WEDNESDAY 7.17
Ph Balance — Signed to Indigo gal Amy Ray’s Daemon Records, the Ph’ers balance trip-hop beats, guitars, turntables and voice (Pam Howe’s gorgeous wail coupled with some pretty fair laidback rapping), walking the line between Southern pop and Portishead rather nicely. The band sounds refreshing in much the same way Digable Planets did on their later records: loose but focused in a lazy-day sort of way. Appearing with the band are Charlotte’s own like-minded baleen. Fat City (Davis)
THURSDAY 7.18
Project Object — If there’s a rock & roll artist worthy of a repertoire band, it has to be Frank Zappa. The genre has seen few, if any, composers as talented or prolific as FZ. And Project Object deserves to be called a “repertoire” band, like the Mingus Big Band or the Duke Ellington Orchestra, because it’s much more than a cover band. Like the Mingus and Ellington bands, Project Object’s goal is to keep alive a vast stock of incredible compositions, not simply to imitate a famous performer. They also succeed in proving that while the music will never be the same without the great artist who created it, a group of talented, committed musicians can make it worth hearing again. Ike Willis, one of Zappa’s most famous front men, has become a pseudo-permanent member of the band, and longtime fans might be surprised by his ability on the guitar. Visulite Theatre (Brian Falk)
FRIDAY 7.19
VooDou / Chris Connelly — VooDou, an industrial dance band creating a raucous broth with guitars, manipulations, loops, keyboards and percussion, have joined the Martin Atkins/Invisible Records musical mayhem empire. The group has enough tricks up its sleeves to keep the swirling sound interesting as they appear in town for a CD release party. / Long-running scenester Chris Connelly (Ministry, Pigface et al) will be pumping his new tunes as well and takes a mellower approach with acoustic guitars and melodic, sung vocals. His new record, Private Education, harks back to the distorted acoustic sounds of early Bowie, though lyrically it’s nowhere near as challenging. The Hungry Duck (Shukla)
SATURDAY 7.20
Best of 90 Minutes Showcase 3 — 90 Minutes, as heard on WEND (106.5) Sunday nights, is about the only show in town where you can hear local/regional bands on the radio. The brief airplay/interviews with bands is the beacon of hope for more such shows. Quit dreaming and just enjoy the three showcases put together for the new Best of 90 Minutes CD, as almost all of the bands on the disc will be performing over three nights at three juke joints celebrating the release of the project. Tonight’s gig includes performances by The Superficials (melodic, mellow rock), the Evoka Project (Brit rock influenced stars in the making), Frontpage (new alterna rock kids on the block) and Mercybox. Buy the CD and check out one of the showcases in support of local music on the radio, lest the station’s owner, monolith Clear Channel, replaces the cool show for some piped in crap out of LA. Visulite Theatre (Shukla)
Paul Mark & the Van Dorens — What caught my ear about this outfit was the crystal crisp guitar playing of Paul Mark. The tones and shades of his six strings color their take on blues and foot stomping R&B while the NYC trio meshes their guitar/bass/drums bombast with snide lyricism, accented with plenty of guy/gal dilemmas. The kicker was listening to some of Paul’s solo acoustic work showcasing a genuine, bucolic sense of rhythm, and the dude can play. Double Door Inn (Shukla)
Tom Petty — Simply put, Petty’s rapidly becoming one of those iconic figures, like a Johnny Cash or a Willie Nelson. The man literally puts out better work with every passing year, doing his thing (fighting record companies, dealing with growing older) with grace and dignity. No wonder, then, that punk rockers (Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong is a particularly vocal supporter) give him shout outs all the time in the press. Hell, Petty’s way more punk than Green Day, or most of the rest of them, for that matter. With The Brian Setzer Trio. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Davis)
The Yum Yum Tree — The YYT offers up “sultry vocals, crunchy guitars and melodic catch, which we haven’t heard the likes of since Hole’s Live Through This,” says the press release. Yes! Whether because of ‘ol Kurt or not, that album belongs in the best 50 or so albums of the 90s. Vocalist Andy Gish is no Courtney Love, so don’t expect any half-naked stage diving. Do expect lots of songs off the band’s excellent semi-new Reverse Engines. With 4th Ward and Honey Child. Fat City (Davis)
MONDAY 7.22
Rob Zombie — Rob has stuck to his guns of industrial horror movie thrash-rock for over a decade, first with the groundbreaking White Zombie and lately on the solo tip. After the first listen of his recent tunes, you wonder why he hasn’t been written off as rehasher of his own glory days, but there’s a good reason for that. Rob has always had an ear for guttural sounds while keeping it fresh and ahead of the pack by using a red-hot posse of musicians. The scraggly haired, bellicose rocker brings along rap-thrashers 3rd Strike for a show on a night off from his tour with Ozzfest. Tremont Music Hall (Shukla)
WEDNESDAY 7.24
Moby / Azure Ray — Listening to Moby’s records of late conjures up spectral ends of the music rainbow; then again, the dance music innovator has always played by his own rules. The new record is no different, as the pieces can go from indie rock to bluesy-gospel tearjerkers to his flamboyant disc twirling dance music. The soothing ambient touches are ever present and by using different vocalists, Moby assures the old adage, wait a while and the weather (or, in this case, the band) will change. / Azure Ray, appearing courtesy of Athens, GA and the ultra-hip Warm Records, have a mesmerizing sound constructed with the help of Eric Bachmann (Crooked Fingers). Get there early for some legal, mood altering stuff. Also appearing is Dirty Vegas. Grady Cole Center (Shukla)
This article appears in Jul 17-23, 2002.
