I’m still buzzing from this one. One of the best rock shows, by far, that I’ve seen this year. And it wasn’t all because of the Handsome Furs. (Although I have to admit they were freaking fabulous.) But to be honest, heading into this show I was a little worried. Sometimes you find a band whose record you just plain can’t get enough of, and then you go to their live show and it just doesn’t measure up. The Handsome Furs measure up and then some. Which made the evening’s most suprising discovery that much sweeter. I’ll give it to you in just three words: The Cinnamon Band! The report from my eyes and ears on last night’s triple-band bill at Satellite Ballroom is just a click of the “Read More” button away.
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For starters, the crowd was light. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. Needless to say, there was plenty of space to move around in. But when you take into account the weather, which was just plain nasty, and the relatively unknown nature of the three bands performing, a small turnout is what you’re going to get. But for the seventy-five or so folks who braved the cold rain, I think they got their money’s worth.
First, to the evening’s headliners, the Handsome Furs. Seems odd to start bass ackwards I know, but I’m chompin’ at the bit so to speak. The husband and wife duo of Dan Boeckner and Alexei Kelly performed as if they were in front of a packed house. Holding nothing back the two bounced, banged, and at times, slinked across the stage with a reckless, yet focused abandon. They pulled out all the stops from their current release Plague Park including “Sing! Captain”, “Handsome Furs Hate This City”, and “Dead + Rural”, while saving “What We Had” and a cover of Camper Van Beethoven’s “She Divines Water” for their two song encore.
But what truly made their performance memorable was the warmth with which they embraced the small, yet very appreciative crowd that stood staring up at them from the other side of the stage. As a matter of fact, the Furs truly seemed to be in awe of the audience’s support. I can’t tell you how many times both Dan and Alexei thanked the crowd for being so “into” their music. And what was even better was that you could tell they were enjoying every moment as much as we did. This was their first time ever performing at the Satellite and in Charlottesville and if last night’s show is any indication, if given a chance to come back, I’d wager they’d do it in a heartbeat.
Now for a few kind words for the evening’s opener, The Cinnamon Band. These guys are also a two-piece band from just over on the other side of Afton Mountain. John Harouff (guitar, vocals) and Neil Campbell (drums, vocals) call the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia their home and from what I saw last night, if these don’t make it to Charlottesville more often, then I may have to start driving over on I-64 to see them.
While the band’s set was short, it was filled with strong, original songs. And while the duo of the Handsome Furs can rely on a cacophony of electronically generated sounds to fill the silence, the Cinnamon Band has a lot less room for error. This is guitar, drums, and vocals, that’s it. And no, they’re not some White Stripes knock off band either. The Cinnamons rely much more on harmony, melody, and catchy hooks. The guitar lines don’t dominate with fuzz and reverb. Instead they propel the tune of song while at times providing a space for Neil, behind the kit, to catch his breath and re-load.
There may have only been thirty or so folks who were fortunate enough to see The Cinnamon Band’s opening set, but those who did, for the most part, were instantly won over. Perhaps their biggest new fan is the Furs’ Dan Boeckner, who was clearly taken by the band’s sound as he rocked out with the rest of us, even donning one of the band’s t-shirts before taking the stage to perform. The Cinnamon Band boys and girls. Don’t forget.
As for the evening’s third band , the New York-based four piece Violens; their set of synth and guitar rock, which they describe as…
…a place where the Zombies and the Byrds meet Wire and the Violent Femmes…
didn’t seem to live up to any of the comparisons above. But their biggest downfall, in addition to being sandwiched between two truly original bands, was that they may have had two band members too many.
Popularity: 25% [?]
Tagged as: charlottesville, Cinnamon Band, live music, Satellite Ballroom
eight words:
The Union Of A Man And A Woman
hope and pray one day we’ll see them get back together.
now i’m curious. i’d like to hear a little more baconfat.
That was John and Neil’s band (along with Kurt Beals, who now plays with Pterodactyl) from the late 90’s, while they were still in high school. They played the MOST amazing sets at Tokyo Rose and then broke up when freshman year of college rolled around. Ask anyone who saw them back in the day — they were terrifyingly good. Cinnamon Band is a different sort of monster, more melodic and restrained. Probably has to do with the fact that Neil isn’t straight-edge anymore. From Jagjaguwar’s artist page:
The Union of a Man and a Woman are Neil Campbell, John Harouff and Kurt Beals, three high school kids from Staunton, Virginia, who have been playing together since the age of twelve. Their tools of the trade are squealing, static-y guitars, a barely legal batch of broken cymbals contained in a little red wagon, the Millennium Falcon of sound systems and shear, youthful bravado. With them, they bring back all the best elements of the convergence of art-rock and punk in the eighties, borrowing as much from artists like the Dead C and Glenn Branca’s army of noise guitarists as they do from more “socially important” and vital bands like Fugazi and Big Black. Yes, “there’s a bomb in that baby carriage,” and it is the Union of a Man and a Woman. Their non-negotiable brand of transcendent noise will convert you on the spot.
I’m glad you brought that up, because I talked to them for awhile last night and they mentioned that they used to play at Tokyo Rose in the 90’s. They eveb mentioned the band but I missed the name. What a couple of super nice guys man! I love what they do. And they do do it well. Thanks for this baconfat!
i went to college with kurt beals. he was also in a less impressive band there called the curtain mask. i’m glad to see his name is still kicking around.
-lividlunch
[…] When I saw The Handsome Furs at the Satellite Ballroom back in April one of the opening bands that totally caught my ear that night was The Cinnamon Band from over in the Shenandoah Valley. In case you’ve forgotten, you can find my review of that show here. […]
actually i started a myspace page dedicated to Union, seeing as there wasn’t anything else on the internet about them apart from some ghostpages on jagjaguwar and whatever.
anyway show your support if you like
http://www.myspace.com/theunionofamanandawoman
i actually messaged kurt and he was in full support of the page so rock on
@5 we played a basement show with Curtain Mask waaaay back (2002?) in Ministry House at Oberlin. I remember thinking at the time ‘that guy looks familiar’ and lo and behold it was the same Kurt. I think he lived there. lividlunch perhaps you were there! We played there twice, they were super nice folks. I have pictures somewhere. /reminisces fondly
[…] up with a Top Ten list of my favorite concerts so far this year. But here’s a nominee: The Handsome Furs with Violens and The Cinnamon Band at the Satellite Ballroom back on April 3rd. While I found Violens set to be somewhat […]