Friday MPMF: Zombies Disappoint While The Living Excel

[NOTE: All kinds of cool MPMF photos and multi-media are here.]

For whatever reason, Thursdays at MidPoint always seems to be the night that I'm rushing around. Friday was more relaxed and I got to catch a little more of everybody's set. Chapel Hill's Western Civ cranked out some textbook but well-done Indie Rock at Ink Tank for starters, making passe instruments like Ebow and china cymbal seem fresh.

Never the Nines were well into their set at Below Zero when I got there and I have to say I was a little disappointed in the direction their music is going. A year or so ago at Neon's, they enthralled a sweaty crowd with over-the-top Progressive Pop intensity (think Muse minus the falsetto). This time out, they seem to be aiming for a John Mayer/Maroon 5 sound. Nothing wrong with that, but it feels like a step backwards for them. There's plenty of time to make AAA crap when you're 50. Rock while you're young!

Over at Ocho Rios, Treologic was a little less jazzy and more repetitive than I was expecting, but they were being upstaged by the club anyway. That place is swanky! I guess now that there's no smoking indoors, it's OK to paint walls and ceilings white. You know, to match the leather couches. 

The sound was primo at The Exchange, and Chicago's Loyal Divide took full advantage of it. It's not the least bit of a cop out to say these guys defy description. You can hear snippets of influence here and their, but no apples-to-apples comparison exists. Beck comes to mind, but so does Depeche Mode, The Circle Jerks, The Cure and Brainiac! They have two equally talented vocalists with completely different styles. Chris Sadek is the Soul/Screamo guy (like what Ian MacKaye would do with Prince's pipes) and Adam Johnson has a smooth, mumbling tenor. These guys are definitely for anyone who prefers variety to continuity. Manic energy is the only common thread running through their music. I bowed out after they did a reverent cover of Talking Heads "Slippery People."

No jaws were left undropped over at Ink Tank when johnnytwentythree played. I have to admit I haven't seen them in quite a while and I felt a wave of euphoria rush over me just seeing their video rig. I made a deal with myself that I would forget all about the festival, take a seat on the couch and just watch them do their thing from start to finish. Stephen Imwalle was going absolutely apeshit with the visuals. He has one high tech — laptop-driven projector and two reel-to-reels that he uses in combination — but instead of just letting them run, he is constantly switching and fiddling with the films, almost like a turntablist at work. He also waves his hands wildly in front of the lenses in synch with the music, creating something that is not a strobe effect, but more of a visual vibrato.

Of course the content of the films evokes emotion and combined  with the intensity of the music, it's pretty much a dagger to your chest for 40 minutes. The band only stopped three times and each time, there was a moment of stunned silence when you could hear people mutter things like "Wow," "Holy shit" and "Dear God." Yep, that's pretty much it.

The biggest disappointment of the evening was that The Unbearables, the one act I was actually running around encouraging people to check out at all costs, essentially no-showed. One guy from the band — which has done a Rock opera about zombies! — was there with a guitar and a tiny amp and played some solo tunes. I hunted him down later and asked him what the hell happened, and he explained that the band got accepted to a music festival in Montreal next month and decided they could only take their dozen-person act to one or the other — and MPMF got the shaft. Fucking weak, guys. Seriously.

The upside was that I got to catch a little more of Southeast Engine's set, whose soaring harmonies full of despair and Roots Rock backdrop sounded like a combination of local bands The Great Depression and The Stapletons. The sound at Speakeasy was a little tinny, but not as awful as in years past.

The rest of the night seemed to glide by, with solids sets from Of God And Science, Cari Clara and Abiyah. Two down, one to go.

(photo of Chicago's Loyal Divide: Keith Klenowski)

— Ezra Waller

Comments

[dj empirical]

you said about j23's stephen imwalle: "He also waves his hands wildly in front of the lenses in synch with the music, creating something that is not a strobe effect, but more of a visual vibrato."

when i saw them at the gypsy hut a couple weeks ago, i noticed that he actually had a grate that would open & close with a lever. very cool.

i took many pictures... they'll be up soon. :)

[Norma]

I read your blog a lot and love it! I like your directness - no dally footing around.
I have never seen johnnytwentythree and I wish I had, by your description it seems really good.

p.s could you please contact me with the email left with this comment - sorry about this but you have no email address with which to contact you!