What up In The ATL?

It's Atlanta Superstar Week!

Wednesday night we got a big show for you. We've got two of Atlanta's biggest music icons, Preston Craig and Kenny Crucial (Mack Messiah), performing live. Plus some great up-and-coming bands like Morning State, The Pendletons, and Delta Co. On top of all that, it's to raise money for Atlanta's Refugee Community. Be there:



And that's not all kiddies. The Atlanta superstars are all over the place this week with a very exciting line-up Friday night at the Variety Playhouse. This town's greatest hipster bands, Black Lips, Deerhunter, Snowden, and The Selmanaires will all be on one stage together:



If for some weird reason you aren't into that show, GWAR will be at The Masquerade Friday night. Saturday night Atlanta superstar week continues with Anna Kramer opening for Southern Culture On The Skids at the Earl. Next Monday night you can choose between a Shannon Hoon-less Blind Melon at the Masquerade or seeing The Sword at the Earl.

Cool Winter shows that you needs to knows:

12/13/07 The Orphins, The Liverhearts at the Earl
12/31/07 (NYE) The Black Lips at The Drunken Unicorn
1/4/08 Graboids at Lenny's
1/7/08 Dan Deacon at Eyedrum
1/21/08 DJ Shadow + Cut Chemist at The Loft
1/24/07 Chopper (members from ex-Blame Game, Deerhunter), Fag Static at the Drunken Unicorn
1/26/08 The Machine at Variey Playhouse
1/30/08 High On Fire at The Earl
3/1/08 Beach House at The Earl
3/20/08 Acid Mothers Temple at The Earl

Yeah, those look like some killer shows!

Ohmpark Presents: Band Together

We have one more big music event left this year, and here it is:



That's right, a ton of great tunes for an even greater cause. Check it:

Some of Georgia’s hottest indie music acts have united to play the first ever “Band Together” benefit for Refugee Family Services on November 28th at the Earl. Bringing local musicians together to raise awareness about the growing refugee community in Atlanta, Band Together will be a night of entertainment to benefit Refugee Family Services. The line-up for the evening includes local bands: Morning State, The Pendletons, Delta Company, and Mack Messiah. Also, DJ Preston Craig (KISSAtlanta/Decatur Social Club) will be on hand to MC the event and will DJ between live sets.

Morning State and The Pendletons recently performed at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York, attracting significant national press attention. Morning State received a sterling live review from SPIN Magazine, among others. Athens, GA’s The Pendletons brought its unique brand of pop-leaning indie rock to sets with Casper and the Cookies, The Silent Years, Dead Confederate, and more. DJ Preston Craig has established himself as a revered DJ, event promoter, and local music advocate. Check out a powerful feature story on Craig in Creative Loafing. Mack Messiah has long been a staple of the Atlanta music scene, and frontman Kenny Crucial has gained significant attention as “Atlanta’s Biggest Music Fan” (Atlanta Music Guide). Delta Company is a new lo-fi blues rock group featuring several veteran Atlanta musicians.

The Band Together event hopes to bring the pressing issue of the needs of Atlanta refugees to the local arts and music community. “Band Together is a great opportunity to enjoy great local music while also supporting the refugee community”, says Rahul Desai, New Arrivals Coordinator at Refugee Family Services.

Raffles for a variety of prizes from supportive local businesses will also be held: Sweetgrass Wellness Spa, The Kingfisher Café, Brick Store Pub, Decatur CD, Java Monkey, Sevananda Natural Foods Market, Criminal Records, Abbadabbas, and Ten Thousand Villages. The Ohmpark Atlanta Music Blog is a lead media sponsor of the event, and artist advocacy firm indie outlaw (home to Morning State and The Pendletons) is also providing publicity sponsorship.

Atlanta is the seventh largest destination in the United States for international refugees seeking to rebuild their lives. More than 35,000 refugees have arrived in the past decade to Georgia, joining a thriving international community – sharing art, culture and cuisine while contributing greatly to the community. These women, men and children are among 14 million refugees worldwide that have been forced to flee violent persecution in their homeland but have been given an opportunity by the U.S. government to rebuild their lives in the safe haven of the metro Atlanta community.

About Refugee Family Services:
Refugee Family Services (RFS) is a metro Atlanta nonprofit organization that supports the efforts of refugee/immigrant women and children to achieve self-sufficiency in the United States by providing education and economic opportunity. RFS provides services in 20 languages to more than 2,500 refugee women and their families each year. RFS programs include women’s support, including health education, life skills, English as a second language, domestic violence crisis intervention and prevention and job placement. Programs focused for children and youth refugees include support with school transition, after school programs, tutoring and a summer camp.

