Ross Grady name-checked from the stage by Polvo

[DJ Golf]

And by me in this post, for his sage advice in urging me to arrive
early and check out the two fine opening bands. (Early arrival also
had the added bonus of Mrs. Golf finding a place to sit. And if Mrs.
Golf is happy, DJ is happy.)

Mrs. Golf especially liked Noncanon. She bought their CD, even. I
dug them too. They're kind of low-key and would probably be brilliant
playing in a quieter, more intimate setting. The revelation for me,
tho, was Des Ark. Holy shit. Why have I not seen them before? Maybe
because my friends simply said "Des Ark is good" instead of "Des Ark
is the pissed-off sister of the Immortal Lee County Killers." (And
also capable of some absolutely wrenching acoustic material, which
again would have been brilliant in a quiet setting.) This would have
made me go out of my way.

I enjoyed Polvo more & more as the evening went along - did anybody
else think they started off with about 70% enough volume? Couple of
songs about 3/4 of the way thru were primo - "Feathers of Forgiveness"
in particular. I also was somehow unaware of the level of fanaticism
they inspire in some folks (Sat nite for said folks was probably like
me seeing Mission of Burma in NYC a few years back.) Mrs. Golf was
hearing them for the first time and said they were "the punk rock
version of Yes." I admire the freshness of her perspective at times.
(That was a positive review, BTW.)

And, I did see some people I hadn't seen in quite a while. Who no
doubt will all be at Drive-By Truckers this week and X on the 27th.
Does the Cradle have a senior discount?

[loca...@gmail.com]

>Why have I not seen them before?

The question should be, will you be able to see them again. There was
a comment from the stage that this was this duo's last performance
together. Anybody know the deal?

I will say it was nice to both see & hear Des Ark...glad they chose to
play on the stage!...glenn

[grady]

You'll always be able to see them in one form or another, just not this
particular form. Ashley (the drummer) lives in DC, always has, and I
think she also has some other travel/relocation plans, so it just got to
be too much to deal with.

Aimee is already playing with some other folks who live closer to home,
plus she's always going to play a fair number of solo-acoustic shows in
between the loud-rock shows. Her two songwriting styles are so different
than songs don't really move back and forth between the two, so it's
like getting two bands in one, really.

She & I had dinner a couple of months ago & we were talking about
possible new drummers, but she kept rejecting my suggestions as not
hitting hard enough. Last I heard, though, she'd found someone who
*does* hit hard enough. So beware, I guess.

Ross

> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
>
-- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene

[grady]

I love Noncanon. They played the 5-square-foot stage at Dain's Place on
election night last week, and yeah, I felt like they were more intense.
Or maybe it was just the tension I was feeling from watching the Indiana
returns inching closer & closer to a tie.

I was standing so close to the stage for Polvo that I couldn't be sure,
but a friend standing further back confirmed that he thought that the
guitars were panned hard-left and hard-right. I know that about all I
could hear was Ash, but I assumed that was because I was standing 15
feet from his amp. If his guitar was also the only guitar in the PA on
that side, then that's pretty stupid on the soundman's part.

I thought it was a great set, in large part due to the
reworking/rewriting that a lot of the songs received. I assume it
enabled them to engage with them on a level they might not otherwise
have done; either that or they just couldn't remember how to play 'em
the old way. Either way, I thought it worked really well.

And seeing them live again just reinforced for me how Steve Popson
really is the crucial X Factor in that band. Everything that happens in
those songs revolves around him at the center.

I can't really comment on Dave's repeated invocation of my name, other
than to say that I swear I had nothing to do with his amp dying during
the very next song. And to confirm that, yes, he & I had the
conversation 15 years ago that he described, and that I knew he was just
yanking my chain for fun.

And I don't know whether he knows how much I dearly love every Polvo
release *after* Today's Active Lifestyles, but I do. I even like TAL OK,
particularly "Lazy Comet," so I was psyched that they played it.

[James Hepler]

I loved that they played Every Holy Shroud.

[Chris Rossi]

grady wrote:
> I love Noncanon.
>
Seconded. I didn't know they had a CD, though. I'll have to get me one
of those.

chris

[loca...@gmail.com]

>>And seeing them live again just reinforced for me how Steve Popson
really is the crucial X Factor in that band. Everything that happens
in
those songs revolves around him at the center.

I completely agree. As I told SP after the show, he is one of the few
non-singing bassists that can hold down the middle of the stage. I
normally hate it when bands put non-vocalists in the middle, and even
had that conversation with a band that played 506 last week. But it
definitely works for Polvo...glenn

ps: did anybody write down the set list?

[grady]

Tis a 5-song "sampler." There's a 4-song version of same on playlist at
WXDU at the moment. I'm hoping it's part of a larger body of work that's
gonna see a proper release sometime soon.

The packaging for the Polvo show was paper bags hand-painted by Danny
Vaughn the night before, so I'm not sure how many they made or whether
they're bothering with local record stores & whatnot.

Some of 'em are on their Myspace (tho not downloadable):
http://www.myspace.com/noncanon

Ross

[Rawls nospam]

>
> 70% volume

Polvo's stage volume did seem a bit lower at the Cradle. The previous night
at the Black Cat the volume was harsh....not that I'm complaining, but it
was brutally loud where I was standing right up front, so I backed up a few
feet and it was just about perfect.

