Another exciting week down. Last week brought tons of a tour announcements, a couple of local Kickstarters worth checking out, a new night for our favorite local radio show, some great new record and video releases, the national television debut of a local favorite, and even a surprise Record Store Day performance announcement from the biggest band in America. Also, we’ve got several great ticket giveaways running and plenty more to come, so check those out at the bottom of the recap, and keep your eyes peeled this week!
In case you missed anything, here’s the rundown of everything we covered last week on the site:
Nashville’s Five Knives is certainly doing their part to change the national attitude about the Nashville music scene. What we originally dubbed as Nashville’s answer to Sleigh Bells is even more exciting to watch live that the previously compared electro-rock sweethearts. Five Knives live show just kills. I still remember seeing them for the first time early last year, and I can still feel that rib-cage-rattling-dub-steppy bass line reverberating through my body. You should have a listen to the first song that caught our attention (and turned into our jam of last spring), “Ratatattat” to get an idea of the Sleigh Bell comparisons.
Give it up to front woman Anna Worstell (also front woman for Nashville’s The Worsties) for bringing the absolute party to the live show, and leaving nothing behind except for a puddle of Red Bull sweat. The band released their The Rising EP on Red Bull Records, and they just dropped a video for “Messin’ With My Mind” over at MTV. Surely, we’ll get to have another party with them in the coming months… perhaps when they return from the Van’s Warped Tour that should have them on the road for most of the summer.
A few weeks ago, we brought word that the annual competition for a slot at Bonnaroo was returning to Mercy Lounge! The first lineup was released this morning, and we’ve embedded players for each of the upcoming artists. The Road to Bonnaroo is crowd driven, and the set times will be announced right before the show starts to keep things fair. So, without further ado, start getting to know the bands, and get over to Mercy on February 25th to send your favorite band to Bonnaroo.
Here we go! Another weekend in Nashville, and holy shit! It must be a birthday for our friends over at Cannery Row, whose lineup is made up almost exclusively of bands we have covered in this blog. These bands are playing on three stages over two nights. We also have a couple more picks that might tickle your fancy if for some reason you are scared of 8th Avenue South. Regardless, if you don’t get out to see some music this weekend, you have no soul. Do it!
Friday
The first night lineup of Mercy Lounge’s 10th Anniversary Party is so good, I just dare you to try to stay in one room all night. Yep, that’s right. Even though the celebration is for Mercy, tonight’s fun isn’t just confined to the lounge: The Cannery Ballroom and The High Watt are getting in on the action as well, and one ticket gets you access to 12 great bands across three floors! You’ve got three options: arrive early and get in free (limited to the first 150 people), snag a 1-night ticket for only $10, or you can get a 2-night weekend pass for just $15!
In the Cannery Ballroom, you’ve got a lineup of indie/garage rock locals that have gotten a ton of national love this year: our Nashville Record of the Year pick JEFF the Brotherhood (who recently played Conan),psychedelic rocker Ri¢hie, Turbo Fruits (another of our Best of Nashville 2012 picks and one of many Nashville bands playing SXSW this year), and Brooklyn transplants Clear Plastic Masks. Check out the video for JEFF the Brotherhood’s inescapable song “Sixpack” below:
Things get even more diverse upstairs at Mercy Lounge. Headlining the night is delightful folk pop singer Tristen, supported by SXSW 2013-bound dance rockers Wild Cub, straight-up soul rockers Magnolia Sons, and indie band Black Sea Royalty (who we recently interviewed). Tristen’s new album ‘Caves’ is coming soon, but in the meantime you can check out her the video for “Baby Drugs,” from her most recent EP, below:
If you’re still not content with the lineups in the bigger rooms, you can head up to the third floor for a more eclectic mix of bands at The High Watt. At the top of the bill, dreamy folky group James Wallace & the Naked Light are sure to offer you a solid alternative to anything happening downstairs, along with former Pink Spider Matt Friction, and lo-fi indie rocker Evan P. Donohue. More bands are TBA. You can check out a great James Wallace tune below:
Saturday
As if you didn’t get enough last night… Well, you didn’t. It’s all starting back up again tonight over on Cannery Row with Night Two of the biggest Birthday Bash in town. And, get this: you get admission to all three venues for only $10. That’s right, $10 measly bucks, and you get 12 bands on three stages. That’s less than a $1 a band. What? Is that too expensive for you? Well get there early, because the first 150 people get in fo’ FREE!
On the main stage down in Cannery Ballroom, things get started with Coin, followed by some of our faves over here. Brandon Jazz & His Armed Forces, Machines Are PeopleToo, and local SXSW representativesCherub bring the ass-moving grooves all night. You can check out Cherub’s 2012 release Mom & Dad below.
Things are a bit more on the rock side upstairs. Mercy Lounge features local heavyweights Sol Cat, recent East Nashville Underground headliners Ravello, electro-rockers Five Knives, and The Weeks, who were recently featured on the cover of The Tennessean. You can check out The Weeks “Dear Bo Jackson”below.
Finally, as you didn’t have enough choices all in the same venue, you have a bit of everything going on over at The High Watt. Local rock couple Mystery Twins, psych-rockers D. Watusi, cuntry all-stars Bird Cloud, & the best rock album cover-of-the-year winner Natural Child.
