The University of Blog

Avett Brothers in the middle of their set
Last night I went to the last Summerfest — the free concert series outside of the Blue Note. It was easily one of the best concerts that I’ve seen in a long while. Ha Ha Tonka and Backyard Tire Fire opened for the Avett Brothers.

The Avett Brothers were a ton of fun. They were energetic and provided a new and unique sound. When I saw these vested-men with stringed instruments in hand, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It was a bit of bluegrass, a bit of rock and a lot of fun. The best thing about the entire show was that it was free. I cannot believe I did not take more advantage of these free Wednesday night shows. Alas, it was the last one, but it was wonderful.

Each band seemed to have a good Midwestern sound. The songs had stories. Not only did I enjoy dancing and feeling the music, but I found myself paying attention to the lyrics, which I rarely do. And the messages of a lot of the songs, I understood and felt.

I rushed from an SPJ event to get there in time. I caught the end of Ha Ha Tonka’s set. Freshman year, I knew them as Amsterband and actually was able to interview them for a story. I put the story in this post so you can get a better idea of their southern-rock sound.

Ha Ha Tonka’s Brian Roberts

The band has performed nearly 250 shows in more than 60 cities.

By Laura Parkinson, Staff Writer
April 6, 2007

The Ozarks are home to country shows, outlet shopping and lakes. Amsterband, a foot-stomping indie band, will perform at the Blue Note Saturday, proving that there are several talented acts coming out of Southern Missouri.

Since haphazardly choosing the name before entering a talent competition three years ago, Amsterband has come a long way. It has performed nearly 250 shows in more than 60 cities and has just signed with Chicago-based Bloodshot Records.

“We didn’t plan on making it a career,” lead singer Brian Roberts said. “We wanted to have a good time, play around Springfield, play at parties and the bar scene. Those were the initial goals and aspirations. Otherwise we would have come up with a better band name.”

Although Roberts laughs about his inability to come up with a good name, the name is probably pretty apt. Amsterband was inspired by Roberts’ trip to Germany mixed with his Ozarkian heritage and desire to create a “liberal enclave in the conservative Ozarks.” He grew up with Luke Long (bass, vocals) and Lennon Bone (drums, vocals) in West Plains, Mo., and met Brett Anderson (lead guitar, piano, vocals) at Missouri State University.

“The more we did it, the more serious we got about it,” Roberts said. “We felt like mixing indie rock and Ozarkian foot-stomp style of music that we all enjoyed playing. We did some touring two years ago, and we’ve been touring it ever since.”

Roberts’ influences include Mark Bilyeu of Big Smith and more recent groups such as R.E.M., The Shins, The Magic Numbers and The Flaming Lips. The band is now moving away from other bands’ sounds to create a sound that is uniquely them.

“Any band when you start out, if it’s your first band, you are probably going to stink,” Roberts said. “We definitely stunk up the place for a long time. (But) the more time you play with each other and dig into your own background, you can carve out your own sound. We are just now doing that.”

The band’s second record, Buckle in the Bible Belt, gained the attention of Bloodshot (home of Neko Case and Split Lip Rayfield), which will release the record nationally and also add tour dates to Amsterband’s already busy schedule. Roberts said he hopes the record captures something from the band’s past, as well as places it hopes to go with its music.

“It grabs a lot of attention,” Roberts said. “I think that it accurately represents our sound on stage.”

Even though the record stands on its own, the band really enjoys touring new cities and encountering different audiences. And, even though it has traveled to many large cities, Roberts prefers playing in smaller ones such as Warrensburg or Emporia, Kan.

“I love playing in those markets,” Roberts said. “Emporia doesn’t get big bands. When you play there, it’s bonkers.”

Amsterband has toured with Ben Kweller, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Steel Train, Say Anything and Soul Asylum.

With so much traveling, the band is collecting many road stories. While in Indianapolis, Amsterband was looking for a place to stay at night. Long said he woke up in the back seat in nothing but his overalls. When a possum jumped out across the road, Long got out of the car to chase it, ran into a fence and ripped himself up pretty badly.

