Reviewing Friday's Show (and a couple other things)

With all the discussions of touring acts not wanting to come to Morgantown, perhaps we should look at our reluctance to look further than our record collections for groups to check out at live venues around town. I, along with a sizable contingent of Morgantown, attended this weekend's Emergency / Apparitions / Priesthood show and I for one had a great time.

The Rosewood has a lot of good features as a venue – nice ambience, a big space and a fine selection of wine. Unfortunately for the non-wine drinkers amongst us, cheap beer, though present, is never copious enough. But the biggest issue from before, the sound, seems to have improved markedly.

Openers Mikey Iafrate and the Priesthood sounded good. I'm starting to become more familiar with their set and able to pick out the catchiest of their songs, although it was a little tough to hear the vocals and I always forget that they have an organ, the sound engineer usually buries it in the mix.

I didn't catch all of the Emergency's set but what I did hear was awesome. The can still bring out the old favorites and warm the cockles of my heart, and their new songs stick in your head long after the show. I'm really stoked to hear their album when its ready, and I hear it'll be soon. Also I can exclusively tell you that our boys have some BIG surprises in store for their appearance at our monthly Mayday! dance party in a couple weeks. It's a big secret but don't be afraid and come see them again, you'll definitely be glad you did.

Lastly I wanted to talk about the Apparitions, who are from Lexington, KY and Washington, DC. I talked to their drummer, Robbie, for a little bit and he was super-nice. The reason they've chosen to stop in Morgantown is a long-standing tradition of bands they've been in playing concerts with the Emergency, who were coming with them to DC Saturday.

They've been around for a few years, but this was the first time I'd heard of them. Their sound reminded me of a lot of bands in the 00s tradition of running indie rock through a vaguely britpoppish, glammy Iggy Pop filter, but they threw some of their own twists into the mix, like having three vocalists who can harmonize and had me thinking of the Byrds. They had tons of hooks and tons of energy. They have a new record out, entitled As This Is Futuristic that is apparently doing decently in CMJ. The crowd response was great and they seemed really happy to play here. Check out my Flickr stream for more photos from the show.

Now, if I still lived in Brooklyn it's possible these guys would have never hit my radar, but I've got to say that a big part of living in a town like this is taking some risks on upcoming bands and having a listen to someone you haven't checked out before who might even be playing with a local band you dig. I didn't catch Saturday's show at 123, but I hope it had a similar tone. Boston's the Beatings, who I hear compared to 90's Touch & Go Records stock, which made up a lot of my high school years' listening, so I'm wishing I could have seen the show.

Lastly I wanted to mention that Maximum Headlessness, who have a pretty good claim at being Morgantown's most crazy band, have released their debut CD and are selling it for $7. Check out their myspace page for more information. Also, Librarians are nearly complete recording their debut album in Wheeling. I haven't seen them out in a few months but it looks like they'll be returning to the stage March 4th opening for Dayton, OH's Swearing at Motorists who are returning to 123 after a long hiatus. That's gonna be a great show.