Messrs, Total Trash, Hop Along, Goners

September 14, 2013 • Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio

Goners

Finally got to catch these guys after missing their set at the Family Curse show. Relatively standard garage punk, but it was definitely more fun than your average garage stuff. Simple but with a good amount of variance over the set, and entertaining to watch.
7 • Only the Second-Most Trashed Cymbal I've Seen Award

Hop Along

The surprise of the night. Aside from a few exceptions, normally I'm not really into indie pop / indie rock, so Hop Along is kind of out of my comfort zone. But I have to say that they really drew me in right from the start. Their music is really poppy, but in a good, uplifting way that also isn't afraid to get a little bit intense now and again, like the half-time slow-burning outro to their final song. Really great playing all around, especially the fantastic vocal performance. Good stuff.
8 • Most Coordinated Shoes Award

And then, almost everyone left. I guess Hop Along was the big act of the night. I can't imagine how shitty it must feel to know people paid to get into your show but they don't care enough about you to bother to stick around. I guess in this case, though, I can kind of understand because the next two bands were pretty different from the first.

Total Trash

The best phrase I could think of for Total Trash was "slacker hardcore". Relatively simple, yet pretty fast and intense, punk. Normally that kind of music would be right up my alley but Total Trash in particular came off as nothing particularly special. It probably didn't help that they were almost unintelligible—mostly the vocals, but the guitar riffs were a bit of a blur too—making them hard to follow and not particularly engaging. That's not to say they were horrible, though; maybe I wasn't just in the right mood or something.
5 • Most Effective Playing on the Floor Award

Messrs

Another extreme-hardcore band, this one local. Sort of a cross between old-school '80s-style punk rhythms with modern powerviolence and noisecore style. Unfortunately, also like Total Trash, I couldn't really get into them at all. Maybe it's just that, even though I normally like hardcore, I don't particularly like seeing it live. But Messrs simply wasn't appealing to me. A lot of their set seemed like they were just messing around—I guess that's partly a result of the extremely (and I mean extremely) dissonant and amelodic guitar style, which really turned me off. Oh well.
5 • Best Nail Polish Award

Why?, Astronautalis, Dream Tiger

February 18, 2013 • Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio

My first trip to Ace of Cups, courtesy of Why?, who slowly became one of my favorite bands a few years ago with Alopecia. Despite a few logistical hitches ("doors at 7" became "doors at 7:45", with the show itself at 8:45) it turned out to be one of the best shows I've ever been to.

Dream Tiger

I'd never heard of Dream Tiger before, despite the fact that she has apparently been a member of Why? for some time. It was surprisingly good stuff, not the sort of music I'd seek out, but I liked her quite a bit. Gloomy electronic beats and melancholic singing, a sort of slowed-down, ethereal, drugged-out Björk. The variety of sounds and instruments sampled was pretty neat as well.
6 • Most Seemingly Surprised at Her Success Award

Astronautalis

Another act new to me. Basically a stripped-down and more rock version of Why?, with heavy indie-rock beats (with live drums and guitar, which was neat) and a half-singing-half-rapping approach. It wasn't totally my kind of music, but I have to give the guy props for giving one of the most enthusiastic performances I've ever seen. After Dream Tiger put everyone to sleep (not in a bad way), I was surprised how easily he woke everyone back up, considering that a lot of us didn't know who he was, probably in no small part due to his admittedly funny audience-participation freestyle.
7 • Most Entertaining Stories About Insane Clown Posse Award

Why?

This show exceeded all my expectations, somehow. Firstly, I was impressed that everything was played with live instruments (I should've known better, but still), and the scope of them—two good-sized drumkits, a full-time xylophonist, and a part-time glockenspielist. They played a good mix of stuff, mostly newer material (of course) but a large handful of old tracks, two from Elephant Eyelash and fully half of Alopecia, which were some of the highlights for me (especially "These Few Presidents"). I guess it was partly so good because the crowd was as into those songs as I was and the atmosphere was really great. (I even tolerated the bit of singing along that happened.) So yeah—I guess it's partly that seeing one of your favorite groups makes for a good show, but they wouldn't have disappointed even the mildest fans.
10 • Largest Number of Fans Who Feel They Have the Need to Make Out Right in Front of Me Award