Boomslang weekend and day passes will are available in advance at www.boomslangfest.com, and tickets to individual shows can be purchased at the door as venue capacity allows. All shows are 18+ unless noted otherwise.
Friday, September 23
Those Darlins with Onward Pilgrim and Scott Carney (Wax Fang)
Cosmic Charlie’s; 388 Woodland Ave. 8 P.M.
Boomslang’s weekend of music kicks off with a triple bill of energetic, fun-spirited rock-n-roll that should appeal to mosh-loving hipsters and public radio junkies alike. Starting with local psych-groovesters Onward Pilgrim and headlined by Tennessee garage-punk honky tonk darlings Those Darlins, whom you may have caught playing a set on NPR’s World Cafe last month, the bill will be rounded out by a rare solo set from Wax Fang founder/vocalist/guitarist/Theremin player Scott Carney. This set will rouse your senses and get your blood flowing early, and end by 11 p.m. to make way for the late dance party of the century – don’t sleep on it!
Big Freedia with special guest DJs Miss Cass and John the Buckman
Cosmic Charlie’s; 388 Woodland Ave. 11:45 P.M.
Big Freedia (pronounced “Free-da”) is the undisputed “Queen Diva” of Bounce Music, and performs six or more times a week in various venues throughout her home town of New Orleans. Bounce Music is an original urban music rising up from the intimate and fun-loving nature of the New Orleans housing projects which dominate the city’s street culture, and Freedia performs a derivative of Bounce reserved for self-proclaimed “Sissies” (a locally used name for biological men with varied and ambiguous sexual identities) that has risen to prominence in recent years and features explicitly gay and cross-dressing musicians and themes. Many of her songs revolve around important socio-cultural phenomena such as “making it clap,” “y’all gettin’ back now,” “crazy big donkeys,” “azz everywhere,” etc. Most importantly, she knows how to throw down and get cha bouncin’ in ways that Lexington has rarely, if ever, experienced. The show will feature Freedia’s crew DJ Rusty Lazer & The Divas, as well as DJ sets by local favorites Miss Cass and John the Baptist.
Cough/Stampede/They Yearn for What They Fear/Below
Green Lantern; 497 W. 3rd St. 9 P.M. 21+
When Friday night rolls around, things at the Green Lantern are going to get heavy—and not just heavy, but H E A V Y, as WRFL’s Boomslang Festival presents Richmond, VA’s psychedelic doom quartet Cough. On a two-week sprint after releasing their last album “Ritual Abuse” on Relapse Records and a summer tour in support of Buzz*oven, Cough are keeping their momentum high with a special appearance at Boomslang. Get ready to turn it way up and slow it way down for a set of far-out sludge metal recommended for fans of Electric Wizard. Cough will be joined by three of the area’s best heavy bands. Lexington metal machine Stampede has recently released their self-titled full-length debut, and will open the night at 9 P.M. Fresh off a week-long tour of the southeast and reigning from the holy mountains of Eastern Ky., Below will be nodding heads with huge hypnotic riffs. And the doom/sludge/punk enigma of They Yearn For What They Fear will be playing a set spanning from their first songs to brand new unreleased material. This promises to be an exceptional night for heavy music in Lexington. Whether you’re into the fastest of the fast or the slowest of the slow, all ears will bleed at Doomslang 2011.
Saturday, September 24
The Deedle Deedle Dees and Aaron Ratiere
Natasha’s; 112 Esplanade. 11 A.M. All ages.
This free, all ages, kid-friendly event is co-sponsored by Rock-n-Romp Lexington and Ages 3 and Up. Headlining the show will be the Brooklyn-based “educational rock band” The Deedle Deedle Dees, whose family-friendly songs are inspired by history and science and feature a variety of fun instrumentation—including upright bass, ukulele, accordion and banjo.Aaron Ratiere, a Danville resident working out of Nashville, TN, will open.
Street Gnar, Ty Segall, Woodsman, Pujol, Delicate Steve, RC Pro Am
Bar Lexington; 367 E. Main St.; Noon – 6 P.M.
