Propeller Skies

A few days ago, I stopped by Aurora Coffee, which is a local chain in Atlanta with approximately zero convenient locations. I usually purchase coffee at Starbucks®, which is not as good, but has the key advantage of being located near my office. However, a friend of mine recently convinced me that Aurora is far tastier. Unfortunately, they are only open about two hours per day and do not take credit cards.

On my second trip, they actually happened to be open. I purchased a pound of Tanzanian Peaberry, which is one of my favorite coffees. I was first turned on to it in tha B-Lo, during the summer I lived on Heath Street, when a really hot chick in the neighborhood coffee shop suggested I try it.

The beans from Aurora are fantastic. It was certainly worth two trips and a trip to the ATM machine.

Monday night I drank a few glasses of wine and watched School of Rock with recurring Propeller Skies character, and bad influence, Stacia. The movie was funny. But not funny in a good way. It was funny in an oh my God I can’t believe how lame the writing is kind of way.

The premise of the movie was ridiculously stupid and doomed it from the beginning. One dimensional characters that were never developed over the course of the movie made things even worse. Finally, the plot was completely bogus and utterly predictable. I do not recommend this movie.

The only good thing about this movie was the appearance of Sarah Silverman. And they even fucked that up. Her comic talents were completely wasted in her role as annoying bitchy girlfriend. Additionally, she did not look very good, complements of a terrible wardrobe and a poor makeup job.

A few glasses of wine and some funny moments made this movie tolerable. However, I would have been severely pissed off if I had spent $8 to see this dog in a theater with no alcohol.

The final band to play at Vinyl on Saturday night was Copper. As an aside, this was the first show I caught with their new lead guitarist Shawn Lickliter.

I last saw Copper play in January. I also wrote a review of that show. As mentioned in the previous review, every time I have seen them they are better. The first time I saw them play, they were opening for JaD and I was not that impressed. A few months later, I saw them open for Three5Human and they were good enough that I paid attention.

This Atlantis Showcase at Vinyl was awesome. From the beginning, it was clear that the band was really into the show. They moved around the stage with amazing energy and played a great show. Towards the end of the show, they played one of my favorite songs, Miss December, which is off their first album. I highly recommend them and look forward to seeing them again.

Although they hail from Knoxville, TN, they play Atlanta venues often enough to draw a good crowd. Saturday night was no exception, as Vinyl remained packed all evening.

notes:

PHOTO: Keith Wallen of Copper at Vinyl in Midtown, Atlanta, GA. July 24, 2004. Courtesy of d.2263 Photographics. View more Copper photos.

I paid a visit to Vinyl Saturday night to cover the Minamina Goodsong* show. A big shout out to Vinyl for actually aiming the fucking lights in the general vicinity of the performers**, thus making my job possible.

Although I had never seen Minamina Goodsong play, I decided to cover them because there was plenty of buzz. Based on their name, I expected them to be a tree-hugging hippy/indie-rock kind of band.

While I was waiting for them to set up, I noticed my beer was getting low. Since the drums were not set up, I considered getting another beer. After pondering the beer situation a bit more, the drums were still not set up. As I was getting up to get another beer, the screen went up, revealing nothing but a DJ on stage. My first thought was, “what the fuck is this?” The second thought that crossed my mind was, “DJ’s are pretty fucking boring, I can’t shoot this shit.” As the rest of the crew took the stage and began rapping, my third thought was, “damn, these guys are hot.”

As alluded to in the title, the configuration of the crew was three MCs and one DJ. The DJ was spinning actual vinyl and he was fucking awesome. These guys put down solid hip-hop with no gimmicks. They reminded me a bit of the Beastie Boys. Before they got all old, politically correct, and boring.

As anticipated, they drew a good crowd. Surprisingly, the aforementioned crowd included loads of hotties. Unfortunately, most of the hotties were between 18 and 21. I would have felt like a dirty old man if I hit on any of them. Not that there is anything wrong with that, since in this age of Viagra®, Hugh Hefner is a national hero.

This was one of the best showcases I saw during the Atlantis Music Conference. I highly recommend catching one of their shows.

notes:

* Normally, a link would be here. However, their website does not seem to be functional.
** Apparently, this is more difficult than it seems, since only about half the clubs in town have accomplished it.
PHOTO: Unidentified of Minamina Goodsong at Vinyl in Midtown, Atlanta, GA. July 24, 2004. Courtesy of d.2263 Photographics. View more Minamina Goodsong photos.

Friday night I stopped in at 10 High to catch JaD. They always draw a good crowd and that evening was no exception, as the venue reached capacity midway through the show.

Previously, I reviewed the CD release party show here on Prizzo Skeezy. Since I am lazy, there will not be a full review of this show. It was excellent, as JaD shows always are. I highly recommend spending ten bucks to see them, it is a bargain at twice the price. The only downside to this show was the lack of motherfucking air conditioning at 10 High, so it was hotter than Texas in August.

For your convenience, the band has posted the following reviews by Volume Magazine and Southern Jam Online on their site. I am sure there are plenty of other reviews floating around, but, as previously mentioned, I am lazy and do not feel like tracking them down.

In related news, Rockets to Ruin rocked pretty hard and kept the crowd occupied. The final band of the night, The Taste, was better than the last time I saw them. However, most of the crowd left anyway. By the way, did I mention that it was fucking hot in 10 High? I think the next show I see there will be in December.

notes:

PHOTO: John Stringer and Thomas Panza of JaD at 10 High in Virginia Highlands, Atlanta, GA. July 23, 2004. Courtesy of d.2263 Photographics. View more JaD photos.

