Nonesuch #146 nothing beats live music

Monday night or should I say evening, a good friend of mine and I went to see Teddy Geiger at the Cat's Cradle. For those unfamiliar with the Cradle, it is one of the premier venues to see bands in north carolina. I have seen quite a number of shows there from Radiohead back in the day to Yo La Tengo and of course the show I saw Monday. Upcoming shows include Tony Rice and Peter Rowan and Built to Spill. The layout inside has changed a bit from I guess it was 9 or 10 years ago the last time I was there. The backdoor is now the front door. Where the bathrooms were is now where the bands sell their swag, the bar is now seperated from the stage area by a wall, there are more sitting areas and it is a smoke-free place. Still, the venue rocks like no other I have been in, even Ziggy's in WS which also has a great set-up for live shows.
We didnt expect much from the opening band so of course they rocked. Starting Tuesday are a band from Chapel Hill/ that have been a group for about a year. Their sound is a mix of power pop and what we called "alternative" back before it was called "alternative" and that North Carolina/Chapel Hill/Greensboro sound found in bands like Ben Folds Five, Dillon Fence, Bus Stop and others. Stand out songs for me were: Satisfied and Armies and Nations. They play a show in Greensboro at the Flying Anvil so if you are in the area, check them out now. From what I can tell from their myspace site, they will be moving to Nashville, presumably to get that label signing that they deserve.

Teddy Geiger is someone you may have heard and not realized just who he is. He was on the critically loved TV show "Love Monkey" as Wayne, the singer who's producer Tom (played by Tom Cavanaugh of "Ed" fame) is trying get him off the ground in the music industry. Before that role, he was a finalist for Keith Patridge on "In Search of the Partridge Family" on Vh1. Sad to say "Love Monkey" did not last on CBS and was pulled just four shows in. But, Vh1 has picked up the show and it airs Tuesday nights.
Teddy is one of those musicians that plays well beyond his years. At only 17 years old, he is already a seasoned perfomer. Alternating between keyboards and acoustic guitar, his songs talk of life as a teeanger without bringing the cheese. A majority of his songs were longer than the studio tracks on his first album, "Underage Thinking" leading into jam sessions where at times he forgot he was playing in front of an audience. I always give kudos to folks that get lost in their art, no matter what it is. Songs that I recommend are "Try too Hard" and the title track, "Underage Thinking". He played for about an hour and did two encore songs AND stayed around and signed autographs. Not bad for $10. Check out his myspace for 3 tracks.
And now for the downside which has nothing to do with the music. It was an all ages show(do they still call them that?) where the average age of the audience was 16, just a guess on that. I saw one t-shirt that read "John Smith School 4th grade orchestra 2000-2001, so maybe this girl was in 9th grade now. I am not sure. So, we were surrounded by teenyboppers yelling at everything Teddy did or said. AND, the camera phones and other digital cameras were very annoying. One girl in front of me must have taken a picture every 30 seconds for the entire hour he played. And once again, I was "the door". Back in the day and even now, no matter where I stood, folks would decide that I was the entrance for them to pass through. I heard "excuse me" more times than I could count. The upside, is my elbow touched more tits and ass that evening than in a very long time.
Definitely check out Teddy Geiger when he is at Ziggy's in Winston Salem next Wednesday May 10th. I think we are planning to go.