Elliot Yamin, Josh Hoge, and The Last Goodnight reviewed by Melanie Armistead

Workplay Theater delivered a rocking, yet soulful concert featuring Josh Hoge, The Last Goodnight, and American Idol star Elliot Yamin on October 24th. Josh Hoge was the opening act for the evening, and he quickly won over the audience with his charismatic and interactive personality. Add his sensual and dynamic voice and he rocked the crowd like a pro. One of the favorite songs of the night (especially popular with the ladies) was “Try”, a piece he wrote for his girlfriend describing their relationship when he spends time on the road. Josh has a great vocal range and strong voice, which sounded smooth both with the help of the microphone and without. Following Josh, the rockers from Connecticut, also known as “The Last Goodnight”, took the stage and added even more energy to the venue. The group did a unique job of incorporating a blues tempo in their rock songs, which included “Return to Me” and their latest hit, “Pictures of You”. The group members had no problems interacting with the audience, sitting down on stage, and making the crowd feel part of the music. After two great performances, the most anticipated act of the night was Elliot Yamin. The star who got his start on American Idol was the biggest crowd pleaser of the evening. Audience members of all ages sang along to every song, which included, “Wait”, the song that has been taking over the airwaves since its debut in March.

A diverse group of fans gathered at Workplay for the concert, and all joined in singing and dancing to the music. The venue is a popular one in Alabama, with its modern and chic architecture. You can make your experience at Workplay an intimate one by sitting at the tables and booths, or you can squeeze in the pit in front of the stage and dance while trying to hi-five the artists. The upper level provides a nice overview of the stage, while the lower level has options for sitting or dancing in front of the performers. Get there early, though; when the seats fill up, it is awkward to stand and watch the show if you do not want to be part of the younger fans in the dance area. While the concert was well-attended, it was almost too crowded for the location. Although a few hundred people made the night somewhat uncomfortable for those who had to stand, it still provided for a festive atmosphere. It was easy to see why Workplay Theater is growing in popularity. Overall, the concert was a success, and one can expect great things from all the performers who showed Birmingham some rock with plenty of soul.

Nickel Creek reviewed by Josh Mallory

Nickel Creek has played Birmingham many times before and seemed to be grateful for all the support as their farewell tour rolled through the Magic City. The “new grass” trio, comprised of Sarah Watkins, Chris Thile and Sean Watkins, is calling it quits, at least for now.

They kicked off the night at the Alabama Theatre with the instrumental “Ode to a Butterfly” and then performed crowd favorites. As usual, they played extremely well and their quirky stage banter delivered some laughs.

The highlights of the show were the songs that showed off their tight harmonies, such as “Reasons Why” “Somebody More like You” and “Helena.” Few acts can harmonize so tightly over and over.

Further underscoring their humor was the bands performance of “Anthony” around an old-timey microphone with Sarah Watkins playing the ukulele. The song centers around a woman bound to win over a resistant lover, and the band played it for laughs well.

The band did have a few surprises, most notable a cover of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” sung by Sarah, suddenly without her fiddle. The crowd responded enthusiastically.

The band received one of the loudest applauses I’ve heard at the Alabama Theatre, which lead to a long encore.

The band performed a hilarious version of “Toxic,” complete with Chris Thile giving his interpretation of Spears’ sexy dances. They played “Eveline,” an interpretation of a James Joyce story, in response to a request saying it was the first time the song had ever been requested.

It was a bittersweet show. Nickel Creek has such a strong fan base in Birmingham, and this was a goodbye. The band was great, which only made saying goodbye harder at the end of the night.

Final Fantasy and Cadence Weapon, reviewed by Drew Cook

My friend and I went for Final Fantasy, but I loved Cadence Weapon- I enjoyed both of the touring headliners, but a pleasant surprise was Cadence Weapon.
Both were from Canada and played such up.

I had been eager to get to the Bottletree for some time, but the trip (though not that bad), and other conditions: lack of money and a catalyst for going (tickets/friend/band I knew and liked playing) hadn't come together.

My friend wanted to go anyway, as a viola/violin performer she had special interest in seeing Final Fantasy (the guy) performing and to possibly pick his brain as she had interest in doing what he does.

A friend I got in on the station ticket bought me a drink and I enjoyed such, but lamented for a little bit not having any money as the guy next to me at the bar bit into a delicious smelling burger and my friend continued buying drinks (I was DD anyway, so no biggie).

