9/27/08 - Dead Confederate, Wax Fang, Zest of Yore

ended my (purely metaphorical) boycott of the effing cavern and headed there to catch a couple of post-ACL bands. my buddy josephus was able to stop crying in his beer about the florida loss long enough to show up, too.

and wouldn't you know it, my new buddies in Zest of Yore were the openers. and they was aight. they'll never be a favorite of mine, but i enjoyed a song or two this time. yea, i'm sure it was exactly the same set as that night at hailey's, but for some reason i could tolerate it more - less alcohol, less tired, who knows. still not crazy about the super-high falsetto the lead does.

unfortunately for them, they were completely over-shadowed by the two bands that followed.

Wax Fang, from Kentucky, was un-fucking-believable. 3-man band, but with an enormous sound. sometimes experimental, sometimes bluesy, sometimes hard-rockin, sometimes almost classical. they list Philip Glass as an influence, and i could hear it (i'm a huge fan). song after song, i was in complete bliss, sitting there with a stupid-ass grin on my face. absolutely loved the lead's voice - reminded me of johnny rotten sometimes, but with a great low end. loved the psychedelic visuals, loved the droning kazoos (see the 2nd video), loved the slide guitar (man, that dude can play). awesome awesome stuff. easily the highlight of the evening for me. these guys will be huge someday, if there is any justice in the world. (please note - i realize these are horrible videos, but i just wanted to give you some idea of what they were doin...)

next up was Dead Confederate, from Athens. really liked these guys, too. 5-man band: 3 guitars, keys and drums. great combination of slow-burning southern psychedelia and gloomy roots rock. voice on lead not my favorite - just a bit reedy, but very strong, at times howling. keys were very pink-floyd-organ-like sometimes (and the player was nuts). have to say - after a while, the songs started to blend together a bit. they were very good, but there wasn't a whole lot of variety (one of the strengths of Wax Fang, I thought). super-hot drunken blonde down in front, gyrating up a storm, so they had that goin for 'em. josephus was right behind her, of course, hopin he'd catch some stray boobage, but no luck. anyways, really enjoyed the set.
all in all, the first time i've enjoyed a show at the cavern in a looong time.