Shows (Tonight's and Last Week's)

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Flicker Theatre last Saturday night to catch solo sets by Mitchel Thunderbolt, Matt DeCamp, and myself. The turnout was great in spite of the weather and we all really enjoyed the experience. Special thanks to my boy Malcolm for showing up and videotaping the night. Hopefully we can get some footage up on the Forces page before too long. If you missed it, there are already other solo shows in the works so we'll catch you next time.

Mitchel Thunderbolt took the stage first with some help from Nick (Velveteen Pink, Kuroma) on guitar. These two sounded absolutely awesome singing and playing together and held the crowd captive throughout the performance. Here's his thoughts on the night, and here's his set:

1. Secret Garden
2. Mind Warper
3. Great One Of Nothing
4. Long Ride Home
5. Big Brother/Little Brother
6. What Are You? (Bonnie Prince Billy/Matt Sweeny cover)

Next up was Matt DeCamp who fingerpicked his way through some beautiful instrumental originals. I was really pleasantly surprised when Matt started singing. He's got a great voice that suits his playing style perfectly and once again, the attentive crowd took note. Matt's set:

1. Doodle
2. Dirt (Phish cover)
3. Wristwatch
4. Puppy Might
5. A Good Thing
6. Reservations (Wilco cover)
7. Fall
8. What Do You Say

I was up next, and I humbly took the stage after these two really great performances and played a short little set. Being the reverb junkie that I am, I took my AM radio and placed an echo-soaked mic in front of it. In between intermittent spurts of reverby AM talk shows I sang a few songs and strummed my fiddle. Here's what I played:

1. Eyes
2. Halfway To A Threeway (Jim O'Rourke cover)
3. But One A Reflection Of the Other
4. October House
5. Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone (Neutral Milk Hotel cover)

If you can, please make it out to the Gift Horse show tonight with two very good bands Dancer Vs. Politician and Golden Animals. Caledonia. 10 pm. A small handful of dollars.

Saturday, November 29:

Me, Matt Decamp, Mitchel Thunderbolt. Flicker. 8:30 p.m. FREE. www.myspace.com/flickerbar.

Happy Thanksgiving (Random Giblets)

R.E.M.'s 25th Anniversary of Murmur party at the 40 Watt was pretty fun for the most part. Last night's crowd was massive and seemed to enjoy themselves and the music. Considering that all of the proceeds were for charity, I feel pretty good about the fact that the merch booth sold out of the Deluxe Remastered version of Murmur about halfway through the night, and it also looked like they sold out of the Perfect Circle t-shirts at the end of the night. This is good news for Community Connection and Hands On Northeast Georgia, two of the charities that benefited from the sales. Lisa and I were there on behalf of these charities, encouraging people to sign up for an R.E.M. day of charitable service taking place sometime in April 2009. Click the link to sign up. Highlights of the night included Iron Hero (without a doubt one of the most intriguing and captivating acts), Don Chambers and Goat, Nate Nelson (I love the effect that dude puts on his vocals), Liz Durrett, and about 400 people crapping themselves to get a chance to talk to Michael Stipe. The sizable crowd disputes the idea that "everybody leaves Athens for the holidays" and proves that even if they were in town, most UGA students are more likely to inexplicably go see Stewart and Winfield, or something like that. But you truly can't say enough good things about R.E.M. and all that they do for the Athens community. Thanks!

From the news you can easily read in the Flagpole but choose to read here department:
The shifting monikers of Contraband/Megaband/Ninja Gaiden Band have been consolidated under the new name Bit Brigade. They still continue to play the same amazing sets covering the Contra, Megaman, and Ninja Gaiden NES game soundtracks while some dudes beat the games on a big screen without dying once. They are playing the Georgia Theatre on Friday, December 5 with The Buddy System opening up. More to come on that. Promo video!



I was kind of lazy on the calendar a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to mention that I caught Hank Sullivant's solo set at Mercury last week and although I only heard the last four songs I really enjoyed it. The crowd was small but attentive and the effects on his guitar and vocals were just plain outta site, my man. Sorry I left that show off the calendar, but make sure you do yourself a favor and check out his band Kuroma.