I have to agree with the sentiment that Popson's bass tone is the trump
card. A slender amp head taped down to a modest cabinet, and it's still one
of the best sounding things I've heard.

I heard complaints that their tunings are now too thick....I didn't mind,
for one thing those tunings remained in place (that used to not be the case
and maybe that has something to do with why some songs weren't played).

Rawls

[Dave S.]

> ps: did anybody write down the set list?

I think this was roughly the set list:

new song (ash vocals)
instrumental -->
dd(sr) -->
bombs that fall from your eyes
feather of forgiveness
fractured (like chandeliers)
title track
fast canoe
bridesmaid blues
new song (dave vocals)
every holy shroud
thermal treasure
dazed and confused -->
lazy comet
tragic carpet ride

Steve Popson was awesome Sat. night, but I thought Brian Quast's
drumming was pretty key too. I moved around some during the show and
would agree that the guitars seemed to be panned left and right.

[loca...@gmail.com]

All my Polvo CDs are still in boxes from a recent move. Where is
'Dazed and Confused' from? And I thought they did 'Downtown
Dedication', but I might be mixing that up with another song - I'm
less familiar with Shapes...

Talking to Ash afterward, I mentioned the 7"-only song 'All The
Cliches Under Broadway' and he said they incorporated about 15 seconds
of that in 'Every Holy Shroud' (if I'm remembering correctly.) I love
that song, but didn't catch that.

> I thought Brian Quast's drumming was pretty key too.

Although I generally agree BQ is a great addition to the band, I was
sometime bothered by the 'over-playing.' Mostly it was dead-on, but
sometimes it was a little too much.

glenn

[grady]

Led Zeppelin 1?

The DD(SR) you saw in the setlist is the Downtown Dedication you heard .
. . though honestly I can't ever remember which one is which until I
cue one up at the station & play it.

loca...@gmail.com wrote:
> All my Polvo CDs are still in boxes from a recent move. Where is
> 'Dazed and Confused' from? And I thought they did 'Downtown
> Dedication', but I might be mixing that up with another song - I'm
> less familiar with Shapes...

-- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene

[Joel Peck]

This party/show will feature friendly adults, great music, and is 100% attitude-free. Thursday, May 15th2702 Lawndale Ave. Durham8:30PM The Cannanes(Australia-first time in NC!) The Fake Accents (DC)
The Wigg Report(Durham)


Feel free to BYOB, however:beer, spiked punch, dance tunes, awesome guacamole and other random drunk food provided Lawndale Ave.is right off of Hillsborough Rd, the turnoff is across from Food Lion. Call Craig at 919-632-5314 for directions. check out some songs :http://myspace.com/thefakeaccents
_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live SkyDrive lets you share files with faraway friends.
http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_skydrive_052008

[rawls...@gmail.com]

As Grady said, Zeppelin's first album is where "Dazed and Confused" is
from and if you didn't like BQ's Bonham-esque drumming then you
probably wouldn't recognize a Zeppelin cover ;)

On May 13, 1:08 pm, local...@gmail.com wrote:
> Where is
> 'Dazed and Confused' from?  

> Although I generally agree BQ is a great addition to the band, I was

[loca...@gmail.com]

Funny, didn't catch D&C - was that the first encore song? At one
point, I raced to the bathroom, but ran into folks and lost track a
bit. then again, did they do the whole song? - can't believe I
allowed myself to get that distracted...but I might have...glenn

[grady]

No, it was only maybe a minute, not the full 20-30 minutes ;-) -- segued
straight into Lazy Comet.

[loca...@gmail.com]

>>>No, it was only maybe a minute, not the full 20-30 minutes ;-) -- segued
straight into Lazy Comet.

Glad to know I'm not crazy!

Again, it would not surprise me if Polvo had a new song called, say,
Dozed and Confused, to go along with such other play-on-song-titles
like Time Isn't On My Side and Titan Up.

glenn

[James Hepler]

Heh, Tragic Carpet Ride

[jay.p...@gmail.com]

That is the absolute truth. Ash and Dave's guitar work got all the
press, but Popson's huge bottom end was the necessary anchor. It's
the same thing in Black Taj. They always make his sound enormous in
the live mix.

Wish I could have seen the show, much as I hate rock reunions.

cheers
Jay

[george j.a. murray]

Jay, they're coming to NYC! I think they're sold out, but it should be
an easy matter to scalp. I had a tkt in CH, but was also able to get a
couple of tkts face value for friends, even tho' people were selling
online for $100.

cheers, jay murray

Quoting jay.p...@gmail.com:

> That is the absolute truth. Ash and Dave's guitar work got all the
> press, but Popson's huge bottom end was the necessary anchor. It's
> the same thing in Black Taj. They always make his sound enormous in
> the live mix.
>
> Wish I could have seen the show, much as I hate rock reunions.
>
> cheers
> Jay
>
>

> On May 12, 1:04=A0pm, gr...@ibiblio.org (grady) wrote:
>
>>
>> And seeing them live again just reinforced for me how Steve Popson
>> really is the crucial X Factor in that band. Everything that happens in
>> those songs revolves around him at the center.
>>

> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
>

--
'Im Moment steht es 1-1. Aber es haette auch umgekehrt lauten
koennen'--Heribert Fassbinder.