I ended the evening, which by then had run into morning, at 10 High. I was there to see the incendiary rock band Three5Human.

I have caught several Three5Human shows and they are always spectacular. On the off chance that any industry types are reading this, here is the tip of the century - sign them now.

Trina Meade, the lead singer, has possibly the best set of pipes on the Atlanta rock scene. She also has incredible confidence on-stage and a fantastic sense of style. In short, she simply owns the stage.

In contrast, Tomi Martin looks extremely mellow while casually ripping out some of the baddest blues-influenced guitar solos I have ever heard. The rhythm section is equally skilled and provides a solid foundation for Meade and Martin. Drummer Melvin Baldwin’s heavy hitting drumming is awesome and somewhat similar in style to John Skinner of Spy or Sean Moore of the indefinately on hiatus 3d5spd.

Three5Human is the baddest motherfucking band in Atlanta. I highly recommend seeing them.

notes:

PHOTO: Trina Meade of Three5Human at 10 High in Virginia Highlands, Atlanta, GA. July 22, 2004. Courtesy of d.2263 Photographics.

As I was chilling at Smith’s Old Bar and waiting for Red Letter Agent (RLA) to go on, I was unfortunately still sober. This was a most unfortunate condition, because the people next to me were having the most inane conversation ever.

Similar to The Whigs, RLA is a band that has recently been generating a good bit of press. Apparently I am not the only person who has noticed, as the venue was almost full by the time they started playing.

RLA reminds me a bit of Pulp, because their sound is very similar to brit-pop. In contrast to Pulp’s often cynical and bitter lyrics, RLA’s songs are about happiness, love, and beauty. As recurring Propeller Skies readers know, I generally prefer music with plenty of anger, cynicism, and bitterness. However, RLA put on and excellent show. I found myself enjoying the music despite all the peace, love and happiness.

I predict these guys will be huge. My recommendation is to see them now and brag to friends in a few years about watching them at some shitty dive in Atlanta.

Sound quality was excellent and the mix was clear. Whoever was behind the soundboard clearly knows what they are doing.

notes:

PHOTO: James Templeton of Red Letter Agent at Smith’s Old Bar in Midtown, Atlanta, GA. July 22, 2004. Courtesy of d.2263 Photographics.

I started Friday Thursday night [Obviously, Smoove D is not quite awake yet. - Ed.] out at Smith’s Old Bar, which I had never been to before. Amusingly, the bar was full of posers. Here in Atlanta, local music scene posers are easy to spot, since their cans of $4.00 PBR give them away every time. Only a poser would pay more than $2.00 for a tallboy.

The first band I stopped in to see, The Whigs, went on stage soon after my arrival. They have been garnering plenty of buzz lately in local publications, so I was pretty excited to get a chance to see them.

Impressively, they lived up to the hype, playing solid indie rock with a minimal alt-country influence. Additionally, there was a distinct jam-band undercurrent, which is shocking, since they hail from Athens. With more than forty minutes to play, I suspect this band would have opened up and jammed. I thoroughly enjoyed their set and recommend seeing this band. I look forward to catching their next show in town.

The lighting in Smith’s Old Bar was acceptable, falling in the middle between the Drunken Unicorn (worst) and the Cotton Club (best). Sound was excellent, all the instruments and vocals came through clearly in the mix.

notes:

PHOTO: Hank Sullivant of The Whigs at Smith’s Old Bar in Midtown, Atlanta, GA. July 22, 2004. Courtesy of d.2263 Photographics.

Last night, I attended a joint event put on by Hair of the Dog and Cocktails for a Cause at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead. [insert obligatory buckhead shooting joke here]

Usually, Hair of the Dog events attract a crowd that includes a high proportion of hotties, because chicks dig dogs. However, this event was a bit different and drew a bizarre group of people. Several old, and for the purposes of this post, old is defined as over forty-five, people from OTP showed up at the party. Under normal circumstances this would be an issue, however there were a decent number of representatives from the photogenic demographic at the event.

There was one sighting of annoying pervy old dude from OTP. Additionally, there was a sighting of pervy old dude with a bad combover from OTP.

The venue was fantastic and much classier than the places I usually hang out. The event was held outdoors on a terrace with a view of the Japanese garden. I found the Japanese garden underwhelming, with plenty of trees, but no interesting flowers.

I recommend this event. It is a recurring event that will continue every Wednesday for the rest of the summer. Grab a group of friends and check it out. See AtlantaBuzz for more details.

notes:

PHOTO: Random revelers attending Cocktails for a Cause at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead, Atlanta, GA. July 21, 2004. Courtesy of d.2263 Photographics. View more Hair of the Dog and Cocktails for a Cause photos.

I took a trip downtown on MARTA last night to pick up my press pass for the Atlantis Music Conference. For once, MARTA was extremely convenient and absolutely the best way to travel. A Propeller Skies shout out goes to Big A for her mobility enhancement services.

In order of appearance, these are the bands we recommend:

• Thursday, July 22
  • 09:00pm - The Whigs @Smith’s Old Bar
  • 10:30pm - Red Letter Agent @Smith’s Old Bar
  • 01:00am - Three5Human @10 High
• Friday, July 23
  • 10:00pm - Left Front Tire @Cotton Club
  • 11:00pm - JaD @10 High
• Saturday, July 25
  • 11:00pm - Minimina Goodsong @Vinyl
  • 01:00am - Copper @Vinyl

Both Three5Human and JaD are highly recommended. These are shows that should not be missed.