Annuals free show Wednesday at Urban Outfitter

There's no guarantee you'll get in, but you absolutely WON'T get in unless you have a ticket, which you can print out here. This is somehow going to benefit WKNC, so I'm guessing they'll take up a collection. Otherwise, how are they really going to benefit from a free show?

Get up, get on down

This week's show of the week is undoubtedly the Midtown Dickens "Get down showdown" this Saturday at 305 South. The day-long event features a slew of local talent, from The Ex-Members to Cantwell, Gomez & Jordan, plus not-local folkie Kimya Dawson (formerly of Moldy Peaches), who will also perform a kid-friendly set earlier in the day. the whole thing starts at 2 p.m., admission is $5-$10 and I understand there will be food. If it's the same duo that served the vegan empanadas at the Ex-members show, you should go just to eat. Seriously. I'm not even a vegetarian, and that stuff rocked.

A small example of how much rock variety there is in the Triangle

Friday night was a perfect example of what's wonderful, and terrible about the music scene in the Triangle. Two great shows that I really wanted to see, but at the same time in different cities. Luckily the Burlytime Records showcase at 305 South in Durham was early, so I headed over there first, and caught Megafaun. I'm glad Grayson has started this label, because it's going to introduce me to a lot of stuff I'm not familiar with --like Megafaun. According to the description on the Megafaun CD, the band moved to North Carolina in 2005 and was originally called DeYarmond Edison (not familiar with them). Now they're a three-piece, formed to "bridge their disparate loves of Appalachian sounds with avant improvisation." That's a good description, though I would have simply called them acoustic noise. Basically, you have some acoustic guitars, banjo, drums, gorgeous harmonies, a computer, a bunch of effects and boundless enthusiasm. Check out the crowd sing-a-long about midway through this 10-minute video I shot. After Megafaun I headed back to Raleigh to check out one of my favorite local bands, The T's, at Slim's. BTW, Slim's has started charging now, though it was only $3 to get in. The doorman said they were going to start paying the bands, which is certainly worth $3 on my part.Anyway, I wasn't expecting Abe Quinn's new band, Man Will Destroy Himself, which is just the sort of brutal, throat-shredding metal I love. A great palate-cleanser before jumping into The T's. Check out this video. And, finally, there was The T's, whom I've said quite a bit about already. I understand the band was interviewed by The Village Idiot before the show, so check that out when it's released. Unfortunately the memory on my camera ran out before this song was over, but I still managed to get most of it.

Pontiak: Swamp blues from Baltimore

If you read my Tiny Mix Tapes top 25 of 2006, or got any of my myspace bulletins last week about Pontiak, you know I dig this band. And if you missed their show Thursday at Reservoir, well, you're just lucky I got video of one of their best songs. Pontiak is swampy blues-rock from Baltimore made by three brothers (at least I think they're brothers -- they all have the last name Carney). The Reservoir show was the first show of a summer tour in support of a new CD, which isn't out yet, but which singer/guitarist Van was kind enough to give me. It's called "Sun on Sun," and it's darker, more brooding and even better than last year's "Valley of Cats." Here's a video I got of the CD's first song, "Shell Skull." Reservoir's lighting isn't really great for video, but it sounds alright. NOW LISTENING TO: Cantwell, Gomez & Jordan, "We Are Not at the Opera." Thanks to Kim from 307 Knox Records for passing this along. CG&J's quirky prog-metal has the tendency to be really exciting one minute, and just too tiresomely quirky the next. I like them best when they just let go and rock. Luckily they do enough of that on this CD to get me through the slower parts. The CD includes a pretty cool video for "Shayna wuz here ... peeing like a cheetah."

Help out the Roosters

Repost from ARFTM

We have been selected as one of nine Round 3 finalists for the Zig-Zag Live Spring Band Competition. Voting begins on May 1, 2007, vote at http://www.zigzaglive.com (click on the "Vote for Bands" button on the home page). They accept one vote per person per day!