“There have been lots of great shows and happy moments along the way,” Roberts said. “You get to travel with three best friends and make music. We are very fortunate that we’ve made it to this point.”

With their new label, the members of Amsterband hope to continue developing and improving “both with audience and music.”

“Hopefully we continue to mature and make better music,” Roberts said. “We all four love playing together, and hopefully we continue to make interesting music.”

My roommate and I went to St. Louis to see Vampire Weekend at the Pageant. The concert was sold out so we were far away. I couldn’t even see their footwear choice, which I hear is predominantly boat shoes. Even being far away, it was totally worth it. They played all of their songs that we know from their first CD and played a couple of new ones. I’m curious to hear their new song in the movie Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist.

The songs went fast. They were catchy and fun to hear in person because I can now say that I saw the phenom that is Vampire Weekend. They didn’t have strings, but they did the best that they could to perform a great show.

What stole the show was not the music, however. There was an older woman who started interpretive dancing. This became really popular among the high school crowd and started cheering her on. Then she came up to our level and started dancing with the group of kids. It was great to see a group of students so excited about dancing and singing along.

Wakarusa last year with my friend Kristin
For the next four days, I will be at the Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival in Lawrence, Kans. There are a lot of smaller bands and then the Flaming Lips, Cake, Ben Folds and the Old 97s. I went last year and it was a lot of fun, but I commuted from my house 15 minutes away. This year will be the first year that I am camping. I haven’t camped since a family trip more than three years ago. We used to take camping family vacations all the time. Needless to say, I miss it. The music will be really good this year. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Friday night The Arcade Fire performed at Starlight Theater in Kansas City. We first ate at the Plaza and then enjoyed the music in the open-air theater. The music was absolutely awe-inspiring. They performed many of their songs off Neon Bible as well as the classics from Funeral. It was a complete show incorporating elements such as lighting and videos to make it a whole experience for the viewer.

LCD Soundsystem opened and got everyone very excited and pumped up for the show. Their music completely overwhelmed me. The bass was so intense that I actually felt it. Dancing and enjoying the music was great to get ready for Arcade Fire.

When Arcade Fire came on, the crowd went crazy. Even though we were far back, I was still able to get into the music through the stage show. They had cameras hooked up near each of the artists and big screens behind them to show various images. Arcade Fire actually put on a show rather than just a concert. It made the two-hour drive there and back worth it to see The Arcade Fire live. Easily one of the best concerts that I’ve seen.

The Roots ’N’ Blues ’N’ BBQ festival attracted around 60,000 people to downtown Columbia. Boone County National Bank sponsored the event for their 150th anniversary. There are currently no plans to host another event, but I believe that it was great success. Around 50 vendors shared their crafts as the smoky smell of BBQ filled the air.

I was able to interview Chris Thomas King for The Maneater. He played Tommy Johnson in “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” as well as a bandleader in “Ray.” King also won a Grammy for Best Album for his work on “Oh Brother Where Art Thou.” Read the article here.

The Missouri Student Association (MSA) brought in Rilo Kiley to perform at Jessie Hall last Wednesday. I only knew a few songs by them, but I was able to get into it. It was not as satisfying as bringing in Ben Folds last year, especially when there was not a huge crowd there, but I was still able to dance and appreciate the music. In a highly glittered outfit, Jenny Lewis dazzled with her vocal and keyboarding talents.

I heard that the band was comprised of all child stars. This is interesting because sure enough, the guitar player Blake Sennett was in Boy Meets World and Lewis was in Troop Beverly Hills. The musicians are not only in Rilo Kiley. Sennetts’ other project includes The Elected, which has some awesome songs. Lewis has Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins. It is interesting how many connections there are among bands. Everyone who is anyone has multiple projects and bands.

Jenny Lewis sings with Rilo Kiley at Jessie Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007.

