Tag: The Hi-Tone

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Music Music Blog

Inter Arma at the Hi-Tone

In the world of modern-day metal and heavy music, there’s a thin line between natural, inspired, boundary-free explorers, and inorganic, obnoxious, attention-starved genre-jumpers. Some bands straddle the fence and some are unfortunately defined by the latter, but Richmond, VA’s Inter Arma is the rare specimen that pulls off the former.

Given the stylistic restlessness of Inter Arma and the band’s ability to rock it with ease, their city of origin isn’t terribly surprising. Richmond has exported more metal and hardcore of note over the years than most mid-sized urban areas, boasting GWAR, Lamb of God, Arsis, Windhand, Cough, Avail, Municipal Waste, and Pig Destroyer to name a few. But Inter Arma is not some amalgam of what these fellow Richmond bands have mastered, or an outfit that wants to show you how easy they can switch from grindcore to free-jazz to J-pop to grunge to death metal while making crazy faces.

Inter Arma at the Hi-Tone

Formed about a decade back, Inter Arma is now touring behind Paradise Gallows, their third full-length and most recent title for Relapse Records, the band’s home since 2013. Paradise Gallows follows 2014’s The Cavern, a 40-minute single-song “EP” that really drove home what this quintet was capable of.

Paradise Gallows swings between doomy-death metal with understated vocals, sky-reaching piano-driven “post-metal” (whatever the hell that is), and classic power-metal guitar harmonies-often within one (usually epic-length) song. Piano is tastefully used to bolster more epic instrumental passages, and Paradise Gallows is meant to be ingested as a single piece of music rather than a song-cycle.

Inter Arma dabble in heaviness that’s actually trying to shoot for the future of the form rather than rewrite or repurpose the past, a refreshing aspect in these retro-fascinated times.

Opening for Inter Arma is Colorado’s Call of the Void, another Relapse Records offering that mixes modern grindcore, crusty heavy hardcore, and wailing guitar leads- meaning they share the same fans as His Hero is Gone, Brutal Truth, Buried Inside, post-Y2K Napalm Death, and especially Trap Them.

Call of the Void songs lean towards the longer (2-3 minutes) side for this type of stuff, allowing for plenty of references to the aforementioned bands and extending the punishment to its logical breaking point. Local hopefuls Sunfather will kick off the evening. Doors open at 9 p.m. and the cover is $12.
 

Inter Arma at the Hi-Tone (2)

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Music Music Features

Jucifer at the Hi-Tone

The husband-and-wife duo of drummer Edgar Livengood and guitarist/vocalist Gazelle Amber Valentine have been making and releasing music as Jucifer for over two decades. Formed in 1993 and initially based in Athens, Georgia, the band is allegedly named after the “The Juice is Lucifer” statement made during the O.J. Simpson murder trails. Jucifer was, over its first few years of activity, marketed by various labels as a more “indie” or “alternative” offering, and their sound during the second half of the ’90s occasionally danced with this blanket assessment, albeit in a loud, abrasive, and metallic fashion. Having developed into something that, more often than not, truly defies classification on the whole, Jucifer is nonetheless tagged as sludge or doom metal to avoid unpacking the complex reality of the duo’s stylistic mastery and invention within the context of all that is heavy, perpetually intense, and inventive, not to mention unpredictably melodic and catchy.

Jucifer

The succinct and, it’s assumed, band-generated wrap-up of what to expect on record and live goes like this: “23 years of annihilating ears and insides. Genre = Obliterate. Sludge, doom, grind, thrash, death, crust, black, combined. Notoriously nomadic, live in their tour bus. ALWAYS ON TOUR.” The duo has seen its seven full-lengths, five EPs, and two DVD titles released by Relapse Records, Alternative Tentacles, and, at one time, major-label subsidiary Capricorn Records (via that imprint’s relaunch around Y2K). Additionally, the band’s own Nomadic Fortress Records handles certain release formats. Jucifer has only gotten better at everything they do since the release of their 2006 debut for Relapse Records, If Thine Enemy Hunger (album No. 3 overall). Especially recommended are recent albums like 2010’s Throned in Blood, and the 2014 record District of Dystopia.

