Show Review: Father John Misty “Solo” with Kate Berlant

Comedian Kate Berlant opened the night for a steadily growing crowd. With an acoustic guitar in hand for the majority of her set, she would strum a few chords and go into built-up rants or observations of the moment, easily making the crowd laugh without her jokes being blatant.

There’s something to say for comics who are genuinely funny, in the sense that they can just talk, like you would to a friend at a bar over a whiskey on the rocks. Berlant didn’t have the stereotypical joke-punchline routine, it was more along the lines of storytelling and critiquing. Her sarcasm and general antics were believable and got consistent laughs from the crowd. Personally, I’m not one who will watch Saturday Night Live or go to comedy shows, but I enjoyed Berlant’s performance.

After talking a bit about the manufacturing business practices behind the obnoxiously popular rubber wristbands, she threw some of her own, reading “I Feel,” out to the audience who eagerly snapped them up. Increasingly personable as her set continued, she encouraged the crowd to talk with her after the show, tweet at her, and as she flipped her massive curly hair to one side, to take photos on phones, too.

Around The Triangle: Bottom String Session #16, Local Beer Local Band, Hammer No More The Fingers, Architecture in Helsinki

Photo Credit: Agatha Donkar

It's been busy times for The Bottom String lately with holidays and exams lumping themselves together, but we're jumping back on the train to keep bringing the goodness to ya!  We've got our You Should Know with Gross Ghost coming up this week as well as two new Bottom String Sessions, plus the beginning of our Year End lists!  For starters though we'll backtrack some and provide some awesome captures from the past few weeks with Architecture in Helsinki at The Cat's Cradle, Local Beer Local Band with Gross Ghost and Lilac Shadows, as well as Hammer No More The Fingers, Lonnie Walker, and Free Electric State at Nightlight.

Also after the jump is our Bottom String Session with Sinful Savage Tigers from the backyard of Andrew Marlin.  A stellar set of songs from an excellent upcoming folk band from Carrboro, Sinful Savage Tigers performed "Natural Ghost" from their debut release as well as "Ballad of John Grove" off of their latest album, "The Last Night Of The Revels".

Hear Here: November 16 - November 25

Mike Dillon of Gross Ghost from our "You Should Know"
session

Last week held one of my favorite shows of the year with Bombadil's glorious album release show at The Cat's Cradle so it's going to be pretty hard to follow that up with something better, however there is a show from one of my favorite bands at the Cat's Cradle this week so let's see how that plays out.  With a show I've been waiting ages for from Manchester Orchestra  at The Cradle on Thursday, much of the week falls back behind the shadows of my favorite band (yes, yes, now you know that Manchester Orchestra is one of the bans I fanboy over).  However, Chapel Hill is loaded with shows this weekend as well as a few gems popping up in Raleigh and Durham.

Show of the Week: Manchester Orchestra w/ White Denim & The Dear Hunter at The Cat's Cradle on November 17, 2011

Sharon Van Etten announces new album as well as her return to the Triangle

Sharon Van Etten will play The Cat's Cradle on
February 7, 2012 with Shearwater

Sharon Van Etten is all set for her debut on Jagjaguwar, setting an official release date for the upcoming album Tramp on February 7 as well as announcing a full US tour in support of the new album.  Tramp is the follow up to Sharon Van Etten's breath-takingly beautiful sophomore release epic.  Recorded with the help of The National's Aaron Dessner and filled with contributions from artists like Walkmen, Beirut, Wye Oak, and Julianna Barwick, Van Etten's fans are surely already salivating over the release of Tramp.

I for one though will be salivating at the chance of seeing Sharon Van Etten yet again as she stops through the Triangle with her February 12 show at The Cat's Cradle with Shearwater.  I got the chance to see Van Etten earlier this year at Kings and witnessed one of the most tantalizing sets I've ever seen.  Van Etten will surely bring a packed house at The Cradle with her fame only increasing since the release of epic thanks to shows with Neko Case, The Antlers, and a spot on Pitchfork's music festival.  The rest of Sharon Van Etten's tour dates are as followed:

Around The Triangle: Wild Flag, Blitzen Trapper, Sinful Savage Tigers, Emily Stewart & The Baby Teeth

Wild Flag @ The Cat's Cradle on October 21, 2011

This week's edition of Around The Triangle brings us yet another new Bottom String Session from Shakori Hills, this time with Emily Stewart & The Baby Teeth out of Greensboro, NC, as well as more awesome shots from Agatha Donkar's ventures around the triangle.  This week's shows included Blitzen Trapper and Smoke Fairies at The Cat's Cradle, Wild Flag and Eleanor Friedberger at The Cat's Cradle, and Sinful Savage Tigers album release show with Phil Cook & His Feat at The Station in Carrboro.

All of this week's photos as well as our latest Bottom String Session can be found after the jump!

Around The Triangle: Liam Finn, MC Chris, Driftwood, & Frontier Ruckus

Liam Finn @ The Casbah on October 17, 2011

The Triangle has been insanely busy over these past few months and it only appears to be getting better.  Between the upgrades to The Cat's Cradle leading to a larger capacity, Haw River Ballroom pulling increasingly incredible acts (Stephen Malkmus at the beginning of October and an awesome bill for November 11 with Megafaun and The Bowerbirds), and consistently strong bills from Kings, Local 506, and other small local spots, it's been week after week full of incredible acts stopping through the area.  This past week alone was filled with shows for our photographer, Agatha Donkar, Liam Finn at The Casbah, MC Chris at The Cat's Cradle, and Frontier Ruckus at Local 506 just to name a few.  Also included after the jump is our most recent Bottom String Session (BSS #13) from Shakori Hills with Driftwood, an incredible rootsy folk band from Binghamton, NY.  Coming with next week's Around The Triangle will be BSS #14 with Emily Stewart & The Baby Teeth of Greensboro, NC

Around The Triangle: Week of October 3

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks @ Haw River Ballroom
on October 1, 2011

There's been an abundance of incredible acts stopping through the Triangle lately, so much it's almost become rather daunting.  Within a week of each other Fleet Foxes and Wilco both graced the stage of Raleigh Amphitheater (Fleet Foxes in an absolute downpour has become my favorite show I've ever attended) as well as numerous local powerhouses making waves as well.  Our photographer Agatha Donkar has been here, there, and everywhere as well and this week we'll both be out at Shakori capturing Bottom String Sessions and photos of some of the incredible acts that will be playing throughout the weekend.  Below are Agatha's shots from the Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks show at Haw River Ballroom and from Mandolin Orange's big album release show at The Cat's Cradle:

The full sets of Agatha's photos can be found over at her photoblog

Around The Triangle

Chatham County Line @ Cat's Cradle
8/6/2011

With the recent addition of Agatha Donkar as our newest Bottom String member we're going to be bringing you more show coverage than ever before.  We're implementing our first new piece this week with "Around The Triangle", shots from shows all over the Triangle from local and touring artists.

All photo credit goes to Agatha Donkar unless otherwise noted.This week's photos come from Chatham County Line's Cat's Cradle on Saturday, August 6 with Justin Robinson and The Mary Annettes and Onward Soldiers' July 30 show with The Pneurotics and Effingham