A lot of effort goes into attending a concert — paying outrageously high ticket prices, figuring out transportation and putting up with obnoxious crowds are the first things that come to mind. This is why we tend to reserve our hard-earned dollars for those bands we really like. But something drew us to the ‘burbs last night to see Chapel Hill’s The Old Ceremony at IOTA, a band we weren’t entirely familiar with. In the end, we can safely say it was $10 well spent.
Starting off the show was Death Ships, an alt-country quartet from Iowa City. With a name like Death Ships and a debut album titled Seeds of Devastation, you would expect the Midwest’s answer to Finnish super metal band Lordi. (We just had to throw a Lordi reference in there). Instead, lead singer and guitarist Dan Maloney crooned over slide guitar-filled ballads and upbeat rockers about the complexities of relationships and politics. Maloney’s singing and songwriting carried the band, especially his vocal work on “Little Mystery,” available for a listen on the band’s myspace page. Our only complaint is that the little flourishes in the recordings didn’t carry over into their live show, which left the performance a little bland at times.
The Old Ceremony, on the other hand, pulled all the bells and whistles from their recordings onstage with them, with seven people playing every instrument imaginable. We’ll take this moment to commend lead singer Django Haskins, who is hands down a fantastic frontman. He gave his best Nick Cave impression for opener “Poison Pen” by taking the role of a storyteller, complete with dramatic hand gestures. The band kept up nicely, switching musical stylings with every single song, from the blues-soaked “Reservations” (complete with a deafening guitar solo) to the psychedelic “Get to Love.” Particularly impressive was pianist James Wallace’s performance with what appeared to be a bandaged hand. His one-handed piano solo during one song (we believe it was the crowd pleaser “Ole”) dropped some jaws in the audience. We’d also like to point out that the Ben Folds-esque “Papers in Order” is easily the catchiest song we’ve heard all year and it’s too bad Wallace’s injury kept him from playing some of the cooler parts. Maybe next time, guys. We’ll definitely be there.
To hear more of The Old Ceremony, and we think you should, check out their myspace page. Promotional photo from TheOldCeremony.com.