Jucifer at the Hi-Tone, Saturday, Febraury 13th at the Hi-Tone,8 p.m.  $10-$12.

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Music Music Blog

Al Kapone’s Christmas Jam

Al Kapone plays the Hi-Tone this Wednesday night.

Al Kapone will host a Christmas jam this Wednesday night (December 23rd) at the Hi-Tone. Performers include Al Kapone, Lil Wyte, Frayser Boy, Lil Riah, Key Money, Ashton Riker, Young AJ Do It, Tune C, Wala Wyse, Tre$, Tori Who Dat, and Hillboy. That’s a pretty stacked lineup. The show kicks off at 9 p.m. and admission is $12 at the door, or bring two canned good items and get in for $10. Check out the classic Frayser Boy track from the Hypnotize Minds album Me Being Me below.

Al Kapone’s Christmas Jam

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Sing All Kinds We Recommend

10 for 10: October Sound Advice

CREDIT: Aviana Monasterio

Aviana Monasterio

Neev

1. Neev with Aviator, Rescuer and Gone Yard

Crosstown Arts, Oct. 5. $5. 7:00 p.m.

For those looking for something heavier than Katy Perry’s Prismatic World Tour, post-hardcore local NEEV will be opening for Aviator and Rescuer as they make their way through Memphis on their “Death-to-False Music” tour. While both touring bands have recently released records on No Sleep Records, NEEV put out their first full-length album Those Things We Tomorrowed on cassette in May through Ireland based ndependent label Little League Records. The post hardcore outfit combines melodic math rock with chaos, and while no song meets the three-minute mark – they are each packed with unpredictable twists and turns that keep you on your toes. This is not a band to ignore.

10 for 10: October Sound Advice

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2. Hea Head and the Heart

d and the Heart with Rayland Baxter

Minglewood Hall, Oct. 6. $30. 8:00 p.m.

On The Head and the Heart’s sophomore release Let’s Be Still, they managed to capture a sense of sincerity that is often lost in the now saturated indie folk genre that has grown popular over the last few years. This is serious, heartfelt songwriting. Perhaps it’s the band’s humble beginnings playing on street corners that separates them from the rest of the crowd. Without a doubt, their live show is less of a concert and more of an experience that will pull your mind away from Memphis for the evening and take you somewhere special.

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3. Berkano CD Release with Ugly Girls and Hair Party


The Hi-Tone, Oct. 7. $7. 9:00 p.m.

Berkano is everything that is right about garage rock. The guitars blend distortion and reverb while the vocals lazily echo their way into the mix. It’s beer-drinkin’-head-bobbin’ rock ‘n roll, and you’d be silly not to come pick up a copy of Santa Sleeping. Ugly Girls are also not to be missed. The three-piece punkers are unapologetic. They sing songs about hating “frat boys” and being gifted cancer from God. You can find more of that on their EP Bad Personalities that they released in February. 

10 for 10: October Sound Advice (2)

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4. Juicy J with Project Pat

Juicy J and Project Pat


Minglewood Hall, Oct 8. 8:00 p.m.

Juicy J has risen far beyond Three 6 Mafia fame, making his way to the soundtrack of the latest reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now, he’s rapping alongside Miley Cyrus and is an active member of Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang. His third studio release Stay Trippy featured the radio favorite “Bandz a Make Her Dance,” and landed at 29 on the Billboard Top 100. J and his older brother Project Pat will be returning
to Memphis with some new, and, fingers crossed, hopefully some of the old iconic sounds that defined Memphis rap from the ‘90s to late 2000’s. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get to hear some classic Three 6 Mafia tracks. 

Footnote: Juggalos gather and spray your Faygo. Da Mafia 6ix, a new project formed in 2013 featuring six original members of Three 6 Mafia, will be joining Insane Clown Posse and Mushroomhead at The New Daisy Oct. 11.

