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Bill Callahan’s rich.
MP3: Diamond Dancer (press that little play button).
“My wallet’s gotten too fat from this tour,” Callahan said last night at The Red Light Cafe in Atlanta, removing the girthy thing from the breast pocket of his jacket and replacing it in a back pocket. The joke was quiet and unexpected, yielding lengthy, bewildered laughter from the audience.
Callahan, who performed and recorded for years under the name Smog, doesn’t talk much between songs. Typically, a smallish “thanks” stands in where other frontmen might wonder how are we tonight, Atlanta.
The venue - oblong, cozy, with a capacity of about 150 - was packed. Sorry to the suckers who showed up late and stood crowded ’round the bar toward the back out of necessity, and high five to those of us who staked claims at stage-side tables.
Callahan, guitarist Jonathan Meiburg (see Shearwater) and drummer Thor Harris each wore black suits. In them, long-haired and bearded Harris was adorable, Callahan a natural, and Meiburg lanky.
Through slitted eyes Callahan peered out at nothing, or at least not at any of us. High notes and drawn out syncopation made his face screw up, handsome features contorted.
And okay. So Callahan missed a few high notes (”I have a cold”), restarted a song (”My guitar disappeared”) and mixed up verses in another (to what seemed to be Meiburg’s grinned, but unspoken, “Oh, Bill”). Didn’t matter.
He two-stepped, marched-in-placed, kicked and strutted his songs hard and without fail. Where Meiburg’s frantic kinetic energy suited his electric guitar, Callahan maintained infinite, calculated composure on his tiny little acoustic.
And if he’s going to play it live, he’s going to make it new. Pulling from his newest Woke on a Whaleheart, released under his own name, and heavily from his last as Smog, A River Ain’t Too Much to Love, Callahan also reached further back with “Our Anniversary” and the closer “Cold Blooded old Times.” Rarely was a song delivered precisely in the way its album representative was recorded. It was a fun game: Is he gonna make it? Will he delay that line and miss the next? He always made it.
Tom Snyder: Where did the name The Sex Pistols come from? Who thought that name up?
John Lyndon: Some animal, I can’t remember. It doesn’t matter. It’s history.
ATHENS, Ga. - According to lead vocalist and guitarist Roy Coughlin, last night’s Some Animal show at Tasty World was the group’s final performance.
Coughlin was accompanied by guitarist Gabe Vodicka (Long Legged Woman, Sugar Dicks), bassist Fritz Gibson and drummer James McGaw.
The show was dynamic with the full ensemble, as Vodicka correctly forecasted. In the past, Coughlin frequently performed solo or as a duo with Dan Nettles of Kenosha Kid.
Coughlin and Vodicka.
The One Thing you really need to know about Some Animal is that Coughlin has a goddamn voice on him. He’s a charming jokester offstage, and an impassioned and self-deprecating frontman on, typically turning the joke on himself.
“We didn’t write this song, but we’re going to goddamn play it,” he said, prefacing a cover of something* about a girl, and Kansas City, and baby, baby, baby. I should have recognized it but failed to.
Coughlin didn’t play his guitar — he ferociously beat its already well-abused strings, one of which reasonably broke. It made a person wonder what or who provoked the intensity, which seemed to stem from a solid something in addition to the moment.
And then the song finished. I wiped my brow.
“Are you crying?” a friend I stood with asked.
“No, I’m sweating.” But why not? I felt whatever it was that Coughlin directed at his instrument. I’ll cry about it another time.
He closed the set with a solo performance of the song “Some Good,” which dates back to Some Animal’s earliest single-member incarnation.
Less-considerate crowd members talked amongst themselves and a chump in a track suit and matching Bluetooth headset complained loudly that the other bands hadn’t gone on yet.
Coughlin played on, maintaining his focus and roughing up his guitar good and well. Finishing his last song ever as Some Animal, he smirked for a second to himself before letting the expression quickly fall. It looked like a final “Well, goddamn.”
Coughlin assures me that he and Vodicka aren’t finished, that they’ll be up to something ‘noisy’ soon. Fine by me, so long as he yelps and belts it and pushes that voice and guitar in the same way Some Animal called for.
*”Kansas City” by Okkervil River.
Went to a great concert but fell victim to warbled lyrics?…Looking for a good band to break you into the Athens music scene?…Ever wonder about the story behind your favorite song?…Or let me put it this way, do you like free music?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then this blog belongs on your computer monitor. Welcome to Liner Notes.
Consider me your lyrical detective. Each week (or basically often as I can), I will track down a local Athens band and get the scoop on one of their songs. Lyrics will be posted as well as an in-depth interview on the creative process behind the song. PLUS with the band’s permission, we will make that song available for download…for FREE!
