Jack ’n’ Spoon

Jack ’n’ Spoon

Good thing we like Jack Daniel’s. Last Thursday’s Spoon show at City Hall was put on by the company—as part of their Studio No. 7 series—and the bar was looking much whisky-er than usual. There was Jack as far as the eye could see: no beer, no gin, no Jäger bombs. Again, good thing we like Jack. The show was “invite only,” which pretty much meant that it was a bunch of liquor reps, die-hard Spoon fans who had been on the ball about registering in various contests and people who love free stuff. Emceeing the event was Metro Council member Adam Dread, who claimed to have some stand-up experience. Really? Really? The dude bombed worse than Ashlee Simpson at the Orange Bowl. He introduced the bands, frolicked with some chicks in short skirts onstage and cracked a myriad of downright horrendous jokes. Kevin Ratterman, opener Wax Fang’s drummer, had jokingly suggested that Dread introduce them as “the best band in the universe.” He did. It was awkward. The Fang took the stage as the place began to fill in and kicked off with their signature instrumental opener. The sound in City Hall remains as cacophonous and craptacular as ever, but the Louisville trio managed pretty well—plus, we could watch Ratterman bang the skins all day. By the time Spoon took the stage, the place had filled up a bit, but it still had a nice roominess to it. Spoon are a tight, powerful, expert rock band—a bunch of professionals, in a good way. The vibe of the whole show was surprisingly great: people kicking back, drinking, chatting—no one seemingly determined to “get their money’s worth.” It was like being at a really cool party with a really awesome band playing, and it gave us an idea: Nashville Cream’s one-year anniversary in August + Arcade Fire = fun. Sound good?

Mischief on Fourth Avenue

An astonishing number of indie rap acts have come through Nashville recently, and the latest, Souls of Mischief, rolled up on The Rutledge last Friday. Though the Hieroglyphics crew were to be the evening’s highlight, Souls of Mischief showed up late and travel-weary, and some members were clearly upset with the soundman’s mic tuning. Still, when they trotted out their single “ ’93 ’Til Infinity,” they fed on the crowd’s energy and proved why their first record is considered a classic. If there was any slack in the evening, Sol.iLLaquists of Sound took it up. Made up of two married couples (surely a hip-hop first), the crew featured pointed political and social commentary, dynamic modern jazz singing by Alexandrah, and DiViNCi’s mad-scientist style. iCON the Mic King made an impression with his witty, erudite lyrics and charismatic performance. Mayday! brought the pulse of high-energy dance music to the evening, with their MC Bernbiz, whose performance reminded us of Suggs from Madness. Local turntablist Wick-it the Instigator kept the party flowing in between sets.

TV on the Cannery

TV on the Radio are awesome. Like, really awesome. We walked into the sold-out show at Cannery (can you believe the thing was originally scheduled for Mercy?) not really knowing how their epic, atmospheric rock would translate to the stage. We shouldn’t have been worried. For the second time in a week, we witnessed a rock band at the top of their game. TVoR have been doing this for a long time—and they’ve gotten pretty darn good at it. Frontman Tunde Adebimpe bounded around the stage, riling up a rowdy-for-Nashville Saturday night crowd. His voice is rangy and emotional, and the band’s stellar harmonies created a complex palette of sound. As for the crowd—it was a really interesting, unpretentious, enthusiastic, courteous bunch. Most people there seemed genuinely interested in checking out the music as opposed to catching the year-end-list-topping, current-big-thing band. The level of Douchie McFrattertons was minimal. And it didn’t escape our notice that this band drew the most diverse crowd we’ve seen in ages. Songs off last year’s acclaimed Return to Cookie Mountain sounded just as moody and immediate as they do on the record—tracks like “Province” and “Wolf Like Me” elicited the biggest response from the crowd. Our one complaint: no “I Was a Lover”? We were singing that shit all day! But overall, we felt lucky to have seen such a special band at their peak and walked out glowing into the April night.

Monkey news

Another day, another sold-out show—we’ve been hitting up a lot of those these days. Andrew Bird brought his violin, his sock monkey (we’ll get to that later) and his wonderful whistling to the Mercy Lounge on Monday night. Opening up was local gal Cortney Tidwell, whose been garnering her fair share of national buzz these days. With a band composed of local players (including William Tyler and Ryan Norris), Tidwell impressed with her dynamic, reverb-drenched, spacey pop. Songs would start off slow and understated—a short step from typical chick singer-songwriter territory—and end in a completely different place: somewhere heavier and stranger and exponentially more interesting. That juxtaposition is what makes her music so surprising and powerful—that and a quirky, soulful voice that contains hints of Beth Orton and Bjork. As for Bird, we had no idea the young kids were so into the violin these days. The place was filled with small hands boasting big black X’s and we even spotted a family of three (mom, dad, teenage daughter) taking in the action. Most of Bird’s set focused on songs off the recently released Armchair Apocrypha—including the tricky “Imitosis” and the swelling “Heretics.” We had overheard a rumor that members of My Morning Jacket were hanging out in the back room and that bit of gossip was substantiated when MMJ drummer Patrick Hallahan got behind the kit for the evening’s highlight: a heady, rampaging rendition of “Fake Palindromes.” Even Bird seemed overwhelmed by the performance and immediately slowed it down with a ballad. The lean, shaggy-haired violinist—in crisp suit and fake silver tie—is fascinating to watch as he plays with loops and switches off instruments like Lohan switches off men. He’s hard to sing along with because he plays so much with the cadence of his lines—reimagining old songs and adding new, and often surprising, emphases. Sitting behind Bird on a large whirling megaphone was a rather impressive sock monkey—a gift from a fan in Detroit—sporting his very own monkey-sized three-piece suit, Converse All Stars and violin case. Now that’s what we call fandom!

Send suggestions of big-name indie acts to headline the Nashville Cream Anniverary Party, your feelings on sock monkeys and strategies for keeping Douchie McFrattertons at bay to thespin@nashvillescene.com.