Autumn in Columbia brings football, students, and a whole host of concerts to local venues. Luckily, after a slow, cicada-infested, hot summer, things will begin to pick up and there will be a reason to go out and hear music again. Below is a much too early fall concert preview of a few select shows. There will be more shows announced in the coming weeks and Tina will most likely have previews throughout the fall, but this will just begin to whet your appetite.
Editor’s Note – I considered writing a comprehensive preview, but then I decided I just didn’t want to write that kind of preview. Folks choose to follow my suggestions or ignore them. Let reporters report. Let “legitimate news sources” tell you about the Roots ‘n Blues ‘n Too-Many-N’s Festival or another visit from Ludo or Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. I won’t preview the Keller Williams gig, because, honestly, I don’t really care. This preview lists shows I find interesting. For all others, please feel free to check out the calendar. Maybe we’ll even locate an intern to update it once in a while for us.-ZE
August
6-The Blue Note’s 31st Anniversary featuring Bright Eyes presented by 102.3 BXR - $30
with Conduits
Things get started properly with Conor Oberst’s “other” band, Bright Eyes. This is supposedly the last time we’ll see Bright Eyes as Oberst is moving on to bigger and less angsty projects like his own Mystic Valley Band and The Monsters of Folk, a super group with M Ward and Jim James. Get there early and see the eerie Omaha band Conduits. You’ll thank me later.
9-Mojo’s: Ben Prestage, Dave Angle’s Dog Pound Jangle - $5
Watch the mini-doc below and this one-man band will have you wanting more.
11-Mojo’s: Madi Diaz & Keegan Dewitt, Rae Fitzgerald - $8
Think of this folk/indie duo as a poor man’s Swell Season. You know…Nice acoustic duets without all that nauseating cheese oozing from indie film about them writing crappy love songs. No. These songs have some soul and the players have pedigrees to back it up.
19-Mojo’s Happy Hour with David Korasick and Billy Schuh – FREE!!
Normally, I wouldn’t waste space on a free happy hour gig at Mojo’s, but this one is different. From Malone and The Foundry Field Recordings, respectively, come Korasick and Schuh with…well, I don’t really know what. I just know that Malone and the Foundry have featured some of the best home-grown songwriting in COMO. Come see for yourself. It won’t cost you anything and there should be drink specials.
25-Mojo’s: The Cleverlys - $7
What else do you need than top-40 hits done humorously as Blue Grass? The answer you’re looking for is “nothing.”
30-Mojo’s: Pearl and the Beard - $8
Among the best buskers of this past year’s True/False Fest, Pearl and the Beard return to Columbia for another go around of their incredibly powerful girl/boy vocals over acoustic instruments with a decidedly punk edge. Few bands have the sonic range this band possesses with nothing more than acoustic guitar, sparse persuasion, a cello, and three rather powerful voices.
September
1-Mojo’s: KCOU 88.1 FM Presents Turbo Fruits, Lunar Mansion, Hott Lunch - $8
Turbo Fruits have toured with everyone under the sun and feature a former member of one-time-Thurston-Moore-championed Be Your Own Pet. Sounds like they’re destined to be loved then hated by Pitchfork in a matter of days. Beat the bloggers to the punch and be at Mojo’s on the 1st.
8-Mojo’s: Smoking Popes - $10
Nineties nostalgia is dead. Long live nineties nostalgia! Imagine the fury of late-eighties hardcore fronted by Morrissey and you’ve got the Smoking Popes.
24-Mojo’s: Believers, Jumbling Towers - $5
BELIEVERS. That’s all you have to know. That and the fact that Mojo’s used my words to describe the best band in town.
October
1-Mojo’s: Doomtree Records Presents Sims (+Lazerbeak) with special guest Steddy P + DJ Mahf, Cecil Otter – $10
You think you know hip hop? Try going underground with this Minneapolis collective and shake what your mother gave you. 10 bucks is a bargain for this sort of entertainment. Check it.
11-The Blue Note: Portugal. The Man - $15
Could this be the next Of Montreal? Probably not, but they do come through town on a semi-regular basis and folks seem to love them. Go see what all the fuss is about.
11-Mojo’s: KCOU 88.1 FM Presents Peter Wolf Crier, Milagres - $8
As spooky as anything else Jagjaguar typically releases, Peter Wolf Crier is a more than adequate alternative to the Portugal. The Man show at the Note.
November
2- The War on Drugs, Purling Hiss, Carter Tanton - $8
Imagine that Belle & Sebastian and Yo La Tengo had a baby and they named him Bruce. That’s War on Drugs and you should plan ahead in order to see them live.
11-The Blue Note: The Jayhawks - $25
Honestly, I just want to hear this…
The reason this rundown is too early is that this is only a taste of what’s to come this fall. Just know that the Blue Note and Mojo’s will have many more announcements to fill the gaps. And don’t forget Sideshow where there’s a record release party Thursday you should check out. Then, there’s Blue Fugue, Eastside, Hairhole, and The Bridge. Plus, Ragtag will probably put on three shows better than anything above, but they’ll fail to publicize anything.
Stay tuned as I’ll try to round up some more schedules. Also, be aware that more shows will be announced in the coming weeks. Be on the lookout for some nerd-core and more nineties rock nostalgia coming your way.