This daytime showcase will feature two stages, grub for sale, a sand volleyball court and an otherwise general laid back, summertime garage vibe. The acts will range from lo-fi garage pop, including Brooklyn-via-Lexington’s Street Gnar, West Coast scuzzmeister Ty Segall, whose most recent effort, released by for Chicago’s stalwart of good taste Drag City Records, includes glam-rock nods to T.Rex, the drugged-out vibe of San Fran psych and the gussied up garage of the Sonics and their ilk. Also in this vein include Nashville rocker Pujol (who had a 7-inch released by Jack White’s Third Man Records last year) and Lexington “scatter rockers” RC Pro Am, whose shows usually end when the last instrument dies—guitars will be down to one string, the drum kit will be in disarray, and at least one member’s hands will be bloodied before they hit their final notes. Other acts on this bill include Delicate Steve, whose painstakingly arranged instrumental electro/rock compositions debuted last year on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label, to critical acclaim, and Denver’s up-and-coming Woodsman, who produce beautiful sonic soundscapes a la Animal Collective or Washed Out. Festival organizers encourage the hopping back and forth between this gig and the free community workshops and film screening across the street at Awesome Inc. (more info in the film/media section of this issue).
Another7Astronauts, Horseback, Secret Chiefs 3, Pelican, Swans
Buster’s Billiards & Backroom, 899 Manchester St. 7 P.M.
GOD. POWER. LOVE. DEATH. SWANS. The music of Saturday night’s headlining act cannot be described; it can only be experienced. Do not tread to this performance with falsity or fear in your heart. You will be driven away, running, naked and tearful in the streets. Come in truth, as you are, and you will see the walls between weakness and power, between beauty and ugliness, collapsed.
Originally formed in the early 1980s out of the fledgeling no-wave scene in New York City, Swans went on to become something completely separate from any genre or act that had preceded them, eventually disbanding in 1997 after an intense 16-year run. In 2010, they re-formed under the direction of ringleader Michael Gira, with a handful of other original members, to create the masterpiece “My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky.” Known in underground rock circles as the forefathers of avant/noise and industrial rock, Swans’ newest release transcends the chaos of older albums and focuses on a decidedly more American folk aesthetic without abandoning their signature intensity. Stripping away thick textural layers of guitars and percussion reveals Michael Gira’s carefully crafted folk songs that employ vivid and sometimes disturbing imagery and are delivered in Gira’s grave baritone voice. This concert will mark the first time that Swans have performed in Lexington and presents an opportunity that many fans would have never thought possible.
Another treat for this 6-band bill will be Secret Chiefs 3, dark conjurers who weave visions of past times and places distant. Doomed sultans, night battles, ancient powerstones clutched in the hands of a fleeing peasant. An Eastern European fiddle passage, meditation chimes, a frantic freak metal guitar riff – elements numerous and fanciful swirl about in compositions that make a storybook for the mind’s eye.
For those of unfamiliar with the Chicago band PELICAN, you will have an exclusive opportunity to experience their music at this gig as well. An instrumental four-piece ensemble that constructs mountainous landscapes of sound, enveloping the listener in a trance of harmonic and rhythmic catharsis, Pelican exists somewhere outside the genres of metal and post-rock, delighting audiences with frighteningly passionate melodies dancing inside endless crushing waves of heavy riffage.
Rounding out one of the heaviest and most diverse bills Lexington has seen in ages will be Louisville experimental collective Another7Astronauts, featuring members of Sapat, Lucky Pineapple, Softcheque and more; a solo show by guitarist Sir Richard Bishop, who builds his exceptional musical visions on the work of masters like Django Rheinhardt and Sonny Sharrock; and Chapel Hill terrestrial black psych masters Horseback.
Ellie Herring, MEN, SSION
Cosmic Charlie’s; 388 Woodland Ave. 11 P.M,
This “Queerslang” event serves as the official Saturday “after-party” for Boomslang—all souls shall commence at Cosmic Charlie’s to dance till the wee hours. Local electro-songstress Ellie Herring will kick off the evening, whose subdued vocals, skittering rhythms and dark synthesizer swells have earned her the reputation as one of the most exciting producers in the Lexington music scene. Next up is Brooklyn-based dance punk band MEN, a side project from LE TIGRE’s JD Samson, cult icon and leader in the LGBT community. The band is an art/performance collective with a focus on the energy of live performance and radical potential of dance music. Their music speaks of wartime economies, sexual compromise, and the demand for liberties through lyrical content and an inventive, high-energy stage show. And headlining the evening will be SSION, an audio-visual dance spectacle with Kentucky roots and a strong affinity for awe-inspiring live performances that include insane costumes and intricate set design matched with fun-spirited, beat-driven danceable jams.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
Julianna Barwick, Hong Shao’s Pipa Club, R. Stevie Moore
Natasha’s Bar & Bistro; 112 Esplanade. 3 – 6 P.M. All ages.