A performance by Wilco concluded Columbia’s outdoor concert series Summerfest last night. More than 2,000 people gathered Ninth Street outside the Blue Note to listen to some music and to enjoy the atmosphere. Dr. Dog from West Philadelphia opened with their three-part harmonies off of their new album We All Belong.

Wilco gave a great show and really appealed to the audience. They performed at Summerfest two years ago and seemed to be a crowd favorite. When “You Are My Face” was played, the crowd immediately gathered closer toward the stage. Creator Jeff Tweedy told us that that we were the best audience on the tour. After leaving the stage once, the crowd cheered them on for three encores, and Wilco did not disappoint. Since the band was formed in 1994, it is true that Wilco have been around for awhile. However, they still know how to please a crowd and provide an entertaining, enjoyable show for all ages.

I like free stuff. I especially like free music and free food. When they are culminate in a wonderful event, I get very excited. MSA (Missouri Student Association) put on the Little Big Free featuring the Foundry Field Recordings. We were serenaded by some mellow tunes while videology played in the background. Last year the Big Free featured Three 6 Mafia. There were no big names this year, but it was still worth it.

While listening to the tunes, we were able to eat a nice BBQ dinner. After our meal, I decked out a snow cone with both blue raspberry flavor AND cherry. It was a delightful treat.

I was also able to tie-die a shirt, which was a completely new thing to do for me. My inspiration was the sunshine. I chose orange, yellow, pink and red in a sunburst pattern. There also were painted tattoos and balloon animals. Unfortunately, the line was quite long for the balloon animals, however the balloon man was very talented. He made palm trees, parrots that stood on a shoulder and special hats. I missed out, but I got a lot of free stuff.

For $11 I went to see Of Montreal at the Blue Note. I liked their song “Requiem for OMM” made famous on the OC (series finale is tonight), but they have changed quite a bit since then. Elekibass from Tokyo, Japan opened for them. They were so full of energy it felt awkward not smiling and dancing along. They went through the audience to get to the stage wearing masks and playing their instruments. Got me very much in the mood for Of Montreal.

When Of Montreal came on, they were dressed in equally obscure costumes. (The guitarist was in angel wings and the lead singer wore hot pants.) The concert drew all types: I tried to ignore the guys in front of me with glitter under their eyes and big flower arrangements in their hair.

Of Montreal had a lot of energy and theatrics on the stage, but I felt that it took away from their performance. From their beginnings as an indie band, they have moved toward an alternative dance band, which is fun to dance to but hurt my ears after awhile. I’m glad that I could go and dance along, but given the opportunity, I would have stayed home and listened to the CD.

(above: Pic of The Shins)

What a full weekend! Concerts galore. I think that I spend almost all of my savings on concerts. Saturday night Ben Kweller came to Mojos, which is a smaller venue about ten minutes from campus. Amsterband from the Ozarks opened for them, and Ben Kweller (BK) put on a great show. Lots of sha-shas– check it out if you are not familiar with him. I highly recommend the upbeat, happy vocals and guitar skills. I got a pic with him. Too cool.

Last night I attended The Shins concert at the St. Louis The Pageant. Made famous by the Indie movie Garden State, The Shins did not disappoint. The drive is about two hours to the Pageant, and while waiting around, there are a lot of nice shops in the Loop (surrounding area). So worth it. Natalie Portman said in Garden State that “This band will change your life.” They had so much energy playing songs from their new album as well as the greats such as “Caring is Creepy” and “Kissing the Lipless.”

Interested in being a “cool cat”and seeing some sweet concerts? (the fact that I used the term ‘cool cat’ might take away from my cool factor, but still There is a box office in Brady Commons where they sell Ticketmaster. This is easier than online because you get your ticket right there, and gift certificates from the Blue Note can be purchased. Also, Mojos or Blue Note tickets can be purchased at the Blue Note. There is no reason not to go to several concerts since Columbia is a great venue. If it’s not here, it’s in St. Louis or Lawrence. The tickets range from about $15-25. Highly worth it for some great pictures, music and memories.