The starting band, Lylas wasn't bad, but the first song they played would have been completely forgetable traditional song, but they did it slightly out of tune (I believe my friend remarked that the vocals were) and were somewhat loud, but played their instruments well, but we had come for Final Fantasy and my friend was soon distracted by other matters as Cadence Weapon came on and I quickly enjoyed that.

For those uninitiated to Nerdcore, Cadence Weapon is either a good introduction or just a damn good rapper. He isn't Nerdcore hip-hop though, a genre almost solely ruled by MC Frontalot- of internet fame. Cadence Weapon doesn't have a rap about webcomics (he isn't the unofficial rapper of webcomics like MC Frontalot) or math and computer science stuff...soo much. But he is clever, well read, and references things like video games, literature or even Boots Riley (of the anarchist hip hop group The Coup- old UA people like me will remember that he came to this campus before the Iraq war started and possibly that their album "Party Music" became controversial for its original cover after 9/11).

I wish I could properly quote a couple lines from "Black Hand."

While I felt somewhat reminded of clever rappers of decades past (Chuck D of Public Enemy or even Ice Cube), the stand out of the performance was the backing music- ably delivered by DJ Weasel. Stage presence overcame the stuttering machine gun delivery of lyrics mixed with not so catching or otherwise confusing title lyrics (which people still jumped to). I got a close standing position early on, and even when I briefly left the huddled masses, I managed to get it back, more or less.

The beats were killer, and Cadence Weapon kept the crowd pumping- those that weren't sitting on the porch area anyway. It was loud, but worth it, the acoustics actually seemed to be more merciful on people closer to the stage than a bit farther away (but maybe that was because I didn't mind as much).

They even did a cover of Joy Division's "Isolation."

Now, Final Fantasy- Mr. Owen Pallett came on and did a very long set (almost exhaustively long to my friend, but mostly I just found myself uncomfortable standing so long, but he had me from the start at least).

He did something I didn't totally expect, he used a slew of pedals to loop and/or distort the sounds he was making with this violin. This at first blew my mind then immediately became more obvious as a solo tactic- nonetheless he shifted through them pretty flawlessly, only noting his mistakes a few times and thus exposing them. He was charmingly self-critical, but almost annoyingly so toward the end, but for most of the show he couldn't have annoyed me as I was more or less enchanted by the songs- the lyrics however were either not terribly well miked or he didn't deliver them very well in my opinion though they sounded nice- I understood him better on the first few songs.

As my friend pointed out later, his performance would have done well with some actual percussion- he used some techniques that I was impressed by at first, but would admit to becoming somewhat less impressive or even almost irritating later...I guess the novelty wore off, but I'm not a classically trained musician so I doubt my impression was as borderline negative as my friend's. He's talented, that is for sure, but so was Cadence Weapon, and as much as I'm sure everyone in the Bottletree enjoyed the show (myself included) my friend's point that he didn't stand all too well on his own as a solo act has me thinking I somewhat agree with her. He's played well and sung back up lyrics with band such as Arcade Fire, but apart from the hipster geekdom in the Bottletree, other venues and some Canadians I won't meet- I doubt he'll go mainstream any time soon on his own.

I accepted his producer not being there to assist at least on the piano songs (which were a welcome inclusion after half an hour or so of straight violin with looped percussive techniques or backing phrases).

He did do an encore as demanded- but brought on the now drunk duo of Cadence Weapon and Dj Weasel so they could "battle" out their apparent backstage arguement.

Both groups had apparently been on the road for a while and both groups had also consumed a fair number of PBR tallboys- which was understandable, and Cadence Weapon was still comprehensible, but barely whereas Dj Weasel actually gained a voice with his inebriation and seemed to win the crowd's favor on his freestyling even though Cadence Weapon had a few choice slams.

I believe Final Fantasy closed with a Maria Carey cover and did such rather well in fact, but I'm not sure of the song's origin's, merely that the crowd enjoyed it.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the show, both groups were interesting and even with some mild to moderate criticisms coming from my friend about Final Fantasy's not terribly impressive technical expertise with a lack of percussion versus his good songwriting. I enjoyed the show and was impressed by his playing quite well enough I think. Classically trained or not, he's doing more mainstream stuff with this- and with it makes an interesting progression of potentials for violin and other classical instruments- I realized I could in theory apply the looping and pedal set up to other instruments, including my harmonicas potentially.

