Corndogorama 2008 Saturday (Day 3)

Josh and I have both been covering Corndogorama, so we're going to tag team you with yesterday's events complete with photos from Biggie C:

JW: Following a super-charged Friday night, I managed to make it back to corndog land in time to catch Morning State. As usual, they put on a solid performance. "Never So Strange" kept the truly devoted satisfied. I listened to them through my hangover - something not afforded to lesser bands.

SK: I didn't make it to the fest until Thy Mighty Contract had taken the stage. This ATL supergroup certainly combined the best elements of their respective sounds into a serious sonic assault. I wish I could have heard a few more songs from them, but good Corndog sets always leaving you wanting more.



Since Untied States canceled due to some legal troubles, I ran down to East Atlanta and grabbed some grub at the Australian bakery and Josh went to see the Corndog Eating Contest.

JW: OK – that Boone guy showed up again with the belt just to show it off. 17 corndogs in 7 minutes. This anomaly has no competition. I was waiting for the little girl about a third of his size to spew when she got 5 of them down and started kneeling on the ground.

SK: Upon my return we caught Sonen. Their show was ok, but not anything that grabbed me. They struck me as a par, average Atlanta band. Not bad, but not good. Right after that it was time for A Armada and the explosions of sound washing across everyone's ears was unstoppable.







JW: A Armada blew people's asses off. This Athens outfit managed to make so much beautiful noise that it blasted through the walls and compelled those outside to come in and pack the main room early in the day. I can't wait to get more of them.





SK: They were a tough act to follow, but The NEC did as good a job as they could. The first time I saw them, I didn't like them because it sounded like they were ripping off the Black Lips too much, but now they have added some shoegaze to their sound and are leaning more in the Deerhunter direction. But while they seem to be noticeably influenced by the ATL big dogs, their style felt much more distinct and unique this time. It's great to see a band evolve and improve.













The next few hours were all about rallying for the big shows later that night, and we rallied hard. The only musical info I noted during this period was that The Hiss suck.

JW: We were at proper levels of intoxication for Gringo Star. Atlanta's own lovable southern rockers were given a little trophy from King Corndog during their introduction. I think it was for Best Corndogorama Band or something. With that, they came out firing. The guys have their own version of musical chairs with everyone taking their turn at the kit. Best energy of the day. The highlight of the show was the poppy jam "All Y'all." However, when the band were mid-stride in "March of the Gringo" some of the equipment started to fail…and then it became obvious that they had been CUT OFF. The aforementioned trophy was promptly shattered on stage, mic stands were getting some "treatment", and overall displeasures were being shouted. The immediate aftermath saw a stage manager waving a schedule in Nick's face – to which he slapped away. The guys went to cool down and I caught up with them after Snowden's set. Further backstory from Nick reveals that they had played Corndogorama years ago under much less stringent stage managers. They were put over 3 hours behind to go on – and they held their end of the bargain and lit it up anyway in the wee hours of the morning. Now they've been bitten by the corndog again under opposite circumstances. A truly "Black Night". Too bad you didn't get to hear it.

















SK: I caught a little bit of All The Saints killing it inside before returning to the big outdoor stage for Snowden. They unleashed a set filled with hits from Anti Anti and a bunch of new material. As always, they are total badasses live. Some of the new material I liked and some I didn't, but I'm going to wait until the record comes out to pass any real judgment. Jordan said it was coming soon and eluded to some sort of legal issues might have been holding it up.















One last day of Corndogging, so it is time to do it to it.

Corndogorama Video: A Armada

We'll have our full report from yesterday up soon, but I think the highlight of the day for me was seeing these guys again. In a related note, make sure not to miss Cinemechanica tonight!

Live Review: Athfest (6/21/2008) Athens, Ga

Last Saturday I left the Big A for the Little A. I arrived in downtown Athens mid-afternoon and checked out the scene. There were lots of arts and crafts tables setup along the road and the crowd was very family friendly. It reminded me of the Atlanta neighborhood festivals like Inman Park Fest or Virginia Highlands Summerfest. None of the musical acts on the outdoor stages were really my style, so I went to check out the Wired Dance Musical Festival at some bar called Blur.

The place itself was really cool, with video game machines and TVs setup everywhere and a swank looking waterfall behind the bar. They had a DJ and people doing art on the stage inside and then another DJ outside on their deck. I hung out there for a while, but it wasn't really my style of techno either.









So instead I decided to walk around downtown Athens and go shopping at the record stores. I picked up some great vinyl I had been looking for including Jim O'Rourke's Insignificance and Eureka, Marnie Stern's In Advance Of The Broken Arm, and Pink Floyd's Obscured By Clouds and Wish You Were Here. I noticed the record store that used to be in front of the 40 Watt that carried all those bootlegs was gone and replaced by a guitar shop, but there were plenty of other cool shops and I think I'm going to have to come out here periodically to go music shopping.

I was trying to catch King Of Prussia because I've been wanting to see them for forever, but I got confused by the way things were scheduled and didn't get to the stage they were at until the second they finished their last song. Next I went to see Spring Tigers, and they weren't anything to get excited about. I don't know what it is about the formula of some guy from the UK fronting a Georgia band, but so far all the results I've seen are fairly under par.









So I skipped half of their set to go find DARC Recording Studio, where Morning State was playing. I ran into lots of ATLiens over there and the slightly out of the way outdoor stage setup was a very chill scene. This was the first time I have caught Morning State since intimately knowing their full-length, and since they played a set almost exclusively made up of songs from that, it was pretty awesome.







After hanging out over there for a while, I left to go catch the headliner on the main stage, Modern Skirts. While I had never heard of them before today, they are apparently a big deal over here in rural Georgia, and will be opening for R.E.M. in Europe. They were extremely poppy, but they were very good for their particular style, and the show was enjoyable despite the fact I would probably never want to listen to a record that sounded like that. I went and grabbed a burger and a shake at The Grill near the end of that so I could go get a good spot for the 40 Watt show.











First up in inside I caught Centro-matic. It was indie-rock music with a country music aesthetic but didn't really sound like country music at all. Again, it was enjoyable but not the sort of thing that quenches my thirst for non-conservative music.







After that is was time for A Armada. The band featured members of Cinemechanica and did a particularly kick-you-in-the-face style of post-rock. While I'm certainly a sucker for this genre, something about this project seemed to be far above and beyond the average instrumental band. I picked up a copy of their EP that hasn't officially come out yet, and it is as stunning as their live show. It appears they have been added to Corndogorama tomorrow, so make sure not to miss it.







I had to get back to Atlanta and since I just saw Cinemechanica a couple months ago and will be seeing them this weekend, my final band of the day would be We Versus The Shark. This would be Samantha Paulsen's last show with the band, as her and the band have amicably parted ways. I'm not sure why the first time I saw them I wasn't completely sold on these guys, but they were just phenomenal for this one. I videotaped most of the set and will have that up very soon, but this was a serious sonic experience that I'm so glad I got to witness.











Overall, my day in Athens was a fun one. It was a great warm-up for Corndog'. While I still think that Atlanta's scene is far superior to our cousin town, what they have going on over there is pretty cool too and it's great to emerse yourself in something a little different.