Pygmalion: Friday

Ryan Groff (Blues BBQ, 12pm)
First off, props to Girls Next Door for closing with Mandy Moore's "Candy" as I was walking in the door. That was fun. Onto the Ryan Groff set, his songs seem to the growing codas at an alarming rate (seriously, the acapella ending of "Chemicals" was as long as the whole song). That said, he still turned in a fantastic performance, and yes, he did play that AMAZING "Nude" cover.

You & Yourn and Hathaways (Channing-Murray, 6:30pm/7:15pm)
I'm combining these because I only saw fragments of both of them. I will say that I enjoyed what I saw, and I liked Casados far more than when they opened for David Bazan last December. Anyone know what the instrument Heather from You & Yourn plays is called?

Good Night & Good Morning (Channing-Murray, 8pm)
This was something really, really special. Channing-Murray was made for this kind of music, and GNAGM did not dissapoint. The segment where they were playing bowed vibraphone was especially amazing, as the whole room seemed to fill up with the sound. Most of the crowd laid down on the floor (!!) and several even seemed rendered immobile after GNAGM went off stage (although, I guess they might have been asleep). Outstanding set and a major highlight of the night.

Low (Channing-Murray, 9pm)
I need to preface this review with three points: I'd never listened to Low prior to this performance, I was sick, and I'd gotten about three hours of sleep the previous night (damn house parties). Low still managed to cut through my personal funk and really wow me. Particular highlights were the opening "Shots & Ladders", a cover of The Smith's classic "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me", and the main set closer, "When I Go Deaf". The acoustics in Channing-Murray couldn't have been better made for Low's extreme dynamic contrast, leaving me continually marveling at how good the room sounded relative to most other venues in town (not that they're bad per se, they just aren't Channing-Murray).

Oceans (Red Herring, 10:30pm)
Unfortunately, due to some weirdness at the door (what was going on with this? Seth had to come over and sort it out) and extra time spent setting up, I had to skip out on the last song of Oceans' set. What I did see, however, was awesome. Oceans have easily the best fanbase in Champaign-Urbana, mostly due to their extremely intense live shows. They did not disappoint. I'm sad to report that this was their last show in the area, though (bassist is already gone, another member is leaving soon). They ripped through three tracks from the excellent Nothing Collapses (which you should really get), the first of which I unfortunately can't place the name of, followed by "Lit Up Under Streetlights" and "Boy Detective". As I was walking out the door, they started to go into what I assume was the massive album closer "Your Plane Leaves Tomorrow". Gonna miss these guys....

The Antlers (Canopy, 11:10pm)
I'm not really sure what to say about this set...I mean, it was extremely well played and enjoyable, the sound was decent, etc. But again, the crowd fucked it all over. Seriously people, you don't need to get so excited you quit watching the band when Wavves is standing 50 feet from you on the other side of the room.

Autolux (Void Room, 12:10am)
Oh man, this was fucking incredible. Loudest show (excepting My Bloody Valentine) that I've ever been to. I didn't think the combination of industrial and shoegaze that Autolux play would go over too well in the Void, but it was easily the best show I saw all weekend. To the bros that insisted on crowd surfing: stop. not. acceptable.

Wavves (Canopy, 1am)
Is it ok to enjoy Wavves yet?. He's not as bad as people say he is. I actually kinda enjoyed the few songs I saw. And apparently Zach Hill (Hella, etc) was playing drums with him...