But if you’re like Andrew and looking for something a little different — something that makes you shake your booty like you never shook it before, and something that’s got the full-throttle party groove, then you have to check out The Dirty Dozen Brass Band with AJ & The Jiggawatts at Exit/In. The Dirty Dozen revolutionized the New Orleans brass band style by incorporating funk and bebop elements into the mix. Check out their live video below from Joy Theater in New Orleans.
AJ & The Jiggawatts is the perfect opener for The Dirty Dozen. They’re a little more uptempo, straight-up funk, so they’re the perfect band to get the party started. Check out some of their tunes below:
But if you’re in the mood for something COMPLETELY different, you can check out Mr. T.J. Hooker himself, the one and only William Shatner, doing his one man show over at TPAC. Jessika will be there, and you can read more about her hopes for that show over the weekend. If you weren’t lucky enough to snag the pricey VIP treatment that included a meet-n-greet(!!!) before that tier sold out, you can still see the show while tickets are available. Remaining tickets run $25-$75, and the show starts at 8pm. It’s at TPAC’s Jackson Hall and you can get ‘em in advance on the jump.
Here’s a musical Shat refresher with his surprise hit, “Has Been.”
Sunday offers a very cool event over on the East side at The Building with the Unchained tour rolling their big old blue love bus into town. Some of the nation’s greatest storytellers will do their thing for a live audience, sharing hilarious and heartbreaking tales from real life. There will also be live music by Christopher Paul Stelling and you can check him out below. More details available at their website and more on the event over the weekend from Jess.
Hold onto your extra long hipster beanies Nashville, this is a pretty impressive weekend of shows (especially Friday night), so make some decisions and pace yourself. Let’s jump right into it, shall we.
Friday
First off, for those you working that downtown job… or for the gainfully unemployed, you’ll want to check out the SoBro Fest going on down at 200 South 2nd. This thing runs from 3 until 6, and admission is free. You’ll get to enjoy the fine weather, while enjoying the fine sounds of the Allen Thompson Band, Kim Logan, and Blackfoot Gypsies. You can check out more about the festival here, including a link to RSVP for free tickets. We’ll rehash that new video from Kim Logan below, because it is so damn good.
Andrew has something coming up about Docktoberfest, but it gets started at 7pm over at Jackalope Brewery. I went last week, and it is a great way to start your weekend off right. Especially rolling straight out of SoBro. Man, you kids better pace yourselves.
For those of you that want to get “freeky”, you’re next stop will be Marathon Music Works for Die Antwoord with Five Knives that gets started around 8pm. You can check out one of the tracks, “I Fink U Freeky,” that got this whole phenomena started. Things get started around 8pm, and you can snag those tickets here.
If you are still at Jackalope, you can just wander up the street to the north to check out either Dirty Guv’nahs w/ Shovels & Rope at Cannery or Milktooth EP release w/ Grass Root Kids and Charlie Hardin at The High Watt stage. The Guv’nahs as you probably know hit that Paste list earlier this year, but we already knew about them. Shovels & Rope are that South Carolina duo that just had their song “Hail, Hail” on everyone’s favorite show to talk about around these parts, ABC’s Nashville last night. You can check out a video of them performing “Hail, Hail” below. If that doesn’t do it for you, head upstairs for Milktooth, Grass Roots Kids, and Charlie Hardin. We’ve already talked quite a bit about Milktooth, and you can click on that link back there to listen to their newest EP. You can check out the new track “Some Words” from the new Grass Root Kids EP down there too.
Both shows get started around the 9ish hour, and you can snag tickets here.
If you happen to be heading south out of Jackalope, you should consider having a night cap at The Basement for The Danberrys and Underhill Rose for some pluckin’ and twangin’. You can have a listen to The Danberry’s performing “Company Store” down below. Things get started at 9pm, and tickets are $5 at the door.
If you are heading west, then you should stop for your nightcap at The Stone Fox for another pretty killer lineup of music with Fly Golden Eagle, James Wallace & The Naked Light, & Meadownoise. I’m a big fan of all these artists, and this is definitely a draw for me. You should check out the Meadownoise spread from the most recent issue of Native Magazine. You can have a listen to the Fly Golden Eagle track “Need Some Money” below. If you don’t know James Wallace and the Naked Light, check out their stuff over at Bandcamp. Things get started at 9pm, and you can snag tickets here.
Saturday
If you missed Shovels & Rope on Friday night at Cannery, you can swing by Grimeys at 4pm for some free in-store action. See above for their video of “Hail Hail”
The biggest secret, not secret show is the benefit concert that Alabama Shakes are putting on over at The 5 Spot with The Blackfoot Gypsies, Patrick Sweeney, and Frances & The Foundation. You can read Adam Gold’s full write up on that one over at Nashville Cream, and, if you don’t have tickets, the next best bet might be on the deck at Red Door where you might catch a few licks coming out the open front door, because I think this puppy is well beyond sold out.
If you need to actually SEE some music, then I’d say you head down to Exit/In for Forget Cassettes: “O CURSA I” RELEASE SHOW w/ By Lightning & Poly. You can get a warmup listen to the first of a trilogy of EPs that will release monthly below. That one gets started around 8pm, and you can snag those tickets here.
I could continue, but let’s face it… no one is reading anymore. Get some rest on Sunday.
