Yesterday Ben Lovett from Mumford and Sons had his second Communion show in Brooklyn, NY. Communion is basically a showcase of bands performing one after another to create an awesome night of music. The bands on the lineup were as diverse as ever. What started off as a folksy country showcase ended up as a loud rock show leaving my ears ringing. Definitely a crazy mix. The first three acts to come out on stage were all country based.
The first on the lineup was Dawn Landes from Louisville, Kentucky. Her songs had a gritty country/folk sound which she delivered well. Her set was filled with songs about love and also about getting your heartbroken... The vicious circle of life.. Overall it was a nice set that reminded me of being back home in Knoxville, Tennessee. After Dawn Landes finished up, Ben Lovett came out to introduce the next band David Mayfield Parade and he made a point to mention that they were "Fucking Amazing".
This might have been one of the craziest sets I've ever seen. David Mayfield certainly has stage presence. What started off as a typical country set turned into something completely different. Mayfield pulled all types of crazy antics. His songs still had the traditional country flare "If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck, I'd swim to the bottom and never come up" but he also told jokes in between songs "This is our drummer, he's been playing drums all the way back since when he started" He posed during solos, made sure to shake his ass for the crowd and even threw his guitar down and started playing with his foot. He had almost a Jim James from My Morning Jacket style of energy to him. The highlight was definitely when his whole band cleared leaving just him and his guitar. He was shredding on his guitar while making jokes in between. David Mayfield is certainly someone worth checking out live.
Sadly I wasn't able to see Sara Jarosz's set so I can't comment on it. I heard good things though if that is any consolation.. After her though was Walk the Moon from Ohio. I don't know why Laura Marling couldn't play, but I'm sort of glad she didn't. Walk the Moon were the first band to leave the country theme and transitioned the rest of the night into a rock show. I have never heard of these guys before but they completely rocked it. They sort of reminded me of an American Late of the Pier. All of their songs sounded completely different but they were all good. Their songs ranged from funky to synth pop to straight rock. These guys all had a nice energy to them and a lot of their songs dealt with the usual heartbreak that so many bands deal with now a days. Again.. The vicious circle of life. Anyway these guys are definitely worth checking into and I know I'm going to look more up on them. Who knows... maybe they will be a future artist to watch???
After Walk the Moon finished up came the next band, Ambassadors. These guy transitioned the night into even harder rock. Ambassadors also brought a lot of energy to the night but they used it more angrily to rock the fuck out. Their sound reminded me of a 90s era grunge band. After they were done came the most interesting set of the night from headliners Royal Bangs.
I've covered Royal Bangs a lot on this blog so I don't feel that I need to explain their music. If you need a refresher read my write up on them over here. I think the artist that I've written the most about in this blog is Kanye West followed closely by the Royal Bangs. I was thinking earlier that if the Bangs wanted to overtake Kanye they would need to be more controversial or maybe collaborate with Jay Z on a new album.. I don't know. Today what they had in common with Kanye was the fact that they both had crazy attitude. With a set that was plagued with sound problems, the Royal Bangs still found a way to rock it. The show started with the monitors not working. That didn't allow the singer to get any feedback and he couldn't hear himself. A little later in the show his microphone cut out completely for a couple of lines during one of their songs. After realizing that their was nothing that they can do about the problems the singer said "Fuck it I don't even care anymore" This resulted into the band playing their whole set angry... And it was pretty fucking awesome. Songs like "Brother" and "My Car is Haunted" had a harder edge to them creating a loud rage filled set. While it sucked that the sound wasn't perfect, the band made up for it with energy and attitude. By the end of the set it didn't really even matter that the sound was fucked.. The band managed to play through it and created some loud Rock n Roll in the process. Overall the night was a ton of fun and it was great seeing all these different bands. Definitely looking forward to the next Communion. Check out photos from the night below.
Walk the Moon
Dawne Landes
David Mayfield Parade
Ambassadors
Royal Bangs
