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At the Soapbox:
I missed most of Jim Testa's opening set and his rendition
of the W.E. Fest Song thanks to my battle to find parking.
Luckily it would not be the last time he'd play it here
(see Night #5). Jim is the editor of Jersey Beat; the long-running
underground music fanzine that has set the standard for many
others. He has been to every single W.E. Fest and performed
at five. His music, much like his writing, is honest with no
pretense other than simply telling you what he feels.
Tom House followed and was given a rousing recommendation
by W.E. Fest organizer Kenyata Sullivan. I had never seen nor
heard of Tom before. His style is classic, twang-filled folk
with funny stories to support the songs. Including one about
how he met Elvis Costello.
I thought to myself that the sound of the next band Regina
Hexaphone was a mixture of psychedelic meets 50s pop
meets 80s drama with a dash of accordion to taste. Hailing
from Durham, NC, the band members keep busy with this and a
plethora of other musical projects. The breadth of influences
can certainly be heard in their songs.
In true W.E. Fest spirit, there was an unscheduled treat for
the Festers, Kenyata invited up some dude named Joe who had
been traveling around the country randomly playing songs for
gas money. Mainly shoe-gaze mumbles but certainly heartfelt
and honest. Besides, it takes serious balls to just pop up
on to a stage to play at any event, let alone one such as this.
Kudos.
Next up came one of my W.E. Fest highlights. The
Majestic Twelve's latest CD 'Schizophrenology' is
wrought with sharp, political satire and spiced with an anger
that is blatant and certain. Tonight marked the official CD
release celebration and their performance was fueled for cooking.
To break up the set, they treated us to two fantastic videos.
The first was for the up beat 'Living on the Beach' complete
with scenes of toxic hilarity and slapstick poetry. A brilliant
visual satire, it was directed by Brian Rainey. The crew (from
the NBC Show 'Surface') apparently worked on this
as a gift to the band. It's testament to their artistic
influence in the Wilmington area.
The video for 'Trapped Underwater' was a surreal
and disturbing array of an aqua man attacking an underwater
beauty. The story behind the second video is one of true indie-centric,
W.E. Fest business acumen. Kenyata being a huge film buff discovered
Norwegian film called Dypets
Ensomhet (Depth Solitude). The
band cut it together with their song and thought it looked
pretty cool.
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