Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Never Say Goodbye - T0W3RS and Lilac Shadows Send Off a Friend (Local 506, 6/28/13)

A couple of weeks back, two of the better local bands, T0W3RS and Lilac Shadows, preformed a farewell show for (and with) one of their 3 shared members, Karen Blanco.  Karen has tickled the keys for both bands for a couple of years now, in a more psychedelic, atmospheric way for Lilac and a jumpier, more experimental way for T0W3RS (as befitting each of those bands' styles).  Her presence will be missed, but she's off to Europe and points beyond.

It was a great send-off.  Zack Mexico came from way out in Kill Devil Hills to open up.  It was only my second time seeing them, and i loved the first.  I was trying to think of a way to define their sound before the show, and the best I could come up with was... well... weird.  I know, very creative.  They have a song called "Weird Reef".  They're sorta surfy, sorta jammy, sorta indie, but they're not really any of the above.  So I asked singer John Saturley how HE would define their sound, and he replied "Weird."  Guess I pegged it.  Surf music can get boring.  Jam bands are definitely boring.  But when Zack Mexico get into a long, droney, surfy jam that goes on and on, you don't want it to stop.  Definitely NOT boring.

Zack Mexico...


As for T0W3RS and Lilac Shadows, I've written about them plenty in the past here, so I'll let a few photos do the talking.  Suffice it to say Lilac is moving in a more straight-ahead rock direction, while T0W3RS is moving perhaps in a more electronic, dancey direction.  Good moves for both... for truly sucky is the band that stands still (I think it was Confucius that said that).  But I hope Derek keeps the twangy edge going... that edge in contrast with the various influences he pulls from are one of the things that makes T0W3RS such a great band.

Lilac Shadows...

T0W3RS....


Good luck, Karen!  I'm sure you'll pop up moonlighting in a techno/cabaret/shoegaze act in Prague (or perhaps wrangling goats in Hamburg).

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