Loud Boyz at CAM
The close proximity of the Hopscotch Music Festival to D.C. means that local acts can make a splash on an awesome bill without needing to build it into a tour. In fact, both of this year’s local representatives at the Raleigh festival, Loud Boyz and Black Clouds, made a weekend out of their one-off performances rather than quickly heading out mid-weekend to their next tour date. As such, DCist was able to spend time with the two local bands, getting a feel for what festival life was like from their perspective.
With the exception of singer Kenny Brown, who had come down the previous day, the Loud Boyz didn’t make it into town until right before their 3 p.m. day show at CAM, a Modern Art Museum in downtown Raleigh. By the time I saw Loud Boyz, most of them had been awake since 5 a.m. and they were comfortably slumped next to the stage, facing what appeared to be an imposing and well-lit blank slab of tile flooring. Imagine for a second what it would be like to be one of five people inside a Positive Force show at St. Stephens. Lower the ceilings and turn up the LED lights and the picture of CAM at 2:50 p.m. should be clear. Previous act Pie Face Girls had a huge local following and after their dynamic set (complete with a naked blow up doll surfing around the crowd) it initially seemed that most of the audience had exited with them.
But a crowd of about sixty people filled in within the first two Loud Boyz songs and the band seemed honestly happy for the attention.
“When we started this band it was a reason to drink and party and now it’s a reason to go from the basement to North Carolina,” said Brown gratefully between songs. He quipped immediately after, IPA tall boy in hand, “We still try to drink and party, you’re right.”
Singer Kenny Brown talks to fans after the Loud Boyz set at CAM
After having thrown themselves around the stage and working up a sweat, a few members of the band took to the merch table while Brown and bassist Mitchell West talked to old friends and new fans in the audience. One of those old friends was Lamont Thomas of closing band Obnox, who gave his respect to Loud Boyz from the stage. Thomas also went on an intense rant about how you can’t rock out while wearing shorts (a philosophy which at least some of the Loud Boyz appeared to disagree with) before grinning widely and saying, “Don’t listen to me. I’m completely baked.”
Unsurprisingly, Thomas introduced a song called “Dr. Dank” a few songs later. West searched through Obnox’s records for that song and instead found one called “Cum Inside” and another called “Gin & Coke Water.”
Drummer Devin Cassidy, guitarist Rory Sheridan and local photographer Michael Andrade hang out at the merch table at CAM
Along with their new LP, Loud Boyz’ own merch included a variety of t-shirts, buttons, and even some lighters with their logo, the upside down Playboy bunny, plastered on the front.
“Our goal is to get sued,” quipped Brown. “Then we’ll know we’ve made it.”
Before taking off to rest at a nearby hotel and grab some dinner at Busy Bee Cafe, the band pulled out a couple of skateboards from their van and started doing some tricks. Brown’s sunglasses fell off during one trip on the skateboard.
“That’s my fault,” he said, with accepting resignation. “Don’t wear sunglasses while skateboarding.”
Alex Anderson and Rory Sheridan get some skateboarding in while Michael Andrade films.
The band reunited at City Plaza for the troubled 7:15 p.m. performance of electronic wizards Tycho. Tycho (which includes a locally based musician in drummer Rory O’Connor) lost power twice during their set, which was problematic because, as they put it, “We’re not exactly an acoustic band.” They also had trippy and colorful visuals to match their blissful yet propulsive electronic sound.
After a stranger kindly cracked guitarist Alex Anderson’s back following the Tycho set, they went off to Slim’s. Slim’s isn’t just a dive bar, it’s a dive bar that’s a venue against all odds. It’s essentially a hallway with a bar and some stairs that allow for the only good sightlines outside of the first three rows. Furthermore, it was undoubtedly the hottest, sweatiest, and most humid space in the state of North Carolina. Yet bands like Pig Destroyer, Bully, Spider Bags, and Swearin’ play on the seven square-foot stage every year and it’s ridiculously fun.
Guitarist Alex Anderson laughs as Kenny Brown quips between songs that he’s the funniest person in the world and that there’s nothing he can do about it.
It worked out well because the crowd at Slim’s lost their cool for the Loud Boyz. Within a song and a half it was no longer safe for non-moshing types to stand up front as a circle. One concertgoer fell onto the stage into Brown. Three of the five band members (everyone except Brown and West) had their shirts off by the third song. “To be perfectly honest, I did not expect this,” said Brown. “But I’m loving it.” He high fived everyone within proximity as they left the stage after a triumphant set.
Although every member of the band had expressed interest in staying around for closing band Blaxxx (which included members of Obnox and OBN IIIs), Brown was asleep by 11 p.m. that night and the rest of the band had cleared out to do the same before midnight. 5 a.m. wake up calls are the less sexy part of the rock and roll lifestyle.