Resources:
Morning State: http://www.myspace.com/morningstate
DJ Preston Craig / Decatur Social Club: http://www.myspace.com/kissatlanta
Mack Messiah: http://www.myspace.com/mackmessiah
The Pendletons: http://www.myspace.com/pendletons
Delta Company: http://www.myspace.com/deltacotheband

Lead Sponsors:
Refugee Family Services: http://www.refugeefamilyservices.org/
Ohmpark: http://www.ohmpark.com
indie outlaw: http://www.indieoutlaw.com

Here's a little preview:

Morning State : Spectacular


The Pendletons : Not Gonna Stop


The Pendletons:


Delta Company : Travelin' Pains


Mack Messiah : Hungry Soul

Live Review: DJ Klever, Snowden, Variac (3-31-07) Lenny's (Plus, The Ohmpark Kenny Crucial Challenge)

Saturday night while Biggie C and Sleo went to the Ted Leo show, I decided to play the hipster and go to Lenny's. After grabbing some food and watching the first half of the Florida v. UCLA Final Four basketball game in Little Five Points I journeyed alone to the show. When I got there the place was very empty, but was packed tight by the end of Snowden's set. The hipster bicycle club Faster Mustache was celebrating its second birthday and everyone who's anyone in the Atlanta indie scene was in attendance including Bean Summer (Lenny's booking agent), Preston Craig (KissAtlanta and Decatur Social Club), and Kenny Crucial. Ok, we're going to stop the story here for a minute to talk about Kenny Crucial.

Last year at Bonnaroo, Sleo and I waited 6 hours to have a good spot for the Radiohead show. About midway through sitting and standing in a packed crowd, this guy is trying to squeeze past us and Sleo starts yelling at him. Apparently some other folks were holding his spot in front of us , and we eventually let him pass. Now I could go on a digression about concert attendee etiquette, but I'll spare you. After we got back to Atlanta, we started to notice the same guy that cut in front of us at almost all of the shows we were going to. We even developed nicknames for him. Just a couple weeks ago, Creative Loafing here in Atlanta ran a cover story devoted to this same guy. He goes by the name "Kenny Crucial" and you can learn more about this "local legend" and "Philosopher" at his own site. Well, now the Atlanta scene is consumed with Kenny-Crucial-Mania. Even Atlanta Music Guide, who is always like 3 years behind the trends, has an article about him. So, I'm going to bite. We here at Ohmpark will feed into the hype and have some fun with this.

Another weird personality I met this year while hitting fests was Beatle Bob. Beatle Bob looks like a retarded Gallagher Brother( ok, a more retarded Gallagher Brother) and i first saw him at Wakarusa last year at the Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker show on stage dancing around in a really strange and ridiculous way. I later talked to him briefly at Bonnaroo and saw him go on stage and introduce both Sonic Youth and Sleater-Kinney at Lollapalooza. There are many mythical stories about Beatle Bob such as the fact that he has supposedly gone to a show every day since 1996 and disputed claims that he was a radio DJ in St. Louis (his hometown). He is known nationally , has a dance named after him, somebody is making a documentary about him and there is even a petition to have him stop being such a spectacle called Beatle Bob Sit Down.

So, here's the deal. St. Louis can suck it. We're going to try and make Atlanta's own Kenny Crucial bigger than Beatle Bob. It's going to be a difficult endeavor because Beatle Bob is very big. We are going to undertake a multi-phase plan. Phase one: We are announcing the Ohmpark Kenny Crucial Challenge. KC needs even more exposure. He needs full coverage. So, from here on out we are challenging you, the reader, to catch Kenny Crucial at shows with your camera phone. You can send your pics to icaughtkenny@ohmpark.com or just post them at Camura if you have an account. We will post the best phone logs here and keep up with the adventures of The Crucial One. After a yet-to-be-determined time, we will award the photographer of the best Kenny Crucial pic some concert tickets to a band they like. Most likely. So, be on the look-out. He is usually at the front of the most hipsterish show of the night. Here's a pic to help you find him, but it's not hard:



Good luck!

ok, what was i writing about? Oh yeah, the show. First I saw Variac and they were ok. Kinda sounded like a sloppy mix of Blur and the Black Crowes. They aren't bad at what they do, it is just what they do is kind of boring and derivative. After a tri-cycle race inside the venue was held, Snowden went on. I had never seen Snowden, but they have been hyped pretty heavily lately and some believe they could be the Nirvana that breaks the Atlanta scene through. I listened to their music and I always thought it was good, but I just didn't understand why everyone was so in love with them. Well, after seeing them live, now I know. They take that Bloc Party intensity and amplify it ten fold. They are the anti-Interpol in that way. I highly recommend you check them out live because it was amazing. I don't know that they can single-handedly blow up the Atlanta scene, but they a great band:







Next up was DJ Klever. This was my first time seeing him as well and it was off the chain. I hadn't seen a crowd in a club dance that hard since I was a raver. He led off with a Tomahawk Chop anthem with a beat and it then went all over the place. Just an amazing DJ. I mean, he is an international superstar and rightly so. I'll be catching him and Snowden every chance i get:







Klever is touring with the Gza and they will be doing Atlanta on May 28th at the Loft. Snowden are playing with the Selmanaires on April 7th at Rob's House.