself. It's a real shame, because he's written some amazingly beautiful songs.

Speaking of The Slip, the entire trio appeared on stage a short time later to play as Sonya Kitchell's backing band.  By that time the crowd had swelled to about 75. In truth, my interest was piqued because of The Slip's involvement, and it was a little weird to see them as sidemen rather than the main attraction — though it was a lovely treat to hear them play "The Soft Machine" from their 2006 album Eisenhower, with Sonya on lead vocals. But I've also spent quite a bit of time these last few weeks with Sonya's new album, This Storm, and it's grown on me a lot. Her voice reminds me a lot of Grace Potter's, but her music has more of a jazzy strain to it, more like Joni Mitchell's jazz period. For this reason, The Slip's instrumental skill was a perfect match.

Sonya sang every note perfectly, and displayed some fine guitar chops as well. Though, if there's one complaint I would make about Sonya's music, it's that she sometimes falls into a somewhat cliched neo-soul/blues sound, not unlike Cat Power's recent work. Not that it's bad — it's just that sound has been done many times over. Then again, if I had a voice like hers, I might want to show it off, too.

The quartet closed the show with a blistering R&B take on Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited," with Sonya singing like Dusty Springfield and Brad Barr contributing some immense guitar work. It was a great night with a show of some fantastic talent. It's really too bad that hardly anyone was there to witness it.

More like "Broken-Foot-alicious"

The Middlebury College community was rocked on Wednesday afternoon, after a Facebook message informed students that Gift of Gab of Blackalicious sustained an injury in France. The rap duo was scheduled to perform on campus this evening, and with tickets already sold, the Concert Committee was hard pressed to find a replacement…fast! Well, only 24 hours later, the substitute artist was announced: Talib Kweli.

While I am not complaining, I still have no idea how they were able to find such a stellar act so quickly, or, embarrassingly enough, how to pronounce his name…I can empathize, though; I mean Whelan-Wuest, thanks mom and dad. Anyways, doors open at 8pm, show at 9pm TONIGHT at the Kenyon Athletic complex, and, as far as I know, tickets are still available.

Bands of Burlington — Tonight!

Come to Nectar's tonight for an 18+ explosion of local music mayhem!

Nine bands will play on two floors to benefit The Radiator. Sugarbush will be giving away T-shirts and season passes. You could also win a complete 2009 Burton Snowboard package or an "All You Need is Love" spa retreat from Cynthea's Spa.

All the gooey details are here. See you tonight!