ACRN Presents: Small Steps, Frankie Teardrop, Shower Beers & Stella / November 23, 2013 / The Union

By: Garrett Bower, Contributor

Saturday night at The Union was a departure from commonality for those who attended. With scene staples Shower Beers, Frankie Teardrop and Small Steps, as well as the lesser-known Stella, the show was a disorientating blur of screaming, violently bashed guitars and furious drums with a hell of a lot of noise to drive the whole thing over the edge.

It felt like too much Dramamine or some other dissociative. Listeners were thrown into this abrasive world of sound, wholly disorientating. The members of each band slowly succumbed to the delirium as the night drew on, with brief fits of sanity where the music reformed into tangible cohesiveness before being beaten back down with a scream or beat that bled the entire spectacle back into one inescapable din.

I’m not entirely sure what’s to be taken away from nights like this. To me, it felt like a showcase of subversive anger, with the bands demonstrating violence for violence’s sake. Perhaps that’s the point--to leave preconceptions at the door and be buried in something alien and think outside of what you know and what’s familiar.

ACRN Date Auction / February 14, 2013 / The Union

By: Kyle Rutherford, Staff Writer

The ACRN Date Auction. A time to help raise money for Lobsterfest, listen to great band, and make your drunk friends spend more money than they should. Thursday night was exactly that, with a large crowd happy to dance along to quality music, buy their friends and hopefully get a good little prize out of it. 

People were pretty quick to bid on some lobsters, bidding $12 - $20 before the show had even started. A young man named Steve in a red jacket was constantly outbidding everyone, making him a man of many dates and spent cash. 

The music portion started with the sounds of Columbus' The Saturday Giant. Having played all over the state and even throughout the country, Phil Cogley definitely knows a thing or two about quality performing. Playing with a guitar, looping pedals, a drum machine and a sampler, Cogley used his beatboxing and vocal skills to maintain a smooth, upbeat indie pop performance. Fortunately not separated from the crowd, Cogley worked his way through songs about reincarnation, beating death and even covered a Pixies song, all while spinning around stage and maintaining a strong, full singing voice. He ended up getting auctioned off for $20.

After a few more were auctioned off, on came Columbus' Emily & The Complexes. A favorite for many in attendance, The Complexes brought their blend of indie punk to The Union stage in an energetic, fun manner. The four members played all their songs from their full length, Styrofoam Plate Blues. There was the melancholy, like "Styrofoam Plate Blues" and the ever so hygienic "I Don't Want to Brush My Teeth." Just in time for Valentine's Day, there was also the cutesy "Would You" and "If I Had Money." For the miscellaneous pleasure, there was "Social Skills" and "Two States Away." The road has definitely been good to the boys, giving them stronger stage presence and a more powerful, yet cleaner sound. Hopefully their future tours are just as good on them. 

As the last few lobsters were auctioned off and a few members off Athens' Small Steps were bought for $10, a strong fan base stayed around for the final acts. The three-piece Small Steps was everywhere. Yes, there was structure, but the vocals and instrumentals didn't exactly go that well together. Both entities would have done better in their own, respective genre. But the band knew what their fans liked and had them dancing and moshing throughout their short set. 

ACRN Presents: Jonathan Hape, Frankie Teardrop and Small Steps / December 6, 2012 / The Smiling Skull

By: Ross Lockhart, Staff Writer

I feel like I don’t go out that much. This is probably an exaggeration, but with all the shows that happen around Athens, it seems like I see very few of them. I wasn’t about to miss this one, though. For whatever reason, I had hyped this show up to myself a great deal. I felt a strong sense of culmination, like everything was coming together. It was one of those nights where everything just felt right.

My friends and I showed up at the perfect time. Frankie Teardrop was just about to go on. The humble threesome assembled behind their respective instruments and got right to it. Dudes were shredding. There was a notable difference from the last time I had seen them perform. Everyone in the crowd was completely engrossed immediately. It seems that the group has finally closed in on a sound and how they want to play. The audience huddled around the band intently, too interested in the music to thrash around. They played fast songs, heavy songs and closed it out with a distinct, mostly instrumental, ridiculously groovy banger. Just like that, Frankie Teardrop became my new favorite band. Tonight, The Skull. Tomorrow, the world.

Obviously, Frankie T was going to be a hard act to follow, but I was stoked to see visiting artist Jonathan Hape perform as well. He had a unique one-man-band setup with a guitar, custom rigged kick and snare drums and plenty of pedals and fancy-looking gear. Unfortunately, there were some issues with the setting up of said gear. My guess is he felt rushed and certain plugs didn’t make it into the correct holes. He started playing, and the mix was low and uneven. Everyone just looked at each other nervously. The sound guys tried to crank it up, but to no avail. It was a shame because he was really going for it, oblivious to the confused looks on everyone’s faces. I don’t think fingers should be pointed at anyone specifically, though. Shit happens. Despite the technical issues, he played well from what I could hear and everyone stuck around to give him a courteous applause when he finished. I thought that was swell. Ain’t no scene like the Athens scene.

Small Steps were last to go and, as expected, incited some good-natured ultra-violence. As the group furiously ripped through their set, combatants flailed about and tossed each other around mercilessly. Patrons became gladiators in a sinister beer-drenched arena. Even the tiniest of girls weren’t safe from the mayhem. Buckets of sweat splashed everywhere as Grant Engstrom and the gang beat the living shit out of their instruments. Some dudes lifted their friend onto their shoulders and slammed him into the disco ball above. I couldn’t help imagining how cool it would be if his head were sliced off by a ceiling fan.

All too quickly, Small Steps were finished. Handshakes and good jobs were exchanged. People poured out of the bar to smoke and pursue more adventures. It’s always funny to see a place that was in complete chaos just a moment ago return to normal like nothing ever happened. I think it can be safely said that everyone had a blast last night. The best part is, it’s only a matter of time before we do it all over again.