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5. Interpol with Rey Pila

Interpol


Minglewood Hall, Oct. 9. $25 advance / $30 day of show. 8:00 p.m.

Interpol didn’t reinvent the wheel with their nearly brand new release El Pintor, but after four years, it breathes life into their tired, old routine. It’s reminiscent of Turn On The Bright Lights, the album that launched them into the spotlight, and is arguably the best thing the band has released since Antics. With bassist Carlos Dengler having the left the band, the former four piece is now made of three, which is not at all a bad thing. Interpol is playing like a band in their prime again, and the energy of their live show may very well be the best that it has been in quite some time.

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6. Slugz with Gimp Teeth and DJ Wasted Life
 Josh Miller

Gimp Teeth


Murphy’s, Oct. 12. $5. 9:00 p.m.

Richmond, Virginia’s Slugz plays raw, punk music that gives show goers a reason to thrash their bodies against each other. Local punkers Gimp Teeth merge power violence with surf rock to create a sound that belongs in a Harmony Korine film. They recently played Gonerfest 11 and released an EP titled Naked City earlier this year.

10 for 10: October Sound Advice (3)

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7. The Jack Oblivian and Monsieur Jeffrey Evans Revue

Josh Miller

Jack Oblivian

The Hi-Tone, Oct. 18. 9:00.

Jack Oblivian and Monsieur Jeffrey Evans have spent decades creating and cultivating a sound derivative of blues and punk that has forever left a stamp on Memphis music. On Oct. 18, the two will share the stage with a batch of Southern musicians. If you can make it to only one show during October, this is it.

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8. City and Colour with Clear Plastic Masks

City and Colour


Minglewood Hall, Oct. 30. $25 advance / $30 day of show. 7:00 p.m.

Dallas Green’s distinguishable tenor and stripped down, acoustic structure coupled with his sentimental lyrics and catchy melodies have carried City and Colour from a small, independent band with a cult following to a household name, selling out venues all over the country. His latest release, The Hurry And The Harm, sees
Green moving into the mainstream with additional musicians and even poppier sensibilities. More recently, Green released the single “You and Me” with Pink, and the two have formed a duo under the same name with plans to release an album titled Rose Ave. While Green’s place in the indie music world seems to be ever growing, he hasn’t lost sight of the intimate performances that define City and Colour’s live show, and you shouldn’t miss out on it, either.

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9. Dead Soldiers with Clay Otis and James & The Ultrasounds
 Jamie Harmon

Dead Soldiers


The Hi-Tone, Oct. 31. $10. 9:00.

Dead Soldiers are one of the most hardworking bands out there – playing a brand of alternative-country that is similar to no one else in Memphis. The Soldiers are packing out every show they book, and for good reason. For a relatively new band, 2013’s LP All The Things You Lose and follow up EP High Anxiety are impressive, to say the least. On Halloween night, they will play alongside local pop singer Clay Otis as well as James & The Ultrasounds, whose first full-length Bad To Be Here is due out through Madjack Records in December. The Hi-Tone will also hold their annual costume party, where they will choose the best dressed male and female who participate. The winners get free admission to The Hi-Tone for a full calendar year.

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10. Manchester Orchestra with Chris Staples

Manchester Orchestra


The New Daisy Theatre, Oct. 31. $18. 7:00 p.m.

The last time Manchester Orchestra came to Memphis, it was a cold February evening in 2010 at The New Daisy Theatre. The Atlanta-based rock quintet was touring heavily on their sophomore release Mean Everything To Nothing, and they were just on the cusp of the success that would carry them through 2011’s Simple Math. After releasing 2013’s COPE, an 11-track album that capitalized on the huge guitars and roaring vocals of Frontman Andy Hull that have come to define Manchester Orchestra’s sound, the band later released a stripped-down album entitled HOPE featuring alternative versions of all 11 songs accompanied with a string of stripped-down tour dates. When Manchester Orchestra comes back to The Daisy, it may be the first and last time we get to see the band abandon their amps and tone down their songs.

