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Friday, March 19, 2010

Here by Still Here: The pure joy of Fuzzies, Squids, Araby, and the mysterious Moreland

The Warm Fuzzies, my pals, and I

Words cannot describe the euphoria of seeing the Warm Fuzzies and Doctor Squid play together again. Never in the history of music has there been a combination more glee-inducing than this pair, of this I am sure! You can bet I won't ever miss a show where these two are playing together. In fact, every band that fed our ears tasty musical morsels last night was amazing. What a rare but beautiful thing!

To the utter delight of my friends and I, the Warm Fuzzies kicked off the show right as we got to the 40 Watt with a wild mix of our familiar favorites and some new tunes that transported me instantly into the lazy days of summer. I swear to you, even the most depressed person in the world would crack a smile for this band! Though the crowd throughout the night remained rather small, their energy seemed to be that of an audience five times its size. Several people knew the words, and the Fuzzies' catchy sound was the best intro that I can imagine for the night's epic lineup. Eee, I love these guys! I fully intend to find the warmest, fuzziest sweater there is and wear it in their honor all of next winter so that I can bask in the joy of their shows every day!

The lovely Leaving Araby took the stage next with their purely great rock sound. Justin Reynolds' and Jon Dobberstein's soft harmonies combined with their smooth yet intense style to make their set quite the listen! And, lucky for us, they just released their brand new CD As Long As the Devil Is After You which you can check out for yourself here on Rhapsody! Haven't gotten a chance to see them yet? Well then, don't forget to tune in to WUGA today at 4 pm or go to the Two Story Coffeehouse tomorrow to rock out to their tunes live.

Then it was Doctor Squid's turn to blow us away. I seriously can't get enough of this band! Every Doctor Squid show is different, and every time they play, they just amaze me more and more. Joy all around! It will be no surprise to people who've had the supreme pleasure of attending a Squid show that nearly the whole audience collectively knew the words to every one of their original songs. Truly, once you hear them, you're a fan for life. Their unique, upbeat sound drew us in immediately and had us all dancing across the floor in a most exuberant manner. Now, for most local bands, playing a cover or two drives the fans wild since people tend to cling to the more familiar songs they already know. The crazy thing about Doctor Squid, though, is that even a completely rockin' cover of a Stokes' song doesn't get the crowd as excited as their original songs do. That's how unbelievable their own tunes are! I never wanted them to stop! Their sets always feel like an embrace from an extremely happy, many armed giant squid. Awww. Be sure to go out and support them for College Battle of the Bands at the Cotton Club in Atlanta on March 27. No band deserves to win more than these guys do!

Mystery surrounded the very last band on the bill. As far as I could tell from talking to each of the other bands, no one quite knew who they were. Rumor had it that they were from Atlanta, but nobody was really sure. One of my pals turned to me before the band began to set up and asked me, "Wait, this isn't Natalie Hinkle, is it?" (Those involved in the Athens music scene lately will know what I'm talking about here. :D ) I assured her that, no, this was yet another group surrounded by the airs of intrigue. As Moreland took the stage, they told us they hailed from Conyers, Georgia... well, this is curiouser and curiouser! Finally, they began to play, and I can tell you, they were certainly worth staying for. They gave us some solid pop rock tunes that had a sort of professional feel to them. Rather impressive! Their mellow sound truly rounded out last night's incredible show.

Honestly, it's nights like these that make me absolutely convinced that nothing can beat the pure awesomeness of the Athens music scene!

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