3.26.2010 - Roman Candle and The Ravenna Colt
March 31, 2010
Radio Radio
Indianapolis, IN
The only clue we had about The Ravenna Colt is that Johnny Quaid, formerly the guitarist for My Morning Jacket, is their frontman. We didn't even know what genre these two bands fell into...but in the continuing quest to expand our horizons and discover new and exciting music, we ordered our tickets and set out on Friday evening to arrive a little before the doors opened to get a table in the front row.
Turns out, we were the only ones with this idea...for a good 20 minutes after the doors opened at Radio Radio, it was just us, two other people, the employees, and The Ravenna Colt doing their soundcheck. It was a little awkward, but at least we secured seats with a great view of the stage. Eventually, I think probably around 50people showed up. The crowd was a mix of people in their early 20's to some maybe in their mid 40's.
It is obvious that Johnny Quaid of The Ravenna Colt is a talented guitar player. In fact, the guitar playing seemed to outshine the vocals. There was also the matter of the strange sound effects that were played between some songs. I'm not sure if the intent was to give them a little time to get ready for the next song, to cover the sound of tuning, provide escape from having to come up with witty banter to share with the audience, or if there was some sort of cohesive theme to the sound effects that somehow unified the songs that I just didn't pick up on. They also didn't ever mention their band name, or introduce the members - "we're from Kentucky" is about the extent of what we got.
Their sound is definitely more on the rock, maybe even alt-country side. A few of their songs have a Southern Rock feel to them. Here are some highlights from their set (keep in mind these song titles may not be accurate, they did introduce most of their songs with the titles, but some they did not, so we took our best guesses):
- The Reasons Are My Own - great guitar playing, sounds like music you'd play on a road trip
- South of Ohio - from their new album, definite Southern Rock influence
- It's Down to You - ballad-esque
- Let the Bells Begin - (probably a different title) - possibly the best song of the set, suited to Johnny's vocal range
- Such a Wreck
Roman Candle then took the stage after a short break. First impression of Skip Matheny, lead singer and guitarist for the band, is that he reminds us of Michael J. Fox in the Back to the Future trilogy. This band has been around since 1997, is from North Carolina, and consists of Skip(Lead Singer/Guitar), his wife Timshel (Keyboard/Organ) and brother Logan (Drums), as well as Jeff Crawford (Bass) and Nick Jaeger (Guitar).
They definitely have a very indie-rock sound. In fact, the bit of yelling that Skip began every song with was a bit startling each time. It is obvious that these guys have a loyal following - though the venue was far from packed, quite a few of the people were singing along to every song. Roman Candle has a very high-energy stage presence - it was entertaining to watch Skip bounding around onstage, even bumping into his wife a time or two as she smiled and played on. Check out their latest album here: Oh Tall Tree in the Ear Highlights from Roman Candle's set:
- Don't Amount to Much - Bit of a Tom Petty feel to it
- Why Modern Radio is A-OK - Catchy Tune from an EP
- Big Light - Nice background vocals from the band
- A Heartbeat
- You Don't Belong to this World - Sounded like the most mainstream radio-friendly song of the set
All told, a pretty good show, even if we didn't walk out of there feeling super-stoked about tracking down more stuff from these bands. Still a decent evening of new music and a pleasant time spent out in a crowd of those who enjoy it.
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