The venue was also nice, though small it was intimate and if I had more money and didn't have to pay for gas to get to Birmingham, etc...I'd definitely go early enough for food and the show as well. The bar wasn't bad either- beer selections looked interesting and they had at least 2 or 3 of my preferred whiskeys.

The Show gets 2 thumbs up 3 and a half to 4 stars out of 5, all in all a great show and a great venue I don't even mind that Lylas can't sing too well but plays their instruments in their rather largish band rather well or that Cadence Weapon is increasingly less articulate the more he drinks (big surprise) or that the Final Fantasy guy had a great time but I thought he might have cried if we didn't like him as much as we did.

Ryan Adams reviewed by Steve Donaldson

As a Ryan Adams fan, I had heard about Adams's "quirks" when performing live. I knew going into the concert that only one member of his backup group, the Cardinals, remained from their collaboration in 2001. I knew that he had a tendency to throw small fits when the lighting or sound was not to his liking. However, I was not expecting what ensued at the Alabama Theatre on October 15.

I arrived a bit late to the Alabama (which by the way is a great venue...not a bad seat in the house, a good cocktail bar, and general classic ambience) and Adams was already on stage. His show was set to last 2 hours, so missing the first song did not seem like it would be that big of a deal.

While on stage, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals were great performers. They played recent songs, including the most recent single, "Everybody Knows," and more classic songs such as "Rescue Blues" off his album Gold. He took a break about 45 minutes into the set, which is perfectly fine when playing a 2 hour set.

After the break he got through two songs and then sheer disregard for his fans took over. Several people were shouting out the names of their favorite songs (which is to be expected at a show), and one guy even kept shouting for Ryan to play "Hay Babay," the recent Chamillionaire hit. At that point, Adams blew up, saying something along the lines of, "Has it ever occured to you guys that we might determine a set list before we come on stage to keep you happy? We don't just play a song on a whim because of what you guys yell at us." Then he mentioned seeing "Titanic" and the crowd asking for the ship not to crash. An unamused girl yelled back to just play a song. He then played one song, about 7 minute version of "What Sin," sarcastically said that the crowd was great, then walked off the stage. There was no encore, and the stage hands immediately and abruptly disassembled the set, and the night was over.

Even knowing Adams's reputation coming into the show, I was never expecting something like this. If you can get cheap (or even free) tickets to a Ryan Adams show that is within two-gallons-of-gas-of-a-drive, I would suggest seeing him just to be part of something that may be talked about for a long time. If not, don't waste your money...you can get a more respectful experience by turning up your stereo and playing any of his albums.

Echo Project reviewed by Reid McCreary - Pictures coming soon!

After walking around a damp open field during a cold Georgia night, I start to feel icy grass blades numb my toes. Surrounding me are nothing but south Fulton county trees, the star-filled sky, and five towering stages. As I look down to the VIP bracelet that granted me access to this bitter empty field, I notice the rolling hills in the distance, covered by tents. Ten-thousand campers are preparing for three days of mind-blowing live music. I soon realize that this moment will be the most peaceful experience of my weekend, and that’s fine with me.

It’s mid-October in 2007, marking the very first Echo Project, an Atlanta-based event that blends concert atmosphere with environmental activism. Aiming to set the standard for earth-friendly festivals, the three day experience features five stages and approximately one hundred bands with musical stylings ranging from alternative folk to crunk beats. Through collaboration with other organizations including Sustainable Waves, Rivers Alive, and Clean Vibes, organizers have dedicated themselves to use hard work and the latest trends in technology to make a positive change on the earth. Throughout the weekend, the Echo Project pushes environmental concerns to the crowd, and mainly focuses on energy usage, waste management, and habitat restoration. Festival-goers are encouraged to participate in echo system activities spanning from climate seminars to recycled arts and crafts.

Entering the concert field Friday morning, I quickly choose to leave the aluminum crafts to the more tie-dyed and dreadlocked festival-goers. The most important concern in my mind is seeing as much live music as humanly possible and, thankfully, the media badge, plastered on my chest, allows me to do so. My concert endeavor begins with the Polyphonic Spree, a two-dozen member indie-pop band dressed in eccentric militant uniform. As the weekend continues, memorable performances are made by well-knowns like Common and the Killers, as well as lesser-knowns like the Album Leaf and the Secret Machines. Regardless of the act, each concert tends to have the same aspects: a sparse comfortable crowd, dedicated fans magnetically drawn to the front of the stage, and good-vibe seeking dancers in the back with their feet stirring up a cloud of dust and other substances.

