Smile Politely: Music

The Overture: May 22–28

Patrick Singer — 2012-05-21T11:00:56+00:00

WHERE: The Clark Bar (free)

WHEN: Tuesday, May 22nd at 7 p.m.

The singer/songwriter showcases at The Clark Bar continue with a couple solid dudes. Elliott released an album back in November and Coppess has been on a few of these bills in the past couple of months, so they seem to be chuggin' right along.

Listen: Kevin Elliott: "The Right Thing To Say"

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BEST Music

Music Editors — 2012-05-18T10:57:30+00:00

As we've reached the final installment of the BEST series for SP, we did things a bit differently this year. If you recall, last year the process was based on the results of polls and surveys that were collected. Not this year. We're shouldering all the weight this year — so hate it or love it, we'll put our asses on the line for some of the more fiery discussion that comes to the comment boxes on this site. However, after everything is said and done, whether you agree or disagree with our selections, C-U is a pretty great place to be when it comes to music. With that said, here's our take on the current music scene in the area, and what we believe to be BEST.

Best rock band: Common Loon

We have a feeling this pick might be met with a bit of flack from the readers, but we're ready to take it on. There's no hiding that these guys have ties to the magazine in more ways than other bands do, but seriously, get over it. When it comes down to it, these two aren't in the background standing over us waiting for us to like them the most — it doesn't work that way, it just doesn't. With that said, if you don't understand even the slightest bit why there's a reason we name Common Loon as the BEST of this category, your ears don't work.

No one knows what makes a rock band. Well, we all think we know. Every time you try to guess, someone is reinventing the definition to call themselves a rock band. It's easy to make the lines blur between genres and create confusion in who calls who what kind of band. Common Loon crafts those types of songs — the tracks that you question: is that a pop song? is that a rock song? is that rockabilly? Whatever. It doesn't really matter. The point is, there's no single combination in making a good rock group. These guys can do it in the live setting with a single guitar and a drumset, and especially in the studio where they obviously have more tricks at their disposal. There's no recipe to a winning combination, but we think this one is pretty good.

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A Case of Mistaken Identity

Sarah Boyer — 2012-05-15T13:00:40+00:00

Recently, a Daily Illini article about "raves" linked dubstep with ecstasy use in its opening paragraph. I take issue with the use of "rave" in the article. As a good friend once said, if you are at a promoted event in a bar and you paid a cover to get in, it's not a rave. Even though the article referenced a rave in Chicago, I suspect the "raves" discussed are, in fact, not raves but rather shows at bars promoted as raves.

  Regardless of the word choice, I couldn’t help but feel immensely irritated by the article, which implies that all any of us needs to do is find a dubstep show and we will find cuddly, fuzzy, fucked-up folks who will sell us drugs that will change our life for the better.

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Throwing Candy at Canopy: A review of the David Mayfield Parade

Jon Stone — 2012-05-14T19:00:52+00:00

In a show that ranks among the top five performances I've ever seen at Canopy Club, David Mayfield and the three band mates that make up the rest of his Parade dazzled and amazed in a performance Saturday evening that was equal parts sweet country love and total buffoonery. There was drama, comedy, a dance-off, and yes indeed, by the end of the night there was waist-up Mayfield nudity.

This was my third DMP outing. I first saw him play a middle-of-the-night set at Bonnaroo a few years ago and then again this past winter opening for the Avett Brothers in Bloomington. But Saturday night it was Mayfield vs. a too small front-room audience at the Canopy. And he took advantage of us, er, it. The performance felt immediate, raw, and absolutely hilarious.

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Saturday looked good to us

Patrick Singer — 2012-05-14T17:00:19+00:00

The premiere installment of our Smile Politely Show Series kicked off this past weekend without a hitch. The bands did their part and we did ours, but we're not going to take much credit for people showing up to Mike 'N Molly's on Saturday. We're much further down the list, probably after this song, great weather (or cooperating weather for that matter), Mike 'N Molly's beer garden, and booze (especially booze). Not to mention this snapshot — it was getting out of control, and the sun hadn't even set at that point (thanks to Caleb Curtiss for his excellence using that Twitter machine, and John Steinbacher and his son, Francis).

