Saturday Night's Alright

This Saturday night in Morgantown, I saw four bands in three differant venues. I don't ever want to hear anyone say that there's nothing to do in this town.

I started by stopping by the Blue Moose Cafe to catch some of Billy Matheny and Haley Slagle's set. I've sung Matheny's praises on these pages a number of times in the past, so you know how I feel. Slagle continues to be this town's finest singer and was a standout on a set-closing cover of Patty Griffen's "Florida". Other tunes in the setlist included "I Hope I Don't See You Today", "Don't Feel Guilty", "Reckless" and a cover of David Bowie's "Modern Love". Billy told me later that I missed the new tunes at the beginning of the set, which was disappointing, but it was still a delightful appetizer to kick off a full night of music.

Athens, Ohio's The Princes of Hollywood took the stage next with their mellow brand of acoustic pop tunes. Intresting instrumentation and melodic harmonies make the Princes stand out in a crowd. The closest comparisons that I can think of are to the Kamikaze Hearts or acoustic Counting Crows. I caught about half of their set before heading out to catch another show. I would have liked to stay longer, but I was a man with a plan. A plan to see as much music as possible.

I rolled down to McClafferty's where Herb & Hanson were holding court with fingers flying up and down the fretboard with aplomb. This acoustic duo, who are techincally from out of town, have done their time in the trenches of the University City. Tonight's show was a three set affair stretching from 10pm-2am with an interesting blend of originals from their newly released "The Whiskey Fund", and an eclectic array of covers. For their sparse instrumentation, either two guitars or one guitar/one mandolin, these two got a whole lot of sound and energy out of their axes and the audience responded in kind.

Finally, I headed up to 123 Pleasant Street as the Librarians were midway through their set opening rendition of "Right On". At this point, I'm devoted to their music and these guys never fail to amaze. The energy that this quartet gets from their audience can make the hair on the back of your neck stand at attention. My only qualm with this show was that I was too late to catch It's Birds (if you did, tell us about it in the comments). The set closing combo of "Sweet Sugar Lip", "Culture Vulture" and the Clash's "Straight to Hell" was a juggernaut that pushed me back out into the night clamoring for more Librarians.

All in all, it was a Saturday evening well spent.