Whenever a band from the South takes the stage – particularly at an indie rock club – conventional indie rock expectations should go out the window. Or, at least, a different type of wisdom seems to apply. Just like no one was terribly surprised when Isaac Brock sliced himself onstage, or when they found out that seeing Cat Power live can be an awkward experience, or that Jeff Tweedy will probably fire a current member of Wilco in the next six months, no one’s ever really shocked to see a Southern band playing loud and long, and stumbling drunk around the stage. In that regard, it was another loud, sloppy night from the South’s latest purveyors of road-tested rock, Memphis' Lucero. more ›

As a live act, with two drum kits and, at one point, six people participating in percussion, Modest Mouse is definitely driven by its rhythm section. At Thursday night’s show, it was impressive to watch the complementing drummers pound away, working to coordinate seemingly disparate sonic elements into the cohesive sound that is Modest Mouse. But then Isaac Brock chimed in with some vocals and the whole thing, unfortunately, sort of broke apart. Usually, it... more ›