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The Overture: May 15–21

Patrick Singer — 2012-05-14T16:00:26+00:00

WHAT: Anne Clements, William Dicker

WHERE: The Clark Bar (free)

WHEN: Tuesday, May 15th at 7 p.m.

Another C-U Singer/Songwriter Collective show happens in the usual spot, where we find a duo of rootsy songwriters doing their thing. It's been a few weeks since I last mentioned these shows, but it's nice to see a consistent output on a weekly basis for something like this.

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Changing from moment to moment

Patrick Singer — 2012-05-11T16:00:31+00:00

Bands have their ups and downs. There's no way around that. Some have their moment in the spotlight and have great success, and others fall off the face of the Earth, never to be heard from ever again. We all have heard the stories about musicians falling apart and giving it all up. They exist within the world of touring, constant recording, hardly ever sleeping, and being in a car or van more times than not. It's not always glamorous.

There are the ups: being signed to Polyvinyl Records, making a bunch of great records in a row that are recognized as great, touring and playing venues you probably never imagined you'd be able to play. Those are some positives. Although there are those highs, a low could've been taking time away from a band that had its time in the spotlight, and that could've been the end of it. Fred Thomas could've left those good things in the rearview mirror, but even he claims it was a matter of time before Saturday Looks Good To Me were back at it once again after he decided to start moving around and focusing on his own projects for a while.

There are life events that can alter the course of a group, and getting back on track is sometimes the most difficult part. In Thomas' case, that doesn't seem to be true. Lively as ever, he's had time to work on other projects and he talks with us about being signed to Polyvinyl during the mid-00s, what he's heard about C-U's budding local house scene (yeah, people know about that shit — recognize), and how they are getting back on the horse they left behind not too long ago with their new record on Polyvinyl later this year. The world kind of works in cycles, doesn't it?

Smile Politely: What are your feelings coming back through C-U? How long has it been since your last visit?

Fred Thomas: Oh man, it's been forever. I can't even remember the last show SLGTM has played there, though I remember a lot of shows in 2004, 2005, and maybe even some later than that. My other band City Center did a sick house show in C-U in 2009, and that was a lot of fun. I love C-U and have a bunch of friends there, so it's always a good time and a receptive audience. I've heard that the punk scene and house show/basement show scene is pretty amazing there right now, too, so I'm stoked to try to find some demo recordings while we're in town.

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Comb your beards, it’s the David Mayfield Parade

Jon Stone — 2012-05-11T15:00:14+00:00

The last time I saw the David Mayfield Parade, the show culminated with the man taking off his shirt.

I could probably just leave this preview at that — it should be enough to draw folks from their lonesome Saturday-evening dog walking and CSI watching and over to the Canopy Club. A stocky, bearded country folker just might remove clothing. Tickets are bound to sell out immediately.

The bonus here is that Mayfield and his Parade put on a show to be remembered, even if shirts remain firmly tucked into trousers for the duration of the evening.

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Hank III’s outlaw country hits Canopy

Chris D. Davies — 2012-05-10T13:00:03+00:00

For the first half of Hank III's performance on Wednesday night he was transcendant.

He united everyone in the Canopy Club with his brand of outlaw country in an admirable fashion. What he performed was the kind of music that would make most disillusioned music fans, the kind whose mantra is "The only music I hate is country," come around and have a good time.

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Come see Hank III, or don’t, he doesn’t care

Chris D. Davies — 2012-05-08T14:00:38+00:00

“If you can’t cut the mustard, lick the jar.”

Above is a quote from the documentary The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (if you haven’t seen it, you need to — it is great and on Netflix), a movie that features Hank Williams III. The quote isn’t about him — actually, I’ll be damned if I could tell you what the quote even means — but if the jar in question holds moonshine it might be pretty apt.

Hank III is a ghost.

Born with a name, a body, and a reputation he could never escape from, it’s really a wonder he’s made it this long. A stick-thin character with a face unbelievably similar to his grandfather’s, he has born to play country music and abuse drugs and alcohol like both the Hank Williams that came before him.

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