Vedora At The South End Art Hop September 7, 2012
Words by Tim Lewis.
It was a Friday (my Monday) and there was lots of music plaing in the south end of town. Every year there is a giant party were people check out lots of local businesses, mostly on Pine st, to see lots of art, eat lots of food, and listen to lots of music. Cameo Harlot, Vedora, Dino Bravo and many others were set to play. I thought I’d catch as much as I could. Cameo were playing in the tent behind the Maltex building, Dino at the Speaking Volumes outside stage, right next door, and Vedora were playing at a stage set up in front of Curtis lumber.
I got out at 6:30 that night. Cameo were set to play at 7, and I was not sure when Vedora or Dino were on. I got the classic 18 minute call that came in 2 minutes before closing. I got out at 6:45, or so, and was home by 7. It takes 25 to 30 minutes to walk to the south end, so my hope of catching Cameo vanished immediately. Rats. I checked online and saw that Vedora were going on at 7:30. Yikes! No time to check anything else out. I shut my computer down and was out the door by 7:10. I figured I’d miss 5 minutes or so, but would do the best I could.
I made it to Curtis Lumber around 7:35 and there was a hip-hop duo onstage. I was not sure if it was the right place, so walked farther south for a bit. The sidewalks were full of people, so walking was a bit slower than usual. I made is as far as Speaking Volumes, where a woman with an acoustic guitar was just finishing a set. I turned around and went back to the hip-hop duo. I looked closely at the stage and could see Jeff’s drums, so I knew I was in the right place. I hung out for a bit then decided to see if there was anyone else playing. It did not seem like the duo were leaving anytime soon. I went back to SV and ran into Conner from Will. He said Matt Marro had a design in the Magic Hat contest, so I went into the tent behind the Maltex building and voted. There was a singer on playing some dance music, so I thought I should head back. The duo were still on. I waited, and eventually they left the stage. Vedora set up pretty quickly and the night began.
Dressed in white, with lots of flashing lights all around them, they opened with Jumpback, but the sound was a bit off. There was no sound person so they had to mix it by themselves. It got better with Basalt Anchor, and Caroline’s voice and bass rang strong and clear. They tweaked things a bit more and sounded even better on the next song, one of the newer ones that I don’t know as much. From there the set took off. They played a stunning Dragnet, then a killer Promises. Another newer one called Ritual followed and was easily my favorite song of the night. Wow that thing takes you places! Up next was super strong version of Solution. The band were locked in and playing great. After a bit they played a killer Maria which grabbed the crowds attention. That was pretty impressive since people were there mostly for the art, and in the parking lot, near the band, several artists were putting the finishing touches on their paintings. Live music and live art at the same time. Cool!
The wrapped up with In the Pines. Matt’s super deep vocals growled out the song. When they made the switch to Chain, it caught most of the crowd by surprise. Suddenly they were playing a song the crowd knew. That wrapped up their set, and I immediately went to see if I could find more music. I did not spend enough time at home to find out when anyone else was playing, so I thought I’d wing it. I went back to SV but no one was onstage. At the Maltex building there was a dance band on. Ok, nothing exciting there. I stopped back at SV and Blowtorch had just finished a song and the stage was dark. Having no idea what was happening when, and feeling the drain of a Monday night and the call of an early start time on a Tuesday, I decided to head out. Mike later said Dino went on an hour or so later than their planned 8:30 start. I wish I had hug around and caught the set, but what can you do? I mad my way through the crowd, up to downtown. Once I made it past Church st the walk home was relaxed and easy, with my heart full of Vedora.
This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.