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Sing All Kinds We Recommend

It’s About to get Heavy…

Louisiana’s scariest export crawls out of the swamp for a performance at the Hi-Tone this Thursday night. Simply put, EYEHATEGOD have been one of the heaviest bands on the planet since they formed in 1988, releasing seminal albums like Take as Needed for Pain that helped define the sludge metal genre. This will be the first Memphis show in quite some time for the nice boys from New Orleans, who are also currently touring with Ringworm, an equally crushing metal band. Enabler from Milwaukee will kick off the show.

Check out videos from EYEHATEGOD and Ringworm below, and get ready to have your food digested when these guys crank up their amps this Thursday night at the Hi-Tone. 8 p.m. doors, $15 gets you in.

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Opinion The Last Word

The Rant

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

It’s been awhile since we’ve been “out and amongst ’em,” as the colloquialism goes, but lately it seems as if I’ve become downright sociable, or something near that general vicinity. I had become accustomed to the comforts of home and hearth and the company of my wife and three under-trained rescue dogs, whose over-fondness for people is the reason no one comes over here anymore. I’m speaking of the dogs, of course, and not my wife.

But I’m not hard to please: A roof over my head, an easy chair that becomes a lounger, and someone to watch cable TV with who enjoys making snarky comments about these awful shows as much as I do, and I’m content. Content enough to realize that I’ve had my fun and to leave the nightlife to the young. But lately, there have been so many occasions and venues that have literally forced us out of the house or, rather, me out of the house that I am belatedly seeing Memphis come alive once again, and I am both amazed and overjoyed by what I see.

It began a couple of months ago when Melody and I attended an art opening at Playhouse on the Square. Up until then, I had only driven by and watched, with growing interest, the restoration of the legendary entertainment district. But this was our first visit to the square in a long time, and we marveled at the already thriving businesses and the ongoing construction. We ate lunch in an area restaurant, then widow-shopped our way to the once and future Lafayette’s Music Room, where I used to make a living back during the jitterbug era. So I just had to peek in the windows and was delighted to see it looks exactly the same. The big stage is there, with intimate seating and an upper balcony with a booth for a soundman; all the prerequisites for a grand music showplace — same as it ever was. The music and audience will be new, but the venue is vintage, and wonderful, new memories will be made there — and forgotten there, too.

The developers deserve congratulations, especially for the square’s architecture. Even the parking garage looks terrific. I thought Yosemite Sam’s would have to be dynamited out of their spot, but somehow even that once-nasty old building looks elegant. A California-based investment group announced plans to transform the deteriorating French Quarter Inn into a boutique hotel, and with the addition of the architecturally gorgeous new Hattiloo Theatre, the square will become Memphis’ theater district. Imagine that.

Following that outing, a gracious friend got us tickets to see the Zombies at the new Hi-Tone on Cleveland, which gave us the chance to see the development in and around the old Sears-Crosstown. Jobs, jobs, jobs, people. Which put us in a good mood to hear there was no seating in the Hi-Tone, so we took refuge on some steps in the back. But as soon as the Zombies came on, I was drawn, like magic, to join the standing throng in front of the bandstand. For years, my policy has been to go nowhere I can’t be seated, but the Zombies made me want to stand, and I can die happy knowing I got to hear Colin Blunstone sing “Time of the Season” 10 feet in front of me.

Melody convinced me that good things awaited outside of our den, and that began a spasm of social activities. We heard Eddie Harrison and Debbie Jamison sing at Neil’s. We revisited the square, this time at night, to hear guitar virtuoso Dave Cousar play a set at Le Chardonnay and then on to Huey’s to witness the yearly visit by Larry Raspberry and the Highsteppers. In the same night! I’m delighted to see new music venues open up for both local talent and traveling acts, and of course the jewel is the Levitt Shell.

Justin Fox Burks

Levitt Shell

I doubt there’s a better way to spend an evening than under the stars at the Levitt Shell listening to music. The venue is beautiful and becomes magical when the sun goes down and the lighting comes up. The sound is professional and whoever books the different and often unique acts couldn’t be doing a better job. The coming months will bring an array of talent to one of our city’s most beautiful, green expanses, and it’s all free.

