Can’t get enough of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble? Have I got a treat for you! Here’s a word search featuring the twenty-four participants in this year’s event. Pretty great, right? Print one out for yourself. It’s fun! Share it with a friend. Give it to your kids. Maybe they’ll ask you who Airport is and you can play them “Knot Again.”* Maybe they’ll ask you what goddamn means because they already know Dracula is awesome. Or give it to a friend’s kid. When they ask who Gondoliers are you can show them these pictures.
There’s something haunting about These Wild Plains. There’s a sense of foreboding that hangs over everything they do. The landscape is stark. The tension is palpable. This is mood music, and it’s killer. “Waves” is drenched in tremolo and reverb. “Plains” is drawn with interwoven guitars and unison vocals. Both songs are music cinema. We’re left with the lingering “Virginia” and a feeling that These Wild Plains are doing something special.
“Waves” and “Plains” come on a 45RPM 7″ record.* Basic black. It’s packaged in a plainly printed cardboard sleeve befitting the musical content. A digital download is also available.
Anngelle and her crew are making The Rumble a special event. Again.
How was your Rumble prelims week? Pretty great, right? The semifinal round gets going at TT’s on Thursday with Await Rescue, Petty Morals, Western Education and When Particle Collide(wildcard). Friday will find Barricades, Goddamn Draculas, Tigerman Woah and Feints(wildcard) taking the stage. Until then, here are a few thoughts on the second half of the preliminary round.
Old Favorites Gondoliers’ set was comforting.
It’s always fun to see bands I’m familiar with rise to the occasion that is The Rumble. Butterknife put on the best set I’ve ever seen from them. Slowdim followed with another goodie. It was the second time I’ve seen these bands play together. I’d love to see it happen again. Gondoliers and Harris Hawk both had gut-check sets. Intense, powerful stuff. It had been about 3 years since I saw Vary Lumar on the TT’s stage. Apparently I’ve been missing out on some inventive electro-indie rock. Feints ripped it up to open the show on Friday night. They earned themselves a wildcard spot in the semifinals.
New Faces Petty Morals: Expectations Exceeded
I had high expectations for Petty Morals. They blew right past them. Damn, that was fun. Summoner was amazing. These guys play my favorite type of metal: loud, riffy and melodic. Yellabird sound way bigger than two guys should sound. Western Education generated enough excitement closing out Prelim Night #4 to take home a win.
Return of the Riff Harris Hawk atop Riff Mountain.
If the early prelim nights were dominated by hooks and texture, then the second half found the participants climbing Riff Mountain. Summoner were the first to reach the peak, ascending on the back of the elusive Winged Beast Of Doom. Saturday night found Harris Hawk, Yellabird and Await Rescue feeding on the blow minds of would-be air guitarists. Await Rescue will carry that momentum into the semifinals.
Fun With Numbers Butterknife, the first of three trios.
See Three Trios: There were 3 trios in the second half of the prelims. Butterknife, Slowdim and Gondoliers played back-to-back-to-back on Thursday night.
Eight Is Enough: 46 performers took the stage in the second half of the week. That’s 8 fewer than the first three nights.
I Can’t Count That High: Again, riffs.
Play Me Out
The Color And Sound are one of the most lovable bands in town. When they played “Graves” on Saturday night I thought the place would burst. Here are some songs that have been running through my head from the second half of the prelims.
The last band of the last night of the 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble prelims. Yellabird. This dynamic duo did their part to make it the Night of 1,000 Riffs.
Await Rescue provided nonstop action for their Rumble set. The band’s fast and furious release kept Prelim Night #6 buzzing along. Their meticulous execution carried them to the win.
No time for Rumble weariness. Harris Hawk just launched a blistering barrage of riffs to kick off the final night of the preliminary round. That’ll get ya goin’.
Kapow! Petty Morals just blew the roof off of TT’s. No other way to put it. A potent blend of punk rock and ’80s pop, they delivered the most fun set of The Rumble so far and punched themselves a ticket to the semifinals.