While it may seem an unusual pairing, Boomslang organizers are confident that the starkness of these three acts and the contrast between them will culminate in one of the most interesting and enjoyable music showcases of the weekend. Opening the triple bill is Julianna Barwick, a young solo artist from Brooklyn whose intricately layered a capella vocals are at the same time warm and distant, evoking glacial landscapes, Gregorian chants, and the overwhelming beauty of simple moments. Fans of Grouper and Dead Can Dance will approve. Next up is Hong Shao’s Pipa Club, a regional 5-piece ensemble led by Shao, a professionally trained Chinese music educator and musician who specializes in the ancient 4-stringed Chinese instrument the pipa. Her performances include dance, costumery, and other elements of Chinese culture. Headlining the bill is Nashville’s criminally obscure musical genius R. Stevie Moore. The “godfather of home recording,” Moore has self-released over 400 full length albums of original music over the past 40 years, cultivating a worldwide fan club of oddball music lovers whose idea of a good time is jumping down his DIY rabbit hole. Fans such as Ariel Pink, MGMT, Dr. Dog, Ween, Dr. Demento, Jad Fair, XTC, They Might Be Giants, The Residents, can all attest to the originality and the influence Steve’s unclassifiable music has had on the musical underground. While his genius is sometimes hidden behind layers of hiss, surrounded by avant spoken word non-sequiturs, or masked by cringe-worthy home recorded self indulgence, more often than not, the genius of his music comes across uninterrupted, making itself heard in the notes, the melodies, the chords, the bass lines, construction, the attitude, the lyric, the wit, the lo fi, the DIY, the isolation, the feeling of something deeply personal—an intimate audio peek into the mind of someone who can’t not be who they are. R. Stevie uncompromisingly filters the entire
history of popular recorded music, one bedroom recording at a time.
Currently embarking on his first-ever world tour, Moore’s lives shows are sublime and inspired, tickling you in places you may not expect to be tickled. For fans of: Gary Wilson, The Frogs, Emitt Rhodes, The Unicorns, Ariel Pink, PiL, Bonzo Dog Band, The Beach Boys, Syd Barrett, Pilot, Frank Zappa, The Beatles,Todd Rundgren, 10cc, Daniel Johnston, Guided By Voices, The Residents, Roy Wood.
Coralee and the Townies, Englishman, Matt Duncan and Best Friends Band
Tuska Center for Contemporary Art; UK Fine Arts Building. 6-9 P.M.
This exceptionally strong local bill needs little in the way of explanation, save for the background information about the event itself: an elaborate art and fashion installation organized and executed by the extraordinary talent of the Lexington Fashion Collaborative. In line with their stellar 2010 Boomslang event, this group of designers is orchestrating the gallery space to reflect their unique aesthetic as well as the spirit of a handful of locally owned businesses, using recycled materials donated from said businesses. The installation will include live models, set design, and a live soundtrack performed by four of Lexington’s most beloved and talented rock, folk and honky tonk groups.
Tom Tom Club and Psychedelic Furs
Buster’s Billiards & Backroom; 899 Manchester. 9 P.M.
Boomslang closes out this year with a killer ‘80s throwback double bill highlighting two time-tested groups whose hey day may have past, but whose spirit and energy remains intact. Formed in 1977, the British post-punk rockers Psychedelic Furs recorded songs for commercially-successful films such as John Hughes’ “Pretty in Pink,” and saw some of their biggest hits in the late ‘80s. The band was never comfortable with their commercial success, however, and soon returned to their earlier, rawer sound. After taking an extended hiatus in the 90’s, the Furs are back in the form of Richard Butler (vocals), Tim Butler (bass), Rich Good (guitar), Mars Williams (saxophone), Amanda Kramer (keyboards), and Paul Garisto (drums) to tour the world in 2011.
Tom Tom Club was founded by bassist Tina Weymouth and her husband, drummer Chris Frantz, both members of Talking Heads, during a 1980 band hiatus. Their lineup has been fluid over the years, including such musicians as Adrian Belew (King Crimson, The Bears, Frank Zappa) and Tyrone Downie (Bob Marley & the Wailers, Steel Pulse, Sly & Robbie), and their sound incorporates influences of new wave, hip hop, dance music, hard rock and world music.
—WRFL staff and friends
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