Only an asshole would criticize such a wonderful undertaking — so it may as well be me. There’s one noticeable, and aggravating, design flaw at the shell. I imagine whoever designed the large slab of concrete between the stage and the grass intended it as a dance floor, but in the several events I have recently attended, it has become a major distraction. How can you concentrate on the performers and their music with people constantly milling about directly in front of the stage? Stage-front has become a shortcut to the bathroom and a place for unattended children to run wild. As the evening progresses, the kids are replaced by clueless, often inebriated attendees, who stand in front of the stage, blocking the view of half the audience. My suggestion for a more enjoyable experience: Dig up the asphalt and plant more grass. That aside, it seems to me that, at long last, Memphis is a happening place once again. I believe I just might stick around.

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Music Music Features

Dick Dale at the Hi-Tone

Dick Dale is in a small group of great musicians. He created a sound. In the way that Bill Monroe created bluegrass or W.C. Handy is credited with establishing the blues, Dale created surf music. Dale plays the Hi-Tone on Friday, May 9th.

Surf music sprung like a Greek god from the the head of Dale (née Richard Anthony Monsour) in the late 1950s. There was something about the giant waves of amplified notes and the swells of heady rhythm that spoke to the hearts of California’s adolescent baby-boomers.

Dick Dale

Dale’s wild sound summons visions of California. That is due in part to his close relationship with electric-guitar pioneer Leo Fender. Fender was famous as a tinkering experimenter in both guitars and amplification. It’s said that Fender fell out laughing when he gave a prototype Stratocaster to the lefty Dale, who never thought twice and flipped the instrument backward years before Hendrix popularized the move.

Dale’s music also reflects his Middle Eastern heritage. Before he learned guitar, an uncle taught him how to play the tarabaki (also known as the goblet drum) to accompany him as he played the oud (an Arabic take on the lute). Those microtonal notes would influence Dale, whose sound would always have a Moorish, Spanish sound. That sound fit perfectly into the competitive, immersive culture of surfing.

As Dale took off in popularity, Fender was right there at his side developing amplification to keep up with Dale’s energetic and sold-out live performances.

Dale’s California celebrity manifested itself in some interesting places. He composed the soundtrack for the Space Mountain rollercoaster at Disneyland. Younger audiences will associate Dale with Quentin Taratino’s Pulp Fiction soundtrack, which included Dale’s “Misirlou.” — Joe Boone

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Music Music Features

The Zombies at the Hi-Tone

CREDIT: Leo Cincolo

It is bizarre and a little sad that the singer on one of the most critically loved albums of the 1960s found himself working at an insurance agency after the record’s release. Odessey and Oracle, the only intentional full-length album by the Zombies, was released in 1968 after the band had split up. The song “Time of the Season” became a hit, but the band did not reform until 1999. The Zombies will play the Hi-Tone on Sunday, April 27th.

“I went to an employment agency,” Colin Blunstone (above left) said of his short foray into workaday life. “I didn’t feel insurance was my vocation. I just went to an employment agency like anybody else would. That was the first job I was offered. It was a little bit strange. It was strange for me, and it was strange for people who were working in the office. They knew what I had been doing. But after a couple of days, people forget that and you just get on with it. I enjoyed it.”

Odessey and Oracle has become a cult classic. It is one of the acknowledged masterpieces of psychedelia and is a highpoint of the art-song compositions that gave that period its depth. If you don’t have it, get it.

“I was really sad when the band finished. It was a disappointing time that that adventure had come to an end. It was an office in the middle of London, it wasn’t some country town. It [the insurance agency] was right in the middle of London, and it was busy. I didn’t have time to think. For me, it really worked well. It was nearly a year, and then I started getting offers to record again. That’s what I did.” — Joe Boone

The Zombies will perform at the Hi-Tone on Sunday, April 27th, with opener Hollis Brown.