And like any good DJ, I take requests. In fact, I’d rather base this blog off requests. After all, I want to find the bands you actually want to listen to. So go ahead, leave a comment with the band’s name and the song you want me to feature next time. Don’t worry too much about them being local either, I will hunt down anybody. Just keep in mind though, the less corporate the band, the more likely I will make contact and get the song for download.
So there you have it, Liner Notes 101. I look forward to being your musical private eye, gumshoe…or whatever.
What a game, what a game! It was an emotional roller coaster in the 4thquarter of the Georgia-Bama game last night. For a split second after we missed the field goal to end the game I thought “This is it, they are going to comeback and win this thing.” Then the better part of me took over and gave the part of me thinking they could win a swift kick in the rear. How could I possibly think such horrible thoughts about the Dawgs. Man, did you see that last play. So dramatic, so authoritatively orchestrated, so Georgia. No fooling around when it came to our play calling, take the momentum from stopping the Tide and crush any hopes of a win they might have. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!
Well, I guess I should tell y’all what I think about how to celebrate an OT victory on the road in Tuscaloosa while you are still in Athens. It is a simple formula, go downtown. Somewhere within the area you should find a bar that you feel completely comfortable in. At the end of the night you should then proceed to the end of Washington Street at the corner of Pulaski, in the parking lot next to the 40 Watt Club, and have one of JB’s famous polish sausage all the way with “comeback” sauce. It is a fiery polish sausage with sautéed onions and peppers. The “comeback” sauce will make you want to comeback for more and remind you how great it is to be a Georgia Bulldog, I guarantee.
We’re now less than 48 before the beginning of another footall season here in Athens. Come Saturday, the masses that bleed Red & Black will overtake the town, drinking the day and screaming the night away as the Dawgs take the field for another year of battle.
I, for one, know where i’ll be on Saturday– tailgating in my same spot that I have called home for almost every home game since 2004. But If I’ve learned something since then, it’s that gameday isn’t for everyone. Some dont like the crowds, and some just don’t like football. Fair enough. So, if you won’t be tailgating and cheering on Saturday, there’s no need to sit inside all day or flee the town altogether.. Here are a few suggestions of how to spend gameday away from the game.
1) Believe it or now, it’s actually a pretty good time to head downtown and do some record or clothes shopping, especially as game time approached and the masses head in the direction of the stadium or their favorite bar watching spot. Take advantage of game time to avoid some crowds and browse around.
2) Try the Botanical Gardens on South Milledge. A beautiful plot of land to spend the day in a quiet place with gorgeous scenery, good company, and maybe a picnic basket.
3) The Gardens arent the only park around. As a matter of fact, there are more than I can even list in the blog. Do a quick google search and find youself a nice spot to spend the day with that special someone…
4) There are plenty of movie theaters around this town, and plenty of good flicks out to catch. Haven’t seen ‘Superbad” yet? Here’s a good opportunity.
5) And, of course, Vision Video is open for business. If you’re going to stay inside, at least take advantage of some cheap movie rentals.
This is only a surface scratch of some things you might do on gameday that have nothing to do with gameday. If it’s just not your thing, go find your own perfect gameday niche.
Either way, have a beautiful Saturday in old Athens town.
–Alec Wooden
Outdo a chocolate fountain with a sparkling-white-wine fountain.
The store’s secret library-cum-wine room.
Window display utilizing the secret library’s elegant hardbacks.
This Friday, December 1st, after the last day of Prematurity Awareness Month, the UGA chapter of March of Dimes is having their 2nd annual “Cultures that Care” event. It is there main fundraiser for the semester. They will have groups from all over campus performing like the Red Hots and W.S.E.M. (With Someone Else’s Money). The chapter gives all of the proceed from this event directly to March of Dimes who uses it to fund research on newborn illnesses and diseases. Starting at 7:30pm at the Georgia Hall, the event will cost only $5.00 at the door and will be accompanied by refreshments.
March of Dimes was actually founded by FDR who wanted to find a cure for polio. Now the organization researches cures for everything from infant paralysis to Spina Bifida. Premature babies cost much more than healthy ones, and therefore, the March of Dimes often provides financial support for families who can’t afford the payments. Newborns are helpless to help themselves and the cures are just around the corner! Anyone who has the time should attend this event if even for one performance. Christmas is the season for giving so let your inner-Santa give in.
- Whitney Kessler
Unfortunately there isn’t one single web directory of all Athens events. Get started by checking out the following sites.
Events directories:
Local Venues:
11/30/06 - Thursday
12/01/06 - Friday
12/02/006 - Saturday
12/06/06 - Wednesday
LISTINGS FOR WEEK OF NOVEMBER 16-29, 2006
11/16
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