The weekend comes to a high-point Friday night as Wayne Coyne and the rest of the Flaming Lips take the main stage as the first-ever headliners of the Echo Project. After Coyne rushes into the crowd via a human-sized hamster ball, a gathering of superheroes, Santa clauses, and aliens assemble on stage, among of the band. Playfully assaulting the crowd with balloons and confetti, the Lips tear into a heavy amount of music from their three most recent albums. In between each song, Coyne takes the opportunity to address the crowd with environmental and political issues. This culminates with the band dedicating a beautiful performance of “Waitin’ for a Superman” to war victims in Iraq. Other highlights of the evening include a bed-time sing-along to ‘Yoshimi Battle the Pink Robots,’ a confetti-heavy ‘Do You Realize,’ and an encore performance of ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’ and the Rolling Stone’s ‘Moonlight Mile.”

Upon exiting the Echo Project late Saturday night, leaving the flickering stage lights behind, I realize that the festival has a bright future. The organizers of the event claim that 2007 marks the first of a ten year commitment to change the way festivals are powered. But, with great bands, comfortable crowds, and minimal carbon emissions, let’s hope the next nine years can live up to the first.

Kings of Leon, reviewed by John Brooks Pounders

This is the inaugural installment of 90.7's new venture, Capstone Concert Consulting. We send our staff to shows and events and they report back to us.

On October 10, John Brooks and I (MJ) attended the Kings Leon concert at the Alabama Theater in Birmingham. Pictures from the concert will be coming soon.

Manchester Orchestra opened the show and everyone around us in the audience kept asking one another, "Who is that band? They're really good!" You may recognize Manchester Orchestra if you subscribe to Paste Magazine. Their songs have been included in two Paste CDs so far. I managed to catch up with their lead singer after the show and gave him my business card (shamelessly promoting 90.7 The Capstone, of course). : ) Maybe we can convince Manchester Orchestra to come to Tuscaloosa.

After a short break, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club followed Manchester Orchestra. They definitely didn't disappoint the audience. I'm looking forward to seeing them again at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans October 26-28 (Kings of Leon will be at Voodoo Fest also).

Finally, Kings of Leon... I confess that I had not listened to Kings of Leon very much before, but after this concert I find myself playing and replaying the album that John Brooks graciously loaned me. They're fantastic live. I enjoyed watching the crowd's response to the music; their faces shined with an almost religious zeal - a cliched phrase, yes, but so applicable in this case.

I'll let John Brooks elaborate according to the questions I sent him:

1. Artist Quality:
Kings of Leon put on a really good show. They seemed like class acts, even though I couldn't understand what they said between songs. The main singer rocked a v-neck and gold chain like no other. Sometimes I did feel like they might have missed a few queues musically, but that could have been my imagination. They were nonetheless very good performers and left the audience happy.

2. Song Selection/Line Up:
The song selection was right on for me. They played their "classics" like Molly's Chamber and newer songs like Charmer. I was suprised that they would sing Charmer because of the painful screeching the song requires. Kings of Leon also wisely chose to play one of their newest songs, Knocked Up, as the lead song for their encore. The set list was strong and dynamic leaving new and old fans pleased.

3. Pretend I’ve never heard this band before, and try to describe their sound/genre to me:
Kings of Leon is best described as Southern Garage Rock. Using poetic and sometimes painful words mixed with usually up-tempo beats, Kings of Leon creates a slightly modded and very approachable southern rock sound.

4. Venue Atmosphere and Appearance:
The Alabama Theatre is a beautiful theater built in the 1920's by Paramount Studios. From Alabamatheatre.com, "It was used primarily as a movie palace for 55 years, with the exception of the annual Miss Alabama pageant and the weekly Mickey Mouse Club." The staff is very eager to fill any patrons in on information about the theater's history and significance to Birmingham, Alabama.

5. Venue Acoustics – and other technical issues that come to mind:
The Alabama Theatre has really good acoustics; the Kings of Leon sounded just like they did on their cds.