Athfest 2009: Of one man bands and deja vu

Matt Kurz One awes the crowd

Saturday (late night), June 27th 2009

Matt Kurz One & The Young Sinclairs

While Love Tractor was rocking out on the Melting Point stage, Matt Kurz One was preparing for his own performance at Ciné, all the way across town. My friends and I knew it'd be a close call, so once Love Tractor hit their final notes, we said farewell to our buddies at the table and rushed over as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for us, Ciné must have been using some sort of superfast clock, so by the time we had arrived, the one man band was just finishing up his set. Luckily, though, we caught his last two songs, and what a sight those were! See, Matt Kurz One has been generating a ton of buzz lately because, in his case, one man band doesn't really mean that there's just one member of the band. Rather, he's the whole band. Yup, that's right. The guy plays one electric guitar with his feet and another with his hands while providing the vocals at the same time. On top of all of this, he also beats the drums with his handheld guitar and presses the keys of his keyboard with a short stick attached to the other end of his guitar. I've honestly never seen anything like it! The end result was quite loud, but the volume didn't stop the audience from crowding around to see just how it was done.

Then, a short time later, a band that hails from Virginia joined us in Ciné's lab to set up for their show. Now, of course, I'd never seen this band, the Young Sinclairs, before. How could I have? And yet, something about them was eerily familiar. Their experimental rock sound wasn't the thing that gave me deja vu. No, their music style was rather unique but wonderfully enjoyable to listen to. So what was it? Partway through their first song, the band members began displaying some real energy, feeling their music and firing up the sleepy crowd. Their wild enthusiasm excited everyone in the room, and nearly all of the audience members wore joyous smiles. And then it hit me. Chris Mckay and the Critical Darlings! That's who they reminded me of. Maybe it was their clothes or their overall look. It most definitely had something to do with their spectacular energy as well. Even my friend Sheila, who has only seen pictures of the Critical Darlings, noticed the connection. Pretty crazy, right? Well, all I can really say is that you know that the Young Sinclairs had to be good. There's no other way they could possibly have reminded me of one of my top favorite Athens bands otherwise!

For more blogs about Athfest 2009, click here! I'll be updating daily, so be sure to check back often. Also, don't forget to check out concert videos from Dreams So Real, Venice is Sinking, Dead Confederate and many more at http://www.youtube.com/echoreynofathens!