[Review + Photos] East Nashville Underground Summer 2013

Another f***ing festival came and went with a bang, and we were there for all of the summer season of East Nashville Underground.  With everything from fond farewells to flared tempers over a booze fueled misunderstanding, it was everything that you could ask for or imagine from the bands and folks that throw the shindig.  We really hope to be announcing another event from the East Nashville Underground folks in the very near future, but, in the meantime, check out our brief rundown below and a bunch of photos after the jump.

Friday Night

We rolled in halfway through the set from local rockers, The JAG, and knew that we were in for another special weekend at ENU.  Kegs were pouring free Coors, and, at just two dollars a pop, the Grolsch was flowing freely.  And, that is when Plastic Visions took to the stage.  We’ve seen Plastic Visions before, and were fans of front-man Kane Stewart’s previous band, The Sex Bombs.  Plastic Visions are a little bit punk, and a lot of rock and roll.  One of our biggest surprises of the weekend were local pop rockers Tipper Whore, who were also gracious enough to hand over a t-shirt after we got soaked in that crazy rain storm that popped up.  Bonnaroo artists Ri¢hie and Ranch Ghost brought two unique styles as the Friday night headliners.  The former bringing a sense of humor to his tamed rock lyrics, and Ranch Ghost, ah… Ranch Ghost.  I just love listening to these guys.  While I normally wish everyone all the success in the world, I kinda hope that Ranch Ghost doesn’t blow up and move away.  That would be a sad day.  Things finished up with fun and twangy Stagolee who brought a definite change to the vibe of the dwindling crowd.

Saturday Day

It’s not unusual for us to be dragging on a Saturday morning (er, afternoon), so, unfortunately, we missed The Oak Creek Band, but arrived just in time for Josh Farrow. The Americana singer-songwriter and his fantastic band proved to be the perfect, low-key way to kick off a Saturday! We were pretty amazed by the crowd, from the looks of it the best ENU day session turnout ever, and by the time the folky Allen Thompson Band took the stage, continuing the tone set by Farrow, ENU was primed for a great day. Next up, and perhaps the highlight of our (and many others’) afternoon was Natalie Prass. Natalie just spent a bit of time on the road with Wild Cub, and it must have left her feeling inspired, because she gave one of the most engaging, emotionally charged, and refined performances we’ve ever seen. Her synthy one-woman show is hypnotizing, and her personal, sharp lyrical style is refreshing. Following Prass, co-headliners Ponychase brought their atmospheric, confident, and endlessly enjoyable show to ENU. They’ve never let us down, and, for a moment, we almost forget this was only the afternoon session. A need to recharge for the evening left us missing Buffalo Rodeo, but we’ve seen those guys on a handful of occasions prior, and they’re always a delight.

Saturday Night

We were herding cats to get all of our peeps in the car to get back to ENU in time for Cashatt, and we arrived just in time to catch the last couple of songs from his great band and catchy rhymes.  Next up was El El who we’ve told you guys about them a lot.  Yes, we are friends with them, but that’s not the reason for the hype.  Since seeing them at their first performances, this band just keeps getting tighter and tighter.  If you haven’t gotten out to see the incredibly talented pop group yet, you aren’t a true music fan.  Bad Cop…. hmmm, Bad Cop.  Bad Cop’s set was incredible.  It was the best that we have ever seen them play.  Solid riffs, solid songs, just plain solid.  We had to peel our jaw off the floor after their stage destroying antics as a finale though.  It was definitely rock n’ roll, but it seems like a lot of booze fueled antics happened in the aftermath.  There has already been a LOT of talk with the drama that transpired after, so we’ll just link you back to the TMZ-like article in the Scene for a full rundown and lots of awful comments.  Clear Plastic Masks and Wild Cub were again disparate sounding headliners.  From the dark, powerful, soulful rock of Clear Plastic Masks to the indie pop machine of Wild Cub, both of these two acts were playing at their absolute peak for the packed & sweaty crowd.  Glam rockers Slick took the stage after Wild Cub, and the beers took us over at the same time.  We’ll be on the lookout for ya on the next one though, Slick.

Like we said before, this is the end of the current quarterly format for ENU, but we know those guys pretty well, and they won’t stay still for long.  We’ll let you know when the next East Nashville Underground curated event takes place. In the meantime, enjoy a handful of photos from Brad Hochstetler by clicking through.