Rockness Recommends
Trail of Dead, Blood Brothers and Celebration blast it.
November 8, 2006
This is one hell of a line-up. Behold, three bands cometh...in all their loud glory. Get your Earloves in for this one.
By now, the stage antics of Austin's ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead are well known and well loved. It's truly a guilty pleasure to see a band waste their own money (or their label's, anyway) by destroying their nice instruments every night. I doubt I'll ever outgrow seeing a drum kit ripped to shreds before getting hurtled into the crowd at 90mph. And who doesn't love seeing guitars getting a pile-drive? What's interesting about their now standard show finale is that it's so unnecessary in order to get the audience jacked up. The notes themselves make for musical mayhem.
There is no "I" in Trail of Dead (besides the one in "Trail"). The band is truly a team effort. Everyone plays everything. Co-leaders of the ruckus, Conrad Keely and Jason Reece, scream equally in between multi-instrumental duties. And boy, are those two boys rambunctious. At a recent show, Reece hurled himself into the crowd BEFORE their set even began. Now that's punk rock!
Speaking of slaying (I mean, if we were), Seattle's Blood Brothers simply freak out. Like dueling gun shots, vocalists Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney spew such angst-filled, warbled-punk rock shouts back and forth that it's a wonder their vocal cords aren't ripped to shreds after one of their mind-blowing, sweat-inducing live shows. Bone-crunching guitars and an all out drum attack propel The Blood Brothers into the category of "too big for the stereo speakers." Bring some spare Ricola for these spazzy guys. They'll need 'em.
Also playing is Celebration, a dynamic three-piece from Brooklyn. Their debut self-titled album for 4AD features guest appearances on several tracks by their friends, TV on the Radio. Co-founder Sean Antanaitis plays all the music for this band except the drums (that would be David Bergander's duty). What you get is a thrilling balancing act of organs, electric keyboards, Moog bass pedals, and something called the guitorgan, an electric guitar hand-modified to produce sound through an analogue organ tone. Antanaitis plays all of these not just in the studio (hell, even Dave Grohl can do that) but on stage as well. It is a sight to behold. Katrina Ford handles vocal duties with a passionate, guttural ferocity.
Aw, yeah...it's definitely time to get noisy.
Trail of Dead, Blood Brothers and Celebration play Irving Plaza, on Saturday, November 11th, and Sunday, November 12th.
By now, the stage antics of Austin's ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead are well known and well loved. It's truly a guilty pleasure to see a band waste their own money (or their label's, anyway) by destroying their nice instruments every night. I doubt I'll ever outgrow seeing a drum kit ripped to shreds before getting hurtled into the crowd at 90mph. And who doesn't love seeing guitars getting a pile-drive? What's interesting about their now standard show finale is that it's so unnecessary in order to get the audience jacked up. The notes themselves make for musical mayhem.
There is no "I" in Trail of Dead (besides the one in "Trail"). The band is truly a team effort. Everyone plays everything. Co-leaders of the ruckus, Conrad Keely and Jason Reece, scream equally in between multi-instrumental duties. And boy, are those two boys rambunctious. At a recent show, Reece hurled himself into the crowd BEFORE their set even began. Now that's punk rock!
Speaking of slaying (I mean, if we were), Seattle's Blood Brothers simply freak out. Like dueling gun shots, vocalists Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney spew such angst-filled, warbled-punk rock shouts back and forth that it's a wonder their vocal cords aren't ripped to shreds after one of their mind-blowing, sweat-inducing live shows. Bone-crunching guitars and an all out drum attack propel The Blood Brothers into the category of "too big for the stereo speakers." Bring some spare Ricola for these spazzy guys. They'll need 'em.
Also playing is Celebration, a dynamic three-piece from Brooklyn. Their debut self-titled album for 4AD features guest appearances on several tracks by their friends, TV on the Radio. Co-founder Sean Antanaitis plays all the music for this band except the drums (that would be David Bergander's duty). What you get is a thrilling balancing act of organs, electric keyboards, Moog bass pedals, and something called the guitorgan, an electric guitar hand-modified to produce sound through an analogue organ tone. Antanaitis plays all of these not just in the studio (hell, even Dave Grohl can do that) but on stage as well. It is a sight to behold. Katrina Ford handles vocal duties with a passionate, guttural ferocity.
Aw, yeah...it's definitely time to get noisy.
Trail of Dead, Blood Brothers and Celebration play Irving Plaza, on Saturday, November 11th, and Sunday, November 12th.
