Whiskey Gentry and Animal Collective = scatterbrained weekend

I saw two shows last weekend, which leaves me in a bind. Which one do I cover for my monthly concert review? Why not both? Let's start with The Whiskey Gentry, who rocked Atlanta's Variety Playhouse Saturday night. There was a strong Christmas theme, due in part to the fact that this show was their 5th annual Merry Y'all Tide Celebration, which apparently they do in their hometown of Atlanta every year in December.

Blair Crimmins and Michael Smith find themselves in the holiday spirit.

Their basic sound is that of country mixed with folk, but what caught my attention with this band is they mix in gypsy/punk influences into the music. It's not exactly woven into the actual sound, but their demeanor on stage and the way they interact with one another has an almost punk mentality to it. And they're all practically virtuoso level on their instruments. There was a violinist, a mandolin player, a guy who played a banjo-tar, and they would all go nuts on their instruments cranking out crazy solo after crazy solo. There's a southern vibe to it to be sure, but it's almost as if New York or Boston was trying to emulate a Southern hoe-down.

Whiskey Gentry singer Lauren Staley rips it up.

It was also cool that they alternated singers. Lead singer Lauren Staley is a typical country/western girl, who
did have a great voice, but they let the violinist sing for one song and he impressed with his great, smooth tenor. They also had a big, unshaven guitarist who looked like he could have been from the Dropkick Murphys, who sang a song about New York in a rough bristling voice. The diversity of this band was incredible. Of course they did have their winey country tinged songs. There was song about getting drunk and making out with strangers, which was supposed to be a tribute to one of the singer's friends, and there was also this smartass song she wrote in response to one of her bandmembers who said she hadn't been writing enough songs.

But there was also the fact that this was apparently some sort of jubilee, and as such the band had several guests, all from other Atlanta area bands, that came out with them onstage periodically. There was a guy that looked like John Lennon who came out and sang a Christmas Carol with Staley, there was a lady who came out and did backup vocals on one song, and even a guy who came out and started playing crazy harmonica. During the encore, everyone came out on the stage, including Blair Crimmins, the opening act, along with his entire horn section. All told there were 15 people on stage at once all going nuts and singing, while confetti was raining down all over the stage. I'm not even from this town, and I was still feeling the vibes.


Animal Collective, on the other hand, was a completely different experience, for more reasons than the obvious. To be honest I was not really into this show. A few songs I liked, but as a whole I don't feel much of a connection with most of the material they have been playing on this tour. The setlist, which is dominated by their latest album, Centipede Hz, and tunes from a few obscure EPs, don't show off the band at their best. It's too noodly, too trippy, and spends too much time floating and wandering around without making much of an indelible impact. Opening with "Applesauce" was cool, but other cuts like "I Think I Can" and "Pulleys" just float around with too much abstract silliness and ambiance, that sound like it would be suited to sync up perfectly with an acid trip, but not everyone is into that.

Deakin of Animal Collective sets a dreary mood.

With their fanbase expanding, Animal Collective seems hard pressed to hold on to their status as the leading drug band which is what they seem to be trying to do. Merriweather Post Pavillion and Strawberry Jam are filled with great, challenging material that shows off various different components to the band than what they've played live recently, but judging by their setlists it's like they're trying to do as much as they can to disown those albums. It's like they're trying to maintain their indie/hipster cred by downplaying the fact they now have a successful/more accessible record and are trying to act like it doesn't exist. I respect they aren't selling out but it feels like they're going a bit far.

Certain songs did sound a bit different, which is a nice change. I didn't even really recognize "Lion in a Coma" until one of my friends pointed it out after the show. I did notice the song's trademark bouncing didgeridoos but wasn't sure if they were just trying to work those into the mix for some other song. The middle section of "Brother Sport" was also quite different from the recording, which was cool. I also appreciated "Amanita." The closing refrain of "I'm going to come back and things will be different/I'm going to bring back some stories and games" captures the childlike wonder that the band so masterfully captured during their early career. 
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Related post:

Animal Collective - Centipede Hz review

Prog rock kingpin Steven Wilson gets supernatural on latest solo tour

The only thing that needs to be done to get an idea of how multi-talented Steven Wilson is would be to just listen to a few of his compositions. But a gander at his live shows makes it even more obvious how much of a master he is in every phase of his craft. The British singer, songwriter, progressive rock musician, who is also the former frontman of Porcupine Tree, assembled a true feast for the senses at Atlanta's Variety Playhouse. He presented a feast not only for the ears but also the eyes as he seamlessly weaves together a true multimedia spectacle.

Steven Wilson bids farewell to the crowd, alongside bassist Nick Beggs.

He utilizes video projection in an innovative way to compliment the material being preformed onstage, bearing great similarity to the way Godspeed You! Black Emperor broadcasts video on to the backstage wall to provide a subtle background coloring and ambiance to the performance. The ticking of a clock, a bizarre face projected onto a screen -- it all provides a unsettling sense of tension that complements the spell Wilson is weaving.At times his show conjures the full bombast of swaggering British rock, at other times the band drifts through dark, brooding, visceral soundscapes, and sometimes he delves into meticulously arranged yet fluid and exotic jazz fusion. And of course there is a solid dose of humor and humanity stirred into the mix.

His excellent third solo album, The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories), was played in full. It's a uniquely structured album; each song is a vignette telling a story about a supernatural/occult being or incident. "The Holy Drinker" focuses on a cleric who loses his way, while "The Watchmaker" tells of how the titular character murders his wife. Blistering solos, demonic guitar scales, and gentle acoustic strumming provides a varied musical backdrop, but Wilson also shows he knows how to flow from one song into the next.

Following "The Watchmaker," the stage lights went down and there was a voice that sounded like an ancient dignified earth spirit. It reiterated the watchmaker's murder of his wife, and then proceeded to  announce that the next story was about someone who was "even more fucked up." This segued into "Index," which as he put it, was about a guy who can only relate to humans in the sense of organizing and collecting them. He may be a creep, but he has a hell of a soundtrack. Wilson is complemented by a brooding, electronic ambient backdrop as he weaves the collector's twisted tale. It concludes in a dark, oppressive whirl of overwhelming guitar, synth, and drumwork.

Aside from "Index," quite a few songs from Wilson's previous album, Grace for Drowning made the setlist. Perhaps most impressive was the 26 minute mini-marathon "Raider II," which he prefaced by explaining that he had originally written a Raider I. "It was shit!" he bluntly declared, which inspired him to write "Raider II." The tune itself tended to drag a bit on the Grace for Drowning album, but live it passes in the blink of an eye, and is an obvious easy showoff piece for Steven and the rest of his band.

The crowd goes wild for Wilson, Beggs and drummer Chad Wackerman. 

This brings us to the essential essence of what a Steven Wilson concert is all about. The stories themselves are well thought out and executed, but at the end of the day it's all about the instrumentation and composition. From Wilson's heartfelt performance on the beautiful piano ballad "Insurgentes" to Guthrie Govan's frenetic solos on "Luminol" and "Drive Home," to Chad Wackerman's clattering drum fills on "Index," Steven Wilson and his band know how to create moments that excellent concerts are built out of.

The sound itself was excellent, but one minor gripe was that it sounded like there were pre-recorded bits played through the speakers. During one of the early songs I heard a voice coming out of the speakers that sounded markedly different from Steven's. I thought it was someone singing along, but when I turned around no one was singing, and I could tell the singing was coming out of the speakers. It was very odd, to say in the least.
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Related posts:

Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing review
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning review