The Walkmen at the Ballroom

For those of us fortunate enough to catch The Walkmen rock the Rion Ballroom last night, it was the sonic equivalent of taking Valium underwater, but without the added hassle of having to breathe.

The last time the band came to Gainesville was 2008, when it played Common Grounds in support of its album You and Me. Since then, the band has toured with Kings of Leon and played a special NPR-sponsored show at South by Southwest.

The Walkmen were sans the usual horn section and keyboard player, opting instead for a lean and tight foursome. Watching this band in action is like watching Leonardo DiCaprio acting. The guys are strong, full, rythmic and magnetic. I can't help but feel that this band's next album may be the one to finally give these critical darlings the mainstream support they deserve.

If you're not familiar with the band, check it out now so you can say you knew them when.

Girls Swoon for Pop-Punkers at The Venue

You first fell to the foot-tapping and head-bobbing impulses. The next step was mouthing the clever, smooth lyrics. When The Venue decided to treat Gainesville with the ideal pop-punk-rock culmination of Sing it Loud, A Rocket to the Moon, fun. and Motion City Soundtrack, they must have not known how addictive, infectious and commanding the bands would be

Nick Santino of A Rocket to the Moon

It spanned from slow tempo crescendos to energetic perfection. Even The Venue succumbed to timely precision, being so prompt in giving the audience what it wanted; I ended up missing Sing it Loud. From the girls’ looks, they were anything but disappointed.

A Rocket to the Moon continued the momentum, swooning the crowd even through minor mistakes. Singer Nick Santino bashfully admitted to messing up lyrics. “We’re not perfect,” he said laughing.

The audience soon forgot after the poignant “Like We Used To.” Nick’s youthful vocals complete the relationship-oriented lyrics (“Does he do all these things like I used to?”), resonating with the audience. Although the instruments are generic, such as in “If Only They Knew,” the simplicity blends into vigorous, upbeat anthems. After all, that’s why the crowd came to the show.

Nate Ruess of fun.

Expectations were set when fun. began to prepare its stage. With a name like that, there are standards; it met and surpassed all.

Girls in the front gave deafening cheers as singer Nate Ruess twirled the microphone, dancing along and including the audience any chance he got. Despite confusing Gainesville with Jacksonville, he won over everyone with his dominating pop vocals. It has tinges of rasp, giving a rawer feeling, but it’s still auditory silk. “All the Pretty Girls” and “Walking The Dog” became melodic sing-alongs, Nate leading the enthusiastic pack. Fun. is in a genre of its own, blending simple chords and positivity for a dynamic night.

Andrew Dost stole the show as well, pulling triple-musician-duty as backup vocalist, keyboardist and even trumpeter. His twinkling keys bordered classic play and pop, like in “The Gambler.”

Justin Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack

When the roadies exited the stage and lights dimmed, the crowd immediately knew Motion City Soundtrack was about to come on. With mere steps onto the stage, singer Justin Pierre had all authority over the audience.

The pop-punk band went straight to it, wasting no time with gimmicks and stage props. Justin – on the tips of his toes – thrashed on his guitar, occasionally pausing to say “hey.” It left room for a full hour of brisk, invigorating hits, stopping in between to thank the audience.

Justin’s presence was like no other performers’. He had a sporadic vigor and animated faces that drew the crowd in. His soaring vocals are pop-punk ideal – one part nasal, the other flawless. Justin’s signature witty, ingenuous lyrics led the audience to flail their arms, mouthing and screaming the words.

For “Late Night,” Joshua slowed it down with a melodious, steady cadence – strumming with his thumb for a perfect rendition. Bassist Matt Taylor and drummer Tony Thaxton tied it all together for a tempo made from musical gods. Motion City Soundtrack abruptly left the stage, leaving the crowd chanting, “One more song.” A man even screamed, “Two more songs.”

The guys approached the stage again, Justin saying, “You’re so sweet – thank you,” and commenced onto their encore. Shaky vocals seasoned battering drums and feral guitars and bass (compared to other tracks). That was only the climax. Motion City Soundtrack completed the show by ending with what got them started – “Everything is Alright.” Each member’s energy rivaled that of the crowd’s. They jumped, hopped and gave every side attention.

And while Justin still had the crowd drawn in, he left everything with a taste of his wisdom: “Be kind to one another. Go forth and do cool shit.”

- Photos and story by Nicole La Hoz

Options, options, options

Whether you're lucky enough to be done with finals, or you just need a study break, Gainesville's got you hooked up tonight with some amazing events. Lets consider our options...

Motion City Soundtrack: Yes, please. This quirky fivesome has been in the pop-punk scene since 1997. We're getting a bit nostalgic right listening to "Everything is Alright," takes us right back to 10th grade. But, seriously these guys always put on a great show, and its high-energy performance might be just what you need today. Motion City Soundtrack plays at The Venue. Door are at 7pm and tickets are $17 in advance. Look out for our giveaway today.

Sharab's "White Party": Sharab Lounge's end-of-semester bash is just about forgetting about all your stresses and partying. With free drinks from 9 to 11pm, and $1 beers til the keg runs dry, it won't be long before this semester becomes a distant memory. To get you in the let-loose mood, Sharab is blacking out all the windows and loading the place up with black lights everywhere. So put on your favorite white garb, whiten your teeth and prepare to glow. Tip: Wear all white to get in free and get there early, Sharab is expecting to be at capacity by midnight.

Neon Liger + Party Degree Dirty Disco Concert Series, featuring Designer Drugs: This one is going to be nuts. Designer Drugs, the dance-music duo known for its sleezy, sweaty beats comes to Gainesville to help you celebrate the end of spring in the craziest way possible. To fit the overload of the event Neon Liger is transferring its act to The Vault Nightclub, the newest addition to the downtown scene with an 800-person capacity. 800 people, dirty dance beats and Designer Drugs? We are so there. Tickets are already on sale for this event, so get on it quick. Check out the FB event page to get tix.

Other funsies:
Modern Amusement at Lux Bar: $3 wells, $3 Casino shots, early-bird specials.
Wine tasting and art show at The Laboratory, 818 W University, Ste. C; 7 to 9pm.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall poolside at The Woodlands, 1055 SW 62nd Blvd.; 9pm
Grog House Reading Day: Free beer from 9:20 to 10pm at Grog House.
Klass Dismissed at Skyy Night Club, hosted by The Kappas $10 All you can drink.

-SG

Motion City Soundtrack at The Venue

Pop-punk band Motion City Soundtrack, who rose to fame with their song "Everything is Alright," will be playing at The Venue on Wednesday at 7pm. They will be playing with A Rocket to the Moon, Sing it Loud, and Fun (with one of the members of The Format). Tickets are $17 in advance. This will definitely be a high-energy show that will be lots of fun, just like the band's name suggests.

Check out our interview with guitar player Joshua Cain!

We got free tickets to the show. Keep up with us on Twitter to win.

Slightly Stoopid Plays to Save the Oceans

By: Nicole La Hoz

Equipped with mellow, grooving flows, Slightly Stoopid knows how to command. Its 2008 release, Slightly Not Stoned Enough to Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid, fuses fast, punk riffs with cool, melodic reggae beats, leaving fingers itching to hit repeat. But when the band performs for the Save My Oceans tour March 27 at Flavet Field, Slightly Stoopid wants students to come out for a greater cause: protecting our oceans.

The cause is one that affects its surfing lifestyle and all of Earth’s inhabitants. Participant Media and Disneynature created the tour to educate students on how to protect three-quarters of the Earth. The tour goes from campus to campus encouraging students to take a pledge to help protect the oceans. Reps have been in the Plaza of the Americas since Wednesday reaching out to students, asking them to pledge to change small lifestyle habits to reduce plastic use. Save My Oceans leads up to the release of the movie "Oceans" on April 22. Students who take the pledge will receive free access to a pre-screening of "Oceans" on April 7 at the Reitz Union Cinema.

Today’s free show, which begins at 5:30pm, is a collaboration of sounds and organizations, as UF's Student Government Productions, the Save My Oceans Tour and IRHA team up to bring the blues, punk and reggae tunes of G Love & Special Sauce and Slightly Stoopid.

Check out our interview with Slightly Stoopid drummer, RyMo and Participant Media director Youtchi von Lintel below.

RyMo, Slightly Stoopid drummer:
Well since this is about the Save My Oceans tour, how did the band get involved with it? We got a phone call from the people from Save My Oceans, and we put it all together. It worked out that we were available. We’ve also been long-time friends with G Love [& Special Sauce]. I think it came together like any other show comes together for us. It starts with a phone call and when we’re available. It’s also a cause that’s close to home for us since all of us are coastal people. We all surf a lot and live that lifestyle. It’s definitely something we want to be a part of.

So it’s an outdoor concert and Florida weather is sometimes absolutely horrible. How do you guys prepare for unpredictable things like that? We’re pretty used to it because we tour so much, so anytime we’re going into a new climate and something that’s different we try to go accordingly. We’ll tour a lot and go to ski towns. We’ve done Canada in late winter or early spring – it’s definitely cold. It affects the way you perform but once you go and the lights warm up the stage, it’s not too bad.

Are you guys working on anything new? Aside from this tour, what can we expect in the next coming months? Yes and no. We’re so used to being on the road literally seven months out of the year. We’re definitely not used to being off so much, but yeah, we enjoy being on the road. We’re all getting so antsy. I don’t know what to do with myself. We’ve been off [the road] for the last couple of months, so we’ve been able to start recording and preparing for some new albums. As of now, we just released two albums back-to-back. We decided to take it easy and work on some really great music. We’re going to probably play a couple new songs at the show. We’re just on the mode of getting prepared for the next phase, creating another album. In the short term, not really.

What can we expect from your show today? We’ll be doing our typical thing: some new, some old, some ancient stuff and mix the bag up a little bit. New and brand new, so we’ll be doing that and we’re psyched. It should be fun.

Youtchi von Lintel, Participant Media director:
How was all this presented to UF? We approached UF with a concept of being part of our social action tour and connected with Gators Going Green to make this happen on the UF campus. In addition. We were also identifying schools that were part of the Oceans movement and UF was one of them. We thought it would be a great place to educate students in Florida about the issue of pollution and conserving our oceans that exist all around them.

Where did the ideas to have an art and concert installation come from? Art affects all of us in different aspects of our lives, and it’s a great way to start conversation, dialog and curiosity, which is what we hope to accomplish with this visual display. The main initiate for the tour is plastic pollution and how it is ruining our oceans. We feel like many students have alternatives available to them besides using plastic, and this art installation is another way to get the message out. As for the concert, we feel that it is a great opportunity to get people together to raise awareness about our cause through another creative outlet. The concert also creates a word of mouth effect that gets more and more people involved.

What background information can you give me? For all other information you can go to the Save My Oceans site. The main initiate for the tour is to get the word out about plastic pollution and one of the way is taking the pledge online. By taking the pledge you are stating that you choose to use reusable bottles and bags rather than plastic ones. We would also love to have as many Facebook fans as possible so they can get updates and information about the tour.

Watch the "Oceans" trailer:

SXSW Sneak Peek

Photo by John Davisson

One week, one head cold and tons of photos later, intrepid cross-country concert photog John Davisson is back from Austin's celeb-packed South by Southwest (aka SXSW) music festival (and on his way to Miami for Ultra, no less). Check back on Monday for a full slideshow and major story from the event.

Umoja's Dance Party @ The Atlantic

Photo taken from umojaorchestra.com

Umoja Orchestra, a Gainesville band known for its melding of afrobeat, jazz, funk and South American styles, will play at The Atlantic tonight (3/26) with special guests Milq. Umoja Orchestra has caught the attention of many locals with its danceable beats, offering up songs that are markedly different from those of most other bands out there right now.

With instruments ranging from the keyboard to bongos to the trombone, their live show is an eclectic mixture of funky grooves that will hold the audience’s attention from the opening chords to the encore. “It’s a good opportunity to come out, have fun and listen to a good mix of music,” says Umoja Orchestra singer Sebastián López.

Tonight the band will play a new song that no one has ever heard before, as well as a smattering of old favorites. “It’s a good atmosphere at the Atlantic,” he says. “It’s going to be a fun show with a lot of people out there dancing.”

The show, which is part of the Atlantic’s “House Party Fridays” concert series, starts at 10 pm, with tickets costing between $5 and $7. The show is open to anyone aged 18 or older with a valid ID.

- Morgan Watkins

Rev up Your Hot Rod

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! On Feb. 27, visitors can check out Florida's largest hot rod and custom car show at the Billetproof Hot Rod and Custom Car Show. Displaying more than 650 cars and motorcycles, the show will feature a pinstripe panel jam and a car parts swap meet. In its third year visiting Gainesville, Billetproof will host live bands and an array of vendors.

The event kicks off at 9am at the Alachua County Fairgrounds, 2900 NE 39th Ave., with general admission starting at $10.

Get even deeper in the action by joining the gang for the Billetproof Florida Pre-Party at Market Street Pub, 120 SW 1st Ave., on Feb. 26 at 9pm. The pre party will include food and drink specials, live music, a pin-up girl contest and on-the-spot tattoo artistry. This Billetproof is for the true hot rod enthusiast!