Skewer Showcase: 10-21-11

by Carolyn Delvalle

At this years CMJ Music Marathon, I attended The CMJ Skewer Party Showcase at Pianos which was sponsored by The Planetary Group, Hidden Pony Records, Dew Process and Line 6. The party featured 12 bands between the upstairs & downstairs stages. The main stage downstairs which featured Beast Make Bomb, DeStaat, Guineafowl, Said The Whale, Rah Rah, Look Mexico, & The Grates. The upstairs stage lineup consisted of Erin Passmore (of Rah Rah), Now Now, Cosmo Jarvis, John Steel Singers & Mansions. I would have liked to have been at 2 places at once but I am still working on the formula for that. So my choice was to stay downstairs mainly because I wanted to see The Grates along with catching Guineafowl for a second time during the festival.

For this particular showcase I have to say that I didn’t see any band which I disliked. I arrived at the venue towards the end of DeStaats set to a room that was literally packed to the entrance. My biggest complaint about Piano’s is how crowded the main stage area can get & how much of a fire hazard it becomes when it does. From what little I heard of DeStaat’s set, they weren’t my kind of band but I did take notice of the strong effort & energy that they played with, especially from lead singer/guitarist Torre Florim. I will say one thing, they sure did have a lot of people who were there to see them. I was pretty ecstatic when a lot of people left as I was able to move up & get close to the stage for Guineafowl who was up next.

Since this was my second time seeing them, I knew what to expect & once again I was not disappointed. Sam’s energy is so contagious as it just makes you want to rock out as hard as he is. The energy he provides clearly is the spark that gets the rest of the band going. My highlights of their set were “Into The Circle”, “Little Fingers” & my personal favorite “Botanist” as who doesn’t love a song with clapping! I am so glad that I got to see them a second time especially since they won’t be back in NYC anytime soon. I will say this, Guineafowl, If I am ever in Australia, I am going to see you!

Said The Whale was the following band. Honestly, I can’t really remember any stand out moments from their set but I do know they weren’t awful which counts for something. Their songs are mostly catchy indie pop tunes with awesome riffs & quality vocals.

The next band to hit the stage was Rah Rah. I was extremely impressed with this band which featured 6 members playing a combination of keyboard, guitars, drums, violin & accordion. Let me be the first to say that when I saw the accordion I clearly thought this is going to be a giant fail as I have never seen one used at a live show. There was so much going on that I had no idea where to focus my sight, even at one point everyone switched places and played different instruments flawlessly. All I remember is blinking and then seeing everyone in different positions. Either I was super tired or they just performed a magic trick before my eyes. Congratulations to Rah Rah for being the pleasant surprise of the afternoon.

The band that had the inevitable task of following them was Look Mexico who are a 4 piece band from Austin, TX by way of Tallahassee, FL. The best word to describe their set was intense. The musicianship, vocal quality & intensity led to a really strong set which included nice fan interaction.

Now on to the main event of the downstairs stage which was The Grates. When I first sat down to write this review, I really thought about doing a separate review of their set as that is how much I loved it. Patience Hodgson & John Patterson are the extremely talented leaders of this Australian band who continues to build in popularity from one show to the next. Prior to their set, I was starting to feel worn down as I had already been feeling under the weather.

However the minute Patience hit the stage, my energy level completely picked up. She hands down has some of the best stage presence I have witnessed live. The music alone is great but when you add the high strung energy, dancing & overall passion she brings to the table, you can’t help but get caught up in the storm she produces. I can’t pick a favorite song as I loved them all! Like with Guineafowl, they won’t be back in NYC for sometime but they are another band that I will definitely do just about anything to see again. I can’t wait for them to come back to NYC!