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Showing posts with label the Tiger Girlz of Athens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Tiger Girlz of Athens. Show all posts

Monday, February 1, 2010

More than Music: the Antics


Last week, you read about the silly banter that keeps live shows constantly exciting. But what else do bands do to make the time between (and sometimes during!) songs less like waiting and more like some sort of wild party? Welcome to the circus, my friends! It's time for some crazy antics. From acrobatics to unexpected appearances to pure jungle madness, you simply won't believe your eyes at these shows!

Last Athfest, Deaf Judges gave us an insane spectacle when, dressed in full vampire garb, one of the members of the band leapt up and scaled the balcony inside of Morton Theatre to rap while perched atop the ledge, high above the crowd. What a sight! Talk about an experience I'll remember forever! And that's not all. At the award show the night before, they threw beach balls into the audience and rapped from chairs throughout the venue as the balls flew overhead. Wow! Just wow.

Speaking of playing in the midst of a crowd of fans, bands 50:50 Shot and Matt Kurz One know that there's nothing more exciting than bringing the music to the people. Just a few weeks ago, the trombone player of 50:50 Shot appeared amongst the crowd and began to play right beside me while the band rocked the Caledonia. How cool is that! And Matt Kurz One did his one man show thing in the round at Ciné during Athfest so that everyone could see the crazy mix of instruments and techniques he used to make his music. Awesome, indeed.

Local rockers Coco Rico and Doctor Squid get into their tunes so much that they've been know to burst into interpretive dance on occasion. It's so much fun to watch! Coco Rico's show at Tasty World in December was simply full of madness as they writhed and moved in an intense dance that almost resembled some highly amusing animal mating ritual. Doctor Squid, on the other hand, took it the literal route with some incredibly comical hand motions that fit the words of the song perfectly. I can't help leaving with a smile on my face after shows like these!

If physical feats are your thing, Crumbling Arches will give you an unforgettable night. Jumping from speakers straight into a rockin' guitar segment? They've done that! Playing their instruments blindfolded? They've done that too! Strumming their guitars while locked in some sort of ridiculous music-infused embrace? Yup, they've done that! And, I've mentioned my favorite of their antics before: the flip. Seeing them crawl over, around, on top of, and through the legs of each other without touching the floor is just totally mind-boggling!

And any conversation about band antics is incomplete without a mention of Kite to the Moon. Their off-the-wall costumes and unimaginably-shaped instruments are wild enough, but with the help of the Tiger Girlz of Athens, they put on a show that is almost literally like a circus. The Tiger Girlz, dressed in impossibly high heels and an array of unexpected costumes picked for each song, actually swing, climb, and fly on a trapeze right beside the audience during the music! It's an absolutely unbelievable spectacle!

These are just some of the completely insane things bands do to make sure their name sticks in your mind. You know you'll tell your friends about the outrageous antics you've seen these crazy musicians engage in downtown! But what else makes a show an all-encompassing experience? Don't miss the next segment of More than Music!

To read about all of the ingredients that make up a live show to top all others, click here!

Monday, September 28, 2009

The Constellations light up Athens!


Saturday was indescribably incredible! As all of my Twitter followers know, I've been dreaming of seeing the Constellations rock the stage again ever since I first saw them at Atlanta's Summerfest several months ago. Well, it seems that dreams do indeed come true! Their much-awaited show at Tasty World Uptown just after UGA's win against Arizona State was simply spectacular.

Openers SolShakr and Kite to the Moon started things off rather awesomely. SolShakr got everyone excited with a taste of their lovely southern rock. Great stuff. Then Kite to the Moon, a local psychedelic rock pop trio, stepped onstage. Playing custom-made guitars in a variety of shapes and wearing hot dog suits, animal ears, and crazy rocker wigs, this band had a humorous style all its own. With the Tiger Girlz of Athens swinging on a trapeze beside the stage dressed as anything from pregnant nerds to Hooters girls in heels, there was no shortage of visual stimulation during their set. The members of the audience hardly even knew where to look!

Minutes before midnight, the Constellations, much-buzzed about Atlanta band who just signed with Virgin Records and has been heard all over the radio airwaves during the past year, appeared in front of us ready to show Athens how it's done. And boy, did they show us! Once again, they were completely amazing. The band rocked everyone's favorite tunes with a fantastic amount of energy, and the fans just couldn't stop dancing! Then Elijah Jones, lead singer for the eight-member power group, decided to make it personal. Jumping straight off the stage and into the audience, he belted out the songs while leaning on people in the crowd and rocking out with them. And just like at the Summerfest show, he didn't shy away from feeling the music and writhing on the floor during a particularly wild rendition of the band's ode to Atlanta, Step Right Up. The rest of the band members, too, took over the whole stage with their rock making the show a sight to behold!

Best of all, though, this band's relationship with their fans was nothing short of wonderful! Between songs they wished several girls in the crowd a Happy Birthday and even had them come up on stage to sing along with the clap squad, the band's lovely duo of backup singers, during their hit Felicia. And then, the coolest thing ever happened. Shab, one of the girls in the clap squad, recognized me from my Twitter picture and gave Echoreyn of Athens its first ever shoutout from the stage! WOW! My memory is a jumbled mess of what happened next, but I think I got a high five from one of the members, and I know I got to say the full name of the blog into Elijah's microphone. So freaking crazy! This was something I totally would never have expected. What an end to my Saturday night! I still can't believe how amazing it all was.