POWER POPPIN’ FESTIVAL In North Carolina!
I am very, very excited to see this kind of event pop(sic) up out of the blue – A Power Pop Festival. In the spirit of International Pop Overthrow, Sparklefest, Poptopia and others, The Charlotte Pop Fest is coming! Worth a trip to North Carolina? Well, if I was not traveling with my family during this, my answer would be ‘Hell, Yeah!”.Names familiar to Not Lamers include: Myracle Brah(rare live show!!), James Deem and Ed James, Michael Guthrie Band, The Everyday Things, The Saving Graces, Jerry Chapman, Frank Royster, Barry Holdsihp, Chris McKay & The Critical Darlings and many more.
Evidently, there will be a CD of the even, too! Righteous. We’ll keep you posted if they will be available on the Not Lame site.
Click Here to download the PDF w/ the full line up and information on the event.
Here is more information:
Charlotte Pop Fest - July 4th & 5th, 2008
http://www.charlottepopfest.com
http://www.myspace.com/charlottepopfest
posted by Not Lame at
2:46 PM
2 Comments:
I caught the Michael Guthrie Band two years ago @ IPO SF, and all I can say is DON'T MISS!! Hopefully the NC fest will allow longer sets than IPO's painfully short 20/30 minutes. Even then, it ranked with The Merrymakers 25 minute set @ Poptopia 98, tho I doubt the follow-up band will be on par with Cherry Twister :)
- Michael
Love Those Festivals. This Not Lamer from Wisconsin had the pleasure of rocking at the "oasis of music on the lakeshore" when I attended the 30th annual "Metro Jam" free concert in the park at Manitowoc, WI this past Saturday, June 14th. The annual free concert draws some the nations best powerpop/pop legends every year. Past performers include:
Rick Derringer, Michael McDermott, Honeydogs, Slobberbone, Daryl Stuermer, Joe Bonamassa, The Beatifics, Glenn Tilbrook, The Romantics, The Melismatics
Nine Days, Stroke 9, The Smithereens, Bottle Rockets, and the headliner this year were none other than "The Knack" Considering they have not appeared since this past December, they rocked through a tight set of all their best and the crowd went wild with appreciation. Another very fine powerpop group, The Redwalls had already warmed up the crowd as openers for the evening.
Visit the site here:
http://www.metrojam.org/METROJAM/index.html
From the official press release:
THE kNACk
To Headline 30th Metro Jam Celebration!
When looking for the right headliner to celebrate 30 years of Metro Jam, one name kept popping up as the organizers worked to put together the line-up for this year’s show. It was like that unforgettable opening riff to their number one single…they just couldn’t get their name out of their heads! Oh my little pretty one…Metro Jam is excited to announce that The Knack will headline this year’s 30th Anniversary show, on Saturday evening June 14th at Washington Park, in downtown Manitowoc!
Back in 1979, the radio stations across America were feeding us a steady diet of disco. The Bee Gees and Donna Summer were pumping out hit after hit, Saturday Night Fever was on the big screen and even one-time pub-rocker Rod Stewert had succumbed to the disco craze with his hit “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”. For a generation that grew up on the sound of The Beatles, it appeared, as rock and roll was dead. But down in the clubs of Los Angeles, on Sunset Strip, a buzz was being created that was soon to wake America out of its disco induced coma. Thirteen record companies were feverishly bidding to sign this yet unheard band that was known as…The Knack.
Ironically enough the label that won the bidding war was none other than Capital Records, the label that brought The Beatles to America! There was no escaping the influence of the British invasion that brought us the Beatles, The Kinks and The Stones in their music. It took only 18 days and a total of $17,000 for the band to come up with their debut album, “Get The Knack”, that would introduce the country to a sound that became known as power pop. In June of 1979, the first single off the album hit the charts and nine weeks later “My Sharona” kicked Chic out of the number one spot on the charts and stayed their for an amazing 9 weeks! The single ended up selling over 10 million copies worldwide and earned the honor of being Billboard’s #1 Single of the Year. All in all, the album “Get The Knack” sold an amazing 6 million copies, went gold in 13 days, platinum in six weeks and produced a second hit with “Good Girls Don’t”. The band went out on a sold out worldwide tour and Knack-mania was engulfing the planet…or so it seemed! Critics of the band fixated on the album cover’s resemblance to the Beatles first American album, their fast rise to the top and soon a “Knuke the Knack” campaign was launched in certain pockets of America!
Instead of pulling another single off “Get The Knack”, the band headed back into the studio to produce their follow-up effort. The album “But The Little Girls Understand”, was recorded in an amazing two weeks at a cost of only $10,000. The release immediately went gold and produced the hit “Talk Dirty”. Despite the fact that they were nominated for two Grammys, the backlash continued with anti-Knack slogans being bantered around such as the Jaws take off…”Just when you thought it was safe to listen to the radio…”. Jack Douglas produced their third album, “Round Trip” in 1981, fresh from working on John Lennon’s final album “Double Fantasy”. Their third album focused on their songwriting, but it was too late, the backlash had overwhelmed the band, and despite a few more singles, including “Pay the Devil”, the band broke up.
So what happened next? Members of the band continued to work in the music industry recording with the likes of George Harrison, Bette Midler, Bob Dylan, Jack Bruce and even The Manhattan Transfer. Periodically throughout the following decades the band would reform to release albums, along with recording songs for tribute albums for such notables as Bruce Springsteen and Badfinger. The band has also enjoyed well-earned recognition when various compilations were released. The most recent “Proof: The Very Best of The Knack” tells the Knack story the best. To completely appreciate just how great this Power-Pop quartet is, fans only need to pick up their most recent DVD; The Knack On Stage at The World Café Live which was released last year. For a quick preview visit some of the clips that are available from the DVD on You Tube, including an all out assault on “My Sharona”!
But the story of The Knack doesn’t end here for Metro Jam fans…for there is a great parallel between the history of The Knack and the origins of Metro Jam. The idea of Metro Jam also came very much from the frustration that the concert’s founders/musicians, were experiencing with disco taking over so many of the former “live music” venues. They decided to renew an emphasis on live music by putting on a free concert featuring local bands in Washington Park. 30 years later Metro Jam has grown to be the premier live music event in Manitowoc each summer and shows no signs of stopping now!
So join us on June 13th and 14th, as Metro Jam Celebrates 30 Years of Free Concerts at Washington Park, in downtown Manitowoc. The Knack will hit the stage Saturday night at 8:30 to headline this year’s show. Also in the line-up will be national recording artist The Redwalls.
Loved every sweet minute of it !!
Later, Wally T.
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