Agents of Change

Salt Lake City Upcoming Concerts: Priestess, Dirty On Purpose, Agent Orange, Manchester Orchestra

By Brian Staker, 3-23-07

	Staker Pick o' the Week: Manchester Orchestra

Priestess

It was almost a year ago last April when a lot of Salt Lake listeners got their first earful of Priestess, when they opened for Dinosaur Jr. at the Depot last April. (Between them and Dinosaur Jr, attendees didn’t have much hearing left afterwards) For a Canadian band (Montreal specifically), they pay more homage to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin than Rush. Although they do have a mildly artsy side that comes out at times. The volume doesn’t diminish enough for you to tell. Their Hello Master debut last year on Ace Fu demonstrates some real power as adepts wielding the weaponry that is metal’s stock-in-trade: the thundering drumbeats, splintered guitar riffs and howling vocals bent on conjuring evil beasts. Whether they attain the level of ‘masters’ will depend on further releases.

If Priestess conjures up a vision of heavy metal past, then tour mates Mastodon is one envisioning of the genre’s future, a mad mixture of metal subgenres and musical tropes that is uncategorizable, of necessity anachronistic yet also somehow futuristic.

March 24, Club Vegas
Also appearing:
March 23, Colorado Springs CO (Black Sheep)

Dirty On Purpose

Sometimes a band doesn’t suffer the sophomore slump on their second release, but the opposite happens: it takes their second outing to find their voice, to come into their own. Somewhat like the sophomore year in high school; you start actually making friends and stop being picked on, maybe join a club. New Yorkers Dirty On Purpose (great name, btw) aren’t quite nerdy enough to be in the chess club; maybe the photography club, or the yearbook.

Taking pictures of the other kids who actually are cool seems like a proper analogue for the songs of this band, taking the by now tried-and-true indie rock combination of crystalline, poppy vocal harmonies, crispy fried guitar noise and at times, a little orchestral arrangement for an added accent. Their Hallelujah Sirens (North Street) outing last year was one of the most listenable indie releases of ’06. They could easily open for Sonic Youth, Flaming Lips or Yo La Tengo without sounding derivative, although ‘in the style of…,’ in this day of “If You Like This…” music marketing pigeonholing that doesn’t account for consumers having any depth of taste.

March 25, Kilby Court
Also appearing:
March 26, Denver CO (Hi-Dive)

Agent Orange

Burt’s Tiki Lounge is one of the few music clubs in town that still has any history. Not to live in the past, but Salt Lake actually has had a rich and lively history of live music going back to the punk days and even the hippie era. But it would be hard to perceive that, just looking at the shortage of live venues now, and especially the abysmal sound quality at a lot of them.

Well, Burt’s Tiki Lounge was never known for great sound quality, but then when you’re packed in shoulder to shoulder, singing along at the top of your lungs to punk rock bands that are already ear-splitting, hammered on too many beers to count, you generally leave your audiophile credentials at home. But you can bring your punk rock credentials to Agent Orange, Fullerton California’s answer to punk rock in Southern California in the early 80’s. In fact, their first album was released when Reagan was only weeks out of the White House, in 1981. Their surf punk added fun to punk rock, and they still relive the days when punk rock was fun, even at it’s angriest, before the emo kids were even out of the womb and mewling about whatever.

March 27, Burt’s Tiki Lounge
Also appearing:
March 29, Fort Collins CO (Aggie Theatre)
March 30, Denver CO (Library Bar)
March 31, Denver CO (Larimer Lounge)

Manchester Orchestra **Staker’s Pick of the Week!**

There really is something orchestral about the Atlanta, Georgia band improbably named the the Manchester Orchestra. Even though they don’t have orchestral arrangements, their 2005 debut You Brainstorm, I Brainstorm, But Brilliance Needs a Good Editor and last year’s I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child, both on their Favorite Gentlemen label, are literate, songwriterly and mannered in a way that’s somehow refreshing. The lyrics and voice of frontman Andy Hull command attention, and they have got to be on your ‘bands to watch’ earmark list.

March 27, In the Venue
Also appearing:
March 25, Denver CO (Ogden Theatre)

For more SLC events, check out www.saltlakecityevents.net.

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