What's more important when you're playing music: Pouring your heart into it, or being technically perfect? Each of the bands that performed at Rachael's Cafe on Friday was committed to putting as much energy and life into their music as possible.
Good Old War w/ The Belle Brigade @ The Bluebird Sunday, April 15 8:00 p.m. $15 21+ Philadelphia-based indie trio Good Old War will bring their laid-back, folksy sound to the Bluebird on Sunday.
WIUX Culture Shock feat. Fang Island w/ The People's Temple, Saintseneca, Busman's Holiday, Triptides, The Kernal, New Terrors, Fly Painted Feathers and The Broderick @ The Bishop Saturday, April 14 2 p.m. Free All Ages Fang Island, an all-male rock anthem band hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, will kick off Culture Shock in Dunn Meadow.
Be My Doppelganger w/ Comfort, The Post Teens, Wringer @ Rachael's Cafe Friday, April 13 7 p.m. $5 All Ages Be My Doppelganger is a four-man punk rock band kicking off their tour of the Midwest in Bloomington.
I don't feel connected to the Screaming Females. That's more or less what I wrote last October when the New Jersey rock trio last performed at the Bishop, and I stand by that. But Wednesday's night show, while still feeling generally similar in tone, pacing and scope, was a riot. Perhaps it was the fact that now the Screaming Females have a new album under their belts, the newly released Ugly, but even though you could barely make out a lyric and even though the band charged through a small but meaty setlist of not even a dozen songs, that was exactly the point. If you can't connect with guitarist Marissa Paternoster, it's because she's sick, and she deserves to be in an aloof position, even though on stage she's still barely much taller than the audience. Paternoster complained about technical difficulties throughout her set, and did so especially on the abrupt finale "Wild," but she melds her intricate guitar solos into the already booming volume without calling attention to herself.
Screaming Females w/ Pony Boy, Heinous Orca @ The Bishop Wednesday, April 11 9:30 p.m. $8 18+ Just last October, New Jersey's Screaming Females were sprinting through a loud set at the Bishop.
On Saturday night at the Bluebird, the crowd members were swaying their bodies to the irresistible trance of the Twin Cats.
For the week of 4/2-4/8/12: 1. King Tuff, Wild Desire single (Suicide Squeeze) 2. Dr. John, Locked Down (Nonesuch) 3.
I remember a friend or colleague of mine - can't recall who - saying towards the end of last year that Neon Indian's latest album "Era Extrana" sounded to him or her like Alan Palomo's attempt at soundtracking a video game.
The Twin Cats w/ Shaggy Wonda, Big Country @ The Bluebird Saturday, April 7 8:00 p.m. 21+ The Twin Cats are a funk fusion band hailing from Indianapolis.
Neon Indian w/ Dreamers of the Ghetto @ Rhino's Thursday, April 5 8 p.m. $15 All Ages The last time 23-year-old Alan Palomo's synthpop project Neon Indian performed in Bloomington was October 2009, the same month he released his debut album, "Psychic Chasms." Thirty months and multiple headlining tours later, Palomo is back in Bloomington with an expanded live set-up and fresh material from his second album, last fall's "Era Extrana." WEEKEND spoke with Palomo about the new album, growing up in a family of musicians and working with the Flaming Lips and Kreayshawn last year. WEEKEND: You're coming off a busy week in Austin at South by Southwest.
There's a wonderful design that's been imprinted on the lemon yellow fan shirts of the Milagres (Portuguese for "Miracles") that captures my attention when I enter into the Bishop.
Milagres w/ The Natives @ The Bishop Tuesday, April 3 9:00 p.m. $6 18+ Perhaps it sounds campy to say that above everything else, the sound of Milagres, a Brooklyn-based band, that most appeals to me (and there are lots of things that appeal, such as the breeze-cool electronic piddling, eerie suspended string lines, vocal undulations of lead vocalist Kyle Wilson) is the downright catchy feel of the music.
For the week of 3/26-4/1/12: 1. Shins, Port of Morrow (Columbia) 2. Justin Townes Earle, Nothing Going To Change The Way You Feel About Me Now (Bloodshot) 3.
A band can never predict what kind of crowd they are going to play for. As groups of party-goers swarmed the make-shift music venue in mind boggling numbers on Saturday night, I thought for sure the floor was going to cave in beneath my feet. Stereowolf began the festivities in the basement.
Hotfox Stereowolf, Jerome and the Psychics @ Middle Earth (321 Eastside) Saturday, March 31 10:00 p.m. Free All Ages 'Tis the season for fresh flowers, fresh sounds and house shows all over.
March 29 was a super night for indie-rock fanatics at The Bishop. Three intriguing and diverse acts gave the crowd a night to walk home pleased by.
Sharon Van Etten The War on Drugs @ Rhino's Youth Center Sunday, April 1 8 p.m. $13 advance / $15 day of show All ages The fine local labels of Bloomington have tagged two of their loudest buzzing artists to co-headline tomorrow night at Rhino's Youth Center.
10:00 p.m. Plaid shirts circulate around the bar. A few make their way down to the stage. Bottles of PBR begin to crowd the tables and booths. The ceiling fans have no idea what they are in for later in the night as Bad Veins frontman Benjamin Davis addresses the crowd. "It's so great to be in Bloomington for the first time.
Bear in Heaven w/ Young Magic, Doldrums @ The Bishop Thursday, March 29 9:30 p.m. $10 advance/$12 doors 18+ Bear in Heaven is the brain child of Jon Philpot.