In the spirit of solo sets and shameless self-promotion, I just want to remind everyone that Matt Decamp, Mitchel Thunderbolt, and myself will be playing our own solo sets Saturday, November 29 at the Flicker Theatre. The show is FREE and starts at 8 o'clock or so. Here's the respective descriptions in this week's Flagpole: MATT DECAMP Sweeping, acoustic instrumentals plucked gracefully on guitar from this local musician. MIKE STOKES Guitarist/vocalist for Athens' own reverb-heavy psych band Gift Horse. MITCHEL THUNDERBOLT Soft, swaying folk with an introspective croon and experimental approach. Hope to see you there.

In this Flagpole-laden post, check out this article on Julian Koster's holiday caroling tour. He's basically going around to houses that he has been invited to and caroling door to door, playing songs from The Music Tapes and some traditional carols on the singing saw. I thought this was just too good to leave out. One of the coolest ideas I've heard of to date and he gains more and more of my respect as a musician and all around human being as the days pass. I'm not really saying much here am I? Maybe you should just go scoop up a Flagpole...

Above all else, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday from all of us here at Rebel Forces. Be safe going where you go, eat too much, be safe coming back home, and don't worry about the economy for a few days.

November 24-30

Tuesday, November 25:

Perfect Circle: Athens Bands Play R.E.M.'s Murmur. 40 Watt. 8 p.m. $10 (advance). http://www.40watt.com/.

CD release party for the 25th anniversary, deluxe edition of R.E.M.'s debut LP. Don Chambers & Goat, Liz Durrett, Iron Hero, Nate Nelson, Heavy Feather, Spring Tigers, and Packway Handle Band cover songs from the 1983 album. The event features a screening of vintage footage of the band and limited edition Perfect Circle event shirts for sale. See the Flagpole's Calendar Pick and Redux Nation spots for more.

Saturday, November 29:

Me, Matt Decamp, Mitchel Thunderbolt. Flicker. 8:30 p.m. FREE. www.myspace.com/flickerbar.

Thats me as in, well, me. I'm excited to do some solo stuff with my good friends Matt (aka Rebel Forces contributor and Gift Horse/Panic co-manager) and Vaughan (aka Mitchel Thunderbolt and Gift Horse bassist). Matt's got a cool acoustic/fingerpicky set worked up, Mitchel Thunderbolt is a touch deeply moving acoustic melancholy-folk aimed at the religious right, and I'm just gonna play some stuff off of my demo page and a few obscure covers, experimental noise rock style. Hope to see you there...

The Black Fortys, The Duke Spirit, Eulogies, Spring Tigers. 40 Watt. 9 p.m. $5 (advance). http://www.40watt.com/.

Heavy Petty. Farm 255. 11 p.m. FREE! http://www.farm255.com/.

Kevin and Jeff from the Caledonia staff roster rock through Tom Petty's catalogue of songs. This is probably where most of our crowd will go after our sets at Flicker considering it's also free, right next door to Flicker, and a hell of a good time.

The Sammies, Idiot Slowdown, JY, Pretty Lights. Tasty World. 10 p.m. $5. http://www.tastyworld.net/

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This is the weekend of NoPhest #5 in Atlanta. This year the festival is held at a community arts venue called WonderRoot and it's only $5 bucks a day. Not a clue about most of these bands but here's the entire lineup:

Friday, November 28:

Walk To Run Records Showcase:
8:00 p.m-Leadcar Holiday

9:00-The Jonesplan

10:00-Nerd Parade

11:00-Sunday Drive Bye

12:00 a.m.-Phoenix for Saints

1:00-Lions & Scissors

Saturday, November 29:

2:00 p.m.-Intrepid Souls

3:00-Lindsay Appel

4:00-Jungol

5:00-Jesse Nobody

6:00-Tealights

7:00-Mice in Cars

8:00-Extraordinary Contraptions

9:00-It's Elephant's

10:00-Envie

11:00-FishHawk

12:00 a.m.-Pistolero

1:00-Trial By Fire

Sunday, November 30:

1:00 p.m.-Toby Foster

2:00-Dustin and the Furniture

3:00-Red The Exploder

4:00-The Sneaky Hand

5:00-Eric Zer
6:00-The Blacks
7:00-Why Are We Building Such A Big Ship
8:00-Bambara-->
9:00-Gift Horse-->

10:00-Wighat

11:00-Free Ticket

12:00 a.m.-Finletter

Thanks to the boys of Bambara for that flyer.