Tag Archives: love culture

Saturday in Columbus: Big Day In Music Festival

MP3: BLOW! – Attention
MP3: Dead Leaf Echo – Half-Truth

Woodlands Tavern probably isn’t the first place you’d expect to see a festival spawned by Columbus shoegaze band Love Culture, but the band’s drummer, Robert Fischer, got the idea after noticing the venue’s two-stage setup. He started talking about the idea with friends and bandmates, who all pitched in. Says Fischer: “As much as I love all of our local festivals, the lineups are almost exclusively Columbus bands. While this festival is still heavy on the locals (10 out of 15), we decided to use the opportunity to bring in some touring bands and give them a chance to play to a good crowd.”

Chances are you’re not too familiar with the touring bands, so here’s a couple mp3s, and I’ll let Fischer give a little primer in his own words, below. (Full lineup and set times after the jump, too.)

Touring bands:
Blow! (Ithaca, NY)
“Blow! is an indie-pop duo from Ithaca who were suggested to me by Jason Kusowski of the Spruce Campbells. They played at Kobo back in March and really impressed the locals.”

Bloody Knives (Austin)
“Bloody Knives are an industrial shoegaze band from Austin who we played some tour dates in Texas with back in April. They are an intense live band and I think they have a very unique sound and aesthetic that will win over a lot of new fans.”

Dead Leaf Echo (Brooklyn)
“Dead Leaf Echo are from NYC and, like Bloody Knives, are riding the recent wave of shoegaze-influenced bands and garnering a lot of press. We played with them at a dreampop festival in Chicago.”

Eat Sugar (Cincinnati)
“Eat Sugar are from Cincinnati, and were suggested to me by Jeannine Lonardo of Holiday Mary.”

The Sleeps (Cleveland)
“The Sleeps are an indie-pop trio from Cleveland. I caught their set at Northside Tavern in Cincinnati about two years ago and have followed them ever since. I am extremely excited for the opportunity to bring them to Columbus.”

Set times:
3:40 – In Silent Movies
4:20 – Orange for Astronauts (new project from Michael Scott Quinlan of the Blood Violets)
5:00 – Blow! (Ithaca, NY)
5:40 – Alert New London
6:20 – Eat Sugar (cincinnati)
7:00 – The Spruce Campbells
7:40 – The SSleeps (cleveland)
8:20 – The Lost revival
9:00 – Bloody Knives (austin)
9:40 – Love Culture
10:20 – Dead Leaf Echo (nyc)
11:00 – Holiday Mary
11:40 – Harboring Ghosts
12:20 – Strangers in Daylight

$7 + free burgers/dogs while supplies last
Woodlands Tavern
1200 W. 3rd Ave.

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Tuesday: Love Culture @ Skully’s

It seems as if there was any band made for the MySpace (or Hot Topic – if they had one) record label, it would be Love Culture, our very own shoegazer-obsessed, Smashing Pumpkins/Kill Hannah-influenced band of pseudo-goths.

Aquamarine, the seven-song EP released in January and available to download for FREE, is not something you’d typically expect to come out of the Columbus music scene. In a city that is recognized by national press for it’s lo-fi/shitgaze sound, Love Culture in the antithesis of what we’ve allowed to pass as “good” music for the past decade which means, of course, they stand no chance unless they move to a more supportive city like Chicago, L.A., or New York.

Though I’ve yet to catch Love Culture live, I suspect a lot of time and thought is put into the presentation of the music – everything from the lighting to the clothes that are worn are planned out in advance to create the most memorable experience for those who pay a cover charge. At least that’s the impression the music gives – it’s polished and radio-ready although given an actual major label recording budget, Love Culture has the potential to create something truly epic. As it stands, Aquamarine hits all of my right buttons (I hear everything from BRMC to Silversun Pickups to the aforementioned Smashing Pumpkins and Kill Hannah in their sound) and is one of my favorite local releases of the last 10 years.

Hell, even the band member’s names sound like those of rock stars – Tristan Swan (vocals/guitar), Raleigh Swan (guitar/keys), James Levesque (guitars/keys), Sky Cunningham (bass), Robert Fisher (drums).

Catch Love Culture, Main St. Gospel, Wolf Ram Heart, and Alert New London at Skully’s, March 9. Admission is free.

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