Musical happenings in and around the Capital City
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Toolbox
Published: August 28, 2009
Wow, is there a boatload of great music around this weekend! It looks like we might get some rain, which is as good an excuse as any to head indoors to some of our local venues to catch this weekend's outstanding musical offerings. Some highlights:
Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Saturday, Lamb Abbey, Pioneer Center, Montpelier, 9 p.m.
Now this is one heckuva great band. The North Carolina-based six-piece plays raucous, dance-inducing dirty jazz and old-time styles of music in an entirely new way, making them very difficult to pigeonhole in any genre. To my ears, they fall into the genre of "great." Holy Ghost Tent Revival "makes euphonium and banjo sound good together … (and) recalls a New Orleans jazz band rocking out, reminding us that, for a time, jazz wasn't much more than good and dirty dance music." Here, here … the show is for donations and is BYOB, which makes it a real cheap night out – I'll see ya there.
Durians, tonight, The Black Door, Main Street, Montpelier, 9:30 p.m.
Former Montpelier residents Nick Kerschnit, Eli Chalmer and Simon Plumpton have named their latest band after a rare and exotic fruit, and it's certainly an accurate name for the unique and adventurous electronic music the trio is making. This is live-instrument electronic music on steroids, featuring dance-inducing break-beats and drum and bass amongst a psychedelic swirl of sonic delights. I'd bet my last dollar that this is some of the more exciting new music coming out of our fair state – check it out tonight to see if you'll take my bet!
Rusty Belle and The Primate Fiasco, Saturday, Langdon Street Café, Montpelier, 8 p.m.
It's a New Years Eve '09 reprise over at LSC when the two bands that rocked in the current year return from Northampton, Mass., for a powerhouse double bill. Many in the area are familiar with both acts from their numerous appearances in the market. For those not familiar, Primate Fiasco plays "psychedelic Dixieland," which translates to a blend of styles pumped through an old-time jazz band instrumentation. Rusty Belle plays a unique style of indie folk featuring knockout vocals and songwriting as well as syncopated rhythms and some charming junk instrumentation. Both acts are quite simply too much fun. It will be rockin', and it will be a dance party. There will also be a nominal and oh-so-worth-it cover at the door.
And as if that wasn't enough, LSC also hosts another Montpelier favorite tonight when Boston's Session Americana return to their favorite home away from home. It's easy to see how they've become so popular around these parts, as their down-home acoustic sets, performed around a single microphone, combined with their folksy originals and tasty covers, are impossible not to like. These guys give a great two-set performance every time, and have a darn good time doing it. I would expect no less from them this time around. The show kicks off at 9 p.m. for another nominal but oh-so-worth-it cover at the door.
Yet another area favorite, this one from right here in good ol' central Vermont, plays Charlie O's World Famous tonight when The Starline Rhythm Boys take the back of the barroom for a few swingin' sets of authentic roadhouse style honky-tonk. The band is getting set to release yet another album soon, so expect a sneak preview of some new tunes in lieu of their upcoming CD release. The joint gets jumpin' at 10 p.m., and as is the motto at O's – "never a cover." Saturday night at our local dive for nice people, prog-rockers The Brothers McCann make an appearance … same time, same cover … rock on!
That, my friends is an awful lot of great music for our little town for one weekend. It often seems that many of the best acts are playing the same night – it's one of the Murphy's laws of the music biz. But there is certainly something for everyone, for sure …
Going out of town this weekend and are going to miss all the great shows going on? Fear not, as the rest of the week holds some tasty aural treats as well. On Tuesday at Langdon Street Café, Clare Dolan aka "Go-Go Girl" presents a series of cantastorias. For those wondering exactly what that is, it literally translates to "singing story" and is told using painted banners and drone singing. Ms. Dolan performs them in a particularly dry manner, which adds a fair amount of humor to her act as well. I've caught her before and she is definitely highly recommended, starting at 8 p.m., for donations.
On Wednesday at LSC, a double bill of alt-country takes the coffeehouse stage when The Dust Devils are joined by Johnson's Crossroads. With both bands being highly acclaimed up and comers in the alt-country circuit, this should be a great show.
And speaking of country, around the corner at Charlie O's on Wednesday night, local country side-project to Rusty Romance, the Rust Bucket Brothers take the back of the barroom at the Ol' World Famous. So, after checking out some around the corner, you got a place to check some more out late night. Put a tear in your beer starting at 9 p.m.
Until next week, when the beautiful month of September will be upon us, be sure and get out this weekend and enjoy some of the great live music offerings. Peace!
Ed DuFresne is the former talent coordinator for the Langdon Street Café and occasionally produces concerts. He lives in Montpelier with an aspiring lawyer, a budding artist, an annoying bird named Lucy and a clutter of submitted CDs that are steadily being replaced by Web links.
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