Cough at Nightlight

Friday was another night where I had a difficult decision: Cough and Black Skies at Nighlight in Chapel Hill, or MAKE and In the Year of the Pig, at the exact same time, over at Troika in Durham. Since Cough are from Richmond, I opted to check them out, but thought I might stop by Durham first, and see what was happening there. The Sames were about to start over at Motorco (which, if you haven't checked it out yet, is a very nice, big club) when I realized I had left the battery to my camera back on the charger in Raleigh. I halfway considered just witnessing Cough without shooting photos, but at this point, it's really kind of weird for me to be at a show without my camera. It didn't take much for me to drive back home, get the charger and head out, thus missing Troika. 

Cough were definitely worth the effort, and lived up to their name. They have a sound that makes me think of all the good things about drinking too much cough syrup (slow, numbingly heavy) without the spins and intense vomiting that usually come afterward. Cough has an album called "Ritual Abuse" out now on Relapse.  See more photos. 

This week's cool shows: Troika!

Troika fest is easily the best way to see as many local bands as possible in a short amount of time and for a great price ($25 for three days). This year's line up is a fine one, with some of my favorite local heavy bands. See the full schedule here, and check out my list of the best shows of the festival.


Thursday: Valient Thorr with Double Negative and Hog at Motorco
Friday: In the Year of the Pig with MAKE, Americans in France and Naked Gods at Pinhook; also, try to catch Whatever Brains at 618 Foster
Saturday: Organos with Phil Cook & His Feat at the craft show (1 p.m.); Filthybird and Chatham County Line at Motorco (7 p.m.); Pink Flag at Motorco (midnight); Mount Moriah at Fullsteam (11:30 p.m.) and Spider Bags at Pinhook (11:30 p.m.)


Also, not part of Troika, but happening at the Casbah on Friday and definitely worth your time: a heavy show with Black Skies, Cough (doomy Relapse band) and Resister (from Greensboro). CORRECTION!: This show is at Nightlight in Chapel Hill on Friday. Lurch, Black Skies and 38 Gauge are at Casbah TONIGHT (Wednesday)

New video from The Love Language

Extra bonus: It was created by my former co-worker, the supremely talented Jason Arthurs. I'm pretty sure this footage is from last year's joyously crazy Pour House show, where the entire audience ended up on stage with the band.

Leslie and Corvette Summer at Slim's

Charleston rockers and Slim's favorites Leslie returned to Raleigh last night and played to a very appreciative audience. These guys play the type of heavy, hard, Zep-inspired Southern rock that sound perfect in a bar like Slim's, where the PBRs are cold, the shots are plentiful, and there's no need to be embarrassed if you fall off your barstool. Thanks to the band for letting me take numerous photos of them. They were cool guys and I think I got some good shots.

Corvette Summer, a new covers project with Larry Burlison and Erik Sugg, made a fine debut. Some of their covers included Pat Travers' "Snortin' Wiskey, Drinking Cocaine," Free's "Ride on Pony," and best of all, BOC's "Tattoo Vampire." See more photos. 

Hell yes for The Hell No!

Before the world discovered Beth Ditto as a fashion icon, her band The Gossip was known as an amazing, dirty, blues-punk trio whose frontwoman had a sexy persona and a sexy wail. The Hell No still has a fire that I think The Gossip lost when fashion designers suddenly jumped into the mix. I checked them out at Sunday's birthday bash and benefit for Steven, a young man who is bravely battling cancer. He wasn't feeling well enough to be at the show, but the rest of us had a great time in his honor. I got a couple of videos, including an amazing cover of "Fever", but since this was taking place at White Collar Crime, a spot not known for its great lighting, these are very dark. 

And yes, I know that singer Brenna has some serious red-eye in that photo. I thought it made her look even more menacing, so